Archive for the ‘Vegetarian’ Category

A Great Carrot Gratin

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Posted 02 Mar 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

I’ll admit it…I’m a Veg-aholic. I love all vegetables, even the lowly beet. I’m constantly on the look out for new ways of preparing old versions of veggie side dishes. So, after a day of cooking potato gratin for my clients and drooling over the decadence that IS all things “gratin,” I came home to a fridge full of carrots. The urge I had to make a gratin that night forced me to eye up those sweet, orange roots in a new way. I thought, “why not carrots instead of potatoes?”…and was pleasantly surprised at the creamy deliciousness that I had created.

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Sage Sizzle…No Shizzle!

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Posted 25 Feb 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Herbs, Organic Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

I had a bumper crop of Sage last fall. It seemed such a waste to just let it die off as winter approached and, as you might know, I have an issue with “wasting” herbs. (see my “Herb Preserve” post to see how far I’ve gone to save some herbage)

Anyway, I noticed the trend of frying herbs about 2 years ago and hadn’t yet experimented with this idea until last fall.

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Stop Monsanto’s Genetically Modified (GMO) Alfalfa-NOW!

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Posted 01 Feb 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Gardening, Organic Gardening, Organic Produce, Vegan, Vegetarian

HOLY HELL! Monsanto is at it again… Read this:

We just found out that “after years of bureaucratic wrangling, Secretary Vilsack and the Obama administration are only days away from approving Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa. If approved, GMO alfalfa will fundamentally undermine the entire organic industry overnight. In addition, the USDA says American consumers don’t care about the contamination of organics.

Please join us in calling on Secretary Vilsack and President Obama to stand up for organic family farmers by rejecting the approval of Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa. Tell them to protect organic integrity and seed biodiversity over corporate profits.”

Go here and make your voice heard. It will only take a short second to save generations of Organic Farmers crops and livelihoods. DO IT!

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The Art of Making Seitan – 101

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Posted 31 Jan 2011 — by chefshirle
Category Megafaun, Seitan, Vegan, Vegetarian

I remember the very first time I tried Seitan, it was while I was attending Berklee College of Music in Boston and a friend of mine took me to this health food store on Newbury Street. She picked up a nondescript plastic container and opened the lid. Inside was what looked like chunks of brown meat. I asked her what we were looking at and she simply said “Seitan.” Of course, I thought she said “Satan” and replied back with a “Wha?” and a strange look. She then explained how the word was spelled, that it was a ‘wheat-meat’ made from gluten with a high protein percentage and she also explained that the store made their own from scratch. We took it back to her apartment where we made a stir fry. That first bite was wonderful. It tasted like, and had the texture of, meat. But it wasn’t meat. I was hooked.

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Katrina Ford of Celebration – Recording, Touring & Cooking on the Road

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Posted 12 Dec 2010 — by David Koslowski
Category Music, Travel, Vegan, Vegetarian

Rockin’ The Stove has been enormous fans of the Baltimore band Celebration since the release of their 2005 self-titled debut on 4AD Records. The band creates mystical soul stirring music that in a live setting can put you into a trance, making you feel like you are attending a secret ritual. After releasing their fantastic 2nd full-length, The Modern Tribe and touring the hell out of it, Celebration has been keeping quiet for the past couple of years. They’ve been sneaking out a song or two here and there via their website as part of their Electric Tarot project. We caught up with vocalist/percussionist, Katrina Ford, to talk about the band’s upcoming LP Hello Paradise on Friends Records (December 22nd) and how she rocks the stove when they are on the road.

RTS: Hello Paradise will be your first album in three years, you’re no longer with 4AD and now on Friends Records. Can you tell us a little about this transition and how the new record differs from your previous work?

Katrina Ford: With 4AD, we had had a few years of touring and making records with our friends which was awesome, but because of their size and prestige, we had to do things we didn’t like so much. We come from the old school you know, ridin’ around in a dirty van, playin’ some kid’s mom’s basement selling 7″s and homemade patches. So, we were like the Beverly Hillbillies when it came to the business. We’d show up to these fancy places get fed and talk to lawyers, negotiate budgets with the behemoth, get our picture taken, go on press tours, it was all part of the package. We did that and we were given some great opportunities and had some fun.

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Birth Of A Baker

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Posted 04 Dec 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Baking, Vegan, Vegetarian

I’ll admit it from the get-go. I am NOT a baker. Never have been, and most likely never will be. For me, baking is way too exact, something you cant muss with during the assembling of ingredients. I’ve made loaves of Challah bread that you could have used as a baseball bat to knock one out of the park. I’ve made muffins that the Philadelphia Flyers would have loved as hockey pucks. Not good to eat, mind you. With baking you have to know what you are doing and be as exact as possible. This is why I cook as opposed to bake. I can add or subtract anything while I cook, taste testing as I go and adjusting to my hearts content. But not so in baking. This, my husband David finds interesting. While we have “tried” cooking together he, unlike myself, sticks to a recipe as if the world depended on it, whereas I don’t. Call it experience, call it rebelliousness, but I always see another way to prepare a dish. This frustrates him to no end.

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Berlin, Germany – Not Just Beer and Brats

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Posted 26 Nov 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Berlin, Travel, Vegan, Vegetarian

Berlin Sign

Berlin, Germany…not necessarily the first place one would consider visiting when writing a veggie-vegan based food blog, is it? Germany, at least in my mind, is a pork-centric kind of place, where brats rule the day and wienerschnitzel is as commonplace as our mac and cheese. But man, was I ever wrong. Who knew that I would find more places than I could possible try in the ten days I visited, to experience Berlin’s veggie and vegan fare. It was mind blowing…from the very casual vegan Curry Wursts at Yellow Sunshine to the upscale (but oh-so affordable) dining experience of Cafe V, we sampled our way through what this city of eco-conscience, organically driven and free spirited people had to offer.

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Bull City Vegan Challenge 2010 – Thinking Outside the Meat Box.

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Posted 13 Aug 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Durham NC, Features, Vegan, Vegan Brunch, Vegetarian

BCVC Bull

BULL CITY VEGAN CHALLENGE 2010
Come October of this year there is going to be a unique Durham event that yours truly along with my good friend and documentarian/vegan advocate, Eleni Vlachos, are curating. The first ever Bull City Vegan Challenge, or BCVC as we like to call it.

Building on the popularity of “Meat Free Mondays” and Durham’s popular monthly vegan brunch (Now run by my friends Caroline Morrison and Siobhan Catherine from Fiction Kitchen who recently served 163 people within 30 minutes!), we thought it was time to encourage adding inventive vegan options to our favoriterestaurant’s menus — in a fun way.

To this end, Eleni and I hit the streets asking Durham chefs to add a vegan entree, appetizer, or dessert for the month of October. To our surprise, 90% of the chefs agreed to the challenge. Each entree will be voted on by the public, and the winner will receive recognition and a prize.

Thus far, participating restaurants are: Piedmont, Alivia’s, Dos Perros, Rue Cler, Beyu Caffé, Nosh, Toast, and Federal (a few more to come!) We targeted restaurants carefully since the voting public may not be able to eat?out several times per week.

A short documentary will also be included and screened following the October challenge.

Here is the link to the official BCVC site:http://bullcityveganchallenge.com

Yay for Durham Chefs!!!

Kombucha 101 with Dan Streib

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Posted 04 Jan 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Kombucha, Tea, Vegan, Vegetarian

kombucha-ingredients.jpg

A few months ago I was in my local Whole Foods when I came across the juice aisle and noticed bottles of something called Kombucha. What is Kombucha you ask? Well, Wikipedia explains it as, “a fermented tea that is imbibed for medicinal purposes. Although there is limited specific scientific information supporting any purported benefits due to a lack of studies being conducted, there does exist much anecdotal information purporting its historical medicinal value. fermenting tea using a visible solid mass of microorganisms called a kombucha culture (SCOBY) or mushroom. Kombucha is available commercially, but can be made at home ” Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? So, I set out to see if anyone locally was making the stuff so I could see how it was done…and what that “solid mass of micro-organisms” thing looked like. As it turned out, my friend, Dan Streib, was in fact making Kombucha on a regular basis. He was willing to show me step by step the ins and outs of making my own Kombucha. My interview with him follows:

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San Sebastian, Spain – It’s Not All About The Pig

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Posted 26 Dec 2009 — by chefshirle
Category San Sebastian, Spain, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wine

Shirle’ in San Sebastian Spain

 

Spain, throughout its history, has been known as the capital of the pig. As far back as the 15th century, the Catholics decided to eat pig with a passion once they booted out the Islamic and Jewish people from the land. Since that time pork products abound here in every conceivable way imaginable. From the famous Iberian ham to the spicy chorizo sausage; Spain’s ownership of the pig has been its trademark in the culinary world.

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