June 2014 Millennium Cooking Class

  

Oatmeal-Zucchini-Raisin cookie with creamy avocado ice cream and peaches marinated in rose geranium syrup! 

Must be another fab cooking class at Millennium, San Francisco's premiere vegan restaurant!

Why, yes, there's Eric now showing us how to make those incredible deep-fried mushrooms that no one can resist from Millennium's appetizer menu:

Photo credit: AudreyNickel

Sadly, I lost almost all of my 62 photos from the class to the ether - the strangest camera-computer download loss ever.  Many thanks to my classmate, Audrey Nickel, for sharing some of her shots with me.

While it's hard to beat that delicious cookie ice-cream sandwich combination, my favorite recipe this time around was the Asian Style Shredded Summer Salad with Kaffir Lime-Date Dressing:

Photo Credit: Audrey Nickel

 Served in a lettuce or cabbage leaf and served with black garlic marinated mushrooms and tempeh or tofu, spice toasted peanuts and vaudovan oil, this main salad dish had a wonderful combination of bright and smoky flavors.  The salad itself was made of thin ribbons of cucumber and carrot (we used a vegetable peeler), jicama matchsticks, green papaya, and fresh herbs (mint, thai basil, Italian mint).  I love the fresh flavor of the kaffir lime leaves that were in the dressing of lime juice, dates, ginger, chili and agave nectar.  Although the dish, as pictured above, took a while to prepare and had quite a few components, I'd definitely make a quick chopped salad with this dressing and some peanuts and marinated tofu just for myself.

For our second meal, we made papusas with masa and corn, topped with a delicious green salsa.  The papusas were filled with a tempeh picadillo and we enjoyed both pan-fried and deep-fried versions.

Many thanks, as always, to Eric, Ann, and Alison for all the hard work they put into making these classes such a cool experience.  Thanks also to Assistant Sam.

OMG! Class 26!

As always, here are links to my posts on my many previous Millennium cooking classes:

*June 2013 Cooking Class

*Millennium Cooking Class: Easter 2013

*Sept. 2012 Cooking Class

*June 2012 Cooking Class

* July 2011 Class

Chile Class 2011

July 2011 Class

Mushroom Cooking Class January 2011

Sept.2010 Cooking Class

July 2010 Cooking Class

June 2010 Cooking Class

Spring Cooking Class 2010

Chiles Cooking Class 2009

July Cooking Class 2009

June Cooking Class 2009

Spring Cooking Class 2009

Mushroom Cooking Class

Holiday Cooking Class

Fall Harvest 2008

Indian Summer

Southern Comfort Cooking Class

Spring Cooking Class

Fall Harvest Cooking Class

Chiles Class

Tomato Class

Résuméabuiyad

Gift Ideas for Father�s Day

Nespresso Pixie
While in Italy I noticed Nespresso boutiques everywhere. Nespresso machines use little pods of coffee that come in many different varieties and the stores are a convenient place to try them out or buy coffee. The machine I know best is the Pixie. It has a 16 bar pressure pump, is ready to brew in about 30 seconds and easily makes both espresso and lungo style coffee at the push of a button. It also takes very little room. The dimensions are just 12.83-Inch length by 4.33-Inch width by 9-1/4-Inch height. 

 If you want to make a cappuccino, you�ll need to purchase an optional Aeroccino milk frother which would also make a good gift.  Both are very stylish machines and just imagine, your dad will think about you every single day when he makes coffee! You can find some models for under $200 on Amazon, but if you purchase it from Nespresso for $229 you�ll get a $75 credit for coffee. 

ThermoWorks ChefAlarm

I am a huge fan of the Thermopen which I use daily. It�s the best thermometer ever. But for dad, I think the ChefAlarm is great idea. It has a temperature probe that attaches to an alarm that has a plethora of features.

Not only is it backlit and easy to read, it has count down and count up timers, adjusts for both high and low temperaures as well as minimum and maximum temperatures, an adjustable volume setting for the alarm and an optional extra needle probe for thin cuts. Because it is designed for commercial kitchens it's also splash proof. It�s less expensive than the Thermopen, but has lots of whistles and bells. $59.99

Burnt Chocolate Truffles from Recchiuti

Recently I received a box of Recchiuti chocolates as a thank you. I think I had forgotten how good they are. It was fun choosing the different flavors from the guide and savoring each bite. But one of the confections that Recchiuti is most known for, are burnt caramel truffles. These rich little squares aren�t really burnt, but cooked until the darker notes are stronger than the sweet ones.

While perhaps not the traditional Father�s Day gift, why not? Recchiuti has long supported the nonprofit Creativity Explored with a selection that features a design by an artist, this time James Miles has created Whimsical Cyclists which definitely has a manly feel about it. A box of 9 is $27

Kermit Lynch Vin de Pays de Vaucluse 

This is my new favorite house red wine and one I plan on sharing with my dad. It's an easy wine to pair with food but just as enjoyable on its own. I first tried it with some sausages and grilled vegetables.

It�s a blend from the Southern Rhone and is mostly grenache, syrah, merlot and just a touch of marselan. A medium body juicy wine, it has limestone minerality, lots of red fruit like raspberries as well as violet and licorice and a bit of leather.

It is not an expensive or fancy wine, but will show dad your good taste and eye for value, $12.99 at Whole Foods Market wine department.

This post includes some Amazon affiliate links

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