1st cooking video

directed by Mischa Hedges

http://vimeo.com/11287902

chocolate chip cookies

One of the great comfort foods for many people are chocolate chip cookies. Back in grad school, my roomate Phil Ballman and i worked our way through a book with the title, "100 of the worlds greatest chocolate chip cookie recipes". Must have tried at least 1/3 of them with the orange one and double chocolate being our faves. However, there were well over a dozen, truly exceptional recipe in that book of a wide variation of approaches to this kind of delightful late night snack. Of course all of these involved copious amounts of ingredients i no longer consume; eggs, butter and sugar. Thus the problem that i have dealt with for years, never finding a recipe online or in any book that i truly liked that was vegan and devoid of processed ingredients. Nor had i ever tasted a vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that i liked.
After much experimenting, i started with a recipe, though altering some things such as using coconut oil instead of margarine from  the New Now and Zen Cookbook by a great chef, Miyoko Nishimoto (http://veganmanifesto.blogspot.com/). Maple sweetened but it came out very crumbly. Added some yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam) to the batter, and binding occurred and the cookie was no longer crumbly.

Arigato Miyoko san for once again helping me out with a culinary problem and leading me in some great directions to explore!

mexican dinner, May 24

We are hosting Monday night dinners for 8 all through the month of May. Featuring as always, everything hand made. These are some of the last events i will host as i plan to leave the bay area this summer.

Monday, May 24
Loft in Oakland
$40/person byob
limited space for 8
for reservations: phil at philipgelb dot com or 510 393 6096

Mexican menu

soup
coconut cucumber "ceviche"

salad
tba
small plate
chipotle bean burgers (rancho gordo yellow indian beans)
arugula radichio sautee

entree
enchiladas filled with homemade almond ricotta and spinach
with red mole sauce
rancho gordo pinquita beans
heirloom rice pilaf
marinated pea sprouts
cucumber salsa

dessert
Chocolate strawberry cake
cinnamon ice cream

Thai dinner, May 17 for 8

We are hosting Monday night dinners for 8 all through the month of May. Featuring as always, everything hand made. These are some of the last events i will host as i plan to leave the bay area this summer.

Monday, May 17
Loft in Oakland
$40/person byob
limited space for 8
for reservations: phil at philipgelb dot com or 510 393 6096

Thai menu

soup
clear red curry soup with homemade tofu, glass noodles and gai lan
(homemade red curry paste)

salad
green papaya
green papaya, with roasted peanuts, cilantro, ginger, garlic, shallot, tamarind, green bean, lime and more

small plate
Thai style crepes
rice flour/coconut milk crepes filled with tofu, sprouts, chives and a spicy dipping sauce.

entree
Massamum curry (homemade coconut milk, homemade curry paste) with homemade tempeh, peas, lotus root
rice
more tba

dessert
TBA

Italian dinner, May 10

We are hosting Monday night dinners for 8 all through the month of May. Featuring as always, everything hand made. These are some of the last events i will host as i plan to leave the bay area this summer.

Monday, May 10
Loft in Oakland
$40/person byob
limited space for 8
for reservations: phil at philipgelb dot com or 510 393 6096

Italian menu

soup
black lentils in wild mushroom stock

salad
roasted baby spring vegetables with olive oil, herb dressing

small plate
canneloni
homemade pasta stuffed with homemade almond "ricotta" with sun dried tomato sauce
roasted asparagus with lemon and herbs

entree
morel risotto
marsala tempeh (homemade tempeh marinated and baked in marsala wine and herbs)
sauteed rappini with olives, pine nuts and capers

dessert
assortment of homemade truffles and cookies and cashew based ice creams

May 3 Japanese menu, dinner for 8

We are hosting Monday night dinners for 8, the month of May. These are some of the last events i am hosting in the bay area as i am planning to move this summer. We will host one dinner/concert in May as well on May 15th with the amazing trombone player, Stuart Dempster

5 courses of handmade sustainable cuisine.

Monday, May 3
6:30 pm
Location: loft in Oakland
price: $40/person byob
for reservations, email phil at philipgelb dot com or 510 393 6096

Soup
asparagus miso chowder
asparagus puree sauteed asaparagus and asparagus tempura

salad
hijiki, collards, daikon, sprouts with umeboshi sesame dressing

small plate
homemade tofu with shitake and maitake mushrooms served in seaweed dashi

entree
homemade tempeh marinated in red miso, pomegranate mollasses and spices, roasted with tangerines
mixed heirloom rice pilaf
dandelion greens with walnut miso dressing
beets pickled with sakura (cherry blossoms) and salt
sauteed burdock and lotus root

dessert
vanilla ice "cream"
green tea ice "cream"
red bean sauce
toasted rice
our renowned cashew based ice creams will be the focus of this Japanese style sundae

Monday night dinners for 8 in May

Now that i tell people i am leaving the bay area this summer, many people are saying, "i wish i had a chance to hire you or attend one of your events that you host". This is a rather odd thing to hear being that i have been here and in business for many years and hosting my own events for 4 years. So chances were there!
Anyways, i am available for catering gigs till August 1 and at that point i will be homeless and living out of my car, surviving by playing shakuhachi on the street to make food and gas money. Before then i will host some events.

In May, every Monday we are hosting a small, intimate dinner for 8 in a loft in Oakland. As always, everything is handmade from local, ultra high quality organic ingredients (tea, spices and coconuts are the non local exceptions).

May 3 Japanese menu

May 10 Italian menu

May 17 Thai Menu

May 24 Mexican menu

all are $40/person, byob. No live music for these but we are hosting one dinner/concert in May on May 15 with the renowned trombone player, Stuart Dempster which is $55/person.

if you want to come, please contact me, soon as i imagine these will fill up quickly.