chromatic sausages for Canada!

red white and umami all over

Happy July 1rst, that is to say - Canada Day!  It's the nation's birthday and I'm celebrating in Quebec, which means a certain amount of gusto is required to make any noise at all, what with everyone tired from St Jean Baptiste Day just about a week before.  It's not quite the party that it is in Ontario, but by golly if I can't make my lunch about as patriotic as a waving flag, at least in colour scheme anyway (and association to good old BBQ food... yes I SO do love the taste of char).

For lady Canuck's 142nd, I dived into the sausage section of Vegan Brunch and couldn't even approach deciding one recipe over another, so I made 2 batches at once - the Italian Feast and the Cherry Sage, done up into smaller links so they were hot dog sized.  And after discovering that the grocery store had no (NO) hot dog buns (and even if they did, they would probably be terrible because they usually are), I just had to make a little batch of my own.  Which I TOTALLY recommend, it makes a huge world of difference.  So much so that I'm gonna post the recipeeeee, taken from this blog, taken from King Arthur flour......

Hot Dog Buns

(chewy, wheaty, soft, dense in a good way, stands up to condiments - ie; perfect)

(makes 8)

1 tbsp sugar

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp salt

3 - 3 1/2 cups flour (I used 50% whole wheat, still came out fluffy and soft)

Directions:

- In a large bowl, combine water and sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes so the yeast gets foamy.

- Mix in the milk, oil, and salt, then add 3 cups of the flour and knead until it comes together into a dough ball.

- Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes, until it becomes a bit like plasticine.  The dough isn't as soft as in some recipes, and it shouldn't be sticky (add up to 1/2 cup more flour as needed).  Move to an oiled bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

I'm just building anticipation for chewy perfect grilled bun-bite here :)

- Once it's risen, turn onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 8 equal pieces.  To shape a bun, make a piece into a rectangle, then starting at the end closest to you, roll it up tightly like you would roll a cigarette, folding in the ends on each side as you go.  Pinch the seam when you finish, then place it seam side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Repeat with the rest, then cover with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick spray and let them rise for 30 minutes. 

- Preheat the oven to 400F

- Bake for 20 minutes, then move to a rack to cool

INNARDS !!!!

Unrelated to photo above, but that's what scrolling is for ------------ the beautiful red and white salad next to it all was from the Tropical Vegan Kitchen and ab-solutely scrumptious.  I'm going to post the recipe, too, because I just saw a great video concerning appropriation and culture (and breakbeats) and I figured heck why not, share the love, share the coconut dressing ---

Thai-Style Romaine Salad with Creamy Coconut Tamari Dressing

(serves 4)

10 oz. of romaine leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, drained well

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

2 tbsp basil, rolled up and thinly sliced

Coconut Tamari Dressing:

6 tbsp coconut milk (full fat works best here)

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp tamari

2 large cloves of garlic, minced fine

2 tsp palm sugar, or brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp red thai chile, seeded and minced superfine

Directions:

- Whisk, let it sit for at least 10 minutes.

- Toss 1/2 the dressing with the salad components, arrange prettily onto plates, then drizzle with the remaining dressing.  

So patriotic!  (if a little Thai ;)