At 26, Julie Jordan already has quite a number of accomplishments to her credit. She's studied cooking at the Cordon Bleu in London, and graduate nutrition and food science at New York's Cornell University and at Cabrillo College, California. She's then put what she's learned to good use as a professional cook at the MacDowell Artists' Colony in New Hampshire. And-in addition to teaching, lecturing, and writing (the book from which the following recipes are reprinted, for instance)-Ms. Jordan now owns and operates a highly successful vegetarian restaurant-the Cabbagetown Cafe-in Ithaca, New York.
Julie's quite intense about her chosen profession. "There's a new kind of cooking, " she writes, "rising, bubbling, sprouting in our land. It's strong cooking, based solidly on foods the earth offers us. It's delicious cooking, flavored with the spices and traditional ingredients of many different cultures. But most of all, it's cooking that's bursting with creativity and genuine enjoyment of food. "
In keeping with those observations, there are many excellent natural foods cookbooks available these days. But Julie's Wings of Life is one of the few to offer-besides recipes for appetizing breads and sauces and vegetable dishes-directions for putting together some of the most wonderful desserts we've seen anywhere. And it's six of those marvelous meal-toppers that we've chosen as examples of Julie's inspired culinary style.
Oh ... and-just in case you're wondering-Wings of Life takes its name from a compliment once paid to one of Julie's heavenly untested loaves: "Thanks for the bread. That's not staff of life bread ... it's wings. "
From Wings of Life: Vegetarian Cookery by Julie Jordan, copyright 1976 by the author and reprinted with the permission of The Crossing Press, Trumansburg, New York 14886. The book is available in paperback ($5.95) from any good bookstore or from Mother's Bookshelf for $5.95 plus 95c shipping and handling.
Cookie and pie recipes are in general easily converted to natural ingredients. They'll simply be darker colored and more flavorful. But cakes are tricky. You can't make a butter cake recipe and substitute a liquid sweetening for the sugar. It won't work, since butter and sugar must be creamed together to beat in the air which is essential to the cake's texture. Oil cakes, though (zucchini cake, carrot cake, oatmeal cake, etc.), can be easily converted.
I look first at the sweetening in a dessert recipe. White sugar is out for nutritional reasons. Brown sugar is okay if it's real, but commercial brown sugar in this country is simply white sugar with a little molasses, artificial color, and artificial flavor added. The sweeteners I use are honey, maple syrup, molasses, and sorghum.
Honey is the most useful in making substitutions. (You can use a little molasses with the honey for a stronger-tasting, darker dessert.) But honey is sweeter per volume than sugar. Therefore you can't substitute honey for white sugar on a one-to-one basis. You'll have to cut the quantity of honey down, say 3/4 cup of honey to one cup of sugar. You should also adjust the amount to your own taste ... I prefer even less sweetening than 3/4 cup.
Since honey, maple syrup, sorghum, and molasses are liquids, you should cut down the liquid called for in the original recipe. If the recipe calls for one cup, reduce it to 3/4 of a cup. This will prevent your dessert from being dense and moist like pudding.
Desserts made with natural sweetenings will always brown more on the surface than desserts with sugar because of the chemical properties of the specific sugars they contain. To prevent excessive browning, I decrease the recommended oven temperature by 25??F, and bake the dessert slightly longer.
For the fat in any recipe I use butter, not margarine. Sometimes I use tahini (a thin butter made by grinding hulled sesame seeds) or peanut butter. In recipes calling for oil, I use a good-flavored unrefined one. Peanut oil, sesame oil, and corn germ oil taste especially good in baked goods. (I think dessert recipes are normally too rich as well as too sweet, so I cut back on the butter or oil called for.)
I prefer baking soda to baking powder, since most baking powders contain aluminum. When you use baking soda, you must add an acid food to react with the soda and produce carbon dioxide gas to leaven your dessert. (Baking powder doesn't require such an addition, since it already contains a material which releases carbon dioxide.) For one teaspoon of baking powder in a recipe, substitute 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda plus 1-1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice, or 1-1/2 teaspoons of vinegar, or use 1/2 cup of buttermilk in place of 1/2 cup of milk.
Whole wheat pastry flour substitutes nicely for white flour in all dessert recipes. Start out using an equal volume. Since whole wheat pastry flours vary in their protein content and thus in their ability to take up water, however, be prepared to add extra flour if your batter seems watery. Hard whole wheat flour (bread flour) can be used for cakes, cookies, and pies. It will make a tougher, more bready dessert.
Finally, I like to add lots of dried fruits and nuts to after-dinner treats. Rather than apologizing for natural ingredients, desserts can glory in them!
You won't believe how good this is.
2 big apples
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter (1/4 pound)
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1. Slice the apples and mix them with the cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Mix the flour and baking soda. Using two forks or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is in small pieces and evenly mixed.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour and butter, and in the well mix the honey, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix them into the flour and butter, stirring just enough to combine.
4. Butter a nine-inch cast-iron frying pan, or a nine-inch, round, deep cake pan. Put in some batter, then a layer of apples, then more batter. Continue layering until everything is used up. End with batter on top. (Fill the pan only 2/3 full. If you have extra batter and apples, bake them in another pan.)
5. Bake in a 350??F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center of the cake is firm.
Yield: one nine-inch round cake
A moist and tender dark-black gingerbread which is very simple to make. Serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Or serve it with a big bowl of yoghurt fruit salad for a summer dinner.
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons dry ginger
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1. Put the butter, molasses, and honey in a pot and cook until they boil.
2. Remove from the heat, add the baking soda, and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the buttermilk and the egg. Then mix in the salt, ginger, and flour.
4. Pour the batter into an assortment of buttered pans, filling each about 2/3 full.
5. Bake in a 350??F oven for about 15 minutes, or until the centers of the cakes are firm.
Variation: Use whole wheat bread flour and add one cup of chopped raisins. This is more like bread, and is very good with Cheddar cheese.
Yield: Serves six to eight
A delicate oatmeal cookie, with the rich flavor of maple syrup.
1/2 cup butter (1/4 pound) 3/4 cup maple syrup 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups rolled oats 1- 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1. Beat the butter with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the maple syrup and vanilla.
2. Mix in the salt and baking soda, then stir in the rolled oats. Stir in flour and mix until smooth.
3. Drop the batter onto buttered cookie sheets with a teaspoon. Leave the cookies plenty of room to spread out.
4. Bake in a 325??F oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are firm. Let the cookies cool a few minutes on the trays to set before you remove them. Lace cookies have a very fragile texture.
Yield: three to four dozen
Filled with the crunch of sesame seeds.
2 cups unhulled sesame seeds
3/4 cup peanut butter
1-1/2 cups honey
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1. Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan or in the oven until they're light brown.
2. Mix together the peanut butter and honey. Add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix in the sesame seeds.
3. Mix in the salt and baking soda, then stir in the flour and mix until smooth.
4. Drop the batter onto buttered cookie sheets with a teaspoon.
5. Bake in a 325F oven for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies start to brown.
Yield: five to six dozen
An orange, spicy, fruit and nut cookie.
1 cup tahini (see introduction)
I cup honey
2 tablespoons molasses
3 eggs
Grated rind of 2 oranges
1-1/2 to 2 cups raisins
1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped dates
1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
I teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1. Mix together the tahini, honey, and molasses. Add the eggs, orange rind, dried fruits, and nuts.
2. Mix in the spices and baking soda, then stir in flour and mix until smooth.
3. Drop the batter onto buttered cookie sheets with a teaspoon.
4. Bake in a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies start to brown. (These cookies are best if they're soft after they're baked.) Loosen the cookies from the pans immediately after removing from the oven.
Yield: five to six dozen
This custard has a delicate honey flavor. Serve it cool: It tastes even better frosty cold than it does warm from the oven.
6 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1. Whisk the eggs, honey, and salt together in a mixing bowl.
2. Heat the milk, and add it slowly to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
3. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish or into eight individual custard cups.
5. Bake in a 350 °F oven for about one hour, or until the custard is firm and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Variations: Sprinkle the top of the unbaked custard with freshly grated nutmeg, stir grated fresh coconut into the unbaked mixture, or drop slices of banana evenly over the pre-oven custard (they'll float on top).
Yield: Serves eight.
|
|
|
|