and now i succumb to red meat...

at the beginning of school, our teacher Jill told us “if you’re waiting for someone to give you permission to eat something specific, here it is. eat what you need to eat. you have no one to answer to but yourself.” odd as that may sound, that advice resonated deeply for many of us, and happened to translate to one thing in particular – beginning to eat meat again.

this week my school offered a special meat class which I attended with some of my classmates. all of us had started the program as either vegetarian or vegan. I’m not saying we all eat meat all of the time, but we are all listening to our bodies in a different way while still making informed decisions about the food we choose to eat. the meat at the class was all either organic or grass fed, and came from local sources. if there’s one thing they stress at Natural Gourmet, it’s high quality food, and that is particularly important when it comes to animal protein. grass fed meat tends to be a bit tougher because the animals are actually out in the pasture getting exercise, rather than being cooped up & fattened up for the sake of tender meat. tough schmuff – I’m willing to take a slightly tougher piece of meat for the sake of humanely treated animals.

of course I’m not here to preach that you should start eating meat if you don’t already – everyone’s body needs something different, and everyone’s diet will change and morph over time according to what you need at a specific point in time. if you do happen to eat meat, however, then try these delicious & easy recipes courtesy of Elliott Prag, instructor extraordinaire at NGI. (though I don’t suggest gorging it all in one night as we did because that’s just a bad idea):


Skirt Steak
serves 4-6

2 shallots, minced
¼ cup shoyu
¼ cup brown rice vinegar
2 pounds skirt steak
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1. Mix together the shallots, shoyu, and rice vinegar.
2. Add steak to marinade and marinate for several hours to overnight.
3. Heat a grill until very hot (you should have difficulty holding your hand 3 inches above the grill).
4. Remove the steak from the marinade. Place remaining marinade in a small sauce pan.
5. Grill the steak 2 minutes a side for rare, then let stand 4-5 minutes before slicing.
6. While the steak is resting, mount the marinade with cold butter to make a sauce. (Mounting means dropping in the sauce and whisking until the butter thickens the sauce)
7. Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve immediately.

*This is a great served in fajitas or burritos.

Short Ribs
serves 6-8

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 pounds short ribs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 large onion (10 ounces), small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup tomato paste
2 cups beef stock
¼ cup mustard
¼ cup horseradish

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven.
2. Add ribs and brown on all sides, 20 – 30 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.
3. Remove the ribs to a plate, and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. (if there is no fat at all then you might want to add a drop of olive oil)
4. Add smoked paprika, onions, garlic, and sauté 10 minutes.
5. Add beef stock and tomato paste.
6. Add ribs back in, bring liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and add more stock if necessary to cover. Cover the pot with a lid.
7. Cook ribs another 90 minutes, turning ribs occasionally. They will be done when the meat is falling off the bone.
8. Remove ribs from cooking liquid and refrigerate the stock overnight.
9. Skim fat from stock and reheat ribs with stock.
10. Transfer ribs to a plate, and whisk mustard and horseradish into the sauce.

*These are delicious with the sauce, but equally as delicious without. Feel free to eat them immediately and save the sauce for later or for something else entirely.

chicken-eaters beware - easy & delicious recipe below

it’s no secret that I have, as of late, been exploring various non-vegetarian (& even non-kosher!) options at mealtime – pending that they’re of a high quality and hopefully are from a local source. this new diet started during our week of poultry & fish classes at school. on chicken day we took turns trussing, cutting, brining & cooking our chicken, experimenting with established, classic recipes as well as doing a bit of improvising. I walked away with a newfound interest in chicken. not only did I like sampling all the different dishes we made, I also truly enjoyed the hands-on experience of bringing the chicken from its raw state to its cooked state, and everything that entailed.

chicken, like most food these days, can be a tricky buy. the free-range & cage-free certifications have such low standards they often mean nothing at all. vegetarian fed doesn’t seem to make sense as chickens naturally eat bugs and other non-vegetarian animal protein. a healthier “diet” for chickens would be to let them eat whatever grass & grub the earth naturally offers them. one label which I’ve been told is quite reliable is free farmed – an American Humane Association label assuring the animals were raised in the most humane & natural environment possible. check out some info on free-farmed animals here from the American Humane Association. and of course, buying your poultry from local farmers or green markets is a great way of supporting your community and eating in a more sustainable fashion. if it’s a nearby farm you can always pay it a visit and see for yourself how the animals are treated.

* * *

Mediterranean Chicken & Red Onions

this originally came out of our chicken day at school, although at this point I’ve tweaked it quite a bit. this recipe calls for whole breasts but it’s also delicious if you cut them into large cubes & skewer with red onions. *step 1 calls for a basic saltwater brine – this is not necessary if it’s a kosher chicken. check out another basic brine recipe here.


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ medium red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon fenugreek
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lime


1. Butterfly open the thickest parts of the chicken breasts by slicing in half lengthwise & opening up. Place in medium bowl with ¼ cup salt and water to cover. Allow to sit in fridge for at least a half hour in the brine, stirring occasionally.
2. Thinly slice red onion along the grain in half-moons, set aside.
3. Heat dried spices - cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, fenugreek & cayenne - on a low flame in a small sauté pan for about 1 minute or until aromatic. This will bring out their flavors but be careful, dried spices burn very quickly! Add spices to medium bowl along with garlic, parsley, salt & olive oil. Mix well.
4. When chicken is ready, drain, rinse & discard saltwater. Add chicken & red onion to marinade and let sit for 1-2 hours in fridge, stirring occasionally.
5. Preheat oven to broil.
6. Place chicken & red onion on a lightly oiled broiling pan and broil 7 minutes. Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Remove from oven and drizzle with lime juice immediately. Serve with red onions over a grain or green of your choice.

there's a new chef in the kitchen

I’ve always told myself that I would never, ever step foot into a restaurant kitchen. the idea of working in such a fast-paced, high-pressure environment scared me nearly to death... the thought of it alone brought on Hell’s Kitchen-esque images of crazy, screaming chefs throwing slabs of meat at their staff. so when I enrolled in culinary school I knew that eventually I would have to face this long standing dread of working in a restaurant, as much as I tried to ignore it.

last weekend I entered, for the first time ever, a restaurant kitchen. with only a month left in school we are all searching for the right fit for our August internship. once you’ve found the place you’d like to intern, you then spend a day in the kitchen “trailing” – working an entire 10-12 hour shift to see if you like them and they like you. it’s kind of like a blind date but in a chef’s jacket and black & white checkered pants.

when I started researching restaurants I quickly became enamored with one in particular. Blue Hill at Stone Barns is Dan Barber’s restaurant (some of you might know him from the most recent Top Chef finale) up in Tarrytown, NY; there’s also a Blue Hill here in the city. a huge factor in my internship search was finding an establishment which supports local farmers, and Blue Hill is the ultimate farm-to-table restaurant. the vast property houses a farm, a learning center, a café, and the well-respected & much loved restaurant. I’d been hearing about Blue Hill for quite some time but had never made it up for a visit.

I arrived at 12:30pm and was thrown right into the kitchen. I separated and shucked spring peas fresh from the farm and finely julienned red and purple radishes. in the garden I picked fresh Purslane (a wild, edible weed) and Johnny Jump Ups (also known as a Viola Tricolor, an edible flower) for the special tea they serve at dinner. after eating the staff meal outside overlooking the farm – a cool summer shower patting down on us – I returned to the kitchen for the real challenge. the kitchen is divided into two sections: the “a la carte” section, for those ordering off the menu, and the private dining section for parties and events and runs more like catering. I spent the second half of my day (well, night by then) prepping and plating appetizers & small plates… bite-size chicken on skewers with basil & cauliflower; tufts of homemade salami, bologna & prosciutto served on slate slabs; warm sturgeon strips over a bed of zucchini & pistachios, topped with large crystals of salt. while dessert was being served – mounds of chocolate truffles, homemade raspberry & yogurt marshmallows – I was out in the back hallway already prepping for the next day of service, skimming the fat off of gallons of chicken stock. I ended the night peeling the shells off of soft-boiled eggs, freshly lain, for their signature fried soft-boiled eggs dish (I had been forewarned of this task…) and at the end of the night I nearly knocked myself out on a pig hanging frozen and skinned in the walk-in.

as luck would have it, I start my internship there in one month. so much for never stepping foot into a restaurant kitchen… who would’ve thought?!?!

go ahead, have one lick too many

last Saturday my classmate Larry and his family Deana & River - some of my favorite people on the planet - ventured uptown to have brunch with me and my fiancée. after a lovely homemade meal we set out for a walk and maybe some ice cream to cool us off on that hot, sunny day. sure enough, it was there…that evil and delicious ever-present fixture on our street – the Mister Softee truck. we ordered up a variety of cones & sundaes and began scarfing them down before they could melt all over our grubby little hands. mine was a tall soft-serve cone dipped in some maraschino-red mystery shell which I didn’t necessarily like, but dug into regardless. after a few bites I felt nauseated, tired, and generally disgusting. there’s no doubt that that shell – an eerily bright red - was a mass of refined sugar & ingredients whose names you either can’t pronounce or don’t want to know about.

thanks to the Natural Gourmet, below are a couple recipes for a healthier alternative to that refreshing, cooling, quintessential summer treat. both are vegan, and ridiculously delicious. you’ll need an ice cream maker – if you don’t have one yet I promise you it’s worth it (thank you Mama Perlman & fam for our wonderful engagement present!)!

enjoy these desserts knowing that the ingredients are unprocessed, unrefined, and put together with your own two hands. no mystery foods here, just pure, refreshing deliciousness.

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delicious on its own or paired with a creamy ice cream – think creamsicle - this is literally the perfect summer sorbet. when we made this at school my classmate Dom served it in the scooped out orange peels…adorable. we ate them so quickly I almost missed the picture entirely! (you could also add extra vodka to make a summer cocktail slushy!)

Orange Sorbet
Yield: 3 cups

2 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed and strained (about 8 cups)
½ cup grade A maple syrup
½ cup rice syrup
1 tablespoon vodka or brandy
pinch sea salt
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1. In medium bowl, combine orange juice, maple syrup, rice syrup, lemon juice, vodka or brandy, and sea salt. Stir until dissolved.
2. Pour mixture into ice cream machine and churn. When mixture starts to firm up, add zest and continue to churn until fluffy.

Copyright by Lisa Boymann and Jenny Matthau. All rights reserved.

* * *

this recipe calls for Rich Almond Milk (recipe below). if you can help it, don’t substitute with boxed almond milk as the flavors & texture will change.


Vanilla Almond Ice Cream (Vegan)

¾ cups “Rich Almond Milk” (recipe blow)
¾ cup grade A maple syrup
¼ cup rice syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
1 vanilla bean
optional: 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1. Combine almond milk, maple syrup, rice syrup, vanilla extract and salt in blender. Split vanilla bean in half and scrape out seeds. Add seeds to blender.
2. Process almond milk mixture until well blended. If using coconut oil, drizzle into blender with motor running. Process until mixture is emulsified.
3. Pour cooled mixture into ice cream machine and churn, occasionally scraping sides of bowl, until creamy and somewhat firm.
*to make 3 cups “milk” use 4 ½ cups water, 2 ¼ cups blanched almonds, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

* * *

fresh almond milk is a healthy alternative to cow’s milk or other substitutes like highly-processed soy milk. it’s easy to make and packed with protein and nutrients. almonds themselves are tridoshic according to ayurvedic philosophy, and are therefore a good food for everyone. For this recipe, try soaking them in water overnight and then taking the skin off for easier digestion and will yield a beautiful, soft cream.

Rich Almond Milk
Yield: approximately 2 ¾ cups

1 ½ cups blanched almonds (skin off)
3 cups water
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small pot bring water to a boil, pour over blanched almonds and let sit covered for 20-30 min.
2. Put all ingredients in blender. Process for a few minutes on “liquefy” setting until well homogenized.
3. Rinse a piece of cheesecloth (double thickness) with cold water and wring thoroughly.
4. Pour small amount of almond mixture over sieve or chinois lined with double layer of prepared cheesecloth, wringing and squeezing the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid from the pulp as possible. discard each batch of almond pulp when no more liquid can be extracted. rinse cheesecloth well in cold water and proceed with the next batch, repeating this process until all of the almond mixture has been “milked”.
5. Strain almond milk through sieve.

Copyright by Jenny Matthau. All rights reserved.

and this is how we do it...

my biggest masterpiece yet... a vegan lemon cake with lemon-tofu frosting

deliciously scrumptious and fun to decorate

Melissa puts the finishing touches on her ridiculously good looking cake

my very first clam shucking experience!

chef Richard teaches us shellfish

a 91-degree kitchen + some hott herbed dinner rolls

chef kat whips up a crazy delicious pizza creation

chef larry prepares to work those arms, whisking egg whites for waffles

these were some *delicious* crispy wontons

chef Elliott teaches us how to convert regular cookie recipes into health-supportive recipes... possibly the most cookies i've ever eaten on a single day

big D and Karolina in the kitchen

oysters 3-ways: wasabi sauce, salsa & vinegar

veggies from our "grill class"

chef Annie works with us on salads

cool off with some quinoa

here in NY we seem to have skipped spring altogether and jumped right into summer. while the feverish heat wave of last week has finally broken, we are still a mass of sweaty, tired people. all day the sun radiates over this island, trapped between the tall, metallic bodies of buildings which tower over us, leaving people and animals alike looking haggard.

of course air conditioning is one way to stay cool, but don’t forget that the food we eat has a significant impact on the warming and cooling of our own bodies. I recently conjured up a little summer grain salad packed with protein, vegetables and yummy flavors, but also felt light and refreshing. the main ingredient is quinoa, one of my favorite grains. if you haven’t tried it yet then beware – you may very well be hooked after this.

quinoa is a whole food which means that all of its edible parts are in tact. the endosperm, germ & bran are all present, wrapped up in a tiny, almost minuscule grain. in refining processes the germ & bran are often removed, leaving a starchy, nutrient-deficient product behind. not so in quinoa. you can actually see the germ wrapped around its little body, and when cooked properly it pops off into its own curlicue, giving quinoa a deliciously gentle crunch.

of all the grains, quinoa is highest in protein – in fact it is the only grain which is a complete protein. it has a rich essential amino acid profile and is packed with vital nutrients including B & E vitamins, iron and phosphorous. it is easy to digest and therefore doesn’t leave you feeling heavy or overly full. so what’s the catch? nothing at all. easy to make, takes in other flavors well, and ridiculously good for you.

the recipe below calls for two types of quinoa which give it a beautiful, rainbowy color. feel free to use just one kind of quinoa, or change up the vegetables for whatever’s in season.




Colorful Quinoa & Veggie Salad
Yields 5 1-cup servings

½ c regular quinoa
½ c red (Inca) quinoa
1 ¾ c water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pinch cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
½ bunch asparagus, blanched
2 c packed spinach, torn in bite-size pieces, blanched
½ c kumquats, quartered
¾ c dried cranberries
¾ c crumbled feta
salt & pepper to taste


1. Heat small saucepan on medium flame. Add olive oil and garlic, stirring so as not to brown. Mix in turmeric, coriander, cumin, cayenne & salt and sauté 1-2 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Pour in quinoa, stir once to incorporate, and cover pot. Bring back to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes, or until all water has been absorbed.

2. Remove quinoa from heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.

3. Meanwhile, blanch asparagus in salted water in a large saucepan for 45 sec – 1 min. Remove from heat, run under cold water, then lay out on paper towel to drain.

4. Blanch spinach, squeeze out excess water, and chop into bite-size pieces.

5. Mix quinoa, asparagus, spinach, and remaining ingredients. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

eat my radishes

it was a couple of weeks into culinary school when I realized I was constantly thinking about and dreaming about food. between school, personal cheffing, and spending the weekends building up my catering business, I’ve been up to my shoulders in whole grains, organic vegetables, kombu strips, and the occasional pan fried seitan (see those sliders behind the blog title?). at night I would have dreams – vivid ones – of different foods I was cooking, or some slice I was trying to perfect. one food in particular often made its way into these dreams – each time it appeared I would be trying my hardest to slice paper-thin rounds of it, breaking open the vibrant pink globes to expose their pure white bellies.
ah yes, the radish. member of the cruciferous family, generally eaten raw with the stems discarded as trash. well I’d like to have my radish and eat it too – and I mean all of it. a natural digestive aid, radishes are high in potassium and folic acid. they are a cooling food, and ayurvedically-speaking are kapha & vata reducing. and it’s radish season, so why not try them.

this past weekend at the green market in Union Square I worked my school’s demo/tasting booth. we sautéed radishes and radish greens and handed out samples. simple as it is, people loved it. I had never eaten cooked radishes before and I loved it too. Below is the basic recipe for the dish we made, but you can really do it up your own way. You can switch up proportions of greens to radishes, or the order of cooking, and it will still come out delicious. give it a try:

Sauteed Radish Greens with Garlic

1-2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic – regular or spring garlic, thinly sliced
5 bunches radishes thinly sliced (reserve greens)
Reserved greens, washed well & chopped into bite size pieces
Sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste

1. In a medium pan, heat oil over medium high heat, add garlic to pan and sauté for 1-2 minutes. 2. Add radishes, sauté until radishes begin to turn a pinkish color.
3. Add greens, salt and pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add greens, salt and pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve with your choice fo grain. Copyright Sara Ross