mizchef

posted by admin on Sep 3

Pizza has an interesting history, which I talk about in my cookbook, What, No Meat? Here’s an excerpt:

Virtually every culture in the world has one form of pizza or another. In the last couple of decades it has even found its way to the most culturally isolated countries. You probably knew that pizza is an Italian creation, but did you know that it goes back to the ancient Romans? The Romans made what they called moretum, a plain baked piece of dough that they ate with onions. Near the beginning of the 2nd second century A.D., the word picea entered the language to describe a piece of round dough dressed with various toppings, perhaps influenced by the Greek word pièzo, “to flatten.” It finally became pizza soon after. (Sauce didn’t enter the picture until the 18th century.)

The pizza that we know today was created in Naples in 1535 in honor of the marriage of Bona Sforza to Sizismondo I, King of Poland. Despite its grand origin, it became a food for common folk. Pizzerias started out as little holes-in-the-wall, selling pizza to the local peasants. As pizza’s popularity grew, pizzaiuoli (pizza-makers) began adding tables and chairs to entice people to enter. Little by little, they began to decorate and beautify their establishments by putting in colorful tiles or fancy brickwork.

Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzeria in the U.S. in New York in 1905. Over time, it became very popular and more pizzerias opened all across the country, becoming a favorite gathering place for people of all classes. Today, pizza is just as American as it is Italian. According to one urban legend, U.S. pizza is so popular that in the 1980s, college students in England ordered pizza to be shipped overseas. Papa John’s pizzeria filled the largest pizza order in history by delivering 13,500 pizzas in June of 2006. This surpasses the Guinness World Records champion, Little Caesar’s, who delivered 13,386 pizzas on August 19, 1998 to employees of the VF Corp. of Greensboro, N.C. at 180 locations in the U.S.

(Excerpt from What, No Meat?: Copyright © Roberti Roberti
Do not reprint in ANY form or media without express written consent.)

Wednesday night was pizza night at the Natural Gourmet Institute. It was probably a little awkward for some because our bread class was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. Irene hit us full-on on Sunday, August 28, 2011, but the city began shutting down on Saturday. Mayor Bloomberg ordered all mass transit to halt service at noon. This meant that people could get to class but they wouldn’t be able to get home. So, the school closed. That was a relief to me because to make up those classes would have been a pain in the behind for me.

Logically, bread baking should be a prerequisite to pizza making, but circumstances precluded that. But the students in my class are pretty quick learners and in the end, we made some pretty tasty pizzas and focaccia, some of them gluten free. (However, I must say that I did not agree with all the toppings that were made available to us. I just don’t think that tofu belongs on a pizza, no matter how tasty you make it.)

First, we all started by making sponges, a starter made with yeast, water, and flour and is set aside to ferment. Some bakers make a sponge and let it sit for days, even weeks. Some starters—often called “mothers”—have been around for years and years. This is achieved by making a dough with the starter, then taking a piece from that dough and setting it aside, making a dough with that starter, taking a piece, and so on. Artisinal bakers are known for doing this, as it supposedly makes a superior bread.

One of the gluten-free versions of the pizzas was slightly gummy. The bottom was crisp but the part just beneath the toppings had the appearance and texture of undercooked dough, even though it wasn’t undercooked. But the flavor was quite good—better than you’d think from a gluten-free dough. The texture of a gluten-free dough can never be that of regular dough, but you can still get a really good pizza, with a nice, fluffy texture and, with the right toppings, a complex flavor.

We were each assigned a specific recipe. Mine was pissaladiére, which is a French pizza made with caramelized onions, Niçoise olives, and anchovies. I thought it came out pretty good, although I refused to use anchovies. Sorry, all you anchovies lovers, but I just can’t stand the sight, smell, or taste of them. And that pizza was delish! I split my dough into quarters, so I wound up with 4 small pizzas. (See the picture below.)

It was a scramble to get a pizza stone. We actually had lines forming because there were only a few pizza stones and each person had multiple pizzas to throw into the oven. But, eventually, everyone got theirs in and we feasted! At the beginning of class, I was starving. By the end of class, I was stuffed.

So, here is the recipe for pissaladiére, as I made it in school. Enjoy!

Pissaladiére

Sponge:
¼ cup warm water
1 ½ tsp dry yeast
2 Tb unbleached white all-purpose flour

Dough:
½  cup warm water
½ tsp sea salt
1 Tb olive oil
1 ½ cups unbleached white all-purpose flour
cornmeal for coating peels

Topping:
1/3 cup olive oil
4 lbs. onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled, whole
2 Tb Herbs de Provence
½ tsp sea salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Niçoise olives, pitted
6 plum tomatoes, sliced (optional)

Sponge
In small bowl, combine ¼ cup water, yeast, and 2 Tb flour; stir until thick like batter. Cover sponge and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for 20-30 minutes.

Dough:

1. Add ½ cup water, salt, olive oil and just enough of the remaining flour to create dough that pulls away from sides of bowl.
2. Knead dough on table about 10 minutes or until soft dough is created.
3. Place dough in medium, clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Proof in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or until dough has doubled.
4. While dough is proofing, place pizza stones in preheated 425 oven, and prepare toppings.

Toppings:
1. Heat olive oil in medium pan over low heat. Add onions, garlic, Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Slowly cook about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are very soft and translucent (don’t brown). Remove garlic.

2. Gently punch down dough and cut into 2 equally sized balls. Stretch out each ball of dough into a circle about 1/4-inch thick. Place on peel.

3. Spread cooked onions on top of each dough. Add tomato slices and sprinkle olives over the top. Fold edge of dough over onion mixture to cover about 1 inch around. Let rise 15-20 minutes.

4. Slide pissaladiére onto hot pizza stones and bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

posted by admin on Aug 27

This week at the Natural Gourmet Institute, we had wheat-free baking. Wheat allergies/sensitivities seem to be a growing issue around the world; consequently, wheat-free products are part of a booming industry, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to wane anytime soon.

I personally know people who are affected by wheat sensitivities and I have been experimenting with different grains and flours for a while now. I probably would be doing it anyway because I just love using different products in my cooking, but it was nice to learn more about wheat-free baking in an official forum.

We had different flours at our disposal, such as chick pea, white rice, potato and tapioca starch, sorghum, and arrowroot, and we also made flour out of almonds. We made cookies, cakes, macaroons, scones, and tartlets.

I personally made currant scones with chick pea flour, aka garbanzo flour, bean flour, besan, and gram flour. This type of flour is very popular in Italy, but is essential in Indian cuisine. So, it can easily be found in any Italian or Indian market, and probably well-stocked supermarkets these days. A traditional dish in Italian cuisine that utilizes chick pea flour is panelle, which are blocks of chick pea flour mixture, baked or fried, and eaten with sauces or in a sandwich with ricotta and grated cheese. In fact, I have a recipe for it in my cookbook, What, No Meat?

Right now, though, I’m going to share with you the recipe for Currant Scones with chick pea flour. Enjoy!

Wheat-Free Currant Scones

Copyright © Natural Gourmet Institute

Yield: 10 tiny scones

1 cup garbanzo flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tb maple crystals
2 Tb cold butter*
1 egg
2 Tb + 2 tsp cream
1 Tb orange or lemon zest
1/4 currants

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and maple crystals.

3. Cut butter into dry mix to form coarse crumbs.

4. In another bowl, beat eggs, cream, zest, and currants together.

5. Add wet to dry until just combined.

6. Fold out onto table and form a semi-flattened log.

7. Cut log into triangles and bake on parchment for 10 minutes.

8. Serve warm.

*If found that 2 Tb of butter was not enough. The dough was dry and I had to more than double the amount of butter until it was moist enough. When the butter is cut into the dry ingredients, it should stick together lightly when you pinch a little between your fingers. If it looks dry and “flour-y” instead of like coarse crumbs, add more butter, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s the right consistency.

posted by admin on Aug 20

Today was our pastry exam at the Natural Gourmet Institute. We had to make Apple Galettes. I think everyone did pretty well. Although she didn’t give us our scores, the instructor said that everyone got in the 90s).

I almost screwed mine up by forgetting to put my assembled galette in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before putting it in the oven. The instructor saw me do it, too. But I caught myself a few seconds later and moved it to the refrigerator. I made sure to tell the teacher. I don’t know if she’s going to take points off or not, just for forgetting. I hope not.

We also began discussing our Friday Night Dinner, which is the class’s final project in December. There’s was quite a bit of dissension among the students about what our theme should be, but most were leaning toward a Winter Harvest/Holiday menu. I personally would like to do Peruvian. I’m putting together a sample menu for them to look at, and then the jury will deliberate.

Here’s a photo of my exam end product (minus a piece for the instructor to taste). This was made with a vegan crust (as opposed to a standard butter crust). To see the recipe, click HERE.

posted by admin on Aug 18

Class was back in session last night at the Natural Gourmet Institute after a two-week break. We had A la Carte 2. As with A la Carte 1, the object of the class was to work our way around three stations to make three different entrees. The idea is to get a feel for what it’s like working at different stations in a restaurant.

The three entrees were Pan-Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, with mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini and yellow squash; pan-seared Tempeh with Curried Coconut Sauce and Grilled Pineapple Chutney, with black rice; and Quick Tofu Teriyaki (stir fry), with basmati rice.

We broke up into three groups and each group did the mis en place for one station. Then

Photo: www.weightwatchers.com

we all rotated and worked each station. And we continued rotating until we ran out of food and time. When we completed each dish, we presented it to the instructor for evaluation. Overall, I did well, with the exception of a few issues with my sauces (the mushroom sauce needed to reduce a little more; there was too much coconut-curry sauce for the tempeh; my second round of stir fry needed a little more sauce).

Everything was delicious. The mushroom sauce was incredibly flavorful, as was the coconut curry sauce (although I’m not a huge fan of curry). My favorite overall dish was the Tofu Teriyaki, and if I took only one thing away from this class, it’s that I’ve finally learned how to make a good stir fry. When I’ve made stir fries in the past, the flavor always seemed flat, and whenever I’ve added tofu, it always broke up into crumbles, which then dispersed throughout the vegetables, creating a very unappetizing dish. I now know that there are two elements to a good stir fry: 1) a sauce and 2) marinating and cooking the tofu before putting it into the stir fry.

When I say “sauce,” I don’t mean sesame seed oil or shoyu (although those went in the stir fry, too). I’m talking about a brown sauce made by combing the tofu marinade with some kuzu to thicken it.  It gave the vegetables a more complex flavor and depth that just shoyu and sesame seed oil alone don’t. As for the tofu, that was marinated, cubed, and pan fried until golden brown.

The first A la Carte class was a little hectic for me because I was flustered. This time, I was more at ease and was able to enjoy the process more. And best of all, I have leftovers. Today for lunch, I had some that delicious stir fry. And because I was so happy with it, I’m sharing the recipe. Enjoy.

Quick Tofu Teriyaki

Copyright © Natural Gourmet Institute (with modifications)

Yield: 4 servings

Marinade
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from 1/4 cup peeled, grated ginger
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp umeboshi paste
1/2 cup apple juice

1 lb firm or extra firm tofu, pressed
1/4 – 1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp kuzu

Stir Fry
1/4 cup vegetable oil
cup julienned red pepper
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup julienned carrot
1 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup shoyu
2 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
1/2 cup sliced scallions

Method

1. In blender, combine first 6 ingredients with 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth.

2.  Slice tofu into 4 slabs of equal thickness.

3. in a medium saucepan, combine tofu with marinade. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

4. Drain tofu (reserving marinade) and blot iwth paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

5. In medium skillet, heat oi land pan fry tofu over medium-high heat until golden on both sides.

6. After tofu is cooked, drain any excess oil out of pan and place tofu in warm oven.

7. Place marinade in blender with kuzu and process until smooth.

8. To cook 2 servings at a time: In a wok or pan, heat 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil; add half the red pepper, half the onion, half the carrot, and half the celery. Stir fry until vegetables start to brown. Add half the cubed tofu, half the shoyu shoyu, and a tbsp of sesame seed oil. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

9. Serve over rice. Garnish with scallions.

posted by admin on Aug 11

I’m a little behind in my class reports but I’m trying to catch up.

So, after cookie class at school, we had Cakes and Cake Decorating. But, of course, being that this is the Natural Gourmet Institute we’re talking about, we didn’t just make any old cakes. We made cakes with whole, healthy ingredients in mind.

We made a couple of classics—carrot cake, genoise, and almond torte–but we also made some modern cakes, such as carob cake and ginger cake. It was the frostings, though, that were the real experiments for us. While we did make some standard frostings, such as Swiss Buttercream and Cream Cheese, we stepped into the brave new world of healthy and/or gluten-free and/or vegan alternatives.

Photo: Elyse Prince

Some of the frostings we made were Almond Ganache Frosting, Nut Butter Frosting, Carob Frosting, Coconut Cashew Frosting, Coconut Ganache, and Lemon Tofu Cream. Even the seemingly ubiquitous Chocolate Fudge Icing we made was a page out of the ordinary, as its main ingredient was nut butter. And you know what? They were delicious!

Photo: Elyse Prince

After we made the cakes themselves, we decorated them. We learned how to use various tips in our pastry kits to make flowers, shells, and basket weaves. Everyone did such a great job, I was truly impressed. The cake at right was decorated by my classmate Kalie. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Ultimately, no matter how you cut it, cake is cake, and it will never be a “healthy” thing to eat. But done the NGI way, these desserts don’t have to be the worst things for you, either. Below are recipes for Carob Cake with Walnuts and Chocolate Fudge Icing, both health-supportive alternatives to supermarket or bakery cakes. Let me know what you think.

Carob Cake with Walnuts

Copyright © NGI

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons carob powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons canola or melted coconut oil
2/3 cup maple syrup, room temp
3/4 cup almond milk or soymilk, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Oil and flour one 8-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment.

2. Combine dry ingredients in bowl and whisk together to combine. set aside.

3. In separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and ;pour into dry. mix well.

4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

5. Sprinkle walnuts on top.

6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Chocolate Fudge Icing

Copyright © Jenny Matthau/NGI

2 1/2 cups maple syrup
1 1/2 cups smooth nut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cocoa, sifted

1. In bowl of food processor, combine syrup, nut butter and vanilla.

2. Sift cocoa into wet mixture.

3. Continue to mix until thoroughly combined.

posted by admin on Jul 31

Okay, so people have been bugging me for the recipe for the Poached Pear Tart with Cornmeal Crust that I made at the Natural Gourmet Institute this week. So here you go:

Poached Pear Tart with Cornmeal Crust

Copyright © Natural Gourmet Institute

1 cornmeal pie shell (see recipe below)
1 qt white grape juice
pinch sea salt
4 pears, peeled, halved, and cored
1 tbsp agar flakes
1 tbsp kuzu dissolved in 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 pint raspberries

1. Poach pears in grape juice until fork tender. Remove pears with slotted spoon, cover, and chill.

2. In small pot simmer 1 1/2 cups poaching liquid with agar flakes until agar is dissolved. Stir in kuzu mixture and cook, stirring gently, until mixture turns clear. remove from heat, cover with lid, and set aside.

3. Spread a layer of raspberry jam evenly in bottom of prepared crust. Slice the pears and fan them out on top of the jam. Arrange raspberries over the top. Pour or brush the glaze over everything. Chill until set, about 20 minutes.

Cornmeal Crust

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup oats
1/4 cup canola or melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
pinch sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In bowl of food processor, combine cornmeal, pecans, and oats. grind to a fine meal. place mixture in medium bowl.

3. In small bowl, whisk together oil, maple syrup, and sea slat.

4. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix until cookie-like dough is formed.
5. Press into lightly oiled tart pan. bake tart 12 – 15 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Cool.

posted by admin on Jul 25

On Saturday, July 23, 2011, New York City experienced a heatwave that knocked everyone on their asses. Temperatures were record breaking—it was 104 degrees F in Central Park! And so, on this day, the air conditioning unit in the kitchen at school was broken. Oh, yes. Broken. It was hot enough to bake a quiche in that room when it was still dark and empty.

Imagine, then, how 14 students felt when they had to show up to class in full uniform, turn on the ovens (that’s plural), and bake pastry crusts. Sweet fancy Moses, it felt like my brain was melting. Everyone was withering and was barely able to stay alert. Finally, at about 3:15, we got word that we were allowed to take off our jackets and hats. And thank god, because I really don’t know if I would have made it. We all practically stripped down to our skivvies, except for our pants and aprons. That is, with the exception of one resilient soul who felt that it was her duty to stay in uniform. Bless her heart, she made it, and we didn’t have to call the paramedics.

Our instructor said that that kind of heat is typical of restaurant kitchens and being able to deal with the heat was a badge of honor. Understood. But I don’t plan on working in a restaurant kitchen so to hell with that. Badges? We don’t need your stinkin’ badges.

Anyway, we made apple galettes with vegan pastry crusts and they all turned out pretty nice. The instructor was impressed with the height I achieved with only two apples. LOL Don’t know what to say about that. I took the galette to my parents’ house the next day. It was my brother’s birthday, so I thought I’d share it. Not bad. Not bad at all. The apple filling was light and not cloyingly sweet. The crust was not flaky because we used solid coconut oil rather than butter and it was so hot in the room that the oil was melting as we were working with it. So, it came out denser than I would have liked, but it was still tender and tasty with the nutty flavor of whole wheat pastry flour.

Here is the recipe, and you don’t have to be a vegan to enjoy it.

Apple Galette with Vegan Crust

© Susan Baldassano/The Natural Gourmet Institute

Yield: 1 6-inch diameter galette

Make dough first
*Addition to the original recipe

Filling
2 large apples, peeled, thinly sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice in 1 cup water
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple crystals
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple crystals
2 tbsp bread crumbs
Pinch cinnamon
*2 tbsp maple syrup

1. Place sliced apples in bowl with lemon juice and water.
2. In medium sauté pan, heat oil. Add apples and cook until apples are slightly tender but not mushy,
3. Place cooked apples in bowl. Add 2 tbsp maple crystals, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 375 F. roll out dough to 9-inch circle, 1/8 inch thick.
5. In small bowl, combine bread crumbs with remaining 2 tbsp of maple crystals and pinch cinnamon.
6. Scatter bread crumbs/maple crystal mixture into center of circle leaving 1 ½ inch border.
7. Fan apples in concentric circles over area covered with bread crumb/crystal mixture
8. Rotate halfway through and brush completely with maple syrup.* Fold dough over apples. Place in refrigerator 30 minutes.
9. Bake 30-35 minutes until crust is brown and firm to touch. Cook, slice, and serve.

Vegan Pastry Crust

¾ cup whole wheat pastry crust
¾ cup unbleached white flour
2 tbsp maple crystals
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch sea salt
1/3 cup coconut oil (room temp, partially sold)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
3-5 tbsp ice cold water

1. In medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Use whisk to fully combine.
2. Add oil to bowl. Using pastry cutter; blend oil into flour. Dough should have coarse, sand-like consistency.
3. Add vanilla, 1 tbsp water and maple syrup to dough with wooden spoon. Mix to combine.
4. Slowly add water to dough one tbsp at at a time. Dough should just hold together and be wet (but not dripping).
5. Place dough in plastic wrap. Flatten to disc shape and refrigerate 10-15 minutes only.
6. Take out dough; allow to rest until workable.
7. Roll out dough between 2 layers of parchment paper. Dough should be about 9 inches around and no more than 1/8 inch thick.

posted by admin on Jul 17

My class at Natural Gourmet Institute rocked the cookies last week! I have to say, everyone made some great cookies. We actually made them in two separate classes: one in which we started with regular cookie recipes (and muffins and brownies) and made batch after batch, substituting an ingredient with each subsequent batch until a gluten-free, vegan product was produced. The proper way to do this is in stages: you start by substituting one ingredient at a time, bake each batch with that one substitution, and proceed in that manner until you reach your final product.

We worked in teams of two, each team converting one recipe. My partner and I made peanut butter cookies. Our final product was made up of spelt and oat flour, natural peanut butter, coconut (palm) sugar, coconut oil (in place of butter), and—are you ready for this?—in place of eggs: mashed sweet potatoes. And they were awesome. Everyone (I think) in the class loved them, as did the instructor. Numerous people asked us for the recipe, which I am sharing with you below.

That was Wednesday. On Saturday, we each made our own cookies and the goal was to make “beautiful” cookies that would be good enough to serve to guests (or something like that). I think we all did a spectacular job, as the photos here attest. We had a gorgeous table of linzer tart cookies, checkerboard cookies, tuiles, thumbprint cookies, chocolate-cherry bars, and numerous others. And, of course, we had a couple of vegan cookies. My recipe was walnut tea crescents, but rather than shaping them into crescents, the instructor suggested that I roll it out and stamp out shapes with a cookie cutter. It was a really cute tray of cookies, what with the little bunnies, butterflies, flowers, and maple leaves. One of the other students had fig filling left over from her fig pinwheels and I used that to make little fig sandwiches with my tea cookies.

I think we could have opened up a bakery with the beauties we baked. If you Facebook friend me, you can see the photo gallery HERE. What do you think? Give the vegan peanut butter recipe a try and let us know how they turn out.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (with sugar alternatives)

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and  cut into chunks
1 cup natural, organic peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coconut (palm) sugar (or maple crystals)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 1/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

1. Place the sweet potato in a small pot with just enough water to cover; bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until tender. Drain; let cool and mash well. Measure out 1/4 cup.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper; set aside.

3.In a stand mixer, mix the peanut butter until smooth. Add the 1/4 cup sweet potato and vanilla.

4. In another bowl, whisk together sugar and coconut oil until well blended, and add to the mixer. Mix until light and fluffy.

5. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter. Mix until well blended.

6. Using a medium-size ice cream scoop, place balls of the batter about 1 inch apart on the sheet pans. Press each one down with a fork in a cross-hatch pattern. Bake about 15 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Note: I lost track of exactly how many this recipe made, but count on at least a couple of dozen.

posted by admin on Jun 27

Phew! My mid-terms at the Natural Gourmet Institute are finally over.  I can take a breather, at least for a little while. Then I have to start prepping for my finals because there’s a lot I need to know. (By the way, have you checked out my blog about Greenmarkets over at the NGI blog site? Click HERE.)

The exam was in two parts: a practical and a written. For the practical, we had to make creamy carrot soup, a salad with a vinaigrette, and a poached pear. For the most part, I thought everything came out really well, except that my vinaigrette was too salty. Precisely the things that I thought I had done wrong was pointed out by the instructor:

1. My soup was too thick. (I didn’t know if we were allowed to get more stock. I should have asked and the fact that I didn’t is my own mistake However, my personal feeling is that cream soups should have some body to them, and I thought mine was perfect.)

2. My vinaigrette was too salty. (I forgot to taste it first, and as I’m putting it on my salad, I realized my mistake. I tasted it and it was waaaay too salty. But I would have had to make a whole new salad at that point and time was running out.)

3. As I pureed my soup, I thought about putting my towel over the top, the way they pointedly told us to. I thought about it, but didn’t do it. I knew I’d get nailed for it. And I did.

But he also said that my soup was a little starchy and that he would not have ground the spices into the soup the way I had.  While it gave the soup a nice complexity, he said, it dulled the color of the soup. I disagreed―I thought my soup was a lovely creamy orange color. But I kept my mouth shut because what I thought didn’t matter.

On the other hand, the apple juice that my pears were cooking in dried out too soon and I had to add more, and I thought for sure that he would deduct points for that. I don’t think he did. Phew!

As for the written exam, I’ll find out probably on Saturday.

Today I was finally able to get back to my hunt for untried foods. And I wasn’t disappointed. I found a black velvet apricot. It was truly almost black, with almost the appearance of being coated with charcoal. The actual color is really more a deep purple, and when you

Pluot (Foothill Produce Farm)

bite into it, a winey hue lines the underside of the skin and tints the flesh. It was juicier and a tad sweeter than regular apricots, as if a dose of plum had been shot into it. (Oh, wait, they’ve already done that. Those are pluots.)

I love finding new foods. It’s like going on an exotic adventure without having to check your luggage.

posted by admin on Jun 5

I’ve said it before—when cooking gourmet food, making perfect little potato squares and joli carrot juliennes is pretty but impractical, there is something to be said about food used to create art. Food is a beautiful medium—colorful, fresh, aromatic, living. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate a beautifully constructed plate of food?

Food styling is a specialty skill and a career in and of itself. (It’s not as easy as it looks.) Magazines (and cookbook publishers) rely on food stylists to make the recipes look enticing to readers so that they will want to make them. They want readers to drool. If the recipes are a food magazine’s foundation, and cooking information its structure, then food styling is its paint and flower garden. The photos are used to captivate people and lure those who would otherwise ignore a recipe, or the magazine, or food altogether.

This past week’s class at the Natural Gourmet Institute was Food as Art, which was about plating techniques, making food look beautiful and appealing on the plate. We whipped out the ring molds and squeeze bottles and created plates of fancy. Teams of two had to make an appetizer and an entrée, and each person made a dessert. It was kind of like Iron Chef or Chopped, where we were given certain ingredients and we had to come up with stuff to make.

Crostini from mommiecooks.com

For the appetizer, my partner and I made tofu steak with persimmon coulis, sautéed oyster mushroom, and blanched string beans for garnish. For the entrée, we made warm beluga lentil salad with ricotta salata and spinach on a bed of grilled zucchini and green sauce (this was really brown lentils and crumbled tofu–the object of the exercise was not taste but appearance only, so we were able to pretend that one kind of food was really another). For dessert we had almond cake, chocolate sauce, chocolate sheets with pretty designs on them, custard from Egg class, nuts, and various fruits, and we could use any of these items as we wished. I scooped out the custard and mixed it with passion fruit and put it on top of a cake round. I then sliced and fanned out a strawberry, put it on top, and drizzled it with chocolate. Yum.

Of course, I forgot yet again to bring my camera so I have no photos of anything.

I got some beautiful baby lettuces to take home, which provided me with the base for a great salad that I had for two lunches. Below are the elements of my salad (plus a few suggestions, what I marked as “optional”). You can add or eliminate anything you like.

Lettuce-Chick Pea Summer Salad

This makes one very big dinner salad or two smaller lunch salads.

1 packed cup baby romaine
1 packed cup baby red leaf lettuce
¼ cup grated carrot
1 cup chick peas
1/3 cup walnut pieces or pecans
¼ cup shaved Parmigiano
¼ cup cooked quinoa
¼ cup cooked forbidden rice
¼ cup Kalamata olives (optional)
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
¼ cup corn (optional)
½ cup croutons (optional)
Honey-mustard dressing

Combine all ingredients, except the eggs, croutons, and dressing in a medium bowl and toss together. Sprinkle the croutons and lay the egg quarters over the top. Pour the dressing over the salad and enjoy. To bring this somewhere for lunch, combine the salad as instructed in a tight-sealing bowl and bring the dressing in a separate container. Add the dressing when you’re ready to eat.