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NeroW

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    Kalamazoo, MI, but heart is in Chicago.
  1. NeroW

    Vegan Desserts

    Excellent, thanks to all. A few questions: Raxelita, I had not thought of nut butters but I have heard a lot of conflicting opinions on flaxseed, like it's hard to "blend" in correctly and can cause textural issues. What do you use it in? Pissaladiere (great screen name BTW), thanks for that recipe. One question: in what form is the 1/2 c. coconut? Merstar, useful links. There's a peach-amaretto upside-down cake on the veganconnection.com that looks do-able. I love that flavor. It's interesting--the little research I've done into vegan baking, there are a lot of similar ingredients used. For instance, vinegar makes an appearance in almost every recipe I've seen, and coconut seems to be a big one too. I wonder what it is about vinegar that makes it necessary for this kind of baking? Eggs just provide so many things in baking. There MUST be a sacrifice of quality when you use an egg replacer, and I say that with no snobbery whatsoever.
  2. Hello everyone, I had forgotten how addictive the Pastry & Baking Forum of eGullet is. To make a long story short, the owner of the restaurant where I work is frustrated with/ready to dump his vegan baked goods supplier, for the simple reason that she is extremely flaky (yet free of butter--hah!) and that her desserts really aren't that good. But what a shelf life they have . . . I am underutilized there (working as a barista, not cooking), and he suggested that I take over the vegan baking. This is a place that is "known" for being vegan-friendly but it is not a dedicated vegan restaurant. I like to bake and consider myself OK at it, and I have done it on a large-ish scale at a few country clubs I used to work at. However, I was classically trained and know next-to-nothing about vegan ingredients, the dreaded "substitutes," etc. Here is what they offer now in the way of vegan desserts: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie (atrocious, flaccid, misshapen, and I can't even stand to sell it to people) Vegan Carrot Cake (covered with suspicious white frosting that catches the overhead lighting like semi-gloss paint) Vegan German Chocolate Cake ( ) Vegan Brownies (the least offensive, yet not appealing texture-wise). I also sell an assortment of vegan smoothies and shakes made with soy chocolate ice cream, a product of Chicago Soydairy, that isn't too bad. Thanks to the already-existing vegan baking threads in this forum, I've lifted a (Cooks Illustrated) Vegan Chocolate Cake with "Creamy" Chocolate Frosting recipe which I will test shortly and present to the owner. I would like to offer at least two cakes total and an assortment of two or three different cookies/brownies for my vegan customers. I was toying with a nice fat gingersnap sandwich cookie, the "sandwich" part being a coconut-milk pastry cream . . . then my mind blanked at how I would make pastry cream without eggs or that last beautiful glop of butter I would love a nice coffee cake recipe, since I *am* a barista It's a hard life for a vegan and harder for the vegan baker, non? So I need your help, great sages of eGullet. I was thinking that once this thing gets rolling, in the next few weeks, I could sort of blog my efforts at making palatable vegan baked goods, and maybe that would be educational for us all. ANY help, ANY advice you can give me--ANY recipes or substitutions you have had success with would be awesome since this place does not have the resources for extensive recipe-tweaking. But please, no vegan-bashing. I don't give a crap what people eat or don't eat, I just don't want to put my name on something as disgusting as that Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie we've got right now. You should see it! Oh well. There's always banana bread.
  3. I love those How to Cook a Wolfe pieces.
  4. Well, it's about a year later, but happy to say I finally tried the burgers at the Northside. Good burger, and great fries with a touch of vinegar. I love a place that will put vinegar on the fries without asking.
  5. Hey all, My friend and I are tossing around ideas for a Sunday evening meal in Chicago . . . Hema's came up. I love the Western & Devon location. What's the deal with Lincoln Park? Same quality? Same prices? Mama Hema walking around spreading her benediction over the food? BYO? Anyone out there in the next few hours, let me know. Thanks Also, if anyone knows of a nice sloppy and delicious rib joint, that'd work too. We haven't quite narrowed down our genre yet
  6. One of Each Soup It's very fresh-tasting in the wintertime. It's an old family recipe. Maggiethecat reported on this recipe on the mega Soup thread. 1 Idaho potato, peeled 1 white onion 1 celery heart (with its leaves) 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled 1 ripe banana 1 pt chicken stock 1 c heavy cream 1 T butter 1 tsp curry powder (generous tsp) salt pepper fresh chives Rough-chop all fruits and vegetables and simmer in the broth, covered, until tender. Stir in the cream, butter, and curry. Season. Heat to the simmer but don't boil. Puree soup. Thin if desired, and snip some fresh chives over. ( RG1191 )
  7. One of Each Soup It's very fresh-tasting in the wintertime. It's an old family recipe. Maggiethecat reported on this recipe on the mega Soup thread. 1 Idaho potato, peeled 1 white onion 1 celery heart (with its leaves) 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled 1 ripe banana 1 pt chicken stock 1 c heavy cream 1 T butter 1 tsp curry powder (generous tsp) salt pepper fresh chives Rough-chop all fruits and vegetables and simmer in the broth, covered, until tender. Stir in the cream, butter, and curry. Season. Heat to the simmer but don't boil. Puree soup. Thin if desired, and snip some fresh chives over. ( RG1191 )
  8. Craigslist Chicago has a job listing for FOH at Alinea (Lincoln Park). Like backwaiters and bussers and shit. Training starts in late April, job starts in May. If you get the job, bring me a doggie bag. And one of Chef Achatz's sweaty socks.
  9. Hi Maggie! Try this one: One of Each Soup 1 Idaho potato, peeled 1 white onion 1 celery heart (with its leaves) 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled 1 ripe banana 1 pt. chicken stock 1 c. heavy cream 1 Tbsp. butter 1 big teaspoon curry powder salt, pepper, fresh chives Rough-chop all fruits and vegetables and simmer in the broth, covered, until tender. Stir in the cream, butter, and curry. Season. Heat to the simmer but don't boil. Puree soup. Thin if desired, and snip some fresh chives over. It's very fresh-tasting in the wintertime. It's an old family recipe. Miss you! PS Can you PM me the recipe for Chimay-braised pork? I can't get it off my mind!
  10. Of course somebody had to say it.
  11. NeroW

    Dinner! 2005

    Lovebenton, that food is looking great . . . you must have a nice broiler because you always get really crunchity browning on your foods. Check the roasted cauliflower!
  12. My friend at work is a CIA extern right now and he is going to Chicago on Monday to try out. I will let you know what happens.
  13. I like KoolWhip and flat Coke! But not at the same time.
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