Is Gluten-free, Dairy-free Pastry Worth It?

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Apr 14, 2011 | Restaurant Reviews |

The First in a series of Restaurant Reviews on my trip to Orange County, and Los Angeles, California

A Trip to Babycakes Bakery

Los Angeles, Downtown, Sunday, mid-morning. The streets are crowded, and we are driving in circles, looking for a parking place. Around, and around. I’m seriously getting dizzy. I didn’t know there would be that much foot traffic in Downtown L.A. on a Sunday morning, blocking my ability to make a right turn before the light changes and the oncoming traffic starts. Half an hour of this.

Waiting for lights, waiting for cars. I wonder, is a gluten-free, dairy-free pastry worth this much trouble? Apparently I used my out-loud voice without realizing it. The partner glares at me. “Yes.” She growls. read more

April Reading List

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Apr 8, 2011 | Books |

Here’s the culinary reading list so far this month…

Salt: A World History: I know, we’ve seen this one before, but I had to send it back to the library before I was done reading. This time I intend to finish it. Salt has had a huge impact on our world, and how it shaped world history.

Food Plants of the World: An Illustrated Guide: A comprehensive and thorough documentation of the approximately 350 foods that we humans consume.

Seeds of Change: Five Plants That Transformed Mankind: There is a newer edition of this book, Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind. Henry Hobhouse added cocoa to quinine, sugar, tea, cotton and the potato as foods that impacted history. I’m wondering why corn is not in there? read more

Three Faces of the Annatto Seed

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Apr 5, 2011 | Herbs & Spices, Recipes |

RIPE-ANNATTO-FRUITS Annatto, or, in spanish, Achiote, is a well-loved spice in Central and South American cuisines. Unlike some of the other herbs and spices I’ve researched, there are many recipes, descriptions and uses listed for annatto seeds, achiote paste, and annatto oil. The trick to using this spice is figuring out what you want to do with it.

An natto (achiote in Spanish) hails from the Caribbean, Central America, and the warmer parts of South America. Along with chocolate and tomatoes, Annatto traveled back to the Old World with the Spanish Conquistadors and found a place in India and other South Asian countries, with climates that allow the plant to thrive. read more

South Indian Cuisine Adventures

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Apr 1, 2011 | Perspective, Recipes |

I found a great South Indian cookbook, Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India
with pretty authentic recipes. For awhile now I’ve wanted to tackle this cuisine, and have slowly been building the culinary muscle to attempt it. South Indian food is predominately vegetarian, and involves lots of dal, masala pastes, idli, and dosais. (More on idlis later).

Most of the blogs and books you find on Indian cooking are from the Northern part of the subcontinent. Or, if it is a general Indian cooking website, there is usually no distinction between the different regions. read more

Eggplant and tofu are friends

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Mar 23, 2011 | Recipes, Tofu |

Here's a great protein packed and flavorful dish featuring eggplant and tofu. It's sure to please your friends and family. It tends to be on the salty side, but it will satisfy even a hearty appetite.

The Way of Tofu

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Mar 21, 2011 | Ingredients, Proteins |

In the wide world of vegan and vegetarian cooking, tofu is the preferred protein. Most Americans are intimidated when it comes to working with tofu and have no clue how to approach this super bean. I know that I had no concept of how to process tofu until I lived with a vegan roommate in the late nineties. She really taught me the way of tofu. And since then I've been improving on how I work with it.

I Want a Pot Rack

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Mar 18, 2011 | Equipment |

If I was a really good food blogger, I would have had multiple posts ready to go on a second's notice, that would have covered this long absence. I am not that adept yet. Sometimes it' s a challenge just to get a good photo of the food I make or getting a recipe put together and uploaded. And during the last month or so, just getting to work on time was a challenge. And now, I come back to the blog, to you my faithful readers, with this story.

And The Thank You’s Go To…

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Jan 7, 2011 | Perspective |

I’d like to take a few paragraphs to thank all the people who have helped shape the Kitchen Shaman.

First, my partner D’Marie, who encouraged me to write about food when she realized the amount of information stuck up in my brain that could be shared with the world. She has also been the gracious recipe tester, and benefactor of the Kitchen Shaman’s food over the last 8.5 years. She has suffered my failures, and gloried in my culinary triumphs. And has been there every night and day when I come home from a long shift, tired and just wanting take-out, but babbling about everything I learned about food that day. She is also the fabulous editor of Kitchen Shaman, taking my words and shaping them into something that you can understand when you read it. I am deeply grateful for her talents. read more

Very Vegan Black Bean and Tempeh Chili

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Jan 5, 2011 | Beans & Rice, Recipes, Southwestern |

I've been making Chili in various forms for as long as I've been cooking, and that really is quite a long time. Switching to veganism, I had to adjust the recipe for use with products like tofu and tempeh. They don't have the fat I'm used to, so I use a little more oil to sweat the vegetables, and lime juice to deglaze the pan. This recipe is the result of the happy mix between chilis, tempeh, and black beans.

Chile Ristras, A String Story

Posted by Kitchen Shaman | Jan 3, 2011 | Food Knowledge & History |

In the American Southwest, chile peppers flourish between September and October. In New Mexico, they are sold by the bushel, not the pound. Sacks of green, and then red chiles appear in the markets–and for around $20.00 you can take that bushel home.

The chiles being so abundant need to be preserved. Only the most mature plant, the Red Chile (New Mexico, Cayenne), is suitable for preserving. Green chiles are an immature fruit, and carry too much moisture to go through the sun drying process. read more

Author: Kitchen Shaman