Next: Vegan

Lily pond, #9. Ingredients hiding in plain sight

My friend Sheila lives in the Bay area, but regularly travels to Chicago to eat. We always go to some of the city's finest eating establishments: brunch at the Publican, pie at Hoosier Mama, a mid-afternoon snack at Avec (like afternoon tea but without the tea), lunch at Little Goat. But the highlight of her most recent visit was dinner at Next during their vegan menu.

About a week before our reservation, I read Kevin Warwick's account of Next's vegan offering. The Wire reference really resonated with me. A nearby table began their meal about halfway through our 3-hour vegan adventure; with every new dish we marveled at the fact that they had so many treats ahead of them, and that they likely would not be finished with their meal until well after midnight. I skimmed past specific menu items so that I did not spoil the surprise and spectacle of the actual meal. I had a wonderful experience at The Hunt in April, and was excited to see how the creative minds at Next would break out of the straight jacket they put themselves in by eliminating so many classic ingredients from their palette for this meal.

Warwick makes an interesting point: Veganism is meant to be simple, not spectacular. I'm certainly not a vegan -- I write a blog about eating meat for goodness sake! -- but I'm gaining more appreciation for that perspective. If you start with good ingredients (meat, cheese, vegetables, whatever) then most of the work is already done for you. Why complicate things? The provided mission statement of the meal reveals an alternative argument for a high-end vegan meal. "What if meat did not exist? Or fish? What would be the focal paint of a dish?" It goes on, "By stripping away many ingredients that we rely on we've come to a new understanding of so many common ones."

Interestingly, this principle is also something I came to appreciate during my paleo challenge this winter. Without bread, pasta, or polenta, what do you use to sop up a sauce or the runny yoke of an egg? How can we repurpose vegetables to take the place of grains? Though meat appears to be the center of the paleo lifestyle, those weeks actually gave me a new appreciation for vegetables. A bed of mashed sweet potatoes, kale, or cauliflower in the style of cous cous can do a lot of the work that grains used to accomplish on my plate.

This meal was far from simple. Each dish was exquisitely intricate. I was filled with anticipation each time a new utensil was brought to our table, or with each reveal that our centerpiece actually contained critical ingredients for an upcoming dish. I was a little concerned that I'd go home feeling unsatisfied, and even had a late-night pizza strategy mapped out in case I needed a slice to fill the gaping hole I anticipated in my stomach. But with nearly 20 courses, this was hardly an issue. I left feeling satiated but not stuffed. This meal was so creative and intricate that I did not miss meat, and my dining partners and I often wondered how they could coax out such rich flavors without using meat stock or butter, or how some elements could be so creamy without dairy.

I wish there had been more mushrooms (an entire mushroom cart trotted out for just one dish!) and fewer sweet dishes. I wish I knew more about the sources of the produce used in the meal, much the way I appreciate notations of meat sources elsewhere. I wish I had been more focused on enjoying the experience and the company than documenting it. I didn't take too many pictures -- I left that task to my friends and their impressive DSLRs -- but instead was the dutiful notetaker of our meal, attempting to capture as many details as I could since I knew that our post-meal record would be comprised of things like "lily pond" and "kale bouquet" but without the specifications necessary to either write about our meal here or talk about it intelligently with friends later. I suppose that is the danger of being a food writer; I run the risk of turning a passion into a task. My notes are transcribed below if you are interested in the play-by-play of this meal. 

But my wishes for the night end there. I was very happy with our choice of non-alcoholic pairings, a series of interesting and complex juices tailored specifically to our meal. At The Hunt I learned that Next is not stingy with their drinks; after 6 portions of wine, armagnac, and who knows what else, the meal started to turn into a meaty blur. Temperance seemed to fit the tenor of the menu. We opted instead for post-dinner cocktails at the Aviary. I ordered their Rob Roy, a scotch-based drink served inside a large clear plastic bag that was filled with lavender-scented air. Our server/cocktail artist cut open the bag with small scissors and held the bag while I stuck my head inside and took a deep breath. I felt ridiculous, but that was sort of the point, right?

Notes on a vegan spectacle 

Drink: Passion fruit, yerba, pineapple

1. Starter and burnt avocado
 --sourdough crackers hidden in tree centerpiece, dusted with matcha powder
--avocado, spread on a rock, topped with crispy kale and japanese 7 spice blend

2. Kale bouquet
--was this a separate dish? there was some kale on top of the avocado

3. Sprouted tempeh
--marinated in soy, topped with basil

4. Frozen baked potato
--in shell (made of potato skin?), cold creamy potato inside

5. Nori dumpling
--spongy, with sesame


6. Earl grey rambutan
--earl grey and rambutan jelly filling (described like a jello shot), inside the outer prickly shell of the rambutan

7. Baby artichoke
--mint pesto, lemon cream, roasted so that outer layers are crispy yet inside is tender

8. Fermented apples and lichen
--homemade apple cider vinegar, for sipping (heavy on cinnamon, sweet and sour, no harsh bite), drawn from a hollowed-out charred log
--fermented apples, apple ice
--roasted and raw cashews, crushed (but not as smooth as cashew butter)
--lichen, rose petals

9. Lily pond
--sorrel, sliced lily bulb salad (seared)
--lychee, white wine glaze
--"pond water" vinaigrette, from the floral centerpiece

and then a tablecloth was brought out. I guess we're going inside now...


10. Strawberry and fennel shortcake
--a crazy plate, a bowl at the base filled with a cider/celery drink (and liquid nitrogen? a cold steam was coming off the top), drank through a metal straw
--on the plate surrounding the bowl, black pepper, fennel, strawberry, preserved lemon, and a black pepper olive oil biscuit
--dairy free, but much like a strawberry shortcake - fennel cream?

Drink: Strawberry, rhubarb, black pepper
--camu camu fruit: I think they said this was in there?

11. Salsifies with oyster and dandelion
--dandelion greens, oyster leaf, salsify (pickled?)
--charred dandelion greens, 3 preparations of salsify, mignonette vinaigrette

12. Swish shard and douchi
--beer-battered and fried swiss chard, on top of a beet vinaigrette
--fried seitan, fermented black bean, fried onion, cilantro, smoked orange (cp. taco filling)

Drink: Tamarind, aloe, pea
--english peas

13. Kombu atoll
--beautiful blue ocean bowl (we all liked it enough to ask who made it)
--braised seaweed, silky tofu
--yuba, ponzu, pumpkin seeds, green shiso, something spicy

14. Mushroom cart
--morels, shitaake, one other type?
--mushroom ragout, farro, sunflower milk foam, fried sunchokes

Drink: Huitlacoche, blueberry, bell pepper
--blueberry, mexican corn truffle, bell pepper froth

Drink: Mango, galangal, kaffir lime
--charred kaffir lime

15. Red onion; inspired by Stupak
--cilantro, quinoa, brussel sprouts (pureed, fried, raw shaved), chard, red onion, red chili
--cp. larb


16. Curry roasted cauliflower
--slow roasted cauliflower
--curry oil, red pepper, smoked paprika
--crunchy garnish in a tube (from new centerpiece)--naan

17. Olive oil jam and bitter chocolate
--flower petals, bite compares to szechuan peppercorns (numbing)
--chocolate cake (crumbly), balsamic, olive oil jam, freeze dried strawberry, black truffle

Drink: Malt, bitter chocolate, black sesame

--chocolate juice, toasted barley, black sesame, basil

18. Hibiscus and pistachio
--hibiscus gel and cake (dense and rich)
--soy and vanilla ice cream with pistachio butter coating
--long pepper ice, fennel fronds
--cp. red velvet cake

19. Steamed crepes
--passion fruit (with a few seeds)
--vanilla with caramelized sugar
--dark chocolate

Post-dinner coffee: iced sparkling Brazilian Americano

Turkey drumstick FAIL

Turkey drumsticks round 2. As excited as I am to try these Ron Swanson-style turkey legs, their long cooking time pushed them out of my schedule for the moment. 

I decided to try this recipe instead, swayed by its promise of 30 minutes of cooking time. I invested a short amount of time the night before to make the brine, letting the turkey legs marinate while I was at work, and then a quick pop into a hot oven before their final stop on my dinner plate.

But I should have realized that there are no shortcuts when cooking large pieces of poultry. I added some cooking time (20 minutes at 300 instead of 10, an extra 10 minutes in the residual heat after I turned off the oven), but still wound up with underdone turkey legs. I trust my source of meat so I think I'll be fine, but this would have been a dinner-party disaster.

Though this was not my most successful kitchen endeavor, there are still a few lessons to be gleaned from the experience.

Lesson 1: Either turkey legs and turkey drumsticks are two entirely different things, or my turkey comes from the biggest turkeys in the Chicago area. If you have some chicken legs or normal-sized turkey legs, I think this recipe would work nicely. My colossal drumsticks look much bigger than those featured in the recipe. They barely fit into my 8x8 inch pan when I was brining them.

Lesson 2: I'm not perfect, and occasionally I cook things that don't turn out that well. I won't skip over these failures here, but I won't go through all my methods and adjustments in detail. Lots of spices would work well in this dish and I used things I happened to have around.

Lesson 3: I assumed that Montreal Seasoning was the same as Old Bay (it was not), and then discovered that my Old Bay was shockingly old and barely had any flavor at all. Spices really do lose their potency over time, so go through your pantry periodically and get rid of things that won't add good flavors to your cooking.

Lesson 4: Don't try to eat undercooked poultry. Even if you don't get sick, you'll be wary about it and won't really enjoy your meal. I salvaged these drumsticks by cutting the meat off the bone and finishing it in a hot pan. 

I served some of the meat with some Spanish-style spinach (a dish that I discovered in a set of tapas recipe cards that my mom gave me) and roasted string beans, and some of it in a lunch salad.

Spanish spinach

Time: ~15 minutes
Servings: 1 entree-sized portion, 2 smaller sides

Ingredients
1 apple, diced (peeled if you like)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup nuts, chopped (I had cashews, but any nuts will work)
2 large handfuls spinach (regular or baby; baby will cook faster)

Method
1. Coat a pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the apples to the pan. Stir occasionally and cook until the apples are slightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Add the raisins to the pan, stirring frequently for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the nuts to the pan, stirring frequently for another 30 seconds.

4. Fold the spinach into the mixture, stirring so that the apple, raisins, and nuts are not all at the bottom of the pan. Cook until the spinach is wilted. If you use regular spinach instead of baby spinach, you might want to cover the pan so that it steams a bit.

Serve alongside meat, fish, eggs, or a grilled cheese sandwich!

I will not always write about meat

I'm eclectic. While the mission of this blog is to chronicle my journey into eating better meat, I am occasionally inspired to write about topics outside of my carnivory. 

OK I just made that word up, but I'm really digging it. Carnivory. Activities pertaining to the acquisition, preparation, and consumption of meat. The Merriam-Webster people really should hear about this. 


But I digress. I like guilty pleasure movies. Except that I don't think of them as guilty pleasures; they are just pleasures since I feel no guilt in my enjoyment of them. I just saw Fast & Furious 6. It was amazing. People literally fly through the air. My friend Susan and I saw Fast 5 together when I came to see her graduate from law school, and we saw Fast & Furious 6 together when she was visiting this past weekend. I happily contributed to the $120+ million opening weekend gross. 

Alex Pappademas at Grantland put together a helpful recap of the first 5 films (yes, I just referred to them as films) and a few thoughts on the sixth installment. My favorite car-racing crew is now in charge of fighting terrorists. I still don't know what "the component" is, but it's dangerous and that hot British guy should not have it. The title of this review really sums up this film: F&F6 "bypasses logic and drives straight to the pleasure center." The audience's pleasure center was certainly fired up. At two key moments, loud gasps echoed through the theater, one of surprise at a plot twist that was remarkably unpredictable, one of glee at the reveal of the villain for the next film. A perfect fit. 

This franchise will never end. When Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are too old to plausibly jump out of cars as they fall off of cliffs, or jump out of cars and on to other cars (as if these things could ever be plausible), Jack Torreto-O'Conner will be the star of a reboot. He might be a baby now, but soon enough he'll grow up, take us back at the beginning, and fall in love with the wrong girl, just like his daddy before him. A badass lady cop perhaps?

I hope you enjoyed this meat-free interlude. Occasionally, I even cook things that have no meat in them at all. Shocking! This weekend, I decided to cook up some vegetarian chili, a spicy antidote to the rich food I've been indulging in of late. Black beans, mushrooms, bold spices, budget prices. I had a few ingredients on hand; those that I bought totaled $12.85. Given the huge size of my slow cooker, this recipe could probably feed 10 people.

Full disclosure: I used meat stock instead of the veggie stock, not because I really felt the need to add something meaty, but because I just made some meat stock. The meat stock complements the mushrooms nicely (so did the rosemary and thyme I had around), but use whatever stock suits you. 

While sour cream and shredded cheese are nice toppings for your chili, you could easily leave them out if you avoid dairy or are serving vegans. That's right, vegans. A vegan-friendly recipe. From me!!!

I topped this chili with avocado, cilantro, and Trader Joe's plantain chips. Pumpkin seeds could work, maybe a soft-boiled egg?

Vegetarian chili

Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution, one of many excellent cookbooks from the folks at America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients
Olive oil
2 onions, chopped finely
2 red peppers, chopped finely
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped finely
9 cloves of garlic, chopped finely or pressed
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 heaping tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2.5 cups stock
2.5 cups water
1 pound dried back beans
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, stems removed and roughly chopped
8 ounces white mushrooms, stems removed and quartered
1 chipotle pepper in adobo (when I open a can, I freeze the rest)
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
1 large sprig fresh thyme (optional)
A few bay leaves (optional; I forgot about this)
28 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped

Method
1. Heat olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a large skillet) over medium-high heat. Add vegetables (onion, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic) and spices (chili powder, mustard seeds, cumin, oregano) and cook until vegetables are soft and browned, about 8-10 minutes.

 

2. When the vegetables are browned, stir in about 1 cup of stock to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Carefully add vegetables and stock to the slow cooker.

3. Add mushrooms, beans, the rest of the broth, water, chipotle, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook for ~10 hours on low or ~6 hours on high.

4. Remove the bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme and discard. Stir in the tomatoes and let sit for a few minutes.


5. Serve topped with avocado, cilantro, plantain chips, etc. Add salt to taste.

Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled programming - I still have quite a backlog of meaty adventures to catch up on!