I must say that I never felt culinarily~deprived
at all while staying at
The Ranch. Chef Kurt lived up to his given title of “nutritional alchemist”. He created flavorful, satisfying vegetarian, gluten and dairy~free meals that were elegantly plated and presented. I am an unapologetic carnivore and serve meat regularly, but during this week at the ranch I learned how I can incorporate more vegetables into my dishes, in place of meat or combined with meat. For most meals Kurt would come to the table to share his inspiration, wacky brilliance and witty themes for the dishes.
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| Nutritional Alchemist, Kurt Steeber, The Ranch, Malibu |
All of the menus were tested by a dietician to ensure campers were served a nutritionally sound 1500 – 1550 calories a day.
Here is our dinner from the first night, a quarter of an acorn squash, roasted and filled with quinoa and vegetables and drizzled with a nut cheese {he makes cheeses nuts such as cashews and macadamia nuts, see the recipe below}.
This superb salad was one of my favorite dishes of the trip, it’s made of kale, carrots, red peppers, pickled red onion, chickpeas, olives, basil, tomatoes and vegetable stock {in which the dried chickpeas were cooked}. Kurt recommends combing the vegetables and allowing them to sit for several hours before serving. To add an extra bite of flavor, he pickled the thinly sliced red onions in equal parts of water, sugar and vinegar for 30 minutes before adding them to the mix of vegetables.
All of his salad were delicious because of the fresh vegetables, the flavor and texture combinations and, most of all, because of the creative dressings. He uses classic vinegarette porportions for his dressings {3 parts acid to 1 part oil}, but uses interesting combinations to make a more exciting tasting formula.
Here is the recipe for this salad dressing:
ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
minced garlic, red pepper flakes and sesame seeds to taste
preparation
In a blender combine first 6 ingredients . Stir in red pepper flakes and sesame seeds.
I think he called this his version of steak and potatoes {or maybe he said this was the closest thing we would get to steak and potatoes during our visit}. The cauliflower {steak} was nicely caramelized and laid over a bed of quinoa {he toasts the quinoa before cooking it}, blended with bits of zucchini and apples and resting in a bright and flavorful puddle of herb sauce {I think it was parsley based}.
This lovely risotto was topped with arugula leaves and sweet pea tendrils.
This dish was quite a hit, it was kind of a naked burrito. I believe the guacamole was made from avacadoes grown on the ranch. The white drizzle is another one of his cheeses made from nuts.
My apologies for the poor quality of this image, but it was one of the more impressive dishes. This is his version of lasagna, in place of the pasta, the layers are oven roasted eggplant slices, filled with macadamia nut cheese, spinach and shitake mushrooms. The eggplant ~ chickpea hummus was topped with a flavorful melange or orange slices, piccolono olives, tomatoes and mint. This was such a creative and tasty dish and very filling…some guest even left a little behind!
I love beets, so I was thrilled to see these delicate, colorful jewels in my lunch salad. One of the highlights here was the “crystal sorrel” sprigs which topped the white beans.
The sorrel {green and white leaves} brought a wonderful lemony twang to the salad and refreshing burst of hydration.
Much of the produce used for the meals is grown in the ranch garden. Here’s peek at the pumpkin patch in the garden, when the full moon was rising over the surrounding mountains.
Several times each day produce was harvested as needed.
We were all happy to hear that Chef Kurt Steeber is working on a cookbook, but, for now, here is his recipe for Macadamia Nut Cheese.
Ingredients
3 cups macadamia nuts
2 tablespoons unpasteurized miso
1/4 cup finely chopped purple onion
2 ~ 3 finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 dash of Ume plum vinegar
{he warns: this stuff is REALLY salty, so just a drop or two} or you could use a pinch of seasalt
2~3 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic
Place all ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth. Strain through a cheese cloth overnight to drain the excess moisture. Refrigerate once complete. It is best to make a day ahead of time to let the flavors blend together. It lasts for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
Emily, what gorgeous meals. I would love to learn to cook like this — my husband is a vegetarian and my dearest friend can't tolerate gluten, so I am always looking for creative ways to keep them happy – and the rest of my friends, too – I love that it sounds like these dishes taste as good as they look! I'm ready for my trip to the Ranch… except for that "no coffee" part…
Happy Tuesday!