Dear Megan Williams

Sorry about the dinner put away. I promise to do better (less) next time. Love, Your Head Cook

Monday's Menu:

Green Salad

Actually just spinach, thanks to the Monday holiday and a very empty walk in. I suppose I could have boiled some beets.

Coconut Apple Lentils

From a recent Minimalist column. Half red lentils, half yellow split peas, coconut milk, and 8 chopped apples. Still tasted like a horrible disaster of blandness at 6:30, but was saved by salt, lemon juice, and

Coconut Mint Tarka

made from unsweetened dried coconut fried with garlic, ginger, and dried mint in a ton of olive oil, with some minced spring onions from the garden added off the heat. Fantastic.

Crazy Rice/Quinoa

A well worn favorite: white rice or quinoa, caramelized onions, cinnamon, turmeric, frozen peas, and raisins. Somewhat out of character, I actually prefer craisins here, but we were out. This also usually has

Roasted Cauliflower

mixed in, but there was no room in the dishes, and no time to stir it in anyway, so we served it on its own. Boring, but possibly my favorite boring vegetable.

Garam Masala Turnip Fries

These were meant to be the main vegetable. I was excited about them, because I love roasted turnips and thought that we were being good co-opers by using up some of the less glamorous root veggies, but they were just okay and didn't really get eaten. They were made like roasted potatoes: steamed for about twenty minutes, and then baked on big sheets with a lot of preheated oil for maybe forty more. However, we had a lot of things that needed baking today, so they were sharing an oven with the tofu, and didn't get crispy. I'd do these again, but only if I could devote a whole oven to them. I'd also probably make fewer of them, and let them drain a bit from the steaming before throwing them on the baking trays.

Spinach, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes with Indian Spices

From the Ajanta book. This was super delicious, but probably the thing that I should have cut. All three of us were working full steam this shift and we still went 15 minutes over.

Tandoori Chicken (and Tofu)

From Julie Sahni's Classic Indian cooking. The chicken would have been better if I hadn't been so busy with everything else and had therefore been able to keep a closer eye on them. And the tofu would have been better if I had put it in earlier, or if the oven hadn't been so over worked. However, the recipe is perfect for the house. It's so easy, and so much tastier and prettier than just salt and pepper roasted chicken thighs.

Steamed Greens

Cauliflower and Kale: this was just using things up. They didn't really get eaten, but I am optimistic about their fate as leftovers. They are so plain that they'll be very easy for people to work into lunch food.

Raita: Regular and Vegan

a la Megan Williams. Perfectly executed, but next time we should do one with mint in it. And maybe skip the vegan one, but put aside some yogurtless spiced tomatoes and cucumbers for people who don't do dairy.

Coconut Vegan cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

My third favorite of the vegan cupcakes so far. Maybe second. (Maybe I need to do a side by side comparison with the margarita cupcakes...)

The Meatening

Pick yer Protein: Ham, Chicken, Tofu

All baked with maple syrup and sage

Brown Rice, Roasted Potatoes

Steaming the potatoes worked really well, but the roasting step could have used a bit more oil.

Brussels Sprouts in Butter

Take that, vegans! (Okay, actually, just look behind you. There are naked sprouts on the stove.)

Salad with beets and pears and blue cheese dressing

Take that again! (or just take some of the citrus dressing)

Squash and beans

Nobody seems to love this as much as I do...

Magical Ian dal

Chickpeas, garlic, onions, broccoli

Brooklyn Brownie Vegan Cupcakes

Shockingly, there were leftovers, something I have never before witnessed with the cupcakes.

Moving to Mondays

A bit of a stressful evening, because the delivery didn't come until 4:30. We started the shift with beets, squash, tofu, and some kidney beans that I'd soaked. We didn't even have onions! In a bit of a panic, I had Megan W. start prepping all the beets that we could fit in the oven, and Ida started some butternut squash for soup. Then the food arrived, and we made everything I had originally planned, minus dessert, plus beets and squash. And were fifteen minutes late. Not my best meal, but we're just getting settled in...

Green Salad

with pears, nappa cabbage, and a choice of yesterday's dressing or the tofu marinade

Spring Roll Salad

Rice noodles, shiitakes baked in tamari and olive oil, mint, cilantro, with nappa cabbage, bean sprouts, and scallions to the side. (Note: putting rice noodles in boiling water bag by bag works, but is not the best method for cooking them, because it takes a lot of time and there's a very high risk of gumminess. I think that just soaking them for a lot longer in hot tap water works. Also, it might be possible to do the herbs in a food processor, if we were willing to do some kind of simple dressing, which might be good for the noodles anyway, although Ida's carefully minced herbs were pretty awesome.)

Peanut Sauce

Caramelized onions, two parts coconut milk, one part peanut butter, vegan sugar, tamari, lime juice. I thought it was possibly the best peanut sauce I've ever made, although I didn't get any compliments on it, which is unusual for peanut sauce.

Tamarind Sauce

Tamarind, lime, sugar, garlic, tamari. Should have had hot pepper, but I couldn't find any in the walk in.

Naked Beets

Baked in water for twoish hours, then peeled and chopped. Yay beets!

SatayRendang Lamb

Lamb Stew meat with a satay spice rub (garlic ginger sugar coriander cumin) cooked rendang-style (sear and simmer in water). The searing was a little dicey, because the sugar in the spice rub wanted to burn, but it all worked out fine. I trimmed the meat a little, but not too carefully.

Tofu

with Soy, Lemon, Garlic, and Ginger. Three quarters of a box because is what fit in the container that I had set aside for marinating. We could have eaten a whole box. Baked as hot as the oven would go until it looked nice, then kept in the oven at a low temperature until serving time. I think that Tim has a new tofu supplier; the tofu was less grainy and almost fluffy, while still firm enough not to fall apart when I was rough with it. I love Sac Tofu, but this did seem to be of a higher quality.

Brown Rice

Steamed Bok Choy

quartered, and steamed in a colander over the thin pot of water, along with the tougher parts of the Nappa we used for the salad.

Honolulu Beans

From Moosewood Restaurant cooks for a crowd. Kidney beans with hoisin and pineapple and onions and tomato. I would make them again iff I were making this or a similar meal. They were not the best beans that I have ever had, but they were solid B beans that fit in really well with the rest of the menu.

Butternut Squash and Coconut Puree with Ginger

This was one dish too many, and I thought that it was a bit heavy, but everyone loved it. Baked squash, sauteed onions, veggie broth, coconut milk, ground ginger. Credit to Megan W for insisting on processing the hot squashes; I wanted to give up and just serve them as squash. Without this dish, we probably would have been on time, but the reception that it got indicates that it was worth the delay. I don't know if it was worth all that her hands went through, but I'm glad she did it.

Spooning

Green Salad

Beet and Turnip Salad with Pineapple Dressing (Veganomicon)

Good, (dressing was great) but as a matter of personal preference, I think I like cooked beets better.

Polenta

Well, cornmeal mush. Would have been better with polenta, but nice for a change, and the corn goes well with gorgonzola sauce.

Brown Rice for the Corn Haters

Black Eyed Peas with Caramelized Onions and Thyme

I thought that this was excellent. It took a lot of salt, and could maybe have used a little more thyme.

Cauliflower Greens with Garlic

Roasted Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

about half an hour, the first at 400 degrees, the second as hot as the oven would go. Could both have used a little more time.

Nine Hour Lamb (spoon lamb)

Wow. Took a little prep time in the morning, but that's what head cooks get the extra time for. Veggie Broth, Garlic, Onions, Carrots, Turnips, Rosemary, Salt, Pepper, Lamb, 300 degrees all day long.

Gorgonzola Sauce
Gorgonzola cheese and milk, a little thinner than I would have liked, simmered for maybe half an hour.

Tomato Sauce

1 can tomatoes, 1 head garlic, oregano, bay, cinnamon, simmered the whole shift.

Vegan Rice Krispie Treats with Peanut Butter Chocolate Sauce

Floppy but tasty.

A Salmon of Doubt

Rumor around the house was I'd be getting a salmon today, so

I wanted to repeat my old mustard salmon and red wine lentils

this evening, but the fish never showed. Oh well. Still damn

tasty, despite a few complaints about the meatless meal.

Two new assistants this evening, with two very different styles,

but both very good!

The menu:

Salad with Pears, Pickled Onions, and Balsamic Dressing

Soy and Mustard Glazed Salmon

Beet and Tomato Stew

with feta and walnuts

Lentils with Red Wine and Mushrooms

needed more mushrooms

Brussels Sprouts

Halved, and roasted in the hottest possible oven,

watched carefully, perfect. Maybe forty minutes?

Cauliflower

Cooked the same as above. Next time, should use cooler

oven if possible. And more salt!

Cauliflower Greens

We tried steaming these pretty much whole, and

it didn't work too well, so the second half got fried.

Next time: chop finely, then steam?

Brown Rice and Acme Bread

Not together

Banana Bread from the Veganomicon

with chocolate chips. Super good.

Eggplant and Peppers and Mushrooms, oh my!

A co-opified take on the Thai Crepes in Vegetarian Planet, the book that (8 years ago!) taught me how to cook without meat.

Salad Greens, with the Moosewood carrot dressing again, because it's that good.

Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortillas: spongy, a fair stand in for the crepes, which would have been way too much work to make

Veggie Stir Fry: eggplants and mushrooms and red peppers and green onions with soy sauce, vinegar, and some powdered spices

Baked Salmon: with mustard, soy, and garlic. In the oven at 350 for a half hour. Could have used some sweetness

Stir Fried Tofu: a la Megan Williams. A little greasy, but the best greasy tofu I've seen around here in a while.

Pinto Beans with Onions and just a little five spice powder

Jasmine Rice with Turmeric: 14 cups rice, 17 cups water, double rinsed, coated with just a little oil. Worked just like Christie said it would.

Lychee cupcakes: Not as lycheetastic as I expected, but still quite good. Next week - Coconut lime?

29 Sept 09

Green Salad with Moosewood Japanese Dressing (by Megan Williams- very good)

Sushi Roll Salad from Epicurious, modified for house (brown and white)

(the wasabi dressing was terrible! I can't figure out why; I've made it before successfully.

Tilapia with Pineapple/Orange/Soy Sauce and Ginger

Baked Tofu with same

Nasu Dengaku Soup

Eggplant, chickpeas, veggie broth, miso, peanut butter, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, scallions added at end. Better than I expected.

Minimalist Black Bean Salad, Japanese Variant, Served Warm with Seaweed. This was kind of gross when I just followed the recipe, because I hadn't really cut the onions small enough. So I added a little more soy than was demanded, and simmered it for an extra half hour. It turned into more of a Japanese Variant on Mexican pot beans than on American Bean Salad, but it was quite yummy. Should have mixed the seaweed in, though.

Chard and Spinach with a little soy, rice vinegar, and tahini

Strawberries from a Stranger