The Cafe
Brenda Cookbook
Seafood and Vegetarian
Cuisine
by Brenda Langton and
Margaret Stuart
University
of Minnesota Press, 2004
"We believe
strongly in eating seafood
and vegetarian foods," explains Brenda Langton, founder of her namesake
Cafe Brenda natural foods restaurant in
Minneapolis.
Nutritionists
generally agree that a diet
of whole grains, beans, fruit, vegetables and seafood is healthier than
one high in fat, salt and sugar. Yet, adopting a healthier diet can be
difficult in a culture dominated by meals focused on fried meats and
sweets.
This cookbook,
filled with the most requested
dishes at Cafe Brenda over a decade of dining, is aimed at easing the
transition
to a healthier diet by expanding one's repertoire of home-cooked meals.
It includes appetizers like miso and herb pate, savory soups,
vegetarian
croquettes, stews, and entrees like poached rainbow trout served with
fresh
berry vinaigrette.
"The
Cafe Brenda Cookbook tempts
you with 'sinfully healthy' desserts, sweetened with only natural
sugars
and containing reduced amounts of dairy products," Langton points out.
"We hope you
come to believe, as we do,
that our kitchens are the hearts of our homes. Be happy and
relaxed
in them, and enjoy preparing your food as well as eating it."
Originally
published as The
Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Redefining Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine
in
1992, this new trade paperback edition of The
Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine
from the University
of Minnesota Press is dubbed the "Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition" in
recognition of Langton's 25-year career as a natural foods restaurateur
in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Arranged in
chapters according to the type
of dish, here's a small representative sampling of the recipes included
in the text:
Appetizers
& Salads
-
Japanese
Soba Noodle Salad With Spicy Tahini-Ginger
Dressing
Soups
-
Corn
Chowder
-
Roasted
Potato & Garlic
Breads
Seafood and Fish Entrees
-
Poached
Rainbow Trout with Berry Vinaigrette
Vegetable Entrees
-
Basmati
Rice, Red Bean & Vegetable
with Salsa
Desserts
Back to the Book
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The
Cafe Brenda Cookbook
Snapper Fillets with Cranberry-Ginger
Sauce
Cranberries can usually be found
during fall and winter. Get them when they are available, and freeze a
bag for the summer months.
Cranberry-Ginger Sauce is good all
year long. Ginger adds a spicy touch to the fruit glaze. New potatoes
or
a potato-parsnip purée and steamed snow peas go well with
this dish.
Cranberry-Ginger Sauce
1 cup cleaned, whole cranberries
1
1/3 cups black cherry or other
fruit
juice
1
tablespoon orange rind
3
tablespoons mirin or sake sweetened
with 2 to 3 teaspoons of honey
1
tablespoon ginger juice (see
below)
Combine cranberries, fruit juice,
orange rind, and mirin or sake in a saucepan. Bring to a hard boil for
5 minutes to reduce the liquid.
Remove from the heat and add ginger
juice. Cool slightly, and purée in blender until very
smooth. Set
aside, keeping the sauce warm.
Snapper Fillets
2 to 2 1/2 pounds snapper
fillets
flour
for dredging fillets
2
tablespoons vegetable oil or
clarified butter
Cut snapper fillets into six 5-
to 7-ounce portions.
Dredge the fillets in flour, and
sauté in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of hot vegetable oil
or clarified
butter.
Serve with warm Cranberry-Ginger
Sauce. Serves 6.
Fresh Ginger Juice
2 inch piece of ginger
Grate peeled fresh ginger very finely.
Place the grated ginger in your hand and squeeze it over a bowl to
extract
the juice. Approximately 1 tablespoon of juice will come from a 2-inch
piece of ginger.
You can freeze fresh ginger: Leave
its peel on and wrap it well in plastic. The quality is not that of
fresh
ginger, but it is better than powdered ginger, which is not a good
substitute
for fresh ginger.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
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