Salvatore Principato

Go Gather

(purchasing, preparing & consuming tasty wholesome food
that you’ll love & will love you right back
all without making a big mess)

want to learn to prepare tasty satisfying vegan meals
then enjoying the fruits, grains, legumes & veggies of your effort?
all the while sipping wine
& learning that shopping, cooking & cleaning up
are all part of the same motion

then you are invited to a session of
cooking, consuming & cleaning up
in my humble studio apt
which doubles as kitchen & living quarters
where an efficient minimal approach
to food preperation is essential

for $15 dollars
i will show you how to create various vegan dishes
based on recipes from every continent
while we sip something nice & enjoy a good meal

all the while my dog ‘carrots’
will shamelessly stare at us
hoping for a scrap to fall or come her way

but never mind

learn to make pizza, dosas, falafel, ravioli
from scratch

vegan sausages made from wheat glutan
seitan fejitas

tofu or tempah bacon
nut burgers

mayi moulen & sos pwa noir
(Haitian cornmeal w/ black bean sauce)
moi moi
(Nigerian bean cake)

soups, stews & curries
gravy, dressings
& much more

the menu will be decided by consensus
(from a choice of two or three options)
sessions will last approx 1&1/2 hrs
3 persons maximum at a time

you name the time
i got the place, ingredients & skills
(some meals will occasionally require store bought items
but most of the meals will be prepared from scratch)

hit me back if interested
salvatp@aol.com

The Week I’m Eating
1_16_09

thru down some seitan fajitas on saturday

i made the seitan from glutten flour
in a broth of water, miso & kombu (sea vegetable)
pressure cooked for a good while then smoked & sautéed
with leeks & shitake mushrooms
i made the wraps from whole durham flour which i bought
at the south asian dry good store on 1st ave
topped it all off with homemade tofu dressing
which is made with silken tofu
& is the creamiest thing under the sun (almost)
having left over dough to make tortillas
i figured i’d make a winter chile on sunday
using kidney beans potatoes & leeks
with ginger & some dried smoky peppers some friends from LA sent me
very thick & hardy with a soothing heat to stimulate the system
on monday
i use the rest of the seitan
which again i smoke & sautée this time with chickpeas
& mushrooms which created a gravy
to pour over coconut cornmeal polenta
amazingly simple amazingly tasty

i really appreciate the response i’ve received

so far in regards to my Go Gather announcements
seems somewhere somehow
people sense that this stuff might be important
not in a strict, guilty kinda way
but in a “oh snap this is another way to party”
to me it’s more like a way to relax
to feel in control of my life
after all
in this day in age
one shouldn’t sleep around too much
therefore
one shouldn’t eat around too much either

we had a fine session on wednesday
of creating dosai’s, dahl & dressing yesterday
i learned & absorbed as much as anybody else

i took it easy today
inviting a friend over for dinner
& because of the cold weather here
i made a simple, fairly spicy, very hardy lentil soup
accompanied by tempeh bacon, melted almond cheddar
homemade pickles arugula carrot-ginger dressing
on top of a wicked ww baguette
happily purchased from the Sullivan St Bakery
a few glasses of chianti topped things off

i’m not sure if this gentleman understands the significance
but i appreciate the exposure

Go Gather Update
1/30/09

empowering yourself by
learning to create
savoury, satisifying vegan meals
using accessible, inexpensive ingredients
in an efficient, sustainable manner
without making a huge mess

thanks to all
who’ve come by so far for a Go Gather cooking session
each one has been different, all have been pleasant
i’m learning as much as anyone
trying to meet people
at their particular level of expertise and curiosity
impart enthusiasm without overwhelming
or making the process seem esoteric
appreciating the social aspects
of not only consuming a meal
but in creating it

in praise of ‘fake meat’

i pretty much consider the protein part of a balanced meal
to be meat
as in ‘the meat of the matter’
the concept of what constitutes meat
seems to be evolving
there’s turkey burgers
& chicken franks
so why not bean burgers
& not dogs?

it’s all about taste & texture
& to a certain extent
the emotional connection
that certain foods evoke
if one is to sustain a diet that eschews animal product
then variety is a must

personally i don’t dislike animal meat
i just think it’s unnecessary & antiquated
if you live in the new york metropolitan area
like i do
chances are within a one mile radius
you can find some
30 different kinds of fruits
40 different variety of vegetables
15-20 kinds of grains
and a plethora of nuts & legummes

considering the inefficiencies of producing
processing & distrubuting animal based products
why do we need to go there?
uh uh i don’t think so…..

on tuesday

i learned from my mistake
at the session we created
chunky tofu with shitake mushrooms (dried)
in a miso sauce
over a pilaf
of brown basmati rice
wheat berries & wild rice
cooked with coconut milk
though the food was tasty & the conversation lively
i bought a firm tofu
that wasn’t firm enough for this particular dish
so it was more crumbly than chunky

last nights go gather consisted of nori rolls (veg sushi)
with red lentil soup that included pumpkin
for a cold night the soup was fortifying
without overwhelming the lightness of the nori rolls
the pumpkin was exceedingly sweet
such a pleasure whenever you got a chunk in your spoonfull

the rolls consited of
short grain brown rice cooked with millet as to make it somewhat sticky
we used carrots, scallions, daikon radish & a perfectly ripe avocado
& because i wanted something pickled
we used good ole dill pickles
that i made in the fall from the last of the seasons kirby cucumbers

dipped in soy sauce with a healthy dollop of wasabi
ta die for……

Go Gather
empowering yourself
by creating
savoury, satisifying vegan meals
using accessible, inexpensive ingredients
in an efficient, sustainable manner
without making a huge mess

oh gosh!
that old saying holds true
“the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach”

whether male or female
young or old
no matter the culture

prepare a nice meal for someone
complimented by good conversation
& beverage
is a sure way to create a caring impression
a lasting connection

the week (or two) in eating
2_22_09

inspired by the physiology
or most likely the philosophy of avoidance
i’ve embarked on the challenge
of glutten free baking
particularly
gluten free pizza
& let me tell you
it ain’t easy
gluten is what adds elasticity to dough
without it crumbly is what you work with
but so be it
the culinary arts
is really about creating a meal
that is wholesome & satifying
working within a context
of what’s availabile
also what is acceptable

pizza
made from buckwheat & brown rice flour (gluten free)
with toppings of tomato sauce
almond cheese & broccoli
this was my first attempt at gluten free vegan pizza
it was an alright start
but the best is yet to come

i should have guessed
like snowflakes
no two ravioli are the same
these pumpkin/tofu whole wheat ravoli
were a Go Gather experiment
in texture & shape
but wait…..

served with a simple “butter” sage sauce & salad
it was a light & sensual meal
leaving us Go Gatherers
with a sense of accomplishment & satisfaction

thanks to all who’ve participated
thanks to those who have noticed

salvatp@aol.com
917.687.8894

Go Gather GO!!!

or punk funk dinner club

http://newyork.decider.com/articles/punkfunk-dinner-club,24850/

or cooking vegan with liquid….

http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/03/cooking-vegan-liquid-liquid

it’s been a minute
and many a vegan/vino cook-fest
since the last Go Gather update

as the warm weather slowly but inevitably makes it’s appearance
we’ll try to emphasis the lighter & cooler

nori rolls (vegan sushi)
with miso soup or even a cold soup in the summer
& maybe a sesame seaweed salad

or

tabbouleh salad
with hummus dressing
& falafel

but we don’t neglect the classic comfort foods

vegan chile
with jalapeño cornbread

whole wheat vegan lasagna
made with tofu, spinach & almond cheese

sessions have been held
both here in my humble abode
& in well appointed kitchens
of interested participants
tuesdays thursdays are the most popular
days/evenings to gather
with fridays or saturdays also in the mix

if anybody wants to participate
in a cooking session
either organize a friend or two
or just tell me what date & time
you’re available
& i can invite others to join us

i do best at my home base
but the doctor will make house calls
(if you have the proper facilities)

here’s some of what we’ve been up to:

there’s a whole lot more
but don’t want to stress your email with too many photos

it’s gonna be a great summer all around
i especially loved going to the farmers market
picking up whatever looks good
bringing it home & cooking it up

one thing i discovered
was the joy of oven roasting bok choy
with olive oil & sea salt
putting it on a homemade ww bun
with sliced tomato from the farmer’s market

i think my main culinary obsession this summer
was making what can only be called a ‘summer pizza’

simple as hell
it consists of a dough that’s 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 unbleached white
a creamy vegan pesto (soy milk makes the creaminess)
corn scraped off the cob
& fresh tomatoes
really incredible

a nice seasonal transition dish
& one that i’ve been indulging in alot
is beet burgers (plenty of beets at the farmers market)
the burgers consist of beets, rolled oats, ww flour, onions & salt
i put the burgers on a ww bun
with tomato
& homemade pickles
(i’ve been pickling or canning my skinny butt off)
all topped with a lovely tofu dressing

& if the weather starts to cool?
heartier fair is in order
(ahhhh butternut squash)
soups, stews, breads & muffins
& of course the classic
vegetarian baked beans

anyway the ovens heatin’
the pots are boilin’
the wine is flowin’
the people & conversation nice