Moosewood
Posted by allularpunk on Jul 01, 2008 · Member since Apr 2008 · 608 posts
Have any of you ever read the Moosewood cookbooks? There are several. My mom always used them when I was in high school and now when I'm home, I go through them and copy recipes. I believe they are almost entirely vegan, or very easily veganized. If you haven't looked into these, please do, they are so so so so good. The history behind them is pretty interesting as well ;)
I checked the Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites cookbook from the library and copied the Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies recipe from it. This recipe, which calls for apple butter, has become a favorite of mine.
http://www.amazon.com/Moosewood-Restaurant-Low-Fat-Favorites-Flavorful/dp/0517884941/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214983645&sr=8-1#capbody
I have "The New Moosewood Cookbook," but I don't think I've ever used it.
I wouldn't say they are almost entirely vegan. There is a chapter in every book on fish and many of the recipes call for butter, eggs, and cheese. They can be veganized, I guess, but I kinda prefer recipes that don't depend on cheese and eggs in the first place.
That being said, I've gotten a lot of good ideas from them, especially interesting salads and vegetable preparation. And two of my favorite dishes in the world, Najavo Stew (Simple Suppers) and Moroccan Stew (can't remember which one???) come from there.
I wouldn't say they are almost entirely vegan. There is a chapter in every book on fish and many of the recipes call for butter, eggs, and cheese. They can be veganized, I guess, but I kinda prefer recipes that don't depend on cheese and eggs in the first place.
Yeah, I guess that's why I never really paid too much attention to it...I just flipped through it, and NO WHERE near close to almost entirely vegan...the majority of things I saw had lots of dairy/eggs.
so yeah, i haven't actually looked at one of these books since i became vegan and saw one in the bookstore like the evening that i posted this and was like, ohhh... oops! oh well. i guess i remembered them differently. i really do think though that depending on the book, there are more or less vegan recipes. my mom does have one that really is mostly vegan, i swear. i'll check this weekend, as i'm going home. i got all my marinated tofu recipes, tofu manicotti, chocolate cake and icings (etc) recipes out of this one.
I have the low-fat Moosewood cookbook and have used it a couple of times. There are some decent recipes in there and I don't think there is an abundance of eggs/dairy in there (or maybe I've just become accustomed to subbing without noticing--i.e. when it calls for an egg, I use an "egg"; when it calls for milk, I use a "milk", etc.). Or maybe the low-fat one has less eggs/dairy because eggs/dairy aren't exactly "low fat"? ::)
Oh, and those cardamom oatmeal raisin cookies are awesome! They're super moist and make the house smell amazing!
the one i was thinking of was the moosewood classics cookbook. so, not really close to being entirely vegan, but there are some rad recipes in there! like the spicey broccoli soba thing and the lemon asparagus pasta, the baked tofus, there are some wicked cake/icing recipes... a lot of them you could sub things for. i mean there's a whole section on frittatas, which obviously we can't have, but mostly i was thinking that the flavor combinations they use are really delish and good for ideas.
sorry for being misleading (misinformed).
No problem! ;)b
I have two Moosewood cookbooks--Moosewood Cooks at Home and the original one.
The classic one I think is more reliant on eggs and dairy. But, they do talk about ways to substitute. (I wonder if it has to do with the number of recipes that are holdovers since the 1970s--my, how we as veg*ns have evolved since then!).
There are some great recipes in there, though. I love the eggplant/almond enchiladas, and the little bit of cheese that they call for is easily substituted with some cashew cheeze I get, or (I bet) could be left out altogether).
Cooks at home is less dairy-based IMO. It's mostly pastas/stirfries/etc. But there is an omlet chapter, and there is a chapter on fish that I've used to inspire me to try tempeh-in-foil preparations. (The Carribbean fish-in-foil is especially nice with tempeh!)
Being ovo-lacto the moosewood books are fine by me. If you only cook vegan then I don't see the point in them. Those of us with the cookbooks will be happy to save you the money and share the recipes with you as you need it :)
Moosewood is like the mother of vegetarian cookbooks-- what started it all. Great recipes, so easy to veganize. A staple, I say.
I want a curry recipe that I once made from a Moosewood cookbook. But when I went to buy the cookbook, I found out that there were about 20 or 30 moosewood cookbooks! This was from one of the older books, at least 12 years old now, probably more. The curry recipe included no amounts or measurements, mostly just a long list of spices, and encouraged the reader to experiment. There may have been some other ingredients and simple guidelines. Does anyone have that Moosewood cookbook, and can tell me the exact title? I would be so appreciative! Lily Roze
The original Moosewood cookbook was indeed the "mother of all vegetarian cookbooks" and wildy popular. This was a time when the vegan movement hadn't really taken off in the USA. She said she wrote the cookbook with "mothers in mind" and included a lot of eggs and cheese so moms wouldn't think their vegetarian kids were missing out. She revised them to healthier low fat and more vegan styles later on, and the collective published several books as well.
Yesterday I was in the mood for beans and settled on a good recipe from "Moosewood Restaurants Low Fat Favorites" "Fat Tuesdays Skinny Red Beans".....it was very good and hearty over some brown rice. Rice and beans are a stable in my diet and this was a win!
I want a curry recipe that I once made from a Moosewood cookbook. But when I went to buy the cookbook, I found out that there were about 20 or 30 moosewood cookbooks! This was from one of the older books, at least 12 years old now, probably more. The curry recipe included no amounts or measurements, mostly justa long list of spices, and encouraged the reader to experiment. There may have been some other ingredients and simple guidelines. Does anyone have that Moosewood cookbook, and can tell me the exact title? I would be so appreciative! Lily Roze
In the cookbook "Sundays At Moosewood Restaurant" there's a curry recipe. It does give measures, but says to experiment as you like. It's from the 1990 edition. (Gee just noticed the suggested price is $18.95....for a cookbook over 700 pages. I have another monstor cookbook that's $35.00)
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground coriander seds
2 teaspoons tumeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Thanks, Tweety! That looks like a good curry. Sounds like you haven't made it? The curry recipe I'm looking for, had a much longer list of spices.
I haven't cooked from Moosewood cookbooks much, so I don't really know how good they are. I think they are good, but she uses lots of dairy and eggs, so most of the recipes don't appeal to me. But the few things I've made from her books have turned out well.The curry I made using the illusive "general guidelines" turned out great.
Were you at the Chef Chat, Tweety? I tawt I taw you dere, teehee. Chef Jesse touted the virtues of one of our favorite cookbooks: The Voluptuous Vegan. Hear! Hear!
Oh good, I'm glad you found this post LilyRoze, I was afraid you posted so long ago your question, you wouldn't notice I tried to answer. No I haven't, but I do have all those ingredients on hand and when I run our of store-bought curry will give it a try.
Missed the chat. Great minds think alike. :)
I want a curry recipe that I once made from a Moosewood cookbook. But when I went to buy the cookbook, I found out that there were about 20 or 30 moosewood cookbooks! This was from one of the older books, at least 12 years old now, probably more. The curry recipe included no amounts or measurements, mostly justa long list of spices, and encouraged the reader to experiment. There may have been some other ingredients and simple guidelines. Does anyone have that Moosewood cookbook, and can tell me the exact title? I would be so appreciative! Lily Roze
LilyRoze, I looked through the several Moosewood cookbooks I have and couldn't find a curry recipe that fit your description. All had the amounts of the spices and seasonings listed. Do you recall any other major ingredient or the title of the recipe, maybe? That might make it easier to locate if, for example, it was a tofu curry or a cauliflower curry. Wish I could help!
Teslaca:
You're sweet to care about my recipe search. I don't remember much except that it was a generic recipe for curries. I saw it while looking thru a friend's cookbooks. Unfortunately, my friend died suddenly, and I didn't want to bother the family to ask if I could go thru his cookbooks, especially as I knew that it was Moosewood cookbook. I did not find out until later that there were so many Moosewood cookbooks!
I was happy to try to find a recipe for you since I know just how it feels when you've had something delicious and then can't find or get the recipe again. I use recipes from my many cookbooks, magazines, internet sites, emails, etc. and this happens to me periodically and it drives me crazy. I need to find a better system of recording where I get my recipes from so I can find them again later when I want to. At least you remember which author the recipe was from! Hopefully one of the other members has the book it's in. There really are quite a few books by the Moosewood folks.
There are about 60 Moosewood recipes in the recipes archive at the Moosewood website:
http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/recipes_archive.html
Maybe half of the recipes there would be easy to veganize. The only two labeled as vegan are a vegan lasagna and a vegan chocolate cake.
FTR - On the website it says that: "The Moosewood Collective has published twelve cookbooks.." and then follows with 13 cookbooks for sale, and it doesn't list the one I have, titled simply Moosewood Cookbook, Which I bought used, thinking it was the one I was looking for. So I checked Amazon, and counted 24 cookbooks either with Moosewood in the title or by Mollie Katzen, and stopped counting at 24.