Monthly Archives: May 2018

Week 14 final practical

The Art of Vegetarian Cuisine

Group Photo

Here are some photos of week 14’s final practical. The chefs did a wonderful job both creating and presenting their dishes.

week 14 final (Teams C,D,E)

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Team C

Appetizer- Deviled Eggs with Kale Salad

This was their vegan version of a ‘deviled egg’. They used extra firm tofu to resemble the egg. The ‘yolk’ was made with chickpeas, nutritional yeast, mustard, avocado, seasoning, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The kale salad was mixed with an array of vegetables and topped off with a refreshing mustard vinaigrette.

Entrée- Zucchini Pasta with Creamy Cucumber and Avocado sauce with Smoked Sausage

This was a light yet fulfilling dish. The zucchini was sautéed in a sauce pan with a little bit of oiled and seasoned to perfection. The ‘sausage’ was left in vegetable stock to maintain its juiciness. The dressing from the dish was light yet tasteful.

Team D

Appetizer- Roti West Indian Style (left side)

Entrée- Seitan patties in a Peanut Curry sauce with Baked root Vegetables and Marinated Crudites Bell Peppers Stuffed with Sauteed Swiss Chard, Mushrooms, and Pearl Onions

The appetizer merged together the styles of the West Indian Roti with the uses of East Indian curry flavor. This dish was very nutritious due to the chickpeas and split peas. It was served with a apple and mango chutney, which provided sweetness to this dish.

The entrée had various textures such as crunch from the peppers and softness from the baked root vegetables. This dish was definitely fulfilling and appealing to the eyes.

Team E

Entrée- Saffron Ravioli with Wild Mushrooms and Cashew Cheese

Dessert- ‘The Real Deal’ Vegan Cannoli with chocolate and Pistachios

The main ingredients for the ravioli was all purpose flour, tomatoes, squash, cashews, and cremini. This dish was packed with nutritious values such as Vitamin A, Thiamine, and Lycopene. The ingredients on the plate was to resemble the colors on the Italian flag (white, red, and green).

The dessert had a cool name ‘The real deal’. This dessert definitely lived up to its name. Instead of using the traditional egg based cream filling, this team used potatoes. The potatoes were sweetened with powdered sugar and coconut cream

Desserts- Oh How Sweet It Is!

Yesterday, Professor Hoffman’s “Art of the Vegetarian Cuisine” class explored the possibilities of dairy free & eggless desserts!

Although most desserts that we all know & love are indeed vegetarian, they certainly contain animal byproducts such as dairy, eggs, gelatin, & honey just to name a few. In this course, we have learned that limiting our consumption of animal products & byproducts improves human health, the health of the environment, as well as the health & livelihood of animals. But, is it possible to create delicious & nostalgic desserts without relying on milk & eggs?

The answer is yes!

“Cheese” Cake- Caroline + LJ

This “cheese” cake recipe stands “toe-to-toe” flavor wise with a standard NY Cheesecake. Trust me, it is a simple to make & a “must try it to believe it” kind of experience. *Dairy Substitutions: “Bridge” brand medium firm tofu, “Tofutti” brand cream cheese. **Trigger Ingredients: Soy, Gluten, Alcohol

LJ’s Plating Style! Lemon Custard “Cheese” Cake w/ Summer Berry Sauce, orange supremes & zest, & graham cracker crumble

Caroline’s Plating Style! Lemon Custard “Cheese” Cake w/ Summer Berry Sauce, orange supremes, zest, & candied orange

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Maple Pecan Sable Cookies- Cherrish & Antonio

Spelt flour is used in this recipe. Spelt, is an ancient grain that was cultivated around 5000 BC. Though not gluten free, spelt allows for better absorption of its nutrients versus other wheat grains. Turbinado sugar was also used in this recipe which is less processed than the white granulated sugar that is most commonly used in the industry. *Dairy Substitution: “Miyoko’s Creamery” brand European style cultured vegan butter. **Trigger Ingredients: Tree Nuts, Gluten, Soy

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Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies- Johnnie & Samael

Dairy free chocolate chips were used in this recipe. Organic vegan sugar was used in conjunction with an unrefined cane sugar. Though more expensive than granulated sugar, using these kind of sugars adds value to the final product by enhancing flavor, color, mineral content, & finally customer trust being that these sugars were not processed through charred animal bones. *Dairy substitutions: Almond Milk, “Earth Balance” brand vegan butter. *Egg Substitution: “Red Mill” brand egg replacer. **Trigger Ingredients: Tree Nuts, Gluten, Soy

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Sweet Potato Spice Cake with “Cream Cheese” Icing- Felice + Maurillo + Antonieta

Baking a dairy free & eggless cake requires longer baking times such as was the case in this cake- 60 minutes! Despite this, it was well worth the wait as it was moist, flavorful, & satisfying with all of its warm spices. The pairing with the cream cheese topping made for a delectable cake experience.

*Dairy substitutions: Almond Milk, “Tofutti” brand cream cheese. **Trigger Ingredients: Tree Nuts, Gluten, Soy

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DK was both Chef and Steward on this last production day & he did a marvelous job. He lead by example & handled his duties seamlessly- excellent job Chef DK.

The ending of a meal should always be sweet: here, we have just learned to make it even sweeter…

In closing, this entire semester was mind opening especially in bringing new life to the culinary mantra of “Less is More.” In “The Art of the Vegetarian Cuisine” class, we understand that relying less on animal products is more for our health, our planet, & animal welfare.