Catergory Archive for ‘Vegetarian’ at chefdemaison.ca

Archive for the 'Vegetarian' Category

We started with a Mexican Beef Enchilada Casserole

Published on March 11, 2008 in Vegetarian and Recipes. 0 Comments

We made a zesty sauce with ground beef, stock, milk, cumin, chile, garlic, tomatoes and simmered it. Now we alternate layers of flour tortillas, tomato sauce and shredded cheese. Cover with foil and it’s ready for the freezer.

Since I was in a layering mood I made a Vegetable Pesto Lasagna Next. First we sauteed some vegetables, carrots, zucchini, acorn squash, mushrooms, onions and garlic

Next, I mixed up some ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheese with some basil, marjoram, an egg and a little fresh parsley.

Next, I made a bechamel sauce and added some pesto

and then I alternated layers of vegetables, cheese and bechamel with fresh lasagna noodles. Mmmm this is comfort food!

tomorrow we’ll be making home made gnocchi, I hope that you’ll stop by.

Vegetarian Entrees

Published on January 31, 2008 in Vegetarian and Recipes. 0 Comments

Our vegetarian day went well but I forgot my camera! dang! Our menu was:

Pasta shells with roasted butternut squash, ricotta and sage in a tomato cream sauce (recipe to follow)

Tofu Parmiagana

Vegetable Cannelloni

Lentil and Rice Casserole

Marinated Tempeh over brown rice

For a change, my client supplied all of the recipes and we willingly prepared them. My favourite was the stuffed shells and I cooked with tempeh for the first time. It was only available at The Big Carrot so it may be hard to find in a small town.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Filling for Pasta Shells

2 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

1 carton of ricotta cheese

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

I cubed the butternut squash and tossed it with the minced garlic and salt and pepper. I roasted the squash at 400 for about 30 minutes until it was well browned around the edges.

Place the roasted squash, chopped sage, ricotta and parmesan in a bowl and mash well. Season to taste and voila! Your filling is ready for shells, lasagna, cannelloni or whatever pasta shape you’d like to fill.

Vegetarian Feast!

Published on January 29, 2008 in Vegetarian. 0 Comments

Join us in the kitchen today while we prepare 5 menu items chosen by our client. See you later.

Another great cook day!

Published on December 12, 2007 in Menu, Experimentation and Vegetarian. 0 Comments

Busy, as usual in the kitchen. We made:

Chicken Enchiladas

and we made BBQ Shepherd’s Pie, Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad,

Dilled Green Bean Salad, Mesclun greens with goat cheese, asian pear, almonds and cranberry, Beef and Cheese Enchilada Casserole, Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie, Vegetable Pot Pie with a Dill Crust, and we made an eggless quiche!

It’s quiet in the restaurant today. Our personal chef deliveries are done for the week and we are getting ready for a turkey dinner for 48 on Thursday and a lasagna lunch for 60 on Friday. Next week’s schedule is even more demanding as the Christmas rush presses on.

We welcome your questions and don’t be shy to comment. My traffic has tripled in the last month so I know you’re reading!

Ginger Sweet Potato Seitan Stir Fry

Published on November 20, 2007 in Experimentation, Vegetarian and Recipes. 1 Comment

Our client is a vegetarian, her husband likes meat so we have been working on some seitan dishes that appeal to both of them. So far we have met with great success on the creativity side but the price of seitan was ridiculous.

It was costing over $12 in seitan at my favourite grocery store and I thought that this was an exorbitant price for gluten flour. Undaunted by the undeserved reputation that making seitan is difficult, I set out to make my own.

I did some research, mostly on the internet and would like to give credit to Ken for doing an amazing job at describing the process.

Here is the photo of our Ginger Seitan Sweet Potato Stir Fry and the recipe follows:

Ginger Seitan-Sweet Potato Stir Fry - Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Sugar, Brown
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Dry sherry
1 teaspoon Ginger Root, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Pineapple Juice, Unsweetened, canned
1 pound Seitan, — julienne
Pepper — to taste
3 tablespoons Oil
2 Sweet Potato
1 Red pepper — julienne
1/4 pound Pea Pods — washed & trimmed
4 Scallions — sliced

Instructions

Sauce: Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry, ginger, and pineapple juice. Stir well. Set aside.
Saute sweet potato and bell pepper for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add snow peas and garlic and cook one minute, and then pour in reserved sauce.
Add seitan, stir and cook until mixture thickens and ingredients are glazed. Add green onions and stir just to combine.
We will definitely be making many more seitan dishes as it has that ‘meat mouth feel’ that make the dish feel complete.

I should mention that being in Toronto with the city’s huge selection of ingredients it was not difficult to find gluten flour. I didn’t buy the brand name vital gluten flour I just picked some up at our local bulk barn, they even had organic gluten flour.

We also made Black Bean Chilaquile, Spinach Stuffed Lasagna Ruffles, Vegetable and Chickpea Stew and Ginger Peanut Tofu Stir Fry.

Tomorrow we’ll be deboning and stuffing a turkey in preparation for American Thanksgiving. We’ll also be making a Sweet Potato Bake, Green Beans Almondine, Stuffing, gravy and mmmmmm Caramel Sauce for the Bavarian Apple Torte.
See you back in the kitchen tomorrow.

Vegetarian Cooking Day

Published on October 2, 2007 in Vegetarian and Recipes. 0 Comments

Today was a vegetarian cook day and we experimented with Seitan. We made our traditional Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe and substituted seitan for the pork. I was very impressed. We tried to make seitan a couple of weeks back and we weren’t happy with the texture so we opted to purchase it at the big carrot. If someone was had a great deal of success making seitan let me know.