NE Takes Over Casa de Luz June 10

On the second Sunday of every month, five students from the Natural Epicurean Academy of Arts prepare dinner for the patrons of Casa de Luz. This month, Natural Epicurean teacher Christina will be leading the kitchen.

June's (tentative) Menu is:
Herbed Onion Soup
Fresh Green Salad
Orange Gingered Carrots
Sautéed Greens with Lemon and Poppy Seeds
Quinoa, Amaranth and Corn with Braised Apples and Beets
Tempeh with Bechamel Sauce

As always we strive for as much seasonal, organic produce as possible. Although our menus are planned in regard to the seasons, sometimes the produce just isn't available and substitutions are required.

NE Takes Over Casa de Luz
Sunday, June 10th
6:00-8:30
$12 for adults includes meal, hot or cool tea and filtered water
1701 Toomey Rd.
Austin, TX 78704

Quick and Simple Handroll Tutorial

Tempeh Veggie Rolls and Rueben Rolls

Ingredients:

1--1 1/2 cups boiled or pressure cooked brown rice or brown rice combination

2 or 3 sheets of toasted nori

filling ingredients such as blanched carrot matchsticks, cucumber matchsticks, green onion, fried tofu or tempeh, mustard, sauerkraut, radish, avocado, pickled shiso leaves, pickled ginger, etc.

Instructions:

1. Cut or tear each sheet of nori in half, so that you have 4 or 6 sheets of nori that are approximately 4"x6".
2. Lay one sheet of nori down on your work surface with the shiny side down and the long side facing you.
3. Take about 1/4 cup of rice and using your hands, press into a 4 inch long log shape.
4. Lay the rice log on the nori diagonally starting at the top left corner and ending at the bottom center point.
5. Lay ingredients on top of rice, being careful not to overfill handroll.
6. Gently fold the lower left corner of the nori over the handroll filling.
7. Continue rolling the handroll until only 1/4 of an inch is left unrolled. Wet this edge to seal it and finish rolling.

Admire your beautiful work and enjoy!

Notes:

This is a perfect opportunity to use up your leftover grain in a fun, delicious way.

The soybeans in tempeh are only partially cooked during tempeh production, so it is important to always cook your tempeh for at least 20 minutes to ensure proper digestability. Steaming tempeh for 10 minutes prior to marinating it (for frying or grilling) also opens up the pores in it, making it a flavor sponge.

For a Tempeh Rueben Roll, use sauerkraut, green onions, mustard, and tempeh simmered in a water/shoyu mixute for twenty minutes.

Using avocado or a small amount of seed or nut butter in your sushi will create a creamy richness and make your sushi more satisfying.

Handrolls can be dipped in sauces like shoyu wasabi, ginger shoyu, tahini sauce, etc.

Natural Epicurean Takes over Casa de Luz!

Celebrate Mother's Day with us!

On the second Sunday of every month, five students from the Natural Epicurean Academy of Arts prepare dinner for the patrons of Casa de Luz. Christina Terriquez will be leading the kitchen and creating delicious dishes in Casa's kitchen.

May's (tentative) Menu is:
Red Lentil Dahl
Millet Tabbouleh
Curried Chickpeas
Blanched Greens with Walnut Pomegranate Sauce
Fresh Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette
Golden Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes OR Spiced Summer Squash

As always we strive for as much seasonal, organic produce as possible. Although our menus are planned in regard to the seasons, sometimes the produce just isn't available and substitutions are required.

NE Takes Over Casa de Luz
Sunday, May 13th
6:00-8:30
$12 for adults includes meal, hot or cool tea and filtered water
1701 Toomey Rd. Austin, TX 78704

Spring Festival, Saturday, April 14

The Natural Epicurean will be partnering with Casa de Luz for a booth at White Mountain Foods Annual Spring Festival. Come say "Hello!" to our current students and graduates. The event is free and there will be free food, free drinks and free entertainment.

From the White Mountain Foods Website:

White Mountain Foods “Spring Festival”
A Community event
Saturday, April 14th,
12 Noon – 6PM
3301 East 5th Street

White Mountain Foods is pleased to
announce
this years “Spring Festival” to benefit all White Mountain Foods
customers
and Austin Community-Based & Non-Profit
Organizations.

There will be numerous Community-Based Organizations and Area Non-Profit Organizations in attendance. Come join in and bring family of all ages and friends for “Live Music” all day. Event sponsors are; Smokey Denmark Meats & Sausages, Maine Root Organic Root Beer & Sodas, Live Oak Brewery adult beverages, Raw Organic Chocolate from Innocent Chocolate, NadaMoo! Organic Non-Dairy Ice Cream and White Mountain Foods natural products.

Throughout the day there will be raffles for White Mountain Foods Gift Packages and many other surprises. Come enjoy the music, food and get to know organizations in your community that are taking action and making a difference. E-mail or call for info 512-385-4711.

Directions: from I35 head East on 7th Street to Pleasant Valley Rd., make a right onto Pleasant Valley Rd., at the next light make a left onto 5th Street. White Mountain Foods is 3 blocks down on the right across the street from Meals on Wheels on the corner of 5th and Allen. Parking in front on 5th Street and in rear on 4th Street. Entrance to party is on 4th Street.

Free Demo and Free Lecture 3-14-2007

Join us at 6:00 PM Wednesday, March 14, when Joshua Gefroh will give a free demonstration of Gluten Free Pancakes. After the demonstration, stay for our monthly free lecture, How Foods Affect Your Health and Emotions by Dawn Pallavi. This month, we will have an interpreter for our hearing impaired friends.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Demo: 6:00 PM, Lecture: 7:00 PM
Free

Casa de Luz Center for Integral Studies, Cielo Room

1701 Toomey Rd

Austin, Tx 78704

NE and Chef Marko Ellinger take over Casa de Luz

Chef Marko making magic with fresh fennel at Casa de Luz.

On the second Sunday of every month, five students from the Natural Epicurean Academy of Arts prepare dinner for the patrons of Casa de Luz. This month we have a special treat in the form of Chef Marko Ellinger. He will be leading the kitchen and creating delicious dishes in Casa's kitchen.

March's Menu is:
Butternut Bisque
Sprouted Quesadillas with Blue Corn Tortillas
Polenta Cakes with Millet and Garnet Yams
Minted Cucumber Cups on Field Greens
Braised Dinosaur Kale with Pickled Purple Cabbage and Cherry Umeboshi Splash

As always we strive for as much seasonal, organic produce as possible. Although our menus are planned in regard to the seasons, sometimes the produce just isn't available and substitutions are required.

NE Takes Over Casa de Luz
Sunday, March 11th
6:00-8:30
$12 for adults includes meal, hot or cool tea and filtered water
1701 Toomey Rd. Austin, TX 78704

Warren Kramer Was Here

Miso Soup with Daikon, Bok Choy, Wakame and Shiitake Mushrooms

Sautéed Broccoli with Greens, Pressure Cooked Brown Rice with Gomashio, Adzuki Squash Kombu and

Nishime style Turnips, Cabbage, Carrot and Sqush, (clockwise from left)

Warren Kramer is an internationally recognized macrobiotic counselor, educator and cooking instructor. For the past 19 years, he has studied and lived the macrobiotic way of life. Warren teaches the macrobiotic approach to health and wellness, including principles of food selection and preparation, exercise, work and personal relationships. He recently joined us at the Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts for an intensive workshop.


Warren Kramer's weekend workshop, Planning your Personal Path to Health kicked off with a lecture Friday evening titled, Optimum Health without Cooking a Thing, then lead into two days study, lecture, cooking demonstrations, visual diagnosis and group consultations. Each participant recieved a health consultation and created an action plan for acheiving their personal health goals. This is the second time we've hosted this weekend. It has proven to be an invaluable experience.

The weekend included breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. For dinner, we ate the dishes Warren demonstated in the cooking class. He prepared 10 dishes total, showcasing the 10 Most Important Dishes for Creating Health. A few of the dishes are pictured below.

Carrot and Burdock Kinpira

Sautéed Broccoli with Greens

Blached Salad of Bok Choy, Daikon, and Red Cabbage

Eating condiments and natural, salt-fermented pickles with your grain is essential for proper digestion, and mineral assimilation. One of the most delicious, simple, and universal condiments is gomashio. Gomashio literally means sesame (goma) salt (shio), and while it only contains those two ingredients, it does have multiple steps, but they are worth it. It is important to use high quality sea salt for this condiment. Gomashio can be used on grains, greens, and beans.

Gomashio
Yields: 12 servings
1/3 cup organic sesame seeds
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt, SI brand recommended

Rinse and strain sesame seeds. If you have time, allow the seeds in the strainer to drain for about 30 minutes. Put the strainer on a folded towel to help absorb water from the seeds.

Heat a skillet and roast the salt until dry and loose. Heating the salt will release chlorine gas and turn the salt slightly gray. Place the roasted salt in a suribachi and grind into a very fine powder.

Unless you have left the seeds to dry overnight, you will need to dry them completely before continuing with the recipe. To do this, heat a stainless steel or le Creuset frying pan (not cast iron) over medium heat. Place the seeds in the skillet and dry roast them, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for even roasting. Roast the seeds until they no longer stick to the spoon.
When the seeds begin to pop, test them by crushing a few seeds between your thumb and a finger. If they crush easily, the seeds are ready. If the seeds begin to smoke, the heat is too high and you should quickly remove the pan from the heat and lower the flame. Pour the finished seeds in the suribachi. Roast the remaining seeds one layer at a time. After roasting all the seeds, grind them in the suribachi with the sea salt. Continue grinding until about 70-80% of the seeds are ground. (It takes only a light touch to crush the roasted seeds).
Serve a sprinkling on grains as a condiment. Gomasio stored in an airtight jar will retain maximum freshness for about two weeks.
Variations:
Add more sesame seeds for a milder gomashio.