OILY SPONGY DOUGH
For pierogi/dumpling or nuggets for soups. Textures like fatty animal meat.
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c. double zero “00” wheat flour – I used Antimo Caputo brand
3 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. guar gum
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. turmeric
fine grind black pepper as desired
5 T. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c. carrot juice
Place flours, salt, baking soda, guar gum, xanthan gum, turmeric, and black pepper to large mixing bowl. Using large fork or spoon mix till all ingredients are evenly dispersed – takes about 3 minutes.
Add olive oil and 1/4 c. of the carrot juice.
Again stir till evenly dispersed and contents look evenly mealy.
Add olive oil and another 1/4 cup of carrot juice. Again, stir till dough becomes equally crumbly throughout – large crumbs.
Add another 1/4 cup of carrot juice and stir till the dough forms a ball when pressed together. Use more carrot juice if needed, adding only 1 Tablespoon at a time. I used 1 Tablespoon more.
Knead the dough a little in the bowl to bring most of it together, then turn onto a clean dry surface.
Gather all the pieces of dough onto each other and begin to knead the dough till it forms a ball, pressing it down with one hand on top of the other as you roll it forward. Then turn the dough just a bit and wrap the furthest section from you back onto itself about halfway toward you.
Repeat this process – pushing down, rolling forward, pulling back up onto itself and push ing down again and on and on.
For 7 minutes. No less. More is okay.
Dough should be stiff, but not dry and crumbly. It should easily knead against a dry surface without sticking to it, requiring no flour to the surface.
After 7 minutes form into a ball and cover with a clean towel. Let set to loosen the gluten fibers for 30 minutes. If you go more than 30 minutes, wrap tightly in plastic wrap so the outside doesn’t dry out.
When ready to cook:
Cut dough into quarters like a cross.
Slice each segment into 3/8 inch wide (no larger) planks.
Cut each plank into 3/8 inch strips, then crosswise into 3/8 inch cubes (approximately).
- Don’t stack dough to make cutting quicker; the knife cutting through all layers will force the layers to stick together.
Bring 6 cups water to boil. Add enough salt to taste like salt water (taste to be sure it’s salty).
Place no more than 1 cup loosely packed cubes into boiling water.
- don’t use a cover
- reduce heat so water boils slowly, otherwise it will foam up and spill over
Cook about 15-20 minutes. Remove a cube, cut in half and see the cake inside. It’s cooked, but because it wasn’t directly exposed to the water, the texture is different. That’s okay, later the texture will even out more.
Remove nuggets with slotted spoon to large bowl. Do not rinse with water.
Do another batch, without adding water, and continue the batches till done.
- The water will evaporate and what’s left will become thicker from the run off of the the starch and oil. Keep on cooking in it.
When done, save what remains of the liquid in the pan, which now resembles chicken fat. When cool, transfer to covered container and refrigerate for another use.
Do the same with the nuggets. As they cool, periodically toss the nuggets or finger through them to keep separate. Cover and refrigerate. When cold, although the nuggets will stick a little on each other, they won’t become sticky – just ease them apart before using them.
- Right now, till I decide what else to do with them, I’m adding them to broth-based soups for a fatty meaty texture.
Although I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with these yet, Lilly Belle our dog loves them. So, if nothing else, I developed a dog treat that textures like an animal.
Next stop, I’ll make it healthier and tastier. She likes it the way it is, but I want more flavor and less flour taste. I have some ideas.
So, this is probably my first attempt at an animal-free meat, although originally I was making a stylized dough for pierogi. My thought was to wrap a pierogi dough around sauerkraut bread stuffing. It worked. Steve thought so too. It takes a lot of muscle power to roll it out, and I wanted to experiment further, so I only make 3 pierogis.
If you try to roll the dough, dust the counter top with flour, then brush away all excess with hands, leaving a very thin presence on the counter. Cut the dough into 8ths, then roll each segment till very thin, but where you can still lift the piece and it won’t fall apart.
Cut out large circles. Dab a little water around the edge. Place on the center a small ball of stuffing that has been squeezed together, then wrap dough up to meet the opposite edges, like a half moon, to seal by firmly and repeatedly pinching the edges. Then lightly fork-indent the pinched edge, without piercing it.
Place in boiling water and cook about 5 minutes. Lift out with slotted spoon and put on rack to cool.
The texture of the dough is something I’ve never encountered, but it was good. I can see people jumping on this. The stuffing worked great and actually had an animal meat textural component.
I might even want to call it a dumpling.
They were hearty and best when served at room temperature as finger food, cut in half across the middle then separated into halves. A dipping sauce would certainly be in order. Steve thought plum sauce. I added, potsticker sauce or both.
They were filling, so if served as an appetizer, three to a plate is plenty.
circle cutter can
ANIMAL-FREE SOUS-CHEF™ 