I have two new classes added for the fall at the University of Richmond . “Cooking” Raw in September and Veggie “Meat and Potatoes” in December. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates and sign-up information.
What other classes would you guys like to see me teach?
The egg is rarely replicated well in vegan cuisine. A tofu scramble can be delicious but honestly tastes nothing like eggs. I’ve always felt that egg-imitations are best left alone, but every now and then I’ll do the exact opposite and try to recreate something I think doesn’t need to be recreated. Keeping you on your toes!
Yesterday I was trying to come up with some new ideas for the brunch menu at Ipanema and thought it would be nice to do something like an omelet. I thought, “Why not just do an omelet?” Once home, I messed around with a base of silken tofu, nutritional yeast, oil and chickpea flour, blended them together, and cooked it like a crepe (which is really just like cooking an omelet). Topped with some mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and some Daiya mozzerella-style cheese shreds, the “egg” crepe folded over well and melted everything together into a pretty damn good vegan omelet.
Sorry for the grainy photo- my camera went for a swim last weekend during my camping trip, so I had to use my phone’s camera.
Anyone else attempt egg replacements? Feel free to reply with your recipes, photos, or brunch suggestions.
Many chefs draw on their childhood for inspiration for help with new dishes. As a proud Philadelphian, I have fond memories of the glorious cheesesteak, a sandwich that has been reproduced all over the country but rarely done justice. When my family moved from Philadelphia to Minneapolis, I remember going to a place that claimed to be a Philadelphia-style sandwich shop with cheesesteaks, hoagies and Tastykakes!!! (this was a big deal back then). The cheesesteak was laughable at best, thick slices of beef with a choice of provolone or……..swiss? Where was the Cheeze Whiz? I hate to be a snob about this (am I still considered a snob when it involves Cheeze Whiz?), but a true Philly cheesesteak is made with the orange stuff in the jar. If you disagree, I’m sorry. I think my sister asked if they had Cheeze Whiz and the girl behind the counter looked like she had been asked to defecate on the sandwich.
The Philadelphia classic is something I’ve attempted to recreate sans meat throughout my career, and this week I’ve decided to put it on the menu at Ipanema. Take a look at caramelized onions and peppers, sliced seitan and a vegan cheese sauce to replace the stuff in the jar, all piled in a Flour Garden Torpedo roll. 
Are there any favorites you associate with your hometown or family that can’t be duplicated elsewhere? Or maybe this made you think of a dish you’d like to see veganized? Who knows, maybe I’ll get some guest bloggers on here to show off!
This past Saturday I was able to get out of the city for a night to go camping at Pocahontas State Park just south of Richmond. After a nice 8 mile hike I rewarded myself with one of these bad boys:
With the help of my friends at Chicago Soy Dairy, I didn’t miss out on s’mores thanks to their Dandies. Gelatin-free and freaking delicious, they toast like traditional marshmallows– or if you’re like me they burn perfectly to get that crispy outside / gooey inside combo.
Camping had me thinking back on my first experiences with cooking. I was probably six or seven when my camp counselor started weekly cookouts. I loved thinking up new things that could be grilled or steamed in foil on the fire, and my mom’s barbecue chicken was always a hit. So, I guess I can blame camping for my career! I should find a way to write off my recent camping gear purchases as job expenses…
What are your favorite camping spots around Virginia? What about camping/camp fire foods? The next camping excursion should involve much more hiking, so mobile food is a must, but I’d like to take it a step or two beyond trail mix and dried fruit.
During the 8+ years I lived in Raleigh, I don’t think I said or ever heard someone ask, “where should we go for brunch?” As a group of vegans, there were little to no options for us other than heading to Whole Foods for some dry scrambled tofu and salty potatoes… Not exactly a reason to get up early on the weekend.
Brunch when I was growing up involved my family and I driving to my grandmother’s house to have lox, bagels and this stuff called kugel every now and then. It wasn’t until later when I started cooking professionally that I discovered people’s obsession with brunch. As busy as Friday and Saturday nights could be, they were nothing compared to the frantic pace of eggs and home-fries. Every Saturday and Sunday morning there I was- cracking eggs, folding omelets, dicing potatoes and mixing pancake batter ……….man, fuck brunch!
Not until I moved to Richmond did I realize how great it is to have someone cook breakfast for you! There are actually restaurants in this town that accommodate many diets. Some of my favorites, when I get that lucky Sunday morning off, are 821, Lamplighter and Cafe Gutenburg. I still cook brunch these days at Ipanema (you should all come and try it if you haven’t by the way), and I still have to deal with the frenzied pace that comes with it, but I love that we contribute to the movement of offering brunch that goes beyond the mundane.
I’m in the process of changing the brunch menu for spring, what are some of your favorite brunch dishes you’d like to see?
Well, no great finds this week. I was too busy smashing a lucky frog statue into a billion pieces. Someone left one of these guys precariously on a stack of stainless-steel scrubbie boxes, I grabbed one and threw it in my cart when SMASH……. I knew exactly what had happened behind me. They assured me it didn’t mean bad luck (even though I didn’t ask) and immediately lit a few sticks of insense……….shit. 
Can’t think of anything to talk about today and the morning after a busy 15 hour day at work my brain feels like mush.
Figured I’d share one of my favorite ingredients as of late.
Chinese Cooking Wine, tastes and smells pretty terrible but when added to any chinese influenced dish its pretty fantastic. It tastes and smells what I can best describe as a malty, caramely cheap sake but once the alcohol is cooked out it adds a nice depth of flavor and aroma.
Every week I do the shopping for Ipanema which takes me to Tan-A among other places. Every single time I go to this amazing market I find something great, be it delicious, disgusting or something that just makes me laugh. Each week I’ll try to post something here to share my findings.
This week I happened to look to my left and see bottles of Jerk Sauce, nothing special here. When I looked at the shelf tag I see it says “How to do the jerk”, nowhere on the bottle does it say this. I love this place.
I’ll be teaching a vegan cooking class titled Deconstructing Tofu with the Culinary Arts Center at University of Richmond August 18th from 6-9 pm. I’ll also be submitting lesson proposals to the university to teach additional classes in the Spring. It’s not listed on the site as it’s too early to sign up for summer classes, so if you’re interested get in touch with me.
I’d love some feedback for more classes, please comment with your ideas.
Cucumber Udon Noodles
Cauliflower soup with balsamic onions
Next was a cauliflower soup with dehydrated balsamic onions. Once again, extremely easy. Cut the cauliflower into florets and blend with water a little red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and of course a little garlic. I marinated the onions in balsamic vinegar and olive oil for a few hours and dehydrated them for 3 hours. They were really nice and soft, the balsamic still reduced in the dehydrator without the heat, I didn’t think it would get the sweet flavor you get with using heat. I’m not the best photographer and I found photographing soup is pretty tough.
Oyster Mushroom Ceviche Tacos
This next dish was a giant pain in my ass, which also meant that since it turned out the way I had hoped it was also my favorite. I know I said the cucumbers were my favorite but its sort of like a risk/reward thing. I soaked flax and sunflower seeds over night, the next day I blended them with chile powder, garlic powder, garlic, onions and shoyu. Then I spread what I could only describe as “glop” on a sprayed piece of parchment paper and dehydrated it for 3 hours, attempted to peel it off of the paper and flip it then dehydrating it for one more hour. They were so thin and crispy that there was no way I could use them as taco shells. I searched and thankfully found non-stick baking sheets that I could cut to size at a Home Goods store. I attempted the shells again and this time with great success. I punched out circles once they were dried to the desired consistency. I then made a spicy tomato sauce heavy with lime juice and red wine vinegar in an attempt to ceviche the oyster mushrooms. After about four hours they were nice and soft…..and delicious.I topped them off with some fresh corn salsa and guacamole. I was so freaking excited that these worked out, couldn’t have been happier. Thankfully I made a ton of extra shells so everyone could chow down on them. Somebody requested they be put on the regular menu and I laughed thinking about what a pain they were.
Date-Walnut Sorbet Tartlettes
Finally came dessert. I made little tart shells from sprouted flour, maple syrup and agave. Pressed into 1/2″ molds and dehydrated for 13 hours (what would I do if it didn’t work? No clue). I made a simple sorbet with bananas, dates and agave. I made the chocolate sauce by making almond butter adding cocoa powder, maple syrup and a little cinnamon, freaking delicious. The other sauce is cashew based, I soaked them overnight and blended with a little raw honey and agave. It had almost a caramel flavor to it. Simple enough.
Another raw dinner in the books, I’ll be posting on here the next time we do one as I think we’ll be selling tickets and try to book the whole restaurant so I can focus solely on this instead of worrying about keeping up with the rest of the customers orders. So keep a lookout if you’re interested.
