Authors: Charlie Cascio
Esalen Cookbook (8 page)
The batter will be thick, almost looking like a sponge. Cook in a heavy-bottomed frying pan or a cast-iron skillet. Heat the pan over medium-high heat, and then put a drop of vegetable oil into the pan and spread it around with a paper towel until the bottom of the pan is covered with a fine film of oil.
Use a ladle for scooping out the batter; gently shake the ladle so the batter will drop onto the skillet. When bubbles start to appear around the edges of the pancakes and the centers appear dry, flip them with a spatula and cook on the other side. Gently flip the pancakes so they don’t lose their spongy loft. With the right pan temperature, cooking time should be about 2½ minutes for each side.
SWEET & SPICY BREAKFAST POLENTAThis is a sweet and spicy breakfast cereal that has a hearty, warming effect on the body. The cardamom, cinnamon, and fresh ginger give this recipe an Indian infusion, and the sweetness of the honey complements and balances the fiery taste of the ginger. What a way to start the day!
Makes 4 servings
4 cups milk
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
¾ cup polenta
In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk, honey, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger to a boil, constantly stirring to avoid burning the milk. Slowly pour in the polenta as you whisk the liquid briskly. Lower the heat to simmer and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve hot.
APPLE & ALMOND RICE CEREALThis is the most common way that we use up leftover rice from the last night’s dinners at Esalen. It has turned into a staple item on the Esalen breakfast bar. This cereal has no dairy and no wheat so it will fit almost everyone’s diet. The rice milk gives this healthy breakfast a unique taste, although you could use any type of milk you choose with this recipe.
Makes 4 servings
2 cups cooked rice
½ cup raisins
2 cups rice milk
½ cup chopped, toasted almonds (walnuts,
hazelnuts, or cashews may be substituted)
1 medium-size apple (about 1½ cups), finely chopped
(pears, peaches, or fresh berries may be substituted)
1 teaspoon vanilla
This cereal is best if you can soak the rice and raisins in the rice milk the night before, but you can also prepare it just before serving. Place the rice into a 1-quart saucepan. Add the rice milk and raisins and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. When the mixture starts to boil, lower the heat to simmer and add the almonds, apple, and vanilla. Let simmer until the rice milk is reduced and the mixture has a thick consistency like oatmeal. Remove from the heat and cover for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the cereal to set up. Serve warm.
Maple-Walnut Breakfast Cake
This is one of the best vegan breakfast cakes I’ve tasted. People eating it never would know that its rich taste had no animal ingredients. Katie Armstrong developed this recipe when she was a staff cook. Katie was one of those young pioneers who came to Big Sur in the early ‘70s to live off the grid in a self sufficient lifestyle. She had cooking experience around some of the resorts in Big Sur, and when she asked me for a job, all I had open at the time was a night dishwasher. She took it, washing dishes and mopping floors for six months until an opening came available working behind the stoves.
Makes 9 slices
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ cups Sucanat (dehydrated cane juice)
or sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1½ cups water
½ cup oil
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
In a mixing bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together.
In another mixing bowl, whisk into the water, one at a time, all the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and beat just until smoothly blended. Pour into an oiled 9- x 11-inch baking pan and sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for approximately 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Place on a wire rack and cool.
POLENTA PANCAKESWhen I was the breakfast chef at Esalen, I’d come into the kitchen around 7:00 a.m. I would put Chopin on the music system, and then light the ovens. The Chopin set the early morning mood for the work scholars who would be filing in for the morning shift. I remember telling them that the Esalen ovens would not light unless Chopin was played to them!
Makes about 12 pancakes
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal
½ cup polenta
2 tablespoons Sucanat (dehydrated cane
juice) or brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla
Sift into a mixing bowl the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cornmeal, polenta, and the Sucanat or brown sugar and blend well.
In two bowls, separate the white from the yoke of the egg. In a small bowl, pour in the 2 cups of milk; add the oil and whisk until blended. Then beat in the egg yoke, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients until it is just combined.
With a hand blender or whisk, beat the egg white until it has stiff peaks, and then gently fold it into the pancake batter. Heat an oiled skillet over medium-high heat, then pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet and let cook until small bubbles appear over the surface of the pancake. Flip the pancake over and cook the other side until browned. Don’t flip the pancake again or it will lose its fluffy lightness. Beating the egg whites separately makes these pancakes light and lofty, and the polenta gives them a slight crunch.
Polenta Pancakes
Marion’s Living Muesli
This recipe was taken from the Esalen Cleanse. The Cleanse is an annual Raw and Live Food workshop that is offered only to the Esalen staff. Each morning breakfast would be a different variation of this tasty, healthy recipe. There was so much demand for it that it was incorporated as one of the weekly breakfast specials on the regular menu.
Makes 2 servings
3 tablespoons whole oat groats
1 ounce hazelnuts (about 15 nuts)
1 tablespoon hulled sunflower seeds
1 banana
1 apple
1 tablespoon flax seed oil (optional)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon bee pollen (optional)
In a bowl, soak the oats, hazelnuts, and sunflower seeds overnight in 3 times the amount of water. Soaking the oats, nuts, and seeds in water overnight washes out the enzyme inhibitors and gives birth to the sprouting process. Sprouting transforms the stored energy in nuts, seeds, and grains (the fats and carbs) into active energy to grow a tree or plant (protein and simple sugars).
Place the oats, nuts, and seeds in a colander the next morning and rinse well. Discard the soaking water. Chop the hazelnuts in half. Place all of the mixture in a mixing bowl. Chop the banana into bite-size rounds and grate the apple; add both to the mixing bowl.
Place the oil (if using), syrup, lemon juice, and pollen (if using) together in a cup and beat with a fork until blended. Pour this liquid over the muesli mixture and gently toss all ingredients until mixed.
ESALEN GRANOLAHousemade granola is an old favorite at Esalen, going back to almost the beginning of the institute. The recipe has changed over the years, but this favorite breakfast cereal has never lost its dedicated appeal. Making your own granola is far superior in quality and nutrition to the supermarket variety, which is usually loaded with refined sugars and cheap oils. Feel free to substitute different flakes, sweeteners, nuts, seeds, and flavorings to create your own recipe.
Makes about 3 pounds
8 cups rolled oats
1 cup rye flakes
1 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
1 cup whole cashews, coarsely chopped
½ cup sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup honey
¾ cup maple syrup
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vanilla
In a mixing bowl, blend the oats, rye, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
In a small saucepan, mix the honey, syrup, oil, and vanilla. Stir over low heat until this is well blended; then pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix until everything is blended.
Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of the wet granola on two 12- x 16-inch baking sheets. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 1 hour, or until the granola turns golden brown. Be sure to turn every 5 to 10 minutes. Remove baking sheets from oven and allow granola to cool.
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