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The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook -Full of Sustainable Recipes! by josie

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"The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook" contains sustainable recipes from great chefs from all over the country, such as this savory egg custard with shiitake mushrooms from Andrea Reusing.

“The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook” contains sustainable recipes from great chefs from all over the country, such as this savory egg custard with shiitake mushrooms from Andrea Reusing.

I’m no culinary professional, but I’ve been committed to Chefs Collaborative since 2009. That was the year when Bruce Sherman, chef-owner of Chicago’s deliciously seasonal North Pond Restaurant, told me about the national organization of chefs committed to sustainability.

Chefs Collaborative was established in 1993, long before “sustainable” was a word on every food-loving lip. I’ve dreamed of tasting fare from Chefs Collaborative chefs in every region, from the Southwest through the Northeast. So it was a genuine thrill to learn that The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook: Local, Sustainable, Delicious Recipes From America’s Great Chefs (Taunton Press, 2013) is now available, bringing this dream to my own kitchen. And VIVmag is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of the cookbook! Simply fill out this form by June 30, 2013.

“We were approaching our 20th anniversary and thought this would be a wonderful way to share the experience and knowledge that our members have,” explains Melissa Kogut, executive director of Chefs Collaborative. The cookbook is packed with information — whether to choose local or organic, how to read labels, selecting fish and meat wisely — from people who make knowing this stuff their business.

The book makes for easy reading, partly because the chefs seem to have had a great time contributing to it. Michael Anthony of New York City’s Gramercy Tavern —  co-author of its upcoming cookbook (Clarkson Potter, slated for an October release date) — says he was delighted to receive the Chefs Collaborative cookbook call. How did he choose the egg crepes with crab and pickled ramps recipe? At the Tavern, Anthony says, “Our goal is to share a little bit of education and a lot of enthusiasm. We wanted to find something memorable and accessible, and say something really delicious.”

Ellen Jackson, author of the cookbook and curator of the recipes, aimed to include the network’s full geographic spread and recipes for all the seasons, so the book could put a full year of the Chefs Collaborative in every kitchen. I asked her which three recipes she’d recommend to those of us who haven’t taken classes in knife skills or worked in a kitchen. She says Dan Barber’s turnip soup “is beautiful and delicious,” which is a winsome combination. Jackson also recommends the almond ricotta cake with Moscato-roasted apricots, created by Waldy MaloufSteve Johnson’s smoke-roasted Moroccan chicken, she says, “has gotten a great response from everyone.”

Kogut notes that she’s made the Moroccan chicken several times: “When you mix the spices, you have enough to make three or four chickens,” she says. Keep the spice blend in your cupboard and you can whip up an impressive dish with ease.

Matthew Weingarten’s whey-poached triggerfish with asparagus is easy and local-friendly. There are no triggerfish in Boston, where Chefs Collaborative is based, but Kogut says, “You can use any firm white fish.” And then there’s Brian Alberg’s blue cheese bread pudding, which Kogut describes as “a showstopper, and not hard.” Serve it with a salad, and you have a meal guests will remember.

With hot weather around the corner, I’m going to make Jesse Ziff Cool’s cayenne-spiced summer peach soup. And you can bet that Ann Cooper’s couscous salad will make regular appearances on my table, since there are so many health benefits to Mediterranean cooking. Hugh Acheson’s composed salad of poached leeks, fresh figs and homemade farmer’s cheese has too much Southern comfort to resist. Michel Nischan’s angel food cake with pear and apple compote will appear just as soon as I can think of an excuse to make it, which may be tomorrow.

I love Japanese food, so I’ve included the recipe below for steamed savory egg custard with shiitake mushrooms from Andrea Reusing, author of Cooking in the Moment (Clarkson Potter, 2011). On the outset, the recipe might seem more complicated than it is, because it calls for dashi, a broth made with fish, seaweed and mushrooms. “It’s more like making tea than making stock,” Reusing says. “And dashi is a great flavor booster for any number of dishes: soups, rice, noodles….” Don’t be afraid to experiment with the custard. “It’s a very resilient recipe,” she says. Reusing adds, “The egg can take a variety of liquids, in terms of setting as a custard. The recipe in the book is like a panna cotta. If you want it to more traditional, almost a solid soup, experiment with adding more dashi.”

Steamed Savory Egg Custard With Shiitake Mushrooms
Serves 6
6 large eggs
2 cups dashi, divided (see recipe below)
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry, divided
Kosher salt
1½ teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
Small pinch of freshly ground white pepper
20 chives, preferably Chinese, pale part trimmed off
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, preferably expeller-pressed
6 meaty shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 shallot, finely diced

1. Heat the oven to 350° F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add 1½ cups of the dashi and the heavy cream. Add 1 tablespoon of the sherry, 1 teaspoon salt, tamari, sesame oil, sugar and white pepper. Whisk well. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve and divide the mixture among six 6-ounce custard cups or ramekins. Cover each with a square of foil big enough to extend 2 inches all around. Fold the foil over the rim of each cup and seal it tightly.

3. Put the cups in a deep baking dish and add boiling water to come about halfway up the sides of the cups. Set the pan in the middle of the shelf of the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the custard has just set. Remove the pan from the oven and leave the cups in the water to cool.

4. While the custards bake, blanch the chives in salted boiling salt water for 20 seconds and then briefly dip in an ice bath. Drain, pat dry and cut into 1-inch lengths.

5. Heat a medium frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the oil and swirl it in the pan. Immediately add the mushrooms, lower the heat to medium and cook, tossing frequently, until the mushrooms are slightly softened and starting to color, about 2 minutes. Add the shallots, season well with salt and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon sherry and 1–2 tablespoons of dashi — just enough to make a flavorful broth that will lightly coat the top of the custard. Adjust the seasoning, remove from the heat, toss with the chives and keep warm.

6. Just before serving, remove the foil from the custards and top them with small piles of the sautéed shiitakes and a spoonful or two of the broth. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Dashi
Makes 2 cups
5 dried black mushrooms
1 1-by-4-inch strip of kombu
3 tablespoons bonito flakes

Put 3 cups of water and the mushrooms in a nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook at a very gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Add the kombu and continue to simmer gently for 5 more minutes. Turn the heat off and add the bonito flakes. Let steep, covered, for 8 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
136 calories
Fat 10 g
 (4 g saturated)
Carbs 3 g
Protein 7 g
Fiber 0.6 g
Calcium 38 mg
Iron 1.1 mg
Sodium 342 mg

Photo credit: Gentl & Hyers

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