How To Go Vegan

10/27/17 • 30 min

Please Explain (The Leonard Lopate Show)

Our first Food Fridays Please Explain kicks off with vegan cooking! Ronen Seri and Pamela Elizabeth are the co-founders behind the vegan restaurant franchise Blossom and the authors of The Blossom Cookbook: Classic Favorites from the Restaurant That Pioneered a New Vegan Cuisine. They’ll debunk some myths about vegan food/cooking, offer tips for home cooks and share some of their most popular recipes including Trumpet Mushroom Calamari, Sweet Potato and Coconut Cream Soup, and German Chocolate Cake.

Check out recipes from The Blossom Cookbook below!

Pine Nut–Crusted Eggplant

Eggplant is a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine. It is full of flavor, has a fantastic hearty texture, and is extremely versatile. Created as an inventive option for our gluten-free guests, this dish uses a combination of pine nuts and basil as the crust for the eggplant, and the creamy sauce is a wonderful finish. It’s sure to please and impress at any dinner party and is great for all seasons.

Serves 3 or 4

1 medium eggplant, halved and peeled

11⁄2 tablespoons salt

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes

2 cups pine nuts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Scant 3⁄4 cup olive oil

41⁄2 tablespoons chopped garlic

11⁄2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed

3 pinches of black pepper

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1 sprig fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped

1 cup artichoke hearts

2/3 cup white wine

2 cups Cashew Cream (page 000)

1 head escarole

Preheat the oven to 350oF.

Slice the peeled eggplant lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices (each half should yield 6 slices). Fill a deep bowl with water and add 1 tablespoon of the salt. Soak the eggplant slices in the water for 20 minutes to help remove any bitterness.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the potatoes. Boil the potatoes for 30 to 40 minutes, or until soft, then remove and place in a large bowl.

While the potatoes are boiling and the eggplant is soaking, put the pine nuts, flour, and basil in a food processor. Process until the mixture has the consistency of bread crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add 11⁄2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 11⁄2 tablespoons of the garlic, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Mix well.

Drain the eggplant and dredge the slices in the pine nut breading, making sure each slice is thoroughly coated. Set the breaded eggplant slices on a rack and let sit for 10 to 20 minutes to dry.

Meanwhile, mash the potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the garlic.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, and artichoke hearts and sauté until the tomatoes begin to soften. Add 1/3 cup of the white wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the mashed potatoes and the salt and stir well.

In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant slices and pan-fry on each side until they begin to lightly brown. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 3 to 5 minutes to crisp.

Make the sauce: In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1⁄2 tablespoon of the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/3 cup white wine, the Cashew Cream, and 1 tablespoon chopped basil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add a pinch each of salt and pepper and stir.

In a separate medium skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the remaining 1⁄2 tablespoon garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the escarole and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, or until soft.

To assemble, divide the sauce among three or four plates, then add the potato mixture, the escarole, and finally the eggplant slices on top.

Cashew Cream

Cashews . . . the cream of the crop! With their high healthy fat content, cashews are the best cream substitute, because when blended, they create an incredible richness for sauces. Who would ever think that an alfredo alternative could be so simple? One of our patrons’ most frequently asked questions is “How you do it?” when they eat our coveted fettuccini alfredo.

Note that you need to soak the cashews 3 hours (or overnight), so be sure to plan ahead.

Makes 6 to 7 cups

Ingredients

2 cups raw unsalted cashews, soaked for 3 hours or overnight

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

11⁄2 teaspoons black pepper

Put the drained cashews, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, pepper, and 4 cups water in a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy. The sauce will be relatively thin, but will thicken quickly when heated in a recipe.

Raw Key Lime Pie

The “key” to this dish is the...

Check out recipes from The Blossom Cookbook below!

Pine Nut–Crusted Eggplant

Serves 3 or 4

1 medium eggplant, halved and peeled

11⁄2 tablespoons salt

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes

2 cups pine nuts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Scant 3⁄4 cup olive oil

41⁄2 tablespoons chopped garlic

11⁄2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed

3 pinches of black pepper

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1 sprig fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped

1 cup artichoke hearts

2/3 cup white wine

2 cups Cashew Cream (page 000)

1 head escarole

Preheat the oven to 350oF.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the potatoes. Boil the potatoes for 30 to 40 minutes, or until soft, then remove and place in a large bowl.

Drain the eggplant and dredge the slices in the pine nut breading, making sure each slice is thoroughly coated. Set the breaded eggplant slices on a rack and let sit for 10 to 20 minutes to dry.

Meanwhile, mash the potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the garlic.

To assemble, divide the sauce among three or four plates, then add the potato mixture, the escarole, and finally the eggplant slices on top.

Cashew Cream

Note that you need to soak the cashews 3 hours (or overnight), so be sure to plan ahead.

Makes 6 to 7 cups

Ingredients

2 cups raw unsalted cashews, soaked for 3 hours or overnight

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

11⁄2 teaspoons black pepper

Raw Key Lime Pie

The “key” to this dish is the...

Previous Episode

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For our latest Please Explain, we explore what it means to be an introvert and what pressures they face when advancing their careers. We're joined by Morra Aarons-Mele, an internet marketer who has launched online campaigns for President Obama, Malala Yousafzai, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations, and others. She’s also the author of Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You'd Rather Stay Home), and she shares strategies introverts can use to manage their anxieties while also achieving their goals.

Next Episode

The Secrets Behind Succulent Sauces

For this week’s Please Explain, James Peterson stops by to talk sauces. He’s an award-winning food writer, cookbook author, photographer and cooking teacher who started his career as a restaurant cook in Paris in the 1970s. His book, Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making, has just been released in its fourth edition. James will answer all of our burning sauce-related queries – from béarnaise and hollandaise, to bolognese, crème anglaise, and everything in between.

Check out some of James Peterson's sauce recipes below!

SAUCE BÉCHAMEL The amount of roux per given amount of milk depends on the use of the sauce. Thick versions, used as the base thickener in traditional soufflé recipes, often call for as much as 8 ounces (250 grams) of roux per quart (liter) of milk, whereas béchamel-based soups use approximately 2 ounces (60 grams) per quart (liter) of milk. This recipe produces a medium-thick sauce, appropriate for vegetable gratins.

YIELD: 1 QUART (1 LITER)

INGREDIENTS

milk 1 quart 1 liter

butter 3 ounces 90 grams

flour 1⁄3 cup 80 milliliters

seasonings (salt, pepper, nutmeg; optional) to taste to taste

1. Bring the milk to a simmer in a 2-quart (2 liter) saucepan. Whisk it from time to time to prevent a skin from forming on its surface (see Note).

2. In a second 2-quart (2 liter) saucepan, gently melt the butter and add the flour. Stir the butter and flour over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the flour has a pleasant, toasty smell. (A) Remove from the heat for about 30 seconds to cool slightly.

3. Whisk the simmering milk into the roux. Return the sauce to the stove and bring it back to a simmer while whisking. (B)

4. Once the sauce has returned to a slow simmer, turn down the heat and move the saucepan so that only one side is over the flame. (This will cause a skin to form on only one side of the sauce’s surface, making it easy to skim.) Cook the sauce gently for 30 minutes to 1 hour, skimming off the skin. It is a good idea also to occasionally rub around the bottom and corners of the sauce-pan with a wooden spoon to prevent the sauce from scalding.

5. When the starchy taste has cooked out of the sauce, it can be seasoned and strained, depending on its final use. Béchamel should be stirred while it is cooling to prevent a skin from forming on its surface. Putting the pan over a tray of ice will, of course, speed cooling.

Note: Some chefs do not first bring the milk to a simmer and instead pour cold milk, all at once, over the roux. This method saves time—and a pot—but be sure to whisk the sauce vigorously to prevent lumps and skin from forming.

VARIATIONS

Use a pretreated flour such as Wondra. Simply mix the Wondra (the same amount as flour called for in the traditional recipe) in cold water until smooth (make a slurry). Bring the milk to a simmer. Whisk in the slurry. Simmer until the sauce thickens. It should be smooth, but just in case, work it through a chinois.

While béchamel is a fairly stable sauce, there are times (especially if the flour is old) when it will break. To avoid this, blend hydrocolloids into the finished sauce. Lambda carrageenan lends an authentic dairy-like mouthfeel to the sauce and is easy to use. Start by adding 1% lambda carrageenan to the sauce and build up as needed to get the thickness you want.

James Peterson's cauliflower gratin.
(Courtesy James Peterson)

CAULIFLOWER GRATIN Béchamel derivatives, especially Mornay sauce, make excellent toppings for gratins because they brown and become extremely aromatic. Practically any vegetable can be pre-cooked slightly and then baked while covered with sauce.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS

cauliflower, 1 large bunch or 2 small bunches

mornay sauce (SEE BELOW) 1 quart 1 liter

grated gruyère or similar cheese 11⁄2 cups 180 grams

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Cut the cauliflower into florets. Boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a gratin dish just large enough to hold the cauliflower in a single layer.

2. Ladle the Mornay sauce in an even layer over the cauliflower. (A)

3. Sprinkle the cheese over the gratin. (B) Bake until a golden crust forms on top, about 30 minutes.

SAUCE MORNAY

Sauce Mornay is usually used as the base for cheese soufflés or for gratins. When it is used for gratins, additional cheese and sometimes breadcrumbs and butter are added to its surface to encourage the formation of a crust. Sauce Mornay is made by adding grated cheese to sauce béchamel. Be sure to choose a full-flavored, well-aged cheese for this sauce. If the cheese is too young, the sauce will not only lack flavor but will be stringy. Classic recipes use half grated Gruyère and half grated Parmesan (at least three-year-old Parmigiano-Reggiano), but the sauce can be made with other well-aged, honest...