NE takes over Casa de Luz November 12

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's menu will be:
French Onion Soup with Croutons
Black Soybean Rice

Fresh Salad with Tahini Ginger Dressing

Blanched Hardy Greens with Radicchio and Hemp Dressing
Winter Squash Nishime with Toasted Almonds
Homemade Sauerkraut

Come out and see us!

NE Takes Over Casa de Luz
Sunday, November 12
6:00-8:30
$12 all you care to eat for adults includes hot or cool tea and filtered water
1701 Toomey Rd.
Austin, TX 78704

November Natural Epicurean Community Potluck

November's Community Potluck is being hosted by Brooke Northcutt and Betty Edmond at a ranch in Fisher, Texas. It will be Saturday, November 11. Betty welcomed us all out to her ranch for a fun filled day of friends and good food! You are welcome to come any time of the day for hiking and outdoor activities. Friends and family are welcome. Bring a dish to share with serving utensil, plates will be provided.

For more information, contact Amanda Mcgibbon at amandamcgibbon@yahoo.com. Hope to see you there!

Healthy Chef Showdown, This Saturday, October 21

From local online events calandar, the Austinist:

Local Chefs Getting Ready To Rumble This Saturday

Local big name Chefs Tyson Cole of Uchi and David Bull of the Driskill Grill will go head-to-head “Iron Chef” style this Saturday during the Healthy Chef Showdown at the Austin Farmers’ Market. Cole, named one of Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chefs of 2005 and Bull, who tried to kick Bobby Flay's ass on the real Iron chef and lost (but still kicks ass if you ask us), will get all Celebrity Deathmatch, but in a reduced-calorie no-trans-fats way. Because that's how they roll, people.

Each chef will attempt to create the better healthy meal using a top secret ingredient with groceries provided by H-E-B. Foodies-by-proxy sons of for-real celebrity superstar chef Paula Deen, Jamie and Bobby Deen, will emcee the event. How much would you pay for all this celebrity madness? $10? $20? Even $100? Well mm-mm no way, because this Saturday's event is free - that's right - free!

The Healthy Chef Showdown will benefit The Sustainable Food Center and Meals on Wheels and More. The Austin Farmers' Market is a project of the Sustainable Food Center, which will launch the Farmers’ Market Food Stamp Initiative on October 21.

Healthy Chef Showdown
Saturday, October 21st
Republic Square Park (4th and Guadalupe)
11:30 am
Free!

NE Students Takeover Casa de Luz-October

This Sunday, October 8th, five Natural Epicurean students will "takeover" the Casa de Luz kitchen for the dinner shift and prepare dinner for the patrons. Join us from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm.

Dawn Pallavi has chosen the menu which will include:
Japanese Noodle Bowl with Tempeh and Carrot Flowers
Vegan Sushi (Nori hand rolls)
Asian Slaw
Kinpira (Japanese Sauteed and Simmered Root Vegetables)

Dawn will be leading the kitchen with Rosa Vera, who recently returned to Austin from traveling, opening restaurants, and hiking in Hawaii and California.

Remember, NE cooks in Casa de Luz's kitchen the second Sunday of every month, so you'll have plently of chances to catch us. October will be our fifth Casa takeover.

For more information about Casa de Luz Restaurant, check out www.casadeluz.org.

September Potluck

The September potluck was held on Sunday the 24th in northeast Austin. Not only did we celebrate the fall, good food, good company and being alive to enjoy all these things, we also celebrated one of our students who will be venturing off to be a sous chef at a new restaurant in California. Good luck, Rachel!

The photos are of the handrolls I made for the potluck. I used a 2:1 ratio of short grain brown rice to sweet brown rice, which I soaked, then pressure cooked. The filling is homemade tempeh that was simmered in shoyu and water, then panfried, along with fresh cucumber, avocado, blanched carrots, pickled shiso leaf, and green onions. I garnished with edible marigolds, chive flowers, and toasted black sesame seeds. I served with a dipping sauce(not pictured), which I made by diluting shoyu with water and adding ginger juice and toasted sesame oil.

Summer Specialty Classes Recap!

The Summer Specialty class have ended, and we're gearing up for the Fall Trimester, which will kick off with Fundamentals on Thursday, September 7. Here's a look at some of the dishes we made in the Mediterranean class, which Madeline Pizzo taught. There's a Seitan Slouvaki, three versions of Tzatziki, a Greek Salad, and some beautiful garnishes for the salad including black and red heirloom tomatoes, walnut-tofu feta, and red pepper matchsticks.

This Trimester, we will have Specialty classes like Homemade Pizza and the Very Best Vegan Thanksgiving Feast. I'll post a few pictures from last year's Thanksgiving feast soon.

Very Best Vegan Thanksgiving Feast 2005

Here are a few pictures from last year's Thanksgiving Feast. We had Seitan Roast with Cornbread Stuffing, Pumpkin Pie with Spelt Crust and Tofu Whipped Cream, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecan Topping and a Cranberry Sauce Mold just to name a few items. This year, I'm sure we'll be making some gluten-free versions of a few dishes for our students who are wheat/gluten intolerant.