biscuits

more starchy decadence, Southern style!

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
3/4 cup soymilk (see note)
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 450

whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl
cut in the oil till it resembles coarse, tiny pebbles. Add vinegar to soymilk and dthen add it to the dry ingredients. Do NOT overmix. When dough comes together, turn onto floured board and pat or roll to 1/2 inch thicknes.
Cut dough with biscuit cutter.
 Place on ungreased cookie sheet so sides of biscuits are barely touching.
Bake 16 minutes or till golden brown.

first cooking class of the year January 17

a hands on class with all students taking part in the creation and consumption of each dish

Sunday, January 17
noon
limited space for 8
$40
location: West Oakland

Winter italian menu
winter minestrone
pumpkin ravioli with pesto including how to make your own almond "cheese"
sauteed italian greens
"cheese" cake


contact me for reservations

brunch/concert on Sunday! 3 seats available

due to some cancellations we have 3 seats available for our first brunch/concert. After hosting dinner/concerts for 3 and a half years with an amazing array of world renowned musicians performing, we are expanding to hosting occassional brunches. This time we have an amazing duet of Diana Rowan on harp and the incredible vocalist, Bon Singer. Beautiful original compositions, inspired by their studies of Eastern European musical styles. 5 courses, 4 paired with teas. Contact me for reservations.
details:
Sunday, January 10
11 am BRUNCH
$55/person
byob

Our first Brunch. Been contemplating offering this for a while.
Featuring the return to the series of the extraordinary vocalist, Bon Singer. Bon founded the renowned chorus, Kitka and is one of the foremost vocalists and teachers of Eastern European women's music. This time she is accompanied by another friend of the series, Diana Rowan, a harp player who has appeared on the series before. Expect some truly gorgeous music from these 2 brilliant women.

Bon Singer - voice
Diana Rowan - harp
http://sirenharp.com/


we will be serving Japanese green teas with these courses. Pairings to be announced soon...

starter
drinks warm and cold
Warm: Hot, homemade amazake with ginger. The classic Japanese warming winter drink.
Chilled: freshly squeezed citrus juice. A blend of Californias oranges, tangerines and grapefruits

second
fresh out of the oven pumpkin bialys. The traditional Polish Jewish bread is updated with a pumpkin twist. Served with homemade cashew herb cream "cheez" and beet nut pate
tea: Karigane Shinto Grand Shrine

third
roasted pear and parsnip soup
tea: Sencha Shinto Grand Shrine

fourth course
Vegan quiche
We make a custard from silken tofu and our homemade soymilk and will fill it with sun dried tomatos, caramelized onions, and arugula
roasted heirloom potatoes spiced with smoked paprika and rosemary
satsuma tangerine spinach salad with satsuma ginger dressing
Tea: Tung Ting High Mountain Taiwan oolong
concert
Bon Singer - voice
Diana Rowan - harp

dessert
pear walnut tart
spiced cranberries
cinnamon ice "cream"
tea: Genmaicha Shinto Grand Shrine

teas sourced from our friends at Chadoen.com
Also coming up on the series:
Jan 22 gyan Riley - guitar
Jan 23 Gyan Riley - guitar

Valentines night -Chris Caswell- harp
Feb 27 w Mari Kimura - violin, computer

stir fried tempeh in black bean sauce in potato basket

A nice sichuan dish. Usually this would be made with taro but i did not have any around. Sweet potato can also work.

For the potato basket.
Shred some potatos (kennebecs are a great variety for this!) and then using a basket mold, form a basket and submerge into hot oil (use rice bran, peanut or safflower for deep frying).  Allow your inner Homer Simpson to relish in the delight of mmmmmmm fried. Cook till golden brown, remove from oil, remove from mold and set aside.

Cut tempeh into small square chunks. Drop into deep fryer for 2 minutes. Homer again, mmm fried. Remove, drain well, place on towel to further absorb any remaining oil and put aside.

Now you will need:

Chop several cloves of garlic
mince a small piece of ginger
1 tbsp fermented black beans
1 medium sized bok choy, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 carrot, julienned
1 tbsp oil from the fryer 

mix together the following:
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp shaoshing
1 tsp sichuan chili oil
2 tsp kudzu
1/2 cup seaweed/mushroom stock

to finish
chopped cilantro

In a wok or frying pan, heat up the tbsp oil. Stir fry garlic, ginger and black beans for 1 minute. Then add carrot and bok choy and stir fry 1 more minute. Add the rest of the ingredients at once, stir, cover and let cook 15 seconds. Add the fried tempeh and some chopped cilantro

Serve the stir fried tempeh and vegetables in the potato basket. The effect will be a stunning crispy/soggy delicacy as the black bean sauce melts into the basket.

barbecue sauce

A delightful sauce that goes well with the chipotle bean burgers i recently posted.
Since it is winter, i am using sun dried tomatos, rather than use ones greenhouse grown or from foreign lands.

Cover your tomatos with water and soak  overnight or a few hours in advance. Drain them, yet save the water from them to use in the sauce!

in a sauce pan, heat up
3 tbsp olive oil

then add
One onion, minced
one leek, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
10 cloves garlic, minced
20 sun dried tomatos, reconsituted
1 tsp sea salt

Cook for 10 minutes, till vegetables are well cooked, then add:
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp half sharp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp chinese mustard powder
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup agave
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soaking water from the sundried tomatos

and simmer for one hour on very low heat.

Then add:
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 cup hatcho miso

place everything in blender and puree.

vanilla oolong ice "cream"

Here is another one of my ice "cream" recipes.

You will need a high speed blender and also an in ice cream maker to produce this recipe.

first mix:
1 cup unsweetened soymilk (see note)
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp kudzu
dash salt

In a high speed blender, place the above ingredients in and let go on high for 3 - 4 minutes, till it becomes totally pureed, heats up and becomes thickened.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan bring to simmer, 2 more cups of soymilk (see note)
After it comes to simmer, remove from heat and add 2 tbsp high mountain Taiwanese oolong leaves. I am using Dong Ding variety. Cover and let steep for 4 minutes and then drain the leaves out of the soymilk.

Place this oolong soymilk in the blender, adding it to the first mix that is now thickened. Add 1 tbsp vanilla extract and 1/2 cup agave syrup. Blend till mixed.

Place this mixture in an ice cream maker and proceed to freeze.

Serve with oolong apple muffins! (recipe to be posted soon)


Note: for this recipe you have to use unsweetened soymilk with nothing added to it. No preservatives and most important, no sweeteners, thickeners or anything besides water and organic soybeans. Otherwise it simply will be gross to put it bluntly.

tempeh scramble

 Another nice brunch treat!

Fairly easy to make and when you have homemade tempeh, oh man is it ever so good! If you are in the bay area and want to try some artisan made tempeh, please contact me as my homemade tempeh is soon going to be available for purchase!

for 4 servings:
1/2 pound tempeh, crumbled
1/2 orange pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil

finish with
2 green onion chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice


Heat up a cast iron skillet.
 Add olive oil and onions and salt. Fry for 2 minutes and then add garlic, pepper, carrot and celery and spices. Fry for another 2 minutes, stirring often. Add tempeh and fry for 4 more minutes.
Add the lemon, green onion and parsley and remove from heat and serve with shredded hash browns