Great Chefs cook vegan

today i would like to recommend a cookbook. when it comes to putting together dinner i usually trust my basic education (5 years of a tourism  college including 4 years of cooking training, but more than there i learned when watching my mom, 
who was a professional chef in a restaurant) and instincts.

being an avid follower of many cuisines, i have to say, i love food from every part of the world - as long as it is authentic, as opposed to a copy, trendy or hyped by the media and using the best (fresh,seasonal,organic) produce available (not necessarily the most expensive or rare). therefore my dinners turn out the 
way they are: italian, spanish, thai, chinese, austrian, indian, greek, nordic, french, mexican, russian, japanese, oriental, or even english - everything is possible.

but now and then one should have a look into a cookbook. for sheer pleasure. have a look what others do, pick up a new ingredient (stats say we're sticking to the same 12 ingredients for 90% of our diet), learn a new method, to bring back memories of dishes long forgotten, or simply to upgrade from the daily treadmill of cooking just for that one evening (or brekkie,...).

the book i've turned to recently proposes vegan dishes, submitted by award winning chefs, which is great, because the majority of vegan cooking is considered basic, mainly because of the lack of a "centerpiece", most people can imagine having veggies as a starter, or side, but only when the best of the best show you how to bring out additional value through a combination of ingredients, or how to prepare a plant that you haven't heard of so far, you've got the carnivore's attention.

the recipe i am most intrigued by, is a simple one. by master chef thomas keller. a french laundry classic. i've taken a pic 

of the ingredients, while the books cover shows the actual outcome of a "purée of sunchoke soup with pickled red radishes", a cream featuring jerusalem artichoke, that, while simple to prepare, is stunning guests by the use of marinated radish. sometimes it is that easy, but you might need a cookbook to 

tell you that. enjoy.

Risotto

one of my (many) favourites. so versatile. comfy food at its best, you only need to have your risotto rice - round grain, preferably italian, i use arborio or carnaroli - and onions in stock, no pantry should be devoid of it.

being spontaneous a quick look in the fridge or the pantry tells you what could add to your risotto and fill your stomach in 30 minutes. the possibilities are endless and even in summer, when salad and fruit dominate the menus, the odd cool evening calls for this italian masterpiece.

there are as many variations of risotto, as there are cooks in italy a saying goes, so let me give you my version.

1 onion chopped and a little olive oil started on low heat till the onion turns translucent. add the rice, a cup per person, let it also gain heat. deglaze with a little white wine (to add a some acidity and roundness), then pour in vegetable stock cup after cup, let the rice absorb the liquid in between. this happens on low heat, the mix barely bubbling, stirring it all occasionally. in the process the rice will loose its starch to the liquid turning it into a creamy consistency. 

you can add the ingredients of your choice (e.g. spinach, carrots, peas, herbs,...) now and let it cook together until all the parts seamlessly grew to a creamy risotto, or fry them apart in an extra pan (zucchini, fennel, mushrooms,...) and mix it together when ready. 

classic recipes would ask for butter and parmesan now, but that actually makes the result heavier and heftier, so i am omitting these in order to keep my dish delicately light and vegan.

for the version you see here i had some beetroot left in the fridge (precooked in the oven a day earlier) and i fried some mushrooms up to be placed on top. finished with a little evoo 

and balsamic, which perfects this dish' all around eathiness. enjoy!

homecooked

now lets get startet for real. jump into the beds of our gardens. tonights dinner: a stack of yellow & green zucchini and 'shrooms, accompanied  by an oriental spiced mix of couscous and chickpeas.

the yellow zucchino is homegrown in my moms garden, the mushrooms are farmed in austria (kräuterseitlinge), herbs picked fresh from the balcony  of my apartment and  all ingredients are organic. <3

panfried slices of zucchini and mushrooms