Monday, January 14, 2008

Snobby Joes, Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns, Sweet Potato Fries, Pickles, Clove Cookies

Dinner 1/14 by Brian



• Snobby Joes

• Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns

• Sweet Potato Fries

• Pickles

• Clove Cookies

As promised, Brian dove into the Veganomicon for our first recipe to try. The Snobby Joes were something that we actually have all of the ingredients on hand to make with the exception of the green pepper. The sandwich buns were made using the The New Farm Cookbook's recipe for Soft Sandwich Buns. Made using wheat from Sandhill only 3 miles away and ground in our electric mill, the bread doesn't get any fresher than this!

The sweet potato fries were made with sweet potatoes we bought from a neighboring organic farm in the fall and have been storing for use over the winter. The pickles were made by Dan during the summer with cucumbers that he grew in his garden. He used a vinegar brine and they were very crispy.

For dessert, Brian made clove cookies from the Simple Treats cookbook. Instead of sugar, he used sorghum from Sandhill as the sweetener. The molassesy-ness of sorghum is perfect for spice cookies of any kind since its flavor just blends in. It also helps give the cookies a beautiful golden color. Once, when I was traveling, I tried to make chocolate chip cookies out of white flour and sugar and they were sadly pale. Not like these:

2 comments:

Indiamommy said...

Hi Amy,

How many people do you cook for on your rotation?

How do you deal with the recipe quadrupling that must be necessary to cook for a group?

Do you cook anything you want, and others just get to eat it, or is there a "pick a meal" from the old fish bowl, so that everyone agrees on the meals?

Can you tell me which food coop it is? I'm dying to know more about DR!

And if you feel like it, could you dive into the more detailed information about how you come up with a rotation, and who gets to clean up afterwards...cuz the cook gets to rest...right???

Do you serve it buffet style, family style or hot off the griddle style?

Just curious. Hope you don't mind. I find it fascinating to cook for a group (having not ever cooked for more than 20 individuals at one time).

I occassionally participate in silent auctions at health nights, shows like Vagina Monologue and other worthy events. I usually auction a South Indian vegetarian meal for 4, and I bring it to their home and serve it. Sometimes I get invited to do a party for 20 or so folks, and it reminds me of those days in San Diego when my hippy friends and I ate for free (like everyone did) at the Hari Krishna once a week.
There were giant buckets of this and that being laddled onto a bed of rice on everyones plate, much worse than college cafeteria style, and we used to laugh so hard as the food was running all around our plates, praying to the goddess that we didn't get sick!

Well, if you have the time, I would love to know the sticky details!

Amy Skyhouse said...

Hi Jyotsna,

Thanks for your enthusiastic posts to the blog! Let me see if I can answer all of your questions about Bobolink...

How many people do you cook for on your rotation?
Right now, Bobolink is 6 people. We've talked about eventually getting to be as big as 12 to 14, but for now, we're pretty small. Even though we have to cook more often at this size, we have have advantage of cooking more "hands on" food like eggrolls and dumplings which requires more time and energy.

How do you deal with the recipe quadrupling that must be necessary to cook for a group?
I've heard that there's a subtlety to multiplying recipes, but I haven't experienced it firsthand too often. Most of the recipes that we use double, triple or quadruple pretty easily. One thing I *have* learned, however, is that when baking, doubling a recipe doesn't necessary mean I can use a big pan twice as big. :)

Do you cook anything you want, and others just get to eat it, or is there a "pick a meal" from the old fish bowl, so that everyone agrees on the meals?
For the most part, we can cook whatever vegan meals we want with the ingredients that are around/available. In general, we try to be considerate of what people's likes or dislikes are and what was eaten recently. I think most people like to have their meals enjoyed so popular things get cooked on a more regular basis.

Can you tell me which food coop it is? I'm dying to know more about DR!
Sure! It's Bobolink food co-op. Right now, there are three eating co-ops at DR: Bobolink, Sunflower and Ironweed. While Ironweed finishes its kitchen, Ironweeders are eating with Sunflower, so maybe that only counts as two. :) There are also lots of people who cook and eat on their own or as families.

And if you feel like it, could you dive into the more detailed information about how you come up with a rotation, and who gets to clean up afterwards...cuz the cook gets to rest...right???
Our co-op is pretty informal. Sundays we have a short meeting after lunch where we fill in that week's cooks. We don't do an alphabetical rotation–we just volunteer for the night that we prefer. Sometimes people find a slot that they like and cook on that night for a bit while some other people fill in where it's needed. One night a week is a "no cook" night since we're only 6 people. That night we get invitations to eat with other friends or cook for ourselves individually.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the cook does clean up on their cook night. People are always responsible for their personal dishes, but the cook cleans up their own mess. Some of us clean up as we go along, while others wait until after dinner. If a meal was particularly intensive, the cook can ask for help cleaning up, but that request is usually saved for when it's really needed.

Do you serve it buffet style, family style or hot off the griddle style?
We do some of each. There is an island in our kitchen where the cook usually sets up the plates and serving dishes. Sometimes the food is served in the cast iron pan it was cooked in "hot off the griddle". When the food is easy to pass, the cook can choose to serve family style.

Hope this answers your questions! Thanks for reading and commenting!

:D
amy