Great Chefs Cook Vegan - Linda Long [7]
Mint Oil
2 small bunches mint
1/2 cup vegetable oil
To make the Mint Oil: Rinse and pick mint leaves; blanch and chill. Remove excess water from the mint and place in a blender. Slowly add the oil and blend until oil starts to warm. Remove and strain through a cheesecloth. Set aside until plating.
Caramelized Tofu
2 (12- to 16-ounce) packages silken tofu, extra firm
1/4 cup sugar
To make the Carmelized Tofu: Slice tofu to desired size. Generously top with sugar and caramelize using a pastry torch.
Pulled Sugar Garnish
8 ounces isomalt
1/4 cup water
Red dye paste
To make the Pulled Sugar Garnish: Combine all ingredients in a heavy pan and cook to 330 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour mixture onto Silpat. Using a spatula, fold mixture into middle of Silpat until you can pick it up while wearing neoprene gloves; work into a ball by constantly folding outside edges towards the middle. While still pliable but not too soft, pull into ribbons and free-hand twist for garnish.
NOTE: Sugar cannot be substituted for the isomalt. Other sugar-based recipes can be sought to make a similar garnish.
Strawberry Garnish
1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and diced
How to Plate: Place the Caramelized Tofu on a dinner plate, spoon Strawberry Garnish on top and at various areas of the plate. Drizzle the Strawberry Sauce freely around the base of the tofu and the Mint Oil around the perimeter of the plate. Carefully place a scoop of the Strawberry Sorbet on top and prop the Pulled Sugar Garnish so that it stands over the sorbet.
Anne Quatrano
“Vegetables are the heart and soul of Southern cooking, even without the meat. They are the staff of sustenance.”
Anne Quatrano redefined Atlanta’s dining scene when she and husband, Cliff Harrison, opened Baccanalia in 1993. Its daily prix fixe menus using seasonal dishes in a farmhouse quickly gained national media attention, and she eventually became known as the “Alice Waters of the Southeast.” Gourmet has named Baccanalia one of its Top Tables, Food & Wine named the pair Best New Chefs of 1995, and an Atlanta Journal’s four-star review rated the restaurant “perfection.” Fourteen years later, the husband-and-wife cooking team continues to accumulate accolades and garner new awards, including Atlanta’s top Zagat Survey rating and the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southeast.
Anne Quantrano attended California Culinary Institute in San Francisco and met her husband while in school. They worked their way down the East Coast from Nantucket and Manhattan and, in 1992, moved to Cartersville, Georgia, to renovate a farm that had been in her family for five generations. In 1993, they opened Baccanalia, using their culinary training and homegrown vegetables to set their menus apart from other local dining establishments. Today, Baccanalia is in a larger location, and the couple also runs Floataway Cafe and Star Provisions, a cook’s market.
Bruschetta with Avocado, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Basil
Serves 4
1 ripe avocado (about 8 ounces)
3 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil (French, if possible)
Juice of 1 small lemon or 1/2 large lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
4 slices rustic sourdough bread
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
3 to 4 heirloom tomatoes, depending on size
Garnish
Red onion, sliced and separated
Purple basil
Peel avocado and roughly mash it with a fork, adding 1 teaspoon olive oil or so, based on an 8-ounce avocado, to a guacamole texture. Add lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Toast bread over an open fire or in a broiler. Brush with olive oil and rub with cut side of garlic. Place 1 slice of bread on each of four plates and then spread with avocado mash.
Slice and cube the tomatoes. Arrange around and on top of avocado mash; drizzle with remaining olive oil and season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Garnish with red onion