mizchef

posted by admin on Dec 28

On Thursday, December 25, my FND team began preparations for our Friday Night Dinner at The Natural Gourmet Institute. We arrived in Kitchen 3 at 4:30 p.m. and had a huddle. We needed to prep the various components of the appetizer, main, and dessert courses. The main entrée, a Peruvian causa, alone involved 4 separate elements.

Causa is a Peruvian potato cake with several different layers. Traditionally, this dish would have layers of meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, or other combinations, but always, there a potato layer.  For our version, we had 4 layers:  purple potatoes, cauliflower and almond, pureed fava beans, and seasoned tempeh.

Everything  that needed to be done was written on the board. We then broke up into teams and divvied up the tasks.  As expected, it fell to me to prepare the potatoes for the causa. I’d been responsible for that layer all along, so it made sense that I took ownership of it during FND prep.

We had prepared the entire dinner for 10 people a couple of times, but this time, we were making it for 100 people. Boiling and milling 4 lbs. of potatoes is one thing; boiling and milling 40 pounds is another. I filled three huge pots with purple potatoes and because the potatoes were all different sizes, they cooked at different rates. I tried grouping similar sizes in each pot, but still some potatoes cooked faster than other within the same pot. This meant that I had to skewer test and scoop out potatoes at intervals. Which was just as well because there was no way that I would have been able to pick up and drain these commercial-sized pots of boiling potatoes! If I had tried, it would have been a disaster of monstrous proportions. And I probably would have landed in the burn unit.

Lots of onions

It took hours to peel and mill all of these potatoes, even when one of my classmates stepped in to help me peel. My arms got an incredible workout. After several hours, I needed a break and asked one of my other classmates—who was actually on the other FND team, but was there to help us out—took over the milling for about an hour.

When I was finally done milling, the other elements for the causa were just about ready, too. But we had issues with the other elements. We had started out with a lima bean puree but at some point, we switched to fava beans (I’m still not quite sure why). To our dismay, the fava bean puree was not as green as the lima bean puree had been, probably because we didn’t have enough parsley, and the minced rosemary that had been added to it was too overpowering. Fortunately, we had enough color on the plate to compensate for the bean puree’s dullness, and the rosemary flavor was tempered when the puree was combined with the other elements. To ensure that all the elements worked together, we took scoops of each layer and placed them in a bowl to taste. (We learned to do that after the last run-through because, as we discovered, each element on its own may have been perfect, but together with other elements, it may have not have been quite right, and vice versa.) We continually adjusted until we felt everything worked, except that the cauliflower remained a little crumbly.

Elyse, who had made the bean puree and was disappointed, wanted to cut out the puree and just do three layers, but I knew that this was a bad idea. We had tried the recipe 3 times using 4 layers and it might have been disastrous to use just 3, because the cauliflower was too crumbly and it needed the puree to adhere it to the causa. With tout the bean puree, it would have been a mess.

We layered 6 full-size hotel pans with the 4 elements and wrapped them up. The next day, we inverted them onto sheet pans and began cutting the portions. This was not as easy as it sounds. We had to make sure that all the portions were the same size in both width and height. We tried cutting straight down, with a sawing motion, with knives with teeth, knives with no teeth, dental floss, and bench scrapers. Despite our best efforts, we wound up with a lot of oddly shaped pieces. Fortunately, we had a lot to spare to make up for the discards.

The next problem to solve was how to serve them. We had settled on squares but now we went back to triangles, which we had abandoned during our last run-through because we felt that triangles would be too unstable. Then, as we cut the squares into triangles and tried to move them to sheet pans, we saw how fragile they were. Through a couple of hours of trial and error, we discovered that the pieces stayed together a little better if we put them on the sheet pans and heated them upside down—that is, with the almond side down. It seemed to compact that layer just enough that we could handle them. Of course, had we known we were going to do this, we would have layered the 4 elements in reverse order.

The next day was a flurry of activity in K3 as we began preparation for service. I took it upon myself to start assigning stations for everyone on the line. Then, it was time for service. We all took our positions and began plating. Would you be surprised if I told you that we had a little bit of a rough time plating the causa?

We fiddled and fudged with a couple, trying to get a feel for the pieces. We finally worked it out that I would lay down one piece and Elyse, across from me, would lay down the other piece, the triangle that would stand up. At that point, things started moving. We got those causas plated and moved them down the line for the rest of the components.

We hit a bump in road, though. We had marked certain sheet trays to keep for the” house” (i.e., for ourselves), as they were the least pretty of the batch, the ones that had crumbled or that were oddly cut. Somehow or other, a couple of these trays got pulled out before the “good” ones. When we realized the error, we popped the good ones in the oven, but the plating came to standstill while we waited for the good ones to heat up. Chef B told us that we needed to get more plates out and so we had no choice but to pull the scruffy ones together and do the best we could with them. Finally, the good ones were hot, and just when we had pulled them from the ovens, Chef B said, “Stop.” We were done. All the guests had been served. And we all groaned with a great big old “Damn it” in our voices.

In the end, it was okay because no out in the dining rooms knew the difference. All they saw was a beautifully arranged meal bursting with color and form and texture, and when they tasted it, regardless of how it looked, it was rich with complex flavors.

We also took some time to decorate the classrooms with garland, lights, and flowers. My classmate, Angie, sewed table runners and made tassels for the menus, Elyse took charge of the decorations, and I created the menu. There was a lot to be done and tensions had run pretty high as everyone struggled to make time to work on FND while still carrying on their daily lives. But we pulled it all together and we had one hell of dinner.

My brother and sister-in-law were there, as well as numerous friends and acquaintances, and I was so happy to see them all there. With the exception of one person, everyone enjoyed the dinner very much. Success!

It sucked when the next day, one of the instructors said that after dinner, she became violently ill, but since no one else had that effect, I chalked it up to some weirdness with her stomach only.

I won’t lie. It was a bitch to plate those causas, but I am very proud of my team. We created a great meal and pulled it off despite bumps along the way. As we walked out into the dining rooms for our bows, we all held our heads high for a job well done.

For some fabulous photos of the prep and dinner by my classmate Elyse’s husband, David Prince, click HERE.

And for some less than spectacular, but still nice photos by me, click HERE.

By the way, the meal was entirely vegan and gluten free. The menu is below, as well as a recipe for Quinoa Croquettes, which got raves.

Thanks to Chef Barbara, the students of CTP 197W, the kitchens assistants, and all the guests who helped make our Friday Night Dinner a memorable night.

 Menu

Appetizer
Vegetarian Ceviche
Buttercup Squash Soup
Quinoa Croquettes with
Pumpkin Seed-Almond Dip

 Entrée
Causa
Escarole with Garlic & Lemon Dressing,
Botija Olives, and Caramelized Pearl Onions
Salsa Verde and Smoky Tomato Sauce

 Dessert
Chocolate Turrón
Tamarind Ice Cream
Saffron Poached Seckel Pear

QUINOA CROQUETTE

Yield: 10 two-ounce servings

Ingredients:

¾ cup quinoa (combination of red and white), rinsed well
1 1/8 cup water
2 medium parsnips, large dice (¾ cup)
1/2  onion, medium dice (½ cup)
2 cloves garlic, fine mince
1 tablespoon EVOO
½ cup cooked lima beans (1/4 cup unsoaked)
¼ bunch parsley, fine chopped (1/6 cup)
2 scallions, thin slice
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, lightly toasted and coarse chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ lime, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt
Oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Cook quinoa with water.  Cool.
2. Cook parsnips until very soft.
3. Sauté onion and garlic in EVOO until soft.
4. Blend together parsnips, lima beans, parsley, scallions, sunflower seeds, oregano, cumin, lime juice and salt to form a paste.
5. In a large bowl gently stir quinoa and onions and garlic together with paste mixture.  Quinoa may be fragile so do not over mix.
6. Form into 2 ounce croquettes.  Pan fry in oil.

PHOTO: David Prince

posted by admin on Dec 11

My practical exam for the Chef Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute is finally over. After stressing about it for weeks and really stressing for days and spending hours plating last Sunday (although I wish I’d done it more than that), it’s behind me.

The exam was taken on 2 separate days by the 2 Friday Night Dinner groups. My group (B) was up first because group A was gearing up for its Friday Night Dinner. We had to create an entrée incorporating 5 elements: bean, grain, green, sauce, and garnish. My plate was—

Grilled Portobello Steak
Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro-Lime Dressing
Herbed Polenta
Cracked Chickpea Salad
Sauteed Kale
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Lime zest curls for garnish

My final plate

I did okay, but to be honest, my score was a huge disappointment. It wasn’t a bad score, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. The instructor complimented my dish in many ways, but I got points off for numerous things. Here’s the rundown:

Bean: He really loved the chickpea salad. It was “sophisticated” with just the right amount of seasonings and heat. Not to little, not too much.

Green: The kale was chewy and not very edible. He said it was the nature of the kale they’d been getting at the school lately—tough. It lent itself more to a moist heat method of cooking, rather than the way I had prepared it, which was to sauté it in garlic and oil. I knew it was chewy, but I didn’t think it was that bad.

Grain: He loved the way the polenta looked. It was vibrant, and he could tell that I’d thrown the herbs in towards the end because it retained their fresh look. But it needed to cook a little more. I’m used to using a finely ground cornmeal, like my mother uses, and that’s what I practiced with. I should have been more aware of the fact that the school uses coarsely ground cornmeal as polenta. However, upon research, I learned that most people will call for” cornmeal” or “coarsely ground cornmeal” for polenta recipes. Yet, one of my classmates, who was born and spent part of her life in Italy, said that she was used to the finely ground kind as well. Anyway, I was a little thrown off by the coarse grind, but I stopped the cooking when I thought it was done. My instructor apparently did not agree.

Sauce: The sauce went well with the mushroom but there wasn’t enough of it. He had to scrape together what I had put on the plate to accompany one bite of mushroom. To plate that dish again, he said, pool some underneath the mushrooms and just hint at the sauce on top.

Garnish: No comment. I took this as neither good nor bad.

Plating: He was glad to see that I’d used techniques taught at the school, such as the fanning of the mushroom and sweet potatoes. However, he felt that there was conflicting movement on the plate. The school teaches students to plate food in some kind of geometrical movement, upward and outward or circular. The elements on my plate were “competing against each other.”

Other comments:

The dish needed more acidity. I put a cilantro-lime dressing on the sweet potatoes, which should have taken care of the acidity. But since my dressing came out better at home than at school and because the jalapeno was strong, I didn’t want to put too much, so maybe he didn’t really pick up on the lime.

It needed more crunch. I put raw bell peppers in the chickpea salad, as well as walnuts. I asked him if he hadn’t picked up on them. He said he hadn’t.

Overall, though, he said that my dish was something he would enjoy if he had it in a restaurant. Considering that he used to be a chef at Le Bernadin in New York, that’s a great compliment.

It was rather heartbreaking to learn that at least 4 other people (out of 8 ) had received higher scores than me, and I got the feeling that out of a class of 15, the majority will have gotten higher scores than me.

In the end, no one will ask me what I got on my practical exam, but I will know what I got. I will always know that, despite my years of experience cooking, I received a less than stellar score.

But I have to shake off the baggage that this is putting on me and move on. I have to remind myself that not every day will be a red-letter day. Not everything I do will turn out the results I want.

And that’s okay. A score is just a number, not the measure of my worth or a mark of my capabilities. It’s not the individual brush strokes that count but the entire painting. This is a personal demon of mine, one that taunts me at every opportunity it gets. It’s time I kicked it to the curb.

Besides, if the chefs on Iron Chef, Chopped, and all those other chef competition shows have to deal with blows to their creations–not to mention their egos–then I guess I have to, too.

posted by admin on Dec 5

We’ve been in the thick of the food and wellness portion of our program at the Natural

Squash-Sea Vegetable Salad

Gourmet Institute. I don’t know whether other cooking schools have anything like this, but I don’t think so. This is what sets NGI apart from other schools: Its focus on health-supportive cooking. And part of that is understanding various diets and lifestyle programs/principles (for lack of a better way of putting it), such as Macrobiotics and Aryuveda.

Summer Squash with Pesto

We’ve also learned about food and healing for specific illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer, and for keeping the immune system strong, and a couple of weeks ago, we had a cleanse and detox class. This class discussed the digestive system, specifically the kidneys, liver, and colon, and how to cleanse toxins from them.

This week, we had another detox class, except that this time it was “living foods”—i.e., raw foods. We prepared and ate numerous dishes that were completely raw, and it was surprisingly filling and satisfying. We had:

Sweet Potato Pie

Filbert Sweet Milk
Vegetable Soup
Mixed Nut and Vegetable Pate
Jicama Salad
Cinnamon Beets
Squash-Sea Vegetable Salad
Summer Squash with Pesto
Sweet Potato Pie with Cashew Nut Cream
Sunflower Spread
Raw Chocolate Brownie

Sunflower Pate

We started the meal with a shot of wheatgrass-apple juice. When they hear “wheatgrass,” most people think of 1970s hippies living in communes and subsisting on alfalfa sprouts and brown rice. But wheatgrass has so many health benefits, such as helping acne and skin problems, reducing inflammation, and aiding digestion. Its shining quality is that it contains chlorophyll. In fact, wheatgrass is the best living source of chlorophyll, and the health benefits are extensive.

Wheatgrass does not exactly make people go “Mmm, mmm!” but when combined with freshly juiced apples, as we had it, it’s actually quite tasty. We also had homemade kefir, which I can’t honestly say I was crazy about. It had a funky, bad-cheese flavor to it. But some people like that, and to those who do, more power to you.

Mixed Nuts Vegetable Pate

Personally, I would never be able to survive on a raw foods diet (not happily, anyway). I need hot foods, especially in winter. Can you imagine going home at the end of a dark, dreary, freezing winter day and having all cold, raw foods? As delicious as they might be, I would not feel satisfied. In fact, when I got home after class, I had the urge to have a bowl of hot soup. Which I did. And I was happy.

But a raw food diet is a great way to detox, particularly if you’ve gone through a heavy eating period, or a “bad-food” period. On a temporary basis, it wouldn’t be so bad. If you’re interested in giving it a try, here’s a simple recipe for Cinnamon Beets to try. Adjust the seasonings until it’s to your liking. Enjoy.

Cinnamon Beets

Cinnamon Beets

Adapted from Dining in the Raw: cooking with “the Buff” by Rita Romano

Makes 4 servings

2 medium beets, peeled
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon tahini
Juice form 1 orange
1 ½ tablespoons Nama shoyu*
ginger juice**
splash lemon juice
salt

1. Make long strands of “angel hair” by putting beets through a spriralizer. [If you don’t have one of these, just grate the beets using the large holes of a box grater.]
2. Blend cinnamon, tahini, orange juice, and shoyu, along with ginger juice, lemon juice and salt to taste. Pour dressing over beets. Let sit 1 hour and drain well before serving.

Note: For a different taste, substitute one teaspoon chives for the cinnamon and add one teaspoon dry mustard.

*Nama shoyu is unpasteurized shoyu, available in health food stores.

**Make ginger juice by grating fresh ginger and squeezing it in cheese cloth.

posted by admin on Oct 23

Oatmeal Dulse Crackers

I love buffets. You can choose exactly what you want and, sometimes, how much of it. And buffets are very much a social affair. You have to get in line with a bunch of other people, which encourages verbal interaction (“Oo, doesn’t that look good?” “Hey, what’s that?” “I had that earlier. It’s delicious!”), and often share tables with others. And no one goes to a buffet by themselves.

Buffets are also fun for the cook. Over the years, I’ve hosted many parties and they were often buffets. Buffets allowed me to cook multiple dishes and try out all kinds of new things. In fact, they were the perfect vehicles for testing out recipes for my cookbooks. I could put out 10 seemingly disparate dishes across the table and guests could try what they wanted and leave what they didn’t.

Salmon mummy

It also made things easier for me in terms of serving. I just put everything out and that was that. I might have to refresh some things or make some last-minute preparations in the kitchen, but for the most part, once everything was on the table, I could sit and enjoy my friends while they enjoyed my food.

Finished Salmon

So, my class at the Natural Gourmet Institute had their mandatory buffet and it was great! Family and friends of the students gathered to enjoy the various offerings and from all accounts, they had an excellent meal.

Grilled Asparagus

We received a menu that we had to follow, but we improvised here and there. We got a huge box of figs and one of my classmates roasted them and sprinkled parmigiano over them. We added that to our dessert menu. I was in charge of the Apple Oat Crumble, which we piled into martini glasses, and I placed a fig in each one, which not only looked beautiful but it elevated a simple, rustic dessert to something more gourmet.

But, of course, it wasn’t all strawberries and cream. Some things posed challenges, such as preparing a whole poached salmon for service, which required carefully scraping this gray layer just below the skin without ripping the fish. And, once again, I knocked something over, eliciting a solid curse from me. The same dishwashers who had witnessed my crêpe batter disaster saw this, too. I’m sure they have labeled me the year’s biggest klutz.

Baklava

Apple Crumble

Anyway, here’s my class’s menu. I also made the quinoa salad, so below is the basic recipe with my modifications. It’s incredibly easy to make but the results are so good.

All the photos in this blog are by my classmate, Barbara Vadnais (thanks, Babs). The thing that looks like a mummy is the salmon, which we wrapped in cheesecloth to flip it over after it had been poached.

CTP 197 Buffet Menu

Cream of Mushroom Soup
Whole Poached Norwegian Salmon
Cucumber Citrus Salsa
Grilled Asparagus
Lemon Dill Mayonnaise
Tempeh Scaloppine
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Rice Pilaf
Herbed Quinoa
Vegan Caesar Salad with homemade croutons
Red Lentil Pâté
Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Carrots and Poppy Seeds
Oatmeal Dulse Crackers
Vegan Baklava
Apple Oat Crumble with Pomegranate Reduction
Roasted Figs with Parmigiano

Herbed Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 ¾ cups boiling water
¼ to ½ tsp salt
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
2 tablespoons basil, parsley, thyme, or other herbs of your choice
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Wash and toast quinoa in a small saucepan. Over high heat, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and browns lightly (5-7 minutes).
2. Remove quinoa from heat. Add boiling water and salt. Bring back to a boil, stirring. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until quinoa is cooked and all liquid is absorbed.
3. Fluff with a fork and add tarragon and other herbs before serving.
4. Add olive oil, a little at a time, just until quinoa is moistened. Adjust seasoning as needed.Yield: 6 servings

posted by admin on Sep 27

On September 24, my class at the Natural Gourmet Institute had its brunch—our first opportunity to cook a la carte in real time. Friends and family were invited to come to the school and enjoy the students’ offerings and see what things they’ve learned. Guests ordered off a menu and we students worked in the kitchen to give them the best brunch we could muster up. (See our menu below.)

It was a busy day, which began at 9:15. We had an hour overview of the recipes and how things would work. Then we began prepping. We chopped, measured, assessed components, and discussed presentation. Sometime in the afternoon, we got a 20-minute break, which allowed me to run out for a cup of coffee. Mind you, we’re in uniform when we’re cooking and we’re not allowed to go outside in our uniforms.  This means that running out for a cup of coffee requires changing into my street clothes, going out, coming back, and changing back into my uniform. Normally, when we have an intense day with little time for lunch, I don’t bother. Even when we have a full hour I sometimes don’t bother because it’s a pain in the neck to do all of that. But on that day, I so needed a cup of coffee (which, having just learned in our Kitchen Pharmacy class, causes fatigue, seemed counter-intuitive, but it was no time for logic). As soon as I got back, I had just enough time to change and we had to go back into the kitchen.

I was on the crêpe station. I made Moroccan-style chickpea crêpes with mango sauce. The batter was made with chickpea flour and the filling was coconut-curry chickpeas and spinach. I cooked fresh chickpeas, then sautéed them with onion, curry powder, coconut milk, spinach, and a few other ingredients. That simmered until it was thick and flavorful. And it was really good. I wasn’t sure I’d be crazy about it because coconut curry is not my first choice of flavor profile. But when I tasted it, it was really good!

My first crêpe was questionable, but by the second one, I had it under control. It was unfortunate that not many people ordered the crêpes—I was looking forward to improving my technique with each one. But the students enjoyed the leftovers and the dishwashers got to have a taste, too.The mango sauce was more of a challenge than it should have been. The first couple of mangoes I was given were rotten. The instructor got me two more mangoes, but they were not quite ripe. That meant that the flavor needed some boosting. I tried adding different things, from apple juice to lemon juice to, finally, coconut sugar. I finally got it to a good flavor and consistency. Although I don’t think it was as good as it would’ve been if the mangoes had been ripe.

When the time came to start desserts, the Crêpes Suzettes turned out to be quite popular,so I stepped in to help with those. Again, my first one was questionable, but each one got a little better. What remained the same was that the other two students making the Crêpes Suzettes did a much better job than I did. I think I added too much Grand Marnier to a couple of them, if the flames in the pan were any indication. But, overall, I don’t think I did too badly for someone making them for the first time.

I also experienced a moment of adrenaline-driven disaster. Well, not a disaster, really. It was more of a little trip-up. I had poured my batter in two small pitchers, to make it easy to pour. When I made my first chickpea crêpe, I turned to the prep table behind me to plate it and proceeded to knock over one of the little pitchers of batter. It went over and the batter went right into the garbage pail. I let out a firm “son of a bitch” and finished my crêpe plate. I guess if my batter had to spill, it was lucky that it went directly into the garbage.

It was also an opportunity for students to meet each other’s loved ones. We met husbands, parents, grandparents, and friends. It was nice to see these people who my fellow students have been talking about for months!

At the end, we were exhausted but, I think, exhilarated at our first real meal service. It’s getting better and better. Next event: Buffet.

(Photos by Elyse Prince)

CTP 197W Brunch Menu

Salad (choice of)

Spinach Salad, Crisped Shiitake Mushrooms, Pickled Red Onions with a Sherry Vinaigrette

Mixed Greens, Roasted Beets and Walnuts with a Creamy Horseradish Dressing and herbed Goat Cheese on Toast

Entrée

Omelets with Choice Filling of:
Sautéed Peppers
Sautéed Onions
Cheddar Cheese
Sautéed Mushrooms
Tomatoes

Tofu Scramble with Pine Nuts, Tomatoes, Onions, Garlic, and Spices

Belgian Waffles topped with Fresh Fruit and Whipped Cream

Moroccan Style Chickpea Crêpe with Mango Sauce

Tempeh Reuben on Housemade Spelt Bread with Sauerkraut, Pickles, Tomatoes, Avocado and Russian Dressing

Dessert

Chocolate Pudding with Optional Whipped Cream

Crêpes Suzette with whipped Cream

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 Jun 10

This week’s class at Natural Gourmet Institute was hors d’oeuvres. We made vegetarian, vegan, fish, and chicken hors d’oeuvres, including:

Hor d'Oeuvres at Natural Gourmet Institute

* Phyllo Triangles with Savory Mushrooms
*Tempeh Nori Packages
*Fried Shrimp with Wasabi Garnish
*White Bean Spread with Sundried Tomato/Kalamata Tapenade on Rosemary and Garlic Pizzelle
*Curried Chicken Salad on Papadam with Yogurt Raita
*Rosemary, Pumpkin, and Leek Dumplings
*Mini Salmon Cakes with Lemon Dill Aioli
*Parmesan Tacos Filled with Baby Mesclun Greens
*Pine Nut Ricotta on Endive
*Pumpkin Cornmeal Tartlet with Avocado Cream
*Phyllo Triangles with Herbed Greens

The staple of any party or gathering is the hors d’oeuvre. Whether it’s an intricately constructed piece of art or just a bowl of salsa and chips, everyone loves them.

White Bean Sundried Tomato/Kalamata Tapenade on Pizzelle

As a guest, you want something to nibble on while you’re talking, walking, listening, whatever. As a host, you want to make sure that your guests have a little something to put in their stomachs so they don’t roll out of your home stinking drunk. (They might anyway, but at least you’ll know it wasn’t your fault.)

The hors d’oeuvre (which literally means “outside the work”) has been around almost as long as people have been eating foods other than brontosaurus drumsticks. Romans, Greeks, and other ancient civilizations had little bite-sized snacks before their main meals.

Tempeh Nori Packages

Hors can be as simple as crudités and dip; however, “pretty” hors d’oeuvres are labor intensive. But an outstanding hors d’oeuvre is what people often remember most about a meal, even more so than dessert (unless that dessert was out of this world).

For a bunch of students, we made some very nice plates (see photos).

Pumpkin Cornmeal Tartlet with Avocado Cream

And they tasted pretty damn good, too.

I’m wrapping up work on a book of hors d’oeuvres for my second cookbook. I’ve been working on it for years and I’m hoping that a publisher picks it up. Wish me luck.

Here’s the recipe for Parmesan Tacos Filled with Baby Mesclun Greens, which is what I made in class. You’ll find it’s fairly easy and not overly time consuming. Let me know what you think.

Parmesan Tacos Filled with Baby Mesclun Greens

© Natural Gourmet Institute

For tacos:
9 oz. Parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated on small microplane grater
1 tbsp unbleached white flour, sifted

For filling:
1 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 small shallot, minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 oz. baby mesclun greens, washed and spin dried

Procedure:

Parmesan Tacos Filled with Baby Mesclun Greens

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line standard size baking sheet with Silpatbaking mat or parchment paper.
2. In small mixing bowl, toss grated Parmigiano Reggiano with flour.Sprinkle 1 ½ tbs cheese mixture onto Silpat mat to form a 3-inch circle and flatten. Six will fit on a standard baking sheet.
3. Bake until cheese is melted and very lightly golden brown (about 10 minutes) after 5 minutes rotate pan. Remove from oven and let sit 30 seconds. With a spatula, remove one baked round to a paper towel and hold it in the palm of your hand, folding up the edges. Depress a butter knife or small offset spatula adown the middle to form a taco shape. Make sure bottom is flat. Transfer to paper towels to cool. Repeat with remaining cheese.
4. While cheese is baking, in small mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, shallot, and mustard. Whisk in the olive oil slowly. Add salt and pepper to taste. When all of the crisps are made a cooled, toss the greens with vinaigrette. Place the greens carefully into the tacos and serve. Assemble as close to serving time as possible.

posted by admin on May 25

Hi, folks–whew. Had my knife skills test last week and did pretty well! Woo-hoo! Though I’ve been cooking for many years, culinary school requires that you learn certain techniques in style and uniformity of cuts, and it’s been kind of difficult for me to wrap my brain and fingers around that.

So today, I’ll talk a little bit about knives.

Read on!

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by admin on May 20

It’s National Quiche Lorraine Day!

Quiche Lorraine has become a classic staple of French cuisine. However, its origin is known to be Germany—specifically, Lothringen—in1586. It is recorded to appear at the court of Charles the 3rd, Duke of Lorraine.

The French renamed the town Lorraine. The word quiche—as French as it may sound—is actually derived from the German word for cake, kuchen. (If you’re interested in linguistic evolution or word origins, this is from Wikipedia: “The Lorraine Franconian dialect of the German language is historically spoken in much of the region, where German Kuchen, “cake”, was first altered to “küche”. Typical Alemannic changes unrounded the ü (/y/) and shifted the fricative “ch” (/ç/) to “sh” ([ʃ]), resulting in “kische”, which in standard French orthography became spelled “quiche.” Got that?)

Photo: Cookstr.com

The original recipe consisted of eggs, cream, bacon, and bread dough for the crust. Later on, the French brought it up a notch in sophistication by exchanging the bread-dough crust for a flakier pastry crust. Cheese was also added later.

Quiche became popular in the U.S. in the 1950s with the widespread introduction of French cuisine in the home, and this was when the notion that “real men don’t eat quiche” was born. Why? Probably because quiche was, and is, often a lunch or main entree dinner option, alongside a salad or perhaps some soup. Women seem to be satisfied with this kind of meal. Men aren’t. Or weren’t. Now that men (in some places and circles) have moved away from that big meat-and-potatoes-with-lots-of-gravy-and-biscuits kind of diet, they are more open to lighter fare.

Below are a couple of recipe for a traditional Quiche Lorraine, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, and a vegetarian version, courtesy of Jewishfood-list.com. Plus, I’m throwing in a Broccoli Quiche, just because quiche is a great thing.

Enjoy!!

Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients:

Flaky Butter Crust, recipe follows
6 ounces thick cut bacon, cut into narrow strips (or “lardons”)
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss

Directions:

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and trim the edges. (Alternatively, a 9-inch pie pan can be used.) Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is set, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Discard the fat or reserve for another use.

Arrange the bacon evenly over the bottom of the baked crust.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and half and half. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour into the prepared crust and bake until the custard is golden, puffed, and set yet still slightly wiggly in the center, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with Simple Salad.

Flaky Butter Crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed

To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and butter in the processor and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and pulse quickly 5 or 6 times, or until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the container. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the dough by hand, combine the flour, salt, and butter in a medium bowl, and mix with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together and is no longer dry, being careful not to overmix. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface according to the recipe, fit it into the pan, and allow to rest again in the refrigerator before baking.

Yield: one 9-inch tart or pie crust.

Quiche Lorraine, Vegetarian

Serves: 6 to 8

1 deep 9″ pie tin, lined with an unbaked pastry shell
4 large or extra large eggs, plus 1 extra egg white
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) freshly grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 pound diced soy Canadian “bacon”
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, peeled, sliced, and separated into rings
1 3-ounce can (1/2 cup) broiled, sliced mushrooms in butter sauce, drained (obviously, you can slice and sauté fresh mushrooms instead of using canned)
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Prick bottom and sides of unbaked pastry with tines of fork. Bake 5 minutes. Slightly beat one egg white. Slightly brush over pastry. Bake 2 minutes longer. Remove pan from oven. Place on wire rack to cool.

Pour Gruyere cheese, Parmesan cheese, and flour into mixing bowl. Lightly stir with fork. Evenly sprinkle over pastry shell. Evenly sprinkle with “bacon.” Set aside.

Melt butter in skillet. Add onion rings. Sauté over low flame until golden. Turn off flame under pot. Evenly spread layer of onions over “bacon.” Evenly sprinkle with mushrooms. Set aside.

Beat eggs in mixing bowl. Add cream, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Blend thoroughly. Pour into pie shell.

Place pan on center shelf of oven. Bake 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until puffed and golden, and knife inserted in center of custard comes out clean (about 10 to 15 minutes longer).

Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Poster’s Notes:
All this talk about vegetarian bacon reminds me of this wonderful quiche recipe, which was given to me by a former colleague (who was from France), and everyone has always raved about it.

Posted by Virginia Sauer (Sir Angus), Z’L

Broccoli Quiche Recipe

Courtesy of Easy-FrenchFood.com

Prep time: 20 min – Cook time: 40 min

1 round unsweetened pie crust
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup shredded cheese (gruyere or swiss work well)
4 eggs
11/2 cups crème fraîche (or whipping cream)
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Begin by preparing the crust for blind baking. Fit the crust to a 10 inch tart pan(insert link) and prick it through with the tines of a fork in about 20 places. Place the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 400°F. (Placing the crust in the freezer helps to keep it from slipping and bubbling when you bake it.)

Place the chilled crust directly in the hot oven and bake for 12 minutes until just golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 375° F.

Steam the broccoli for about 3 minutes in the microwave. It should be just barely tender. Don’t over steam or you’ll lose the good flavor of this vegetable.

Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a small no stick skillet on medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally just until the onion is soft (about 5 to 8 minutes).

Spread the broccoli and onions evenly on the bottom of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the cheese on top of this.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs, crème fraiche, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper together just until blended. Pour this on top of the vegetables and cheese. Place the pan.in the oven and bake just until done – about 40 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Variations

Mushrooms: Substitute 1 cup of sliced mushrooms for 1 cup of the broccoli. Precook the mushrooms with the onion.

Ham: Add 1 cup of diced ham for an extra punch.

posted by admin on Apr 15

We did stocks this week at the Natural Gourmet Institute, which is a basic class of all culinary schools because stocks are the basis of soups, stews, and even some sauces. We made a few different stocks, including a brown vegetable stock, curry stock, shiitake mushroom stock, a few other vegetable stocks, and a fumet, which is just a fancy French name for fish stock.

Tomorrow, it’s sauces. Woohoo!

As if being the second oldest student in class weren’t bad enough, I had to go and tweak my back. We were lifting our tables onto blocks–which we have to do when we’re ready to prep food–and I lifted, stupidly, with my back. The  table was heavier than I’d anticipated because we’d already put cutting boards on them. Plus, I was set a little back from the table because of the block at my feet, so I was in an awkward position. Anyway, lift…and ouch! It’s been bothering me a little since. I just hope I didn’t do any permanent damage. I have to keep up with these youngsters.

My Friday Night Dinner shift begins in a couple of weeks. I’m half calm about it and half nervous. I know my way around a kitchen but I’m always so worried about doing things right sometimes that I get nervous and end up screwing up. I realized something else, too. Instead of doing things the way my instinct tells me to do it, I do it the way I think they want us to do it. After all, they’re going to assess us on how well we do things the way they taught us how to do them. But it turns out that my instinct was the right way. What makes me go in the other direction? This seems to be a microcosm of my entire life. Instead of following my instinct, I overthink things, and then wish I’d listened to my instinct. Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s also pretty damn infuriating.