Cookbook Thursday: Private Chef Thomas Gosney and his detailed 'Method of Procedure'

            Private chef Thomas Gosney, who once cooked for Louisiana native and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, has published a cookbook that focuses on the preparation of great meals. “Method of Procedure: The Guide and Techniques for Excellent Cuisine” goes beyond providing recipes — although the book is full of a wide variety of dishes complemented by beautiful photos.

“Basic, online recipes have a grey area,” Gosney said. “But with my book, readers feel as if I’m in their kitchens with them, guiding them along the way.”

Recipes vary from the more elaborate pinot noir braised beef short ribs in forest mushrooms to a simple golden beets salad accented by salt, olive oil and lemon juice that creates its own dressing. Each recipe comes with detailed instructions by the chef who's been seen on the "Today Show," "Hard Copy" and alongside Food Network star Chef Bobby Flay.

Here’s a sample recipe for squash soup that comes with a ginger kick and a nutty flavor.

Cashew Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, medium, diced

3 cups butternut squash, peeled, large diced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 cloves fresh garlic, rough chopped

1 medium chunk fresh ginger, peeled, rough chopped (about the size of a quarter, 1/4-inch thick)

1/2 cups raw cashews

8 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 teaspoon fresh chives or parsley, finely diced (optional)

            Directions: Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add onion and sauté onion until brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add squash, salt and pepper, cook for another minute. Add garlic, ginger, and cashews, sauté for 1 more minute. Pour in broth, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until squash is tender. Pour in blender, only filling half way. Blend until soup is creamy smooth. Be careful not to turn on high, start on low and increase speed. The soup is hot and can burn you. Placing a rag on top of the cover can protect your hands and face. Pour into soup bowls and return to pot until service. Sprinkle with fresh chives right before serving. Serves 6 to 8 people.

Virginia Willis goes from 'Basic to Brilliant, Y'all'

           I've got sweet potato grits on my mind today so I'm highlighting a recipe I discovered a few years ago in Virginia Willis' cookbook that blends Southern dishes with a French flare. Many readers will know Willis by her award-winning “Bon Appétit, Y’all,” and her 2011 cookbook, “Basic to Brilliant Y’all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company,” is a “body of basic recipes that can stand on their own,” she writes, “but they can be transformed to brilliant by a short recipe, presentation tip, or technique — all accomplished without ‘dumbing down’ the basics to make the brilliant work, and without the overuse of expensive or hard-to-find ingredients.”

            Talk about my kind of book.

            The opening features “fundamental recipes” such as stocks, sauces, pie crusts and the like. Then readers move to “starters and nibbles,” with lovely ideas that run the gamut, such as Southern ratatouille, shrimp rillettes and pigs in a blanket bites. Other chapters include typical meals — soups and salads, fish and shellfish and beef, pork and lamb, gospel birds and game birds and vegetables. In Southern fashion there’s rice grits and potatoes, eggs and dairy, a section on daily bread with items honoring cornmeal and sweet potatoes and, of course, desserts.

            And the book is full of helpful hints, anecdotes and ways to turn the basic recipes into brilliant ones.

            Here’s a great example. This sweet potato grits recipe can be enhanced into a soufflelike spoonbread; the book offers both. I’ll include it here as grits and let you check out the book if you wish to know more. 

Sweet Potato Grits

2 cups water

2 cups low-fat or whole milk

1 cup stone-ground grits

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and grated

Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Direction: In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the water and milk and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Slowly add the grits, whisking constantly. Add the sweet potato. Season with salt and white pepper. Decrease the heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until the grits are creamy and thick, 45 to 60 minutes. Taste the grits and sweet potato to make sure both are cooked and tender. Add the ground ginger, cinnamon and butter. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and white pepper. Serve immediately.

            In other food news, Cheramie Sonnie reviews "A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen" by Dora Charles with Fran McCullough in today's Advocate. You can read it here.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is a food and travel writer living in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She also writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire, “A Cajun Dream” and “The Letter.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Cookbook Thursday: Vegan Indian style with Richa Hingle; Gentry’s 'Real Food for Everyone' in paperback

            Over the years I’ve evolved from enjoying an Indian dish or two to discovering the nation’s cuisine and actively seeking out its culinary wealth. It’s still a new horizon for me, navigating the spices and sauces, so I was thrilled to receive for review “Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen: Traditional and Creative Recipes for the Home Cook” by Richa Hingle. Not only is this lovely cookbook full of great recipes to try, but plenty of cooking tips as well — even a grocery list to teach me what ingredients to have on hand.

            Hingle grew up in India, prefers a vegan diet and is the creator of VeganRicha.com so these recipes are all plant-based. There’s my favorite chickpea curry, baked dishes such as spicy red lentil cauliflower potato casserole, mango curry tofu, avocado Naan and so much more. For dessert, how about fudgy cardamom squares, coconut balls or doughnuts soaked in sugar syrup.

            Here’s a fun recipe for “Easy Curried Green Beans.”

Easy Curried Green Beans

From “Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen”

1 teaspoon safflower or coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

3/4 cup chopped or thinly sliced red or white onion

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)

3 1/2 cups fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces (thawed if frozen)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Cook until they start to pop. Stir in the onion and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the garam masala, turmeric and cayenne. Cook until fragrant, 2 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, if using, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the green beans, salt and wa­ter. Mix well, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Stir, taste and adjust salt and spice. Check the beans for doneness. Add a bit more water if you want to keep it saucy. Cover and cook until beans are cooked through, 5 minutes. The beans should not be mushy, but just about well-cooked. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro.

            Now in paperback is Ann Gentry’s “Real Food for Everyone: Vegan-Friendly Meals for Meal-Lovers, Vegetarians, and Vegans,” full of healthy recipes such as pinto bean enchiladas, sesame-shiitake tofu frittatas and chocolate silk pie. After you gaze through these recipes, you’ll agree with Gentry that “being vegan is actually cool.”’

            Here’s an innovative recipe for those looking for alternatives to dairy. Gentry uses this cheese recipe in her Real Food Daily restaurant.

Vegan Cashew Cheese

From “Real Food for Everyone”

Makes 4 cups

1 1/4 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons sea salt1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 1/2 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
1 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) agar agar flakes
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup yellow or white miso
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions: Using the pulse button, finely grind the cashews in a food processor (do not allow the cashews to turn into a paste). Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse 3 more times to blend in the spices. Combine the soy milk, agar and oil in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the agar is dissolved. With the food processor running, gradually pour the milk mixture through the feed tube and into the cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is very smooth and creamy. Blend in the miso and lemon juice.

For grated or sliced cheese: Transfer the cheese to a container; cover and refrigerate until it is very firm, about 4 hours. Once it is firm, grate or slice the cheese as desired.

For melted cheese: Use the cheese immediately as melted cheese. To make the cheese in advance, cover and refrigerate it. When ready to use, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat until it is smooth and creamy, stirring frequently and adding more soy milk to the melted cheese to thin, if necessary.
            The cheese will keep for 4 days, covered and refrigerated.

Chere Dastugue Coen is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Cookbook Thursday: 'Practically Raw' reissued

            Looking to eat healthier? Andrews McMeel Publishing has reissued in a new full-color edition Chef Amber Shea Crawley’s “Practically Raw: Flexible Raw Recipes Anyone Can Make.”

            Dishes range from almond butter-sesame noodles, vegetable korma masala and a Spanish garden paella to comfort foods such as strawberry cheesecake gelato and “Just-like-grandma’s banana pudding.” And then there are those recipes perfect for summer: numerous styles of hummus, kale chips and easy soups such as the chilled watermelon soup and a spicy curried carrot-coconut soup.

            I’ve included an interesting recipe for pizza kale chips, proving what Chef Amber writes, that “you can make kale taste like whatever you want.”

Pizza Kale Chips

From “Practically Raw: Flexible Raw Recipes Anyone Can Make” 

1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 2 to 4 hours and drained

1/4 cup hempseeds

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked for 30 minutes and drained

1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons filtered water

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1 bunch kale, tough stems removed, roughly chopped (6 to 8 cups)

Directions: Combine all ingredients except kale in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth, adding a splash of water if needed to blend. In a large bowl, combine the kale and the pizza sauce. Use your hands to massage the sauce all over the kale, making sure it’s coated completely.

Make it Raw: Arrange the kale in a single layer on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for 8 hours or overnight, until crisp.
            Make it Baked: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and grease a baking sheet with coconut oil. Arrange the kale in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and use a fork or spatula to carefully flip the kale chips over (it’s okay if you miss a few). Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, watching carefully to make sure the kale doesn’t burn, then remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Chere Dastugue Coen is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Cookbook Thursday: Holiday gift ideas!

            We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again, books make great holiday gifts. They last forever, bring hours of escape or entertainment and actually increase a person’s IQ.

            Here are some fun cookbooks to consider:

            Cooking Light magazine offers two great cookbooks that are as delightful to read as they are informative for the chef. Dietician and food writer Sally Kuzemchak is a mom raising two young boys so you know her recipes will be brief on ingredients and big on taste. Her latest is “Dinnertime Survival Guide” for those needing to serve up healthy family dinners in a short amount of time. (Her recipe below is from her web site, a little longer than most but quite tasty.) New York Times best-selling author David Joachim shows readers how to create global dishes with little education in “Global Kitchen: The World’s Most Delicious Food Made Easy.” He has a recipe below as well.

            One of the most interesting books I’ve come across all year is “Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat” by Ellen Zachos. The book reads like an encyclopedia of common plants good enough to eat, many of which — such as ginko fruit, acorns, daylilies and dandelions — are sitting right outside your window.

            “Orange is the New Black Presents The Cookbook,” based on the popular Netflix TV show about a woman’s prison, is more entertainment than serious cooking although the 65 recipes seem real enough, just accented by fun names such as Crack Almonds. The sidebars, photos from the show and prison factoids really round out the book. Once you’ve foraged for dandelions, you can create the Crazy Eye’s Dandelion Salad. If you’re wondering about the reference, ask a fan of the show to explain.

T-Riffic Tilapia Tacos

From “Dinnertime Survival Guide”

Crema:

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise

3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

1 teaspoon grated lime rind

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove, minced

Spice Mixture:

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Tacos:

1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

2 cups angel hair slaw

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup sliced green onions

Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

            Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Cover and chill. Combine cumin and next 5 ingredients (through garlic powder) in a small bowl; sprinkle spice mixture over both sides of fillets. Place fillets on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees for 9 to 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Cool slightly. Place fish in a large bowl; break into pieces with 2 forks. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates. Arrange 1/2 cup slaw on each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; Top each serving with 1/4 cup tomato, 2 tablespoons red onion, 1 tablespoon green onions and about 3 tablespoons lime crema. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. Serve with lime wedges.

Lamingtons
From “Global Kitchen”
Cooking spray

4 large egg whites

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

4 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces cake flour (about 1 cup)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup 2 percent reduced-fat milk

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups reduced-fat unsweetened finely shredded dehydrated coconut

             Direction: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 9-inch square metal baking pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper, allowing parchment paper to extend over edge of pan.

            Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Place egg yolks and remaining 6 tablespoons granulated sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until thick and pale (about 3 minutes).

            Beat in vanilla. Gently fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift mixture over egg mixture, 1/3 cup at a time; fold in. Spoon batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

            Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove cake from pan, using parchment paper sides as handles. Cool completely on a wire rack (with parchment paper in place). Wrap cake and parchment paper in plastic wrap; chill 2 hours.

Remove plastic wrap from cake; place cake (with parchment paper in place) on a cutting board. Cut cake into 16 squares, using a serrated knife.

            Combine milk and chopped chocolate in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add cocoa and powdered sugar, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Place coconut in a medium bowl. Dip cake squares, 1 at a time, into melted chocolate mixture, using 2 forks to gently turn the cake to coat; scrape off excess chocolate on side of pan. Place chocolate-coated cake in coconut, using 2 forks to gently turn the cake to coat.

            Place lamingtons on wire rack; let stand 15 minutes or until chocolate is set. Serves 16 (serving size: 1 cake).

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.