Torta Sbrisolona

Back in 2011, I made a Torta Sbrisolona, and we really liked it. It was supposedly a dessert, but we treated it more like a sweet bread - one that you might eat for breakfast or with tea or in a cafe. Again, it was another recipe that used animal products, so I no longer could eat it. Given that the remaining child at home had the same exact complaints (it has nuts and is crunchy), but the adults loved it, I'd say my vegan version is a success!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp ground flax meal
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup medium yellow cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill medium cornmeal)
2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal (I used Alber's cornmeal)
1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup caster sugar or baker's sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup vegan butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
sifted icing or powdered sugar for dusting


Directions:

1. Whisk the 3 tablespoons flax meal with 1/2 cup water and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 10 in round or square cake pan. 
3. In a very large mixing bowl (minimum 6 quarts, bigger is better), combine the plain wheat flour, the two cornmeals, plus the almonds, sugar and lemon zest.
4. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the flax and vanilla mixture. 
6. Give it a brief stir, then quickly finish working the dry ingredients into the wet using your hands to give a solid, pastry-like dough. Do not knead the dough; work it until it only just comes together.
7. Press the dough into the prepared pan to no more than 1" - 1 1/2" depth. Smooth the surface over a little but leave it dimpled as this will enhance the crumbly texture. 
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is just starting to brown. 
9. Leave the cake to cool in the pan. 
10. Dust with sifted icing sugar and break into chunks to serve.

Other details:

• Serves 8-12.
• This cake is traditionally smashed in the center to be devoured in crumbling chunks with sticky wines or grappa.
• Hazelnuts are sometimes used in place of, or in conjunction with, the almonds.

Multigrain Biscuits

In my effort to make things I enjoy so that I will choose to eat them again, I decided to make my Homemade Multigrain Biscuit Mix.


Ingredients:
For mix:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup spelt flour 
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup rolled oats 
1/2 cup wheat germ 
1/2 cup powdered coconut milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 cup stevia
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cold vegan buttery sticks, (short time in freezer helps) 

For biscuits:
1 cup biscuit mix
1/4 cup water or more
1 tablespoon unsweetened vanilla almond milk, optional

Directions:

1. For the biscuit mix, in a large bowl, mix the flours, cornmeal, rolled grains, milk powder, baking powder, stevia, and salt. When well combined use a grater to shred the cold butter or margarine into the bowl, tossing with the flour to coat. Squeeze the mixture in handfuls to break up the butter or margarine into small pieces. Store in zipper-top bags in the refrigerator or freezer. 
2. (If frozen, measure what you want to use and let it come to room temperature for an hour before proceeding.)
3. To make 4 biscuits, preheat the oven to 450ºF. Measure 1 cup of the mix into a large bowl. Quickly stir in 1/4 cup water or enough just to moisten; don't overstir. Flatten the dough in the bottom of the bowl and cut it into 4 wedges. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking pan. Brush the tops with milk (if desired), and bake for 8-10 minutes. Serve hot.

Other Details:

• Makes 5 cups biscuit mix, enough for about 20 biscuits. 
• Subsitutes: kamut flour for spelt flour; rolled oats = rolled rye = rolled barley; wheat germ = rolled quinoa; almond milk = any milk. Use gluten-free flours for gluten free option. powdered coconut milk = soy protein powder.
• According to My Fitness Pal, nutrition per biscuit is 149 Calories, 19g carbs, 7g fat, 3g protein, 2g fiber.

Tomale Pie

If you know me and my family, you might be as surprised as I am for something called "Tomale Pie" to make it onto the Codex. It was one of the meals from the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. I changed some of the measurements to be less spicy.

Ingredients:
oil
6 tbsp fine cornmeal
1/2 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup corn
1 tbsp diced green chilies
7-oz diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Make polenta: Bring 3/4-cup water to a boil. Reduce to low. Slowly whisk in cornmeal, stirring to break down clumps. Add more hot water (about 1/4-cup) to thin out. Salt to taste.
2. Preheat oven to 375F and set aside a square 8 or 9-inch glass casserole dish.
3. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent.
4. Add spices, stirring to coat well, and cook another minute.
5. Add beans, corn, green chilies, and tomatoes.
6. Mix well and cook for a minute or so, then transfer to the casserole dish. 
7. Spread polenta mixture on top and bake 30 minutes, or until polenta is firm.
8. Allow to cool for 15 minutes while the polenta firms. 

Notes:

• Serves 2.
• Per serving: 387 calories, 3.8g fat, 70.1g carbs, 15.6g fiber, 6.7g sugar, 19.5g protein.
• If you like spice, double the chili powder to 1/2 tsp, and add as much as 2-oz of diced green chilies. You can pour hot sauce on top, too.
• Top with guacamole or sliced olives for more flavor.

Dessert: Torta Sbrisolona

This is a mature dessert and we preferred it as a bread. However, it was in the cakes section of A Cook's Guide to Grains by Jenni Muir. By mature, I mean the that kids were not fond of it. It had a certain level of crunchy due to the coarse cornmeal that the kids could not tolerate. They both are losing teeth, as kids are wont to do.

Torta Sbrisolona

Ingredients:

2 cups plain wheat flour
2/3 cup coarse yellow cornmeal (coarse produced crunchy bits, a medium grind may be better)
2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup caster sugar or baker's sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
sifted icing or powdered sugar for dusting


Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 10 in round or square cake pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine the plain wheat flour, the two cornmeals, plus the almonds, sugar and lemon zest.
2. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla extract together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the eggs. Give it a brief stir, then quickly finish working the dry ingredients into the wet using your hands to give a solid, pastry-like dough. Do not knead the dough; work it until it only just comes together.
4. Press the dough into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface over a little but leave it dimpled as this will enhance the crumbly texture. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is just starting to brown. Leave the cake to cool in the pan. Dust with sifted icing sugar and break into chunks to serve.

Other details:

• Serves 4-6 (way more of us were able to contentedly eat this)
• This cake is traditionally smashed in the center to be devoured in crumbling chunks with sticky wines or grappa.
• Hazelnuts are sometimes used in place of, or in conjunction with, the almonds.
• For extra shortness (to make more like a shortbread, which this highly resembles), replace half the butter with the same quantity of lard.
• You can use only finely ground cornmeal. The texture of your cornmeal with influence the cake. My kids did not like the crunchiness of the cake with a coarse cornmeal.
• Be careful that the cake is not too thick. It should be about 1 – 1 1/2 inches deep in the pan. If it is thicker, the cake will become scone-like. You can shape the excess into balls and bake as cookies. The cookies only need about 20 minutes to bake.
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