A recap of the cooking workshop

As promised, menus and pictures from the cooking workshop at the Sivananda Yoga Farm. Thank you Rama for taking the time to take and send me the pictures so that everyone can enjoy them.

Sivananda Yoga Farm

Holiday Vegetarian Cooking and Baking Workshop

12/17/2011

First course
Warm baby spinach, fennel, and roasted beet salad with chai-spiced dressing
Baby spinach, fennel bulb, red beets, whole mint, extra-virgin olive oil, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, lemon juice, orange juice, and honey. Topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.

House-made coconut roll
Unsweetened finely grated coconut, sugar, active dry yeast, warm water, all-purpose flour, salt, milk, and vegan butter.

Main
Rosemary polenta with white bean, pumpkin, and chard ragout
Fresh rosemary, polenta, vegetable stock, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon thyme, thyme, ginger, white beans, celery, butternut squash, white chard, vegetable stock, and parsley.

Dessert
Raw chocolate mouse with toasted coconut and mini coconut butter cookie
Avocado, cacao powder, agave, a pinch of cayenne, vanilla extract, shredded coconut, almond meal, salt, baking soda, flax seed, palm sugar, and mini chocolate chips. Garnished with fresh mint leaf.

And of course, the lovely participants!

New and exicting adventures

As of right now, I am off to a country in Central America for two weeks.

Yesterday I taught a cooking workshop at the Sivananda Yoga Farm, a beautiful ashram in Grass Valley California. *Be sure to check out the menu and pictures that I will be posting soon from the workshop! It was a lot of fun to guide 11 or so people in what I do on almost a daily basis.

Aside from my culinary adventures at home, the ashram is the place that propelled me to pursue my culinary passion. After a lapse of visiting the kitchen playground for some years, assigned karma yoga (selfless service) brought me back into the kitchen. Since then, I have been having adventures in the kitchen, both home and commercial. My deepest gratitude goes to the ashram for allowing me to serve them and opening the gates of opportunity to me in the culinary field, as well as on and off the yoga mat. Through hatha yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga, I really began to feel the spiritual aspect of the practice at the ashram. And through this practice, I am more readily equipped to handle the unique stimulating kitchen environment.

I noticed one very important difference between yoga and cooking. In yoga and meditation, you want to keep focused on one single thing - breath, mantra, drishti, asana, etc. However, when executing a multi-course menu in the span of a couple of hours, you have to have a few projects going - dough rising, beans cooking, prepping vegetables, etc. All goes on at the same time and at times, actually a lot of times, I feel as if my brain is going to short circuit from the over-stimulation of thoughts. The way I approach this challenge is to write a detailed and ordered prep list and with each task, I focus (even if it's for a few moments) on the task at hand. And I really put my heart into it, even though my mind may be elsewhere.

Two lentil chili and skillet cornbread

As I was making this dish today, what came across my mind was how chilis are very similar to Indian dals. It's a legume stew with spices that have been simmered for quite a period of time. The difference? The spices used, the type of lentil at times, and some other "secret" ingredients.

Two lentil chili with butternut squash and okra

Skillet cornbread with lavender honey butter

The initial start of chili was made of grapeseed oil, garlic, chili spices (bay leaves, cumin, chili powder, rubbed sage, and red chili flakes), tomato paste, celery, carrots, and green bell peppers. I had debated in my mind whether or not to pre-cook the black beluga lentils as I know they take a bit longer to cook through than red lentils. I decided to stir in the uncooked belugas so that as they cooked, the flavors from the spices and vegetables would infuse. The butternut squash, okra, and tomatoes were up next, along with plenty of vegetable stock. Second to last, the red lentils. And to finish? Tamari, a wheat free soy sauce that gave the chili even more depth and umami-ness.

It was my first time making a skillet cornbread and after making the cornbread batter, I was a bit nervous of how it would turn out. The batter was quite thick as a blend of whole wheat flour and regular flour was used. Rather than questioning, I gave it a go and ladled the thick batter into hot cast iron skillets that had been heated with oil until smoky. After about 25 minutes of baking in a 340F oven, this was the result.

"Brilliance" in simplicity

If we break down the components of lasagna, it's sheets of pasta, layered with cheese, sauce, and some sort of filling. The layers repeat themselves pretty much until there is no more room in the casserole dish. This layering concept was applied today in a simpler (although time consuming) and elegant way.

Mixed mushroom "lasagna" with butternut squash and wilted spinach

Rosemary focaccia

So here's the breakdown:

• Lasagna sheets - butternut squash was shaved thin on a slicer and tossed in a bit of lemon-infused olive oil;
• Cheese - a cashew "ricotta" was made using soaked cashews which were then drained and pulsed with nutritional yeast, sea salt, and fresh lemon juice;
• Filling: a mix of shiitake, oyster, and crimini mushrooms, all of which impart a unique flavor, were sauteed in olive oil and Braggs amino acids; baby spinach was tossed in fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and Hawaiian sea salt.

The focaccia was made using the recipe here. Next time, I would rub more olive oil on the top as some parts dried up a bit during baking. It was, however, really good for dipping into balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Simple. Delicious. And as one customer put it: "brilliant".

Massaman tofu curry

Thai curry in peanut butter and coconut milk? I discovered massaman curries in Virginia back when I was a carnivore. I do remember it being very good. It's just as delicious with a right balance of seasonal vegetables and tofu.

Thai-style massaman curry with kabocha squash and tofu

Sesame brown rice

I typically like to make my own curry pastes, but with the holidays around the corner and a huge prep list at hand, pre-packaged vegan yellow curry just had to do. The yellow curry paste was sauteed with additional ginger and garlic in grapeseed oil. Julienned red onions were added and sauteed until almost translucent. Carrots and kabocha squash were stirred in along with some water to help cook the vegetables. Smooth peanut butter was stirred in before the squash was fully cooked so that the peanut butter can melt into the curry paste. After which add enough water or vegetable stock to the simmer so that when tofu is added, they can swim around in the curry. Organic coconut milk, fresh lime juice, palm sugar, and kaffir lime leaves rounded out the remainder of the curry. Oh! And right during service, organic baby spinach was stirred in to the curry. The curry itself was incredibly flavorful and to avoid taste-bud competition, I left rice simple and stirred in some toasted sesame seeds.

Kale. Now what?

Kale is a wintry green that if full of possibilities. It is often put into smoothies, made into chips, eaten in a raw kale salad, sauteed, and the list goes on and on.

Orecchiette with navy beans and kale pesto

Blanched Russian kale made its way into a pesto with shallots and garlic fried in extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice. At first, the kale was still bright green, but as it began to turn into the pesto, it turned into a muddy, earthy color. It wasn't the most appealing nor the most offensive. The color honored the season. However, if I were to make kale pesto again, I would definitely try using a raw curly kale for that brilliant green. In the finished dish, the pasta was tossed with cooked white navy beans, raw cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Chopped parsley and roasted kale chips were used to garnish.

Black bean tostada stack

In this rendition of the tostada, the corn tortilla is baked at a high temperature to achieve it's crunchy texture rather than deep fried. Brown rice in lieu of polished white rice. And all sans cheese. Healthier option for sure.

Tostada stack with simmered black beans and Spanish rice

Cooked black beans were simmered in mixture of sauteed garlic, red onions, tequila, and jalapenos. Cooked brown rice and fresh chopped cilantro was folded into a separately sauteed melange of onions, cumin, garlic, tomato paste, green bell peppers, and tomatoes. Green bell peppers are key as it lends another depth of flavor to the rice. Fresh shredded romaine and tofu sour cream made of silken tofu, fresh lemon juice, and dry mustard powder topped the stack.

Moroccan stew and Manaquis bilzatar

What and what? Today's lunch was a trip to the regions of Morocco and Lebanon. A stew accompanied with a Lebanese-style z'atar seasoned flat bread. It was my first attempt at making the bread and as with any challenge, it was fun, and on the bonus side, it turned out amazing.

Moroccan spiced pumpkin, barley, chickpea, and mushroom stew

Manaquis bilzatar

The stew was started with a simmer of extra virgin olive oil, yellow onions, garlic, ginger, spices (Spanish paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, and red chili flakes). Next came the mushrooms. Be sure to cook these well so that the flavors of the mushroom can seep out. The delicata squah was stirred in along with some vegetable stock. Pre-cooked barley and chickpeas then joined the party along with some additional vegetable stock. Add only so much stock so that it honors the stew aspect of the dish. And note that the longer the stew sits, the more the barley will soak up the liquid. At the end, add some fresh lemon juice and voila! You got yourself a very savory and balanced stew. The garnish of grated granny smith apples, parsley, and lemon juice provided a light contrast to the depth of the stew. And that beautiful, deep purple garnish: bulls blood from beets! I found the recipe for the flat bread here. One of my co-workers suggested rather than cooking the bread on a pan, the pizza oven would be a good option, and boy was he right!

A twist on macrobiotics

Briefly, the macrobiotic diet revolves around the yin/yang properties of food, emphasizes whole grains, seaweeds, root vegetables, and the occasional pickled vegetable. Today's dish used the soon-to-be very popular, low-cal, kelp noodles. Yes. Noodles that are really crunchy made from seaweed.

Macrobiotic kelp noodle bowl

The kelp noodles (seaweed) were tossed with scallions and toasted sesame seeds in a mixture of tamari, mirin, fresh grated ginger, and a touch of sesame oil. Raw carrots (root vegetable) and red cabbage were drizzled with a garlic-tahini sauce made of tahini, raw apple cider vinegar, raw garlic, maple syrup, and filtered water. The sauerkraut (fermented) was made in house and I started the process a week and a half ago. Simple shaved cabbage was tossed and massaged in sea salt, caraway seeds, and fennel seeds. Honestly, it could have gone a bit longer. Sprouted and dehydrated teriyaki pepitas (protein source), red clover sprouts, and ripe avocado adorned the whole dish. The chef commented that the dish was overly crunchy, and when writing the menu, I hadn't thought of it, but you know what? She was totally on mark.

Tie this one on for size

When I first discovered farfalle, I was at Macaroni Grill on the east coast. I remember there was a huge smile on my face. It was amazing to me that one could create a bow-tie shaped pasta. It was too adorable, and more than that, really fun to eat. Today's dish was just that: a little fun, a little sophisticated, simple, and way tasty.

Farfalle with grilled raddichio, fennel, olives, and herb-walnut pesto

It's super important to soak walnuts before using. Not only does this aid in digestion, but it also helps remove some of the astringent effects of the delicious nut. Being a purist at times, I personally don't mind it too much as I could eat a boat load of walnuts from the shell. After soaking the nuts, dry toast them in the oven to bring out their nuttiness. The pesto was made by adding the walnuts, a bit of garlic, and chopped fresh sorrel and basil to a food processor. Once pulsed, a bit of lemon juice was pulsed in, then extra-virgin olive oil. Pulse is key. If you keep the food processor running, you will end up with a herb walnut butter as opposed to a pesto. The pesto should still retain some texture and show up as a feature on the dish. The farfalle was tossed with the pesto, a smidgen more extra-virgin olive oil, Hawaiian sea salt, raw shaved fennel, grilled raddichio, and kalamata olives. Utilizing the whole fennel, the fronds were used as a garnish. Fronds are also nice to an infused water or even to a vegetable stock.

Learning to deviate from the plan

Hiccups. And I don't mean the kind of the body, but rather of life. I noticed today that my energy was a bit out of balance in spite of my early morning practice and bike ride to work. I knew that today was going to be a bit of a challenge as the prep for the Swiss chard went awry yesterday. The chard was supposed to be stemmed from the leaf down, and as we all tend to do sometimes, we make mistakes. It was completely stemmed. However innocently done, I told myself that I would spend the extra time in piecing the leaves together so that I could make a roll. This morning, after about 7 of these attempts, I moved onto a different plan, one that required a lot less effort. Perhaps I gave up to early, or perhaps I took the smarter route. As of this moment, I'm still not sure.

Coconut sticky rice over Swiss chard
Miso simmered tofu
Yam "fries" with wasabi dipping sauce

Nishiki rice was steamed with diluted coconut milk (1 part coconut milk and 3 parts water) and then combined with sweet shredded coconut, scallions, and toasted white sesame seeds. This was the filling of the planned roll, but ended up as a compact scoop over steamed chard that was drizzled with a shoyu sauce of tamari, mirin, fresh grated ginger, and a touch of sesame oil. The tofu turned out really well. Firm tofu was simmered in a miso bath of white miso, sake, demerara sugar, and filtered water. When served, it was sprinkled with a light dust of the spicy togarashi, one of my most favorite condiments in Japanese cooking. And the yam fries? Simply roasted with a touch of oil, salt, and pepper. The wasabi dipping sauce was meant to be a mayonnaise, but adjustments were in order as the vegan mayonnaise I attempted to make didn't really turn out well. After much tasting and alteration, constituted wasabi powder, along with cashews, almonds, lemon juice, rice oil, soy milk, Dijon mustard, and a touch of maple syrup created end product. Lessons learned: improvisation and the flexibility to change from a pre-determined route makes life a lot easier. And leaving emotions out of the picture... work in progress and something I definitely look forward to.

Soba, cauliflower, and oyster

Oysters???? Oyster mushrooms of course. People do question whether or not the dish is vegetarian and it is all within reason. And as the Chinese proverb goes, "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever."

Spice roasted cauliflower and braised oyster mushrooms

Sesame soba noodles with edamame and sesame dipping sauce

To create textures on the plate, the cauliflower was roasted in a melange of spices: toasted fennel, coriander, cumin seeds, and turmeric. The oyster mushrooms were braised in a garlic sherry and marsala wine reduction and Braggs amino acids (I know - I can't get enough of mushrooms). To add a crunch element, rice noodles were fried and topped the stack of cauliflower and mushrooms. We were fortunate enough to get fresh soba noodles, which were cooked until done, shocked in ice water, then tossed with a bit of sesame oil and edamame. The whole dish was accompanied by a sesame dipping sauce made of toasted sesame seeds, lemon juice, silken tofu, white miso, paprika, cayenne, and a touch of turmeric. Turmeric is known to be a blood cleanser, so why not sneak it in once in a while?

Wine and dine

With a rental car in possession for the weekend, what else can one do but take a road trip? So was the agenda: Paso Robles and the 318 some odd wineries in the region. With an overnight bag and my yoga mat in tow, I was set to go on this trip. I can't say I'm the best long distance traveler, and two and a half hours in the car is more than plenty for me. I can honestly say it was worth every single moment of getting there and returning home. I tasted countless wines, only one of which stood out to me: A 2009 Bailey Vineyard zinfandel from Minassian Young Vineyards. I don't know much about wines, but I do know what I like and don't like and this wine revealed a nice soft explosion in my mouth, without being overzealous. I also tasted amazing olive oil from Pasolivo where at which I discovered black salt, the ever-so-sneaky spicy ghost pepper salt, and Katz's late harvest sauvignon blanc vinegar. Oh-my-goodness. It was soooo good, and at $15 for a 12.7 bottle, I caved in and bought just one. For dinner, my companion and I enjoyed light fare at Thomas Hill Organics, a restaurant which utilizes organic seasonal local crops. It was simply pretty good. I would have to say that what I enjoyed the most about the trip was the breathtaking views of the manicured vineyards and the humble magic behind mother nature. Some grapes had not yet been harvested, and their beauty glistened in the sun as the sun's rays shone over the majestic hills of the vineyards. It is moments like these where I realize that it's really the simple things in life that are the richest.

Inspired

Quite often, while perusing through books, magazines, blogs, and the like, I get inspired by a chef's creation. Today's dish was a reflection of that. See if you can figure out who the inspiration is.... In the continuous pursuit to honor the fall season, portabella mushrooms, pomegranates, and polenta found a merry match. I nick-named this dish "The 3P's".

Polenta, portabella, and pomegranate

Swiss chard and simmered navy beans

The polenta cakes were made with a touch of vegan butter, salt, and pepper. After refrigeration, they were cut into individual servings then seared with extra-virgin olive oil. A simple marinade of garlic, olive oil, and herbs de provence bathed the portabella mushroom caps, which were first roasted, then diagonally sliced. And the pomegranates? Fresh of course and I don't think I need to say the time it takes to prep these wonderful flavor bombs. The whole dish was slightly drizzled with a finishing sauce made of pomegranate concentrate, molasses, balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil. The whole plate looked like a preview to the holiday season. Would you agree?

Fall for mushrooms...and so much more

We eat as the seasons change. Although I find the spring and summer seasons most fun for fruits and vegetables, there are some amazing fall items that often get overlooked or shunned. Today's dish was truly a salute to the fall, featuring wild chanterelle mushrooms, watermelon radish (one of my favorites!), baby beets, and the all-impressive, all-so-versatile kale.

Chanterelle mushroom bisque

Kale salad with cranberry poppyseed dressing

The bisque comprised of extra-virgin olive oil, shallots, fresh thyme, red chili flakes, red miso (for depth) and leeks simmered in sherry until reduced. Then a bounty of carrots, celery root, oyster mushrooms, and chanterelle mushrooms were added and simmered until softened. Vegetable stock and a cashew cream were gently stirred into the medley upon which a touch of nutmeg and lemon juice were added. The mixture should have just enough liquid so that it remains "thick". Bisques are typically blended, but in this case, I wanted to highlight all the ingredients, especially the special chanterelles.