Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I was sick yesterday, or i would have reported this sooner, but this book looks really pretty. It's a hard cover. Vegnews was wondering if the "smoky mac" recipe was in there (and it was).

There are a lot of delicious recipes in there, but I actually ended up cancelling my pre-order. (partially because nothing SUPER grabbed me right away), but also because i'm trying to save some money.

but it looked lovely, and i think if my library gets it and i cook from it, I will get it again :)

Ooh! I love Plum and Makini's food in general. I need to check this out.

When you say "smoky mac", do you mean their Spicy Mac & Yease? That's their signature dish (has been for years) and the recipe most everyone has been wondering about.

Here is a review by Grant Butler, "The Oregonian's" vegan columnist:
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index ... _pour.html

I am so curious! I've had pretty (super) hit or (overpriced meh) miss meals at Plum since they opened. I'm expecting an advanced copy and will report back.

yes, that one. :)

Just to clarify - it's not the Mac and Yeast in the book, it's a Smokey Mac (and is differentiated in the recipe description). I've been wavering on what to make first, and this recipe is up there, and I'm thinking it'll at least be similar...

Just out of interest what have your hits & misses been? I'm planning to eat there in May & I'd like to try something awesome!

i ordered this book, on a whim, but I think I'm going to return it. It is super beautiful, but the very first ingredient in the very first recipe is "vegan cream cheese." Ugh, really? I'm totally not into processed crepe like that (no offense to folks who are), and I'm totally not into a supposedly fancy cookbook requiring me to go buy a tub of tofutti. Anyhow, nothing really caught my eye, and I've got enough books I love to keep me busy until I die.

Thanks for the heads up, ameyfm. I almost purchased Plum as a pre-order but decided to hold off. After reading your post, I am glad I did. I suppose store bought vegan cream cheese and the like has its place, but it is definitely not what I would hope to see in a book such as this.

Yeah, it's interesting. Most of the processed ingredients seem to be 'elevated', as with the ener-g (my biggest pet peeve in a cookbook) and cream cheese, to become something new, but I despise buying that stuff as a building block. I haven't figured out what to make first yet, and making the 'soy cream' or whatnot as a building block, but will report back when I do. That said, it is a gorgeous book.

Yeah, and the pizza recipe that called for a "store bought crust" Whhhaaaa??

I have to say, it is really gorgeous. If I had gotten it as a gift or as a review copy, I'd probably keep it, but as it is, I'd rather lose $4 on shipping and get the rest of my money back.

This book is weird. I loved it the one time I ate there, so I want to love the book, but it's weird. I don't mind vegan cream cheese etc per se, but when I saw a recipe calling for a package of Jamaican spiced tofu, I thought it had lost the plot a bit. I have no idea what sort of tofu they are talking about most of the time.

Actually the more I read this the more it is annoying me. I might send it back too.

Bummer! I was going to order this one soon but it sounds like I'd be better off with something else. I can deal with store-bought cream cheese, and maybe even store-bought baked tofu (though it takes like one page and barely any thought to include a basic baked tofu recipe), but insisting on specific types of baked tofu that are probably going to make up most of the flavour of the dish doesn't seem worth it at all.

All the Tofu recipes call for something I don't think I can get here, she calls it silken but then says it isn't. I wonder if it's just one of those books that don't work outside the US?

This is entirely a personal thing but she seems very keen in mixing fruit into savoury dishes, and I am not. That is of course absolutely not a criticism of the book but is another reason why I am finding it hard to find much I want to make.

yeah, I think so.
the "silken tofu - but not silken tofu" threw me off too.

Ditto for smoked tofu. I happen to make my own every now and then, which is a plus, but I would never buy it for a recipe.
With something like that (and it's in a few recipes), I'm torn between respecting the author's creative intent vs. being annoyed. I still haven't made anything, but will report back when I do.

I make smoked tofu pretty often, but I don't think it's even an option to buy it here anymore in most places.

Yeah, I didnt understand that one at all! Silken not silken is not a variety that I'm familiar with!