Looking for a celebratory vegetarian dish

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
21

I have never heard of this and am genuinely curious as to how/why shrooms are problematic. ???

22

My father, stepmom and I like mushrooms. My husband can’t stand them and my brother’s family would flee the room if I were to serve them. I have friends also that either love them or hate them. Mushrooms are definitely NOT a universal like.

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23

Thanks for this, Phil. I was not at all familiar with the dish–with a few tweaks I think it will find it’s way to our table soon.

24

Thanks, Gourmanda. “Polarizing” sounded like there was an ethical or safety concern or some such, as opposed to an ordinary dislike.

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25

Our normal supermarket sells a quite decent mushroom pate. A bit soft, of course, but well seasoned and generally packed full of flavour. Certainly nothing fake about it.

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26

Oh, they are well beyond “ordinary dislike” and actively into “despise, run away” territory. Go figure. :wink:

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27

A cheese soufflé is a showstopper.

And regardless of what you may have heard, a soufflé is not dramatically difficult with modern tools. If you can make a white sauce and have a whisk attachment for your Kitchenaid, you can do it. :slight_smile:

28

Well if cheese is allowed I would make a big spinach, buffalo mozerell & ricotta lasagne with bechamel on the top. You could do it white or red. Lots of garlic, EVO and parmesan.

Nothing says party like lasagne.

I might even eat something like that.

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29

Great minds! And pfft
you don’t need a whisk attachment, hand held mixer works just fine. Souffle
yum!

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30

Many of my vegetarian friends are really in to Confit Byaldi, a fancied up presentation of ratatouille. It definitely has a festive visual presentation.

31

If eggs are allowed, I’d go with a quiche. You could do broccoli/cheddar or asparagus/goat cheese or spinach/feta.

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If your party is not too large, and if you have a mandoline or v-slicer, consider a Tian/Ratatouille. Here

8fb59cedd09d0b01360c9cf9a45da8b256ca6380.jpg720×960 109 KB
s one I made:

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33

p.s.: that’s before roasting/baking.

34

In addition to the Tian, I mention above, I can also suggest a dish that is, I think, kind of my own creation–at least, my own concoction: Apples and Sweet Peppers on a Bed of Cous-Cous.

It can be made in quantity and sit for hours. Is potentially vegetarian/vegan, but I generally use some chicken broth. If you’re interested, I can try to hunt up my notes. It’s one of those recipes that is not hard but really calls for close managing of flavor balances along the way, as one has to balance sweetness, spice, herbal notes, heat, etc. It’s a Mediterranean taste scheme.

The recipe won a local Whole Foods contest around 2000. Got me a nice food processor!

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35

While I enjoyed watching Remy the Rat make it in the movie (unsurprisingly a favorite of mine, as it combines both rats and cooking) this is a version of ratatouille that looks amazing but actually (to me) doesn’t taste as good as the traditional stewed/sauteed version, since the flavors don’t marry in the same way. And obviously it’s a shitload of work compared to the traditional one-pot down home version.

But it’s a showstopper presentation for sure and sometimes that’s what matters.

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Eggplant parmegiana.

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37

Thanks for all the great ideas. Something will surface in the kitchen at Harters Hall.

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38

I’ve done individual stuffed acorn squash as a vegetarian main (can easily be made vegan); filling can be varied depending on season and taste preferences - around here a stuffing of crushed croutons mixed with a variety of sauteed mushrooms and then some Boursin cheese stirred in tends to be devoured.

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39

I’ve never made this, but I love the way it looks. I don’t know how to get the picture here, but here’s a link to the page: http://stasty.com/?p=3716

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That’s beautiful! Very creative.