Chef Joeys Mexican Calzone Vegan Food

CHEF JOEY'S VEGAN RUGELACH

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry by placing the flour in the bowl of a food processor. Give it a pulse to fluff it up. Add the cut up margarine and pulse again.
• Add the cold vegan cream cheese. I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese in this.
• Pulse the flour, margarine and cheese mixture until a ball forms and then remove. Form into a disc. Cut in half and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one to 24 hours.
• Once the pastry is chilled, preheat your oven to 350'F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Put your jam into a small bowl and stir it to get any lumps out of it.
• Once the oven is heated up, roast your nuts. I did mine at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn.
• Remove the nuts and set aside until cool. Add them along with your lemon zest and sugar into the bowl of a small food chopper and process until the nuts are about 1/3 their original size.
• Set this aside.
• Remove one of your pastry discs from the fridge. Lightly flour your counter top and roll the pastry out to a large circle. Make the dough very thin as it will crisp up much better if you do.
• Spread the jam on the pastry, then sprinkle 1/2 the nut mixture. Cut the rolled out pastry in 4 equal sections, then cut each of the 4 sections into 3 equal sections.
• Roll from the outside in and place with seam side down on your covered cookie sheet.
• Brush with the soy creamer and sprinkle with some sugar.
• Bake for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on these, they can burn easily.
• Cool on a metal cookie rack.
• Repeat with the second batch of cookies.
• You can also sprinkle other sugars on these, icing, or fruit might be nice.
• Bon Appetit.

CHEF JOEY'S VEGAN PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor add the spelt, whole wheat, corn flours, sugar, herbs, baking powder and baking soda.
• Process these dry ingredients well, making sure all the ingredients are combined.
• Using a whisk, in a different bowl mix the yogurt and oil well. Add it through the feeding tube of the food processor until the dough forms a ball.
• The dough will be sticky. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough is less sticky and easy to handle.
• Don't add too much more flour however, you don't want the dough to be tough.
• Put the dough into a bowl to rest and cover with a damp cloth for about 25 minutes.
• Oil the pizza pan with a little olive oil.
• In the meantime prepare your toppings.
• When the 25 minutes have passed press the dough onto the pizza pan.
• Add the toppings and bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes. The edges of the dough should have risen and be a medium golden brown shade.
• Bon Appetit!

CHEF JOEY'S VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350'F.
• Spray a cookie sheet with spray oil. I used my silpat sheets in place of the oil to keep the fat content down. You could probably use parchment paper as well.
• In a large bowl stir the flour and baking powder with a whisk to lighten up the mixture.
• In a medium bowl mix the apple sauce, agave syrup and vanilla. Using a whisk mix this all together then add to the flour baking powder mixture. Stir it very well.
• The batter will be very stiff. Add the chips, nuts and seeds and fold them into the batter to distribute.
• Drop by tablespoonful onto the cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Dip the fork in water if the batter sticks to it.
• Make sure if you like round cookies you shape them accordingly because they will stay in what ever shape they are in when you flatten them.
• Bake for 12 minutes. The edges of the cookies should be golden in color. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack immediately. These cookies are pretty sturdy so they can handle being moved off the cookie sheet right away. Then pop the next batch into the oven.
• Serve with a nice tall glass of non-dairy milk.
• Bon Appetit!

VEGAN CALZONES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of the water lightly with a fork. Ideally the water should be about 110°F Set aside and let it bloom, 5-10 minutes.
• While the yeast is blooming, measure of the rest of the water, and the flour. Add the salt and seasonings on top of the flour. Grate the soy cheese and set aside. It melts better when it has a chance to come to room temperature.
• Add 2 cups of the flour, half of the water, and 1 tbsp of the olive oil to the mixing bowl and begin to work together into a dough. Add the water slowly and the flour about 1/2 cup at a time until you have a smooth ball. You may need a bit more water. Keep the dough in the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and set aside for about 20-30 minutes to let the dough rise.
• While the dough rises, chop your vegetables and add to a smaller mixing bowl.
• Heat the canola oil in a pan over medium heat and add the pepperoni. Cook for a few minutes on each side until browned and crispy around the edges. Move to a few layered paper towels to drain off the excess oil and add to the vegetables.
• Next, add the soy cheese and sauce and stir well to combine.
• Preheat the oven to 400F and lightly oil two cookie sheets.
• Clear a work surface and dust with flour. Punch down the dough and gently kneed it a couple of times in the bowl. Cut the dough in half or into fourths. One at a time, roll out the balls into an oval shape. If you're making large calzones, roll the dough a bit thicker. If you're making smaller ones, you can roll it thinner as it doesn't have as much stuffing to support. Once the dough is rolled out, add some of the filling to one side, gently fold the dough over to make a half-circle and sort of twist and pinch the edges together. Gently lift with a large spatula onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Once the calzones are put together, carefully cut a few slits in the top of the dough and brush lightly with the remaining olive oil.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.

CHEF JOEY'S VEGAN CORNMEAL-THYME COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350'F.
• Put the oven racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper; set aside.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, cornmeal, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Put margarine and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle and cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy for about 3 minutes.
• Mix in the egg replacer. Add the flour mixture into this on low speed until just combined.do not over mix. Hand mix in the currants and thyme.
• Using a tablespoon or a 1 1/2 inch ice-cream scoop drop rounded balls of dough onto the parchment lined cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
• Bake rotating and switching positions of sheets about 1/2 way through the cooking process.
• The cookies should be a pale golden shade. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a wire rack and cool completely.
• Bon Apetit!