Chicago in March

As March wraps up, and I tie off an inadvertant two-week hiatus from nomfg.com, I wanted to post some pics from Chicago. Beth and I recently ventured up in her new-to-her new car to visit my friends Paul and Maureen.

We had an awesome time up there. I think this was my third or fourth trip up to Chicago. The first time I went up I had an overwhelming urge to move there. I really love the place. I must say however, it is not easy being vegan in that town. Not because everyone isn't more aware of what's what and some good substitutions; not because I didn't get two amazing vegan reubens; but because if you're looking for a delightfully decadent, blissed out triple bypass, Chicago is a quick and dirty way to get there.

We checked out a co-op and a farmers market. The coop had copious bulk to buy.

It felt good to get out of good old Columbus. I have been stuck here since January. Not that I have any objections to good old Columbus, but it can get stifling to be anywhere for too long without freshing your eyes on a new city.

We ate ate Revolution Brewing Company, great beer and great vegan reuben. We had the reuben, seitan/cremini/smoked tomato sauce pizza, and black bean mole lettuce wraps. The reuben was tempeh based and as far as reubens go this was the kind that focused on the sauce;  very flavorful and well constructed. The smoked tomato sauce stole the show on the pizza and was enough to serve on its own; the crust was forgettable (case-in-point: I forget what kind it was). The black bean mole wraps were a tasty bit to sate any vegans palate.

Beth and I hoofed it over to Ukranian Villlage after we hit the Logan Square farmers market with Paul (a lot of nice, craft foods mostly not vegan). I got an awesome coffee at some cuban food stand on the way. We hit up Bleeding Heart Bakery. Voted best bakery of 2011, we were recommended to go there by some guy at New Wave Coffee when we asked if they had a vegan bakery. He was a bit misinformed, but not in any terrible way; they had some very tasty vegan items, but not in any kind of coherent way.

Ordering at a place that you know isn't vegan, but surprisingly has more than tofu and portobellas on the menu is always a delight. Hence the revbrew dinner being rad. My falsely high expectations kind of bore a kink into our venture to BHB. They had some great wild mushroom biscuits and gravy, and the roots skillet was tasty enough. Unfortunately, the two featured vegan donuts they had were both sold out, neither was terribly interesting anyway, but the chocolate cake standby was decent. In all, not bad, just lackluster. 

We also hit up the flying saucer diner. Paul and Maureen got some good looking stuff. We got some standard fare. Nothing crazy to report, but a nice place for the food. After establishnig some dietary restriction a funny thing happens. Once you've sat down and looked over restaurant menus a few dozen times, especially at a place you used to frequent, you develop this matrix-y feel for menus. On the one hand, not much on there accounts for food anymore. On the other hand, you begin to see the threads connecting disparate dishes, seeking substitutions to play with. While occasionally fun in the beginning, there is a cumulative feeling of deterrence that inhibits even looking at a menu. And no person with a restriction should ever expect that it is their sole burden; the servers can't necessarily feel like dealing with it every time, and restaurant owners certainly can't plot their menus around niche populations. 

It wasn't until recently that I had ventured to a restaurant that was not only 100% vegetarian, but utterly accomodating to vegans as well. Basically everything had a vegan substitution, and what had been a restaurant I didn't previously terribly enjoy immediately became a sanctuary. Thanks Whole World! Sounds dramatic because it is. I didn't feel like some burden to the server or proprietor, and they likely only thought I was an idiot because of normal things, like my hair. All of a sudden I had options, tasty ones, not simply made options by mounds of daiya!

This was my experience at the Chicago Diner. It had all of the diner goodness of the flying saucer, none of the overwrought punky schtick of BHB, and a simple straight forward menu with a million options, or what felt like it anyway. I guess it was more of a feeling of getting comfort food in a comfortable environment peppered with vegan agitprop than anything else. Don't get me wrong BHB, if somebody asks if their theme looks good and stuff, then I have to say they nailed it. I think I am just too spot on in that demographic and target audience to feel like I'm anything but under a microscope being there. It's like no-brow art swallowed itself.

Disclaimer: I'm straight spoiled on Pattycake Bakery. It's right down the street from me, a totally vegan bakery, and more punk than any Edna Hardy Punk Rock motif might permit. But I guess if you've got a motif, and an onerous budget, and you need to compete with your signage...

The Chicago Diner served up good coffee (I bought the mug here), a hot plate of nachos, the best vegan reuben I've had thus far (seitan-based, widely reviewed; focused on the meat part fo the stack and did fantastic), and a great avocado/bac'un wrap. It may not have been $20 a plate food, but neither were the actual prices. Everything was reasonable and nothing bore the vegan tax (that little paper cut of fifty cents to a dollar fifty that activates the 'vegan optional' option). Of all the places, Chicago Diner is definitely the one that will live on the most vividly. There were six of us, which meant a forty minute wait on a busy night; not too bad. They had comfy accomodations in a tent out back. The other four, all omnis, were reasonably pleased with their items as far as I could tell.

Chicago is great. Paul is moving soon, back to Youngstown, so I am unsure about the state of visiting. But we got in about 20 miles riding in the city, did some amazing karaoke (its been about a year or so since my last try). Good feels, definitely going to make a point of visiting Chicago Diner in the future.

Volunteers Wanted for Testing a Cookbook, and Growing a Garden

Dreamsfood meetup tomorrow at Global Gallery in Clintonville (original);

So hey there, we’re doing something special tomorrow. It’s a meetup at Global Gallery at 12:30 - 2pm (link to Facebook event invite). We’re going to have joining us Dreamsfood members Derek Lory from the Helping Hands Community Garden there, and Del Sroufe aka Del’s Baked Tofu, Thai Peanut Noodles, etc (and Wellness Forum).

To begin with, we can just get together and chat and discuss any ideas you have for Dreamsfood (i.e. bounties, outreach, etc). Enjoy some coffee and social interaction? Meet us there.

Derek will be there to help drum up some volunteers for the Helping Hands Community Garden Benefit Show. He’s going to come up with some ways for us to help and we’ll try to coordinate how we can contribute. The HHCG partners with the Beechwold-Clintonville Community Resource Center and donates some of its yield to them. Let’s see if we can help them make an awesome benefit show, and maybe even contribute to their overall mission.

If you’ve been to the Clintonville Community Market’s prepared food cooler any time in the last however many years, you’ve probably been tempted away by the likes of Del Sroufe’s offerings (personal disclosure: who’s hooked on spicy peanut thai noodles? this guy.), or maybe you’ve had his food at the Wellness Forum. Either way, he’s putting together a cook book and we’d like to help him test his recipes! Join up and we’ll give out cooking assignments to the willing, then meet back up to share the dishes, compare cooking experiences, and fill out the feedback forms to help Del out.

So seriously join us tomorrow around 12:30 at Global Gallery Coffee Shop for coffee, talk, and volunteering! (Click through to join the Facebook event so we have an idea how many to expect, pretty please.)

#100: the Dreamsfood

APR0N #100, AN ANNOUNCEMENT:

Were you curious about how | the | Grilled Macaroni & Cheese Sandwich would turn out? Rather, if it would? Or did you ask yourself, why should it?

A Cook, as with anyone, does not exist in a vacuum. A Cook is subject to the same pressures of hours-in-the-day, dollars-in-a-paycheck, and space-in-the-kitchen as anyone else.

It is my intention to at least help help lessen the pressure of one of those factors.

The high overhead of both cooking materials and equipment means that frequently a burgeoning cook is unable to move very far beyond the borders of the repertoire; a Cook is passively discouraged from making any more than modest alterations to his or her already successful recipes.

I want to change this.

There should instead be a reward for innovative and experimental thinking that goes beyond one or two standard deviations from the limits of what is "safe"

Since not all of us have test kitchens or advances from publishers, Dreamsfood is meant to help. Dreamsfood.org will consist of member-driven communities that will invest in the development of cooks and the local food-culture.

Over the next few weeks, testing will begin with the following model in a limited alpha group:

1. Cooks submit recipes for voting (R)
2. Winning recipe(s) earn a cash bounty established by community (B)
3. Cook prepares recipe for member community (D)

I look forward to sharing the results of the development of this model at www.dreamsfood.org along with all of the backend details. Once we have established a solid model for groups to work with, I hope that this model will spread. The dreamsfood.org page will start as a developments blog, and eventually evolve into a more robust launcher.

How can you be involved? Well, it's about testing the waters right now so we're trying to drum up support and interest;

1. Head to nomfg.com/dreamsfood and check out the initial charter; feel free to leave comments
2. Head to www.dreamsfood.org and follow us (RSS/Tumblr)
3. Head to twitter and follow us @cookcoopcbus
4. Head to the facebook and like it.

If you are interested in participating or other input,

send correspondence to mfg@dreamsfood.org or leave comments below.

Apr0n #100 on its way

I just got a crucial email back from an important person and it looks like most of the things I needed to resolve a bit are basically lined up. Going to have a few more conversations over the weekend and hopefully be able to make the big announcement soon!

Recipe & pictures: Vegan Curried Pumpkin Chili, savory autumn delight

Last night we had quite the spread over at John & Miss Kristin's. I am sorry my taunts to the interwebs did not land. There was fantastic @Xandrews artisan bread, wee loaves and a focaccia. Miss Kristin made an apple crisp with four varieties of fresh picked Ohio. Now I have no idea how to make those tasty bits so I won't even pretend.

However, my primary contribution was a Curried Pumpkin Chili. And today is the first day where I wish I had worn a jacket, so there is a sense of urgency to this post; here's how you make this smooth body warmer.

First, procure two three ish pound pumpkins; "medium-sized" our baking is what they're typically called. Preheat oven to 350'f. Scrub any dirt off the outside then slice in half from base to stem. Scoop out guts (keep 'em though; we'll be making seeds eventually). Place face down in a cookie sheet or case dish in a quarter inch of water. Place in oven for about one hour, our until a form hours through skin easily.

Meanwhile, start preparing your curry. Mine happened to resemble the vindaloo variety from Penzeys; turmeric, ground mustard, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, sage, ginger, clove, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, smoked chortle, sage black pepper, paprika (they also use a fancier cinnamon, they use cardamom, and use jalapenos, not smoked chipotle powder). About a teaspoon of each, more or less.

When the pumpkins are done, peel off the skin using a fork or knife and put pulp into food processor. Add curry powder and blend until smooth (you may need to add a few teaspoons of olive oil to get the right consistency).

Finely mince two medium onions, saute until mostly soft, add four-five cloves crushed/minced garlic and six minced fresh cayenne and three minced tabasco peppers. Spice the pot with the more savory spices. Cover with five-six ounces of a nice tasty lager and clean the sides of the pour while you bring it to a nice bubble.

Next, we add two large cans of whole tomatoes. To do this, drain first then, with your thumb, pierce the side of the tomato so the juices all go in the pot, then grind it up between your fingers. Rinse and repeat. Next, chop up the medium tomatoes and add to the pot. Let simmer for awhile to bubble of some of the water you incur from ask those tomatoes.

Now I let my pumpkin puree sit overnight so the flavors would be good and matured, and I had other stuff to do. Anyway, this is where we fold it in. First, reserve one cup if it for bread making, then use a river spatula to scrape all that goodness in the pot.

Turn right back around to the did processor and put one drained block of soft, silken tofu in there along with a cup of nutritional yeast, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, the juice from half a lemon, and one-two tablespoons of Braggs aminos. This will come out like a lightly-textured sour cream that you will blend into the pot, doubling down on creamy texture and upping the savory tartness.

Once we've got the pot to this point, now you just need to start tasting. Here are the key items to bear in mind, (1) you are competing with the natural sweetness of the pumpkin, keep it savory but just tap the gas as you can easily overwhelm the pumpkin, (2) the body of the soup should be nice and creamy (if it isn't you didn something drastically wrong), the nice part is eating the chunks of tomato and little soft-crisps of onion, (3) you want to keep it cheesy, so don't be afraid to add more nutritional yeast, or try some cashew cheese.

So at this point it's just a game of how much time do you want to put into this stuff; the more time the more love the more soul in the food.

You can keep tinkering while you make side courses. That is my recommendation. Now, if you've got a game on in the other room, or company to entertain, I understand. But if you're just cooking because maybe there's nothing better to do and you're looking forward to sharing, I say go for it. I made a loaf of savory curried pumpkin bread (that's what the 1 cup pumpkin puree, reserved was for) and two and a half dozen cookies before it was done. Next time I might do a cast-iron skillet jalapeno corn bread, subbing oils for pumpkin puree.

pumpkin bread with cracked pepper; vegan cookies in the pyrex, bad boy milk chocolate on the sheet chillin.

In the previous incarnation I added a can of corn and two cans of beans. I am not convinced that wouldn't have worked this time around, especially if you pan fry some black beans and corn in cumin and salt until they brown up a bit. I might even do a layered casserole when I get home; spread some refried pinto beans on the bottom, top with corn, dust with cumin, bake, then pour on the leftovers and top with black beans and dust with cumin and cayenne, bake until warmed through.

Now you may not think it resembles any chili you've ever had before; welcome to my world.

Update on 1:19PM by mfg

placeholder is down, real pic is up. no fancy plating or garnishes of any kind. just glad i got the pic; it was close, i was eating it for lunch was all like, nom nom nom.... 'oh noes, i better snap a shot of it!'

How to differentiate Jalapenos from Habaneros (or Scotch Bonnets)?

Ok. Now I remember these commercials from way back for Pace (I think) salsa. Apparently there was a time when advertising, rather spending teevee money on advertising salsa, made sense to some exec somewhere. And anyway, the cowboys would all be like "Neeewwww York Citeee?" and then they'd be all spicy.

• The reason I reminisce is that I saw somebody landed here looking for "How to differentiate Jalapenos from Habaneros (or Scotch Bonnets)?" [yes, I spiffied up your original question.]

This person was from Syracuse, NY. Now I don't talk shit about people just because they're from somewhere. Or even if they have, which I think he or she would admit after they find out, a stupid question. So to answer your question:

In order to identify them in your average supermarket, they will look like the fruit in the picture. Pleasingly green and about the size of a thumb.

I think most people who eat hot foods would gauge them as medium hot, mostly due to the following variability; their Scoville unit specifications ranges from 2k-10k.

Once red (fully ripe), when smoked they are called a chipotle. They can be purchased smoked and packed in marinade ("chipotles in adobo"), they are super tasty.

A popular preparation you can get almost anywhere is jalapeno "poppers"; where they're stuffed with cheese, breaded and deep-fried. Also popular are Texas toothpicks, where slivers of them are breaded and fried.

They have robust walls and are a fantastic way of adding heat to a dish as they occupy a very nice space on the pallette and an accessible heat level for almost any dish.

The jalapeno belongs to the wide, wide, wild world of the Capsicum annum. Basically, most garden variety supermarket peppers are from this species, just various cultivars.

As for the habanero, it belongs to the distinguished species Capsicum chinense. It is related to the Bhut Jolokia (which is a sub-species) and Scotch Bonnet (different cultivar, but akin in appearance). The Habanero is likely to be about 20+ times hotter than a jalapeno.

It is frequently seen in middle end grocery stores, likely orange with a papery, wrinkled skin. When you grab your peppers to buy them I recommend you don't use your hands, but rather put your hand in the bag and grab them with it like a glove. Otherwise, if you don't have access to a hand washing station, if you touch your eyes or other sensitive area you will feel a burn unrivaled. Further, ensure you scrub in before using the restroom; that is a pain you do not wish to endure. Trust me.

Anyway, if the papery skin and orange color and size difference didn't clue you in to the difference, the peppers are used differently in cooking. Jalapenos and chipotles are used as sources of direct flavor. Habaneros, due in part to their heat, are used with more subtlety. Whereas one might just chop up and add fresh jalapenos to whatever to amplify the scovilles and add some pepper flavor, with habaneros they are typically seen in foods as structural heat and added to more ditributed media like chili or salsa where the pepper itself is not likely to be consumed in any conspicuous way but the capsaicin can spread.

Now this isn't to say the habanero isn't, or shouldn't be, showcased; the myriad varieties of mango-habanero chutney or pineapple-habanero salsa speak to this. However, there is greater care and detail to handling the nuances of the flavor in a habanero. It really is a tasty little devil, all heat aside.

I don't think you would likely ever have difficulty distinguishing a jalapeno from a habanero. typically, one is green and the size of a thumb, and the other is orange and the size of the end of your thumb.

That said, it is possible you might confuse the habanero for a scotch bonnet without much ado, but confusing it with the Bhut Jolokia is another matter.

What does it all mean? Well, if you're looking for a chili recipe that will make your socks sweat, you want the habaneros. If you want a chili recipe that is going to appeal to the masses, go with jalapenos.