Cinnamon Rolls

Super delicious Wheat Cinnamon Rolls!

You will need:

• Lots of sugar
• 3/4 cup shortening (I used extra virgin coconut oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 pkg dry yeast
• 1 egg slightly beaten (egg sub works fine)
• 5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup earth balance "butter" softenend
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 2 cups powdered sugar ( I would double this if you love frosting, it doesn't make much)
• 3 tbs hot soymilk or water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve 1/2 cup sugar, shortening and salt in 2 cups hot water. Cool to lukewarm.
2. Dissolve yeast and 1 tbs sugar in 1/2 cup lukewarm water.
3. Add liquid to ingredients with egg.
4. Stir in flour 2 cups at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Let rise loosely covered for 1 1/2 hours.
6. Roll 1/4" thick on a floured surface. Make a long rectangle shape
7. Spread butter over the dough, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, raisins, & nuts.
8. Roll as for a jelly roll
9. cut into 1" slices
10. Place 1" appart on greased baking pan and let rise for 20 min.
11. Bake 400 degrees for 20 mins.
12. Meanwhile mix powdered sugar and milk to make a frosting Then Drizzel over the hot rolls

Makes 21 servings.

Approximately 366 calories per serving

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

You will need:

• 1 1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup gluten*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Add the gluten and 1 cup of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir to mix. Add remaining flour and knead to make a soft dough. (Add additional flour if necessary during kneading.)Alternately, if you have a bread machine, you can put the ingredients in the pan in the order listed and use the dough cycle. Skip to step 3 if using your bread machine! :)
2. Put your dough into a bowl, lightly oil the top, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until almost double (about an hour). I like to turn my oven on for a minute or two, then turn it off, and let the dough rise in there, since our house is cool.
3. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle.
4. As you roll the rounds, set them aside on a lightly floured countertop or table, and cover loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 25-35 minutes, until slightly puffy. (The rounds will still be thin though! :D)
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place 2 rounds, side-by-side, onto a wire rack, such as is used for cooling things. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes, until puffy and just slightly browned. (If bread is too browned, it will be dry and not pliable.)
6. Remove rack from oven and immediately wrap/layer pita breads in a damp towel, to soften. Continue baking the remaining breads, layering them between damp towels as soon as they're baked. Allow breads to completely cool.
7. Cut pita breads in half, or split the top edge, and fill as desired.
8. Store pitas in a plastic zipper bag in the fridge for a few days, or place in the freezer for longer storage. To re-warm pitas, wrap them in a damp towel and then wrap in foil. Place in a warm (200-250 degree) oven for about 20 minutes.

Baba Ghanoush

I'm looking forward to trying this recipe. My first and only introduction to Baba Ghanoush was a t the pita pit (http://www.pitapit.com/) The best pita place ever! Anyway. It was so delicious I determined that one day I would make it at home... and a year later I am doing it! Hopefully this recipe doesn't dissappoint. I'm also making some home made whole wheat pitas to go with it. Mmmm

You will need:

• 2 1 pound eggplants
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 2 mashed garlic cloves
• juice of 1 medium lemon
• 1/2 cumin
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon olive oil $Click to see savings
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika or cayenne pepper

1. Set broiler on high.
2. Prick 2 1-lb. eggplants all over with a fork and place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3. Broil until softened and starting to blacken, 15 to 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.
4. When eggplants are cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise and scoop innards into bowl of a food processor.
5. Add 1/2 cup tahini, 2 mashed garlic cloves, juice of 1 medium lemon, 1/2 tsp. cumin, salt and pepper. Process until mixture reaches desired consistency.
6. Place in a serving bowl and stir in 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh parsley. Drizzle with 1 tsp. olive oil, then sprinkle 1/8 tsp. paprika or cayenne pepper on top, if desired. Serve immediately or cover and chill to serve later.

Tomato Pie

• 4 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced
• 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 (9-inch) prebaked deep dish pie shell
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar
• 1 cup mayonnaise (or sour cream)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blanch tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for about 10 sec until the skin cracks. Then immediately transfer to a bowl filled with ice and water to cool them off. This makes peeling the tomatoes a breeze.
3. Slice the peeled tomatoes and lay inside in one layer and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain 10 min, then flip and salt other side allowing to drain for 10 more min.
4. Layer tomato slices inside prebaked pie crust. Sprinkle onion and chopped basil leaves on each layer evenly. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
5. Combine grated cheeses with mayo (sour cream) and then spread evenly on top of the pie like a top crust.
6. Bake 30 minutes until lightly browned. Slice and serve warm.

Miso Dumpling Soup

Ok, so if you're like I was you're wondering what is miso (Mee-So)? Well apparently according to Wickipedia it's:

Miso (みそ or 味噌?) is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin (麹菌?), the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called Misoshiru (味噌汁?), a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory, and there is an extremely wide variety of miso available.

or the American Dictionary:
A thick fermented paste made of cooked soybeans, salt, and often rice or barley, and used especially in making soups and sauces.


So, now that you know what it is, it probably doesn't sound all too appetizing. Kinda like Kimshi, although both are pretty good, to me atleast. I stumbled onto Miso soup at our local Wal Mart. And not reading the ingredients carefully, I bought the little package with 4 individual 6oz soup mixes. I went home, and made one up. It was delicious. And Jerrod tasted it and said, are you sure this is vegetarian? I said I thought the fishy taste was the seaweed, Nope Fish. What kind of fish? who knows, all it says was fish. So we dumped it out and threw away the rest. Darn it. But much to my surprise, shopping at the commissary produced a new brand of miso soup with two flavors. Both have no fish, or fishy taste. But both have MSG. So if you're like me and know better but eat it anyway, maybe there's no big deal here. But if you are trying to avoid things that kill your memory cells faster than normal (I hear), you might want to make your own. For this recepi I found some 1 minute Miso soup in a squeeze bottle. But I'm figuring you could go to a health food store and get a good miso. Either way. It's a pretty simple recipe, and pretty tasty. But you have to be creative about making it so you'll like it.


You will need:

• Some type of Miso paste, powder or instant soup
• finely chopped onions (any flavor)
• Water
• Seaweed
• Biscuit mix (I like Bisquick) or make from scratch
• Shredded cheese (optional)
• Salt/pepper

Here's what you do:

1. Mix up about 3 or 4 cups of the Miso soup base (depending on how thick you want the broth. 4 cups makes a creamy broth after the dumplings are added). For mine it called for 1tbs mix per 3/4 cup of water. You may want more or less depending. Mix it up and heat it, then give it a little taste You have pleanty of time to adjust the base before adding the dumplings.
2. When you have your base to your liking, add onions (and any other finely chopped veggies you want to add. Cabbage may even be good). And then seaweed. Bring to a boil.
3. While you are heating the base, mix up a batch of dumplings. For Bisquick, I use the drop biscuit mixing directions. About 1 cup of mix per 1/3 cup of water. Add some finely chopped onions and cheese to the mixture. Set aside.
4. When your soup is boiling, add the dumpling mix by large spoonfuls. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 min.
5. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes, you may need to increase the heat to keep it simmering.
6. Remove from heat and serve.