BREADS
Hostel Bread:
1 cup wheat flour
1-3 cups bread flour
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2.25 teaspoons active dry yeast
Put warm water in a large bowl, and add sugar, stir until dissolved. Add the yeast next, and wait a few minutes for the yeast to dissolve. (The yeast feeds on the sugar, thus the bread must be made in this order.
Next, stir in one cup of wheat flour and one cup of bread flour. The wheat adds the nutrition to your bread, the bread flour makes it easier to knead. Add your butter at this time as well, and any other ingredients you would like (see below). Mix all this together, adding more flour as needed. The mixture should be somewhat stretchy, and not stick to your hands.
Transfer the bread dough to a greased, covered bowl, and put in a warm place. We usually use the same bowl as was used to mix the bread, just removing the dough, greasing the bowl, and returning its contents. Let rise for one hour, then punch down and transfer to a greased bread pan. Let rise for another hour, and put in an oven preheated to 450. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for another 30 minutes, remove from the oven, and let sit for 20 minutes before cutting to serve.
Italian Herb Bread:
Follow the above recipe, adding the following ingredients where indicated:
-1 tablespoon Sweet Basil
-1 tablespoon Oregano
-1 teaspoon Sage
-1 can of olives, minced
You can also add mushrooms, onions, or sun-dried tomatoes to this! This is defiantly our favorite bread here at the Hostel.
Raisin Bread:
Follow the above recipe, adding the following ingredients where indicated:
-1 teaspoon Cardamom
-3 tablespoons Cinnamon
-1 tablespoon sugar
-1/2 cup raisins
Orange Cranberry Bread:
Preheat oven to 375 and grease a metal loaf pan
Add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flourv
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 stick or 4 tbsp butter
Juice and grated peel from one orange
Mix together
Add 1-2 cups of cranberries (to desired taste)
1/2- 3/4 cup of walnuts (optional)
Bake for 50 minutes
Black Bean burgers: (makes 10 burgers)
2 pounds black beans
2 medium-sized onions, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1/2 head of garlic, minced
1 bundle fresh cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil for vegan burgers)
1 egg (omit for vegan burgers)
nutritional yeast flakes
warm water
rolled oats or breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
Paprika, Chili Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder
On our Hostel birthday, we served up some delicious black bean burgers. Ours were grilled, but these can easily be cooked on a skillet.
Begin the night before you serve the burgers, or the morning of, by soaking your beans in water. Begin actual preparation by boiling the beans until they are soft and easily mashed. This is best done in a large pot with a lid slightly off.
Separately, saute your onions and peppers in a skillet. Saute these in butter or olive oil, until the onions are transparent. When the beans are done, drain and mash them. Add the sauteed veggies, as well as your garlic and cilantro. Add your spices as well, and mix everything. Now you have to give them some body, so that you can form the mixture into burgers. Eggs are great for this, as they will harden when cooked. Yeast flakes and oats, combined with a bit of warm water, will also help to solidify your burgers. If the mixture is too sticky, add more oats, if its too crumbly, add more water. When the mixture is easily formed, use your hands to shape it into patties. Heat and serve!
(The fun of burgers is really in the fixings, this just gives you a base to work with. Besides your bun, you can add all the standards, ketchup, veganase, mustard, relish, onions, kale, etc.)
Salad Dressings
Pineapple Vinaigrette:
1 can (20 oz) pineapple 1/4 cup veggie oil 2 tablespoons white vinegar a splash of apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup fruit (I’ve used bananas, cranberries, and apples)
Put all the ingredients in a blender and hit ‘go’. The easiest dressings are vinaigrettes. Mix veggie oil and vinegar, add something for taste, blend. This one is a fruity one, but be careful to not put in too much apple cider vinegar. A splash of it adds a nice taste, but too much and it will be too sweet. This was originally created to use up cranberries, as we had a ton donated, and I hates them I do. Lemon juice, lime juice, and pretty much any fruit juice, can be added to vary flavors.
Ranch Dressing:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 a lemons worth of lemon juice
herbs de provence (or basil, oregano, thyme)
2 pinches of dill
When we made this, we put the ingredients in a jar and shook them, as a blender tends to turn the cream into whipped cream unless you’re careful. Tastes better then the stuff you’ll get at the store, just try no to cry at all the expensive ingredients your using.
Easy Dill Dressing:
mayo (maybe 14 oz)
honey (maybe 4 tablespoons)
dill (lots, like 2 tablespoons)
Once again, stick it in a blender and blend. Made by Mikey, this one was good enough to warrant going in the record books.
Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing:
Put the following ingredients in a blender and mix
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup hemp or flax oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
4-6 large strawberries
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
And a small amount of water to reach desired consistency
Corn Pea Bread
Dry
1 ½ C whole spelt flour or whole wheat flour 1 ½ C whole corn meal 4 T date sugar, cane sugar, or ½ banana mashed into part of milk measure 1 T non-aluminum baking powder 2 t salt
Wet
2 C non-dairy milk (soy, rice, almond, oat…) 2 T apple cider vinegar 3 T coconut oil, vegetable oil, applesauce or other ½ of mashed banana 1 ½ C fresh or canned corn 1 ½ C fresh or canned green peas
Mix dry with rubber spatula. Mix wet with rubber spatula. Make a well in dry and pour the wet into dry, stirring from the middle. Using a rag, wipe a layer of oil on a glass casserole dish, then sprinkle on a thin layer of corn meal. Spatula the batter into the dish and let relax for 5 minutes. Bake at 425° F for ~30 minutes; until the top just begins to brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting. EAT! Try serving with hot chili or mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.