Sunday, August 19, 2012

Mad World

As some of you might remember, I'm already hard at work on my next cookbook project. With Cookin' Crunk due in my hands any day now (the printed copies have arrived at the publisher!), I have to hit the ground running with my next book. The concept: recipes through the ages. It'll be divided by decade throughout the 1900s.

I've been getting loads of ideas for the 1960s chapter from Mad Men, which I'm currently working my way through on DVD. Every time Don or Betty Draper orders a dish in a restaurant, I jot it down. I've also been getting great ideas from the Food Timeline website. That's where I got inspired to create this Tempeh Wellington:


It's marinated, pan-fried tempeh topped with a mushroom duxelle (that's just fancy talk for diced, sauteed mushrooms and shallots), wrapped in a flaky puff pastry. Delicious! And so fancy. Y'all know I don't usually do fancy, but this recipe is actually easy as hell.

On the side, I made a Hearts of Palm Salad, inspired by Mad Men. Don Draper ordered one when he met Bobbi Barrett for dinner at Sardi's. He also ordered steak tartare, but I don't have the faintest idea of how to veganize that! Anyway, back to the salad:


I'd never had a hearts of palm salad before. But I like it! It's pretty simple — hearts of palm, tomatoes, avocado, and a red wine vinaigrette.

11 comments:

Jenny Bradley said...

I hope I get to be the one to review it on Vegansaurus! I know everyone will be dying to get their hands on your cookbook! :) The one you are working on sounds amazing too -- I do the same thing!

Cadry said...

That tempeh looks marvelous! It looks like a dinner party-worthy dish!

Kale Crusaders said...

Love the new book concept!

If you ignore the dairy topping in this recipe, this looks like a pretty interesting template for a vegan steak tartare:
http://theshiksa.com/2012/08/17/roasted-beet-tartare/

Jennifer said...

I bet you could make a tofu tartar!

Babette said...

I love hearts of palm.

Both of your dishes look wonderful.

And I can't wait to get your book.

Mihl said...

I am so behind on everything. Huge congrats on your book! So awesome I'll soon have the chance to buy a copy. And your next project sounds wonderful, too. Next time I watch Mad Men, I'll pay attention to what they eat.

Allysia said...

Oh man, the food timeline website is awesome, thanks for sharing! This sounds like such a fun project, and that tempeh pastry looks great. Have fun with all those kitchen experiments!

Anonymous said...

i'm so excited for your book! and that heart of palm salad looks delicious!

Des said...

I cant wait for the next cookbook! I really love the idea!

Elisabeth said...

I am so excited about your cookbook!!!

AlwaysJoy said...

I can't wait for this mad men esque cookbook - its all stuff my hubs will eat