Cafe Gratitude

I recently had the chance to try real vegan food for the first time at a restaurant called Cafe Gratitude.  Where I live there is a big demand for farm-to-table eating and Cafe Gratitude has this in spades, along with a surprisingly interesting menu.  For my first foray, I tried the "I am trusting" with an "I am effervescent" to drink.  Here is a picture of my meal:

I added a side of guacamole, just in case the meal was bland and needed something extra.  To my surprise, almost everything was super spicy-hot, including the guacamole.  I'm not a big fan of spicy-hot food (I think most spicy-hot food is spicy to drown out the disappointment of an otherwise bland dish) so I didn't love my meal.  The tamale itself was good so I ended up just eating it and giving the rest of my meal to other friends who were at the table with me.  I'm not ready to give up on vegan food entirely and I think I just ordered the wrong dish for me.  Other people in my group really enjoyed what they ordered, which included "I am elated," "I am transformed," "I am extraordinary," "I am accepting," and "I am eternally sweet." So, I'll go back and give it another try, hopefully with better results.

Bouchons

I have my mom to thank for introducing me to these amazing little bites of chocolate heaven.  We were searching for the perfect birthday dessert for my dad and wanted to try something new.  Thanks to Williams-Sonoma for carrying the timbale molds and the Thomas Keller Bouchon mix so that we could try these out.  Needless to say, they were an instant hit!  Williams-Sonoma still carries the molds (boucon molds) but no longer carries the Bouchon mix but, have no fear, the Bouchon recipe is available online.  Here's the recipe so that you don't have to go hunting for it like I did:

Chocolate Bouchons Recipe

Bouchon Bakery uses 2-ounce fleximolds and serves smaller bouchons. 3-ounce (2-inch to 2-1/2-inch diameter) timbale molds or silicon muffin molds can be used for larger cakes.
Recipe Makes 12 servings of the smaller bouchons or 16 brownies using muffin molds.

Ingredients:
Butter and flour for the timbale molds
3-1/2 ounces (3/4 cup) all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1-1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
24 tablespoons (12 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and slightly warm
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, such as Valrhona Equatoriale (55%) chopped into pieces the size of chocolate chips
Confectioners’ sugar

Directions: 1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 12 timbale molds. Set aside.

2) Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in another large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until very pale in color. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed, add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 1/3 of the butter, and continue alternating with the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate and mix to combine. (The batter can be refrigerated for up to a day.)

3) Put the timbale molds on a baking sheet. Place the batter in a pastry bag without a tip, or with a large plain tip, and fill each mold about 2/3 full. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (30 to 32 minutes for the muffin pans). When the tops look shiny and set (like a brownie), test one cake with a wooden skewer or toothpick. It should come out clean but not dry (there may be some melted chocolate from the chopped chocolate). Transfer the bouchons to a cooling rack. After a couple of minutes, invert the timbale molds and let the bouchons cool upside down in the molds; then lift off the molds. (The bouchons are best eaten the day they are baked.)

4) To serve: Invert the bouchons and dust them with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Here are some photos of the process:

Measuring out the flour by weight

Brand of cocoa powder I used, it's great

Measuring the butter by weight

Chopped Ghirardelli bar

Eggs and sugar after being mixed for 3 minutes

Batter all mixed and ready to go

Molds sprayed and ready for batter

First batch - their small size is deceiving, they pack a flavor punch!

Dust with a little powdered sugar and serve

 

A couple of notes to the recipe:

1. I have the timbale molds and, in my opinion, they're the perfect size to balance out the richness of the cakes.  You could try and make it in a muffin pan but I'll warn you, one muffin might be your limit given how rich they are.  If you try the muffin route, please comment on this post with your observations.
2. I sprayed my molds with cooking spray for the first batch but found that the bouchons came out just fine in subsequent batches without needing to spray the molds again.  I think all the butter in the mix greases the molds enough so that they slide out without needing any additional help.  The next time I make these, I'll skip the cooking spray.
3. I used a Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bar for the chocolate chips and it worked great.  I don't know if it was 55% cocoa like the recipe calls for but you can probably use whatever chocolate you like since it's really just an accent flavor/texture.
4. I don't own a pastry bag (travesty, I know) so I just use a large ziplock bag and cut the corner off.  It works pretty well for this sort of thing and you just toss it when you're done - no cleaning necessary.
   
5. I made the batter ahead of time and put it in the fridge for a few hours.  One thing that the recipe doesn't tell you is that you should pull the batter out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you want to start filling the molds so that it regains its runny consistency.  I tried piping mine into the molds while it was still cold and it didn't work so well. 

All in all, these are pretty easy to make and were a big hit (especially with the boys) so I'll be making them again. :)

Land of the Rising Sun

I recently had the opportunity to spend 10 days in Tokyo Japan.  At first I was nervous that I'd have a hard time finding food I could eat, even with my adventurous palate, but I was pleasantly surprised at the variety and quality of the food I ate.  Here's a long line of pictures of the various meals I ate, hope you enjoy it:

Cold udon (wheat) noodles dipped in flavored soy sauce with a side of rice and pork tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet)

 

Table set for shabu-shabu (translates as "swish-swish" for the way you cook raw meat in the boiling water)

Raw beef and pork sections to be cooked in boiling water

Various veggies that you add to the water to flavor it

Boiling water with piece of seaweed to add flavor

Tuna sashimi lunch with homemade miso soup (look at how fresh the tuna is - I've never seen tuna that color before)

Yakitori - meat and veggies cooked over hot coals and served on skewers, this is chicken wrapped in a green leaf and cucumber with dried fish skin on top

Chicken cartilage - tried it and it tasted fine but the texture is what did me in

Chicken hearts - first time I've eaten them and I liked them

Chicken with scallion

Asparagus wrapped in bacon

Shrimp

Meatball and corn

Sashimi with vinegar dressing and veggies

Grilled lamb with veggie slaw

"French Fries" with cheese dipping sauce

Potato and rice fritter

Breaded oysters with tangy dipping sauce

Spicy fried chicken (not sure why it was served with tortilla chips)

Japanese pizza - not my favorite

Noodles in fish sauce - very tasty

Ground chicken skewers over rice with salad and miso soup

Japanese Chinese food - beef with peppers

Garlic chicken with green beans and peppers

Amazing chicken soup - starts off with crispy rice nuggets that absorb the broth and soften

Amuse bouche at the teppanyaki restaurant - raw fish with tangy sauce and pomegranate seeds

Green salad with fruit and vinaigrette

Materials for our teppanyaki meal - that's kobe beef, which I'd been dying to try in Japan

Dipping sauces for the meal - soy sauce, garlic ginger sauce and vanilla soy sauce

Teppanyaki chef cooking our meal

Cooked meal

Close-up of the kobe beef - I ordered it medium rare and it was amazing

Dessert - fruit with vanilla ice cream

Another amuse bouche - chicken with avocado and sprouts

Cheese plate

Shrimp with veggies

Japanese version of sweet potato fries

Otoro tuna sushi and sashimi

Homemade "NY-style" cheesecake

Cheese tart with mango and caramel

Street food - fresh, hot doughnut with sweet red bean inside

Salad and cheese soup at french restaurant

Beef with rice and cream sauce

There were a lot of other meals that I ate when I was in Tokyo but I didn't get pictures of them all.  Needless to say, I've mastered eating with chopsticks and really enjoyed the wide variety of good food that was available in Japan.  I hope I get to go back again soon!