Vegan Baking!

Vegetarian recipes
Monday, August 13, 2007

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Allergy-free Cookbook," by Alice Sherwood (DK Publishing, 2007)

Vegetarians know how it feels to be left out at the dinner table. Those who have lifelong food allergies are in the same boat, and Alice Sherwood tries to remedy that with her book of flexible recipes. All the dishes exclude one or more of four problem ingredients, and most of them can be free of dairy, egg, nuts and gluten by following Sherwood's tips. However, because it tries to exclude egg and dairy, the book will be more of a boon to vegans than vegetarians. Watch out for the chicken broth and hefty middle section filled with meat.

-- Evelyn Shih
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Foccacia (dairy-, egg- and nut-free)

* 1¾ cups bread flour plus extra for dusting
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1½ tablespoons superfine sugar
* 1 tablespoon instant yeast
* 5 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for the cake pan
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1 cup lukewarm water, or as needed
* 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Sift the flour with the salt and sugar into a bowl or food processor. Add the yeast, 3 tablespoons of the oil, the lemon juice and water. Either mix together with a knife to form dough and knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes, or run the food processor until a dough is formed and continue to run the machine for 1 minute until soft and slightly sticky.

Lightly oil a 9-inch cake pan and press the dough gently into the pan with wet hands. Lightly sprinkle the dough with water to keep the crust soft. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Dust your index finger with flour, then gently press it into the dough at intervals to form dimples. Lightly sprinkle with water again, then drizzle with the remaining oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake in the oven until pale golden brown (about 30 minutes). The base should sound hollow when tipped out and tapped. Sprinkle with water twice during cooking.

Transfer to a wire rack, cover with a clean, damp cloth to soften the crust and let cool.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.