I didn't eat much in LA, pretty much everything was closed on campus so I tended to live on Cinnamon Danish, a box of granola and trail mix cookies. However, there was one evening that I was taken along to a macrobiotic restaurant in Culver City (thanks barry, Chris, Wyatt ). Now when macrobiotic was suggested I wasn't that impressed, but hey, I was in la la land, when in Rome and all that and besides the place was right next to Trader Joe's. The restaurant was called Mcafedechaya and while there I had possibly the best burger I've ever eaten. ( perhaps with the exception of a slab-a-cow burger I had in Kansas back in my traveling days twenty-five years or so ago).I don't really understand Macrobiotic, it seems to be based upon the metaphysical properties of the ingredients rather than any nutritional value. Typical, my beloved Heidegger overthrows metaphysics only for it to wind up in restaurants, kind of like Elvis. While trying to find out if Madonna still practices Ashtanga, last week, I found out she's macrobiotic, so I guess it's OK with ashtanga, by that I mean, enough fuel but also light enough. Need to find out more about it, I made a spelt recipe this week and it was marvelous, so, bit suspicious of it ( I know, aren't I always)but prepared to explore it a little more.
Back to the burger. At the cafe I didn't know what to order and wasn't really in the mood so just ordered their burger, not expecting much. It came out looking fantastic, beautiful bun, nice looking cheese, tomato, lettuce and pickles and the burger itself didn't look like cardboard. It tasted divine, nice bite to it, it was like a real burger, it WAS a real burger and definitely the best I'd had since becoming vegetarian if not ever. I only managed to go there once and since I've come back it's gained mythical status in my mind. I searched for recipes this week determined to try and replicate it. The video below is of my first attempt and here's the recipe I'm basing it on, this from the The Macrochef blog which you can find in my blog list.
I adapted the recipe a little, wanted to add some oatmeal but didn't have any so ground up some Alpen minus the raisins as well as some nuts from a bag of trail mix I use for salads, Oh and the cheese is Mozzarella, I think in the restaurant it might have been a soy cheese.
Please let me know if you've eaten the burger and or have any suggestions for attempt number two.
UPDATE : Hmmmm, not sure about this but I seem to be taking this macrobiotic thing more seriously than I expected, bought a book and everything. I've started a new blog Macrobiotic Ashtangi to chart what may well be a very brief flirtation.
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9 comments:
An EIGHT MINUTE video of you COOKING?! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Love how this has a true documentary feel to it, raw and unedited. Are you gonna try it again and what would you change about the recipe next time? :)
OMG, it's Chef Grimmly!!!
:-)
I have to admit, it was fun getting a behind-the-scenes look at you putzing around in your kitchen. It's like Grimmly Reality TV!
Hope your burger turned out well. Funny that you're exploring Macriotic diets. I've been looking into this as well, mostly out of curiosity.
I didn't know that Madonna followed that diet. By the way, does she still practice Astanga? Did you ever find out?
Kind of a spur of the moment thing, only time my wife seems to get to see me is in a Video here. Of course i missed the main part, the actual making of them, all you get is eight minutes of me assembling it. Oh and i didn't give a nice shot of the burger at the end either, was too excited. Not sure what I'm going to change yet, still have thee more of this batch to eat, hoping for suggestions.
Kai, you must have missed my other cooking videos, tossing pancakes and, my personal favourite, making toast in the new toaster.
Still don't know about Madonna, some say she does, some say not. Was interested that a macrobiotic diet gave her enough energy for touring as well as her Ashtanga or whatever else she practices now. Her macrobiotic chef has a book out http://www.amazon.com/Mayumis-Kitchen-Macrobiotic-Cooking-Body/dp/4770031106
Oh yum. I don't have a food processor, but I do have a hand grater and a lot of patience! And seeing you having fun in the kitchen has made me miss proper cooking, I haven't followed a recipe for ages.
I'll definitely be trying them. And I'd also be interested in a burger that doesn't fall apart on the grill, or to be more precise, the barbeque. I usually end up with processed veggie sausages, as they're the only thing that won't fall through the grid.
Hi Ragdoll, Yum indeed, just finished the second one ( I made four yesterday), this one had mushrooms and swiss cheese ( Gruyere )plus I flattened it out a little more so it cooked better, picture to come.
Difficult to do veggi burgers on the grill, actually veggi is Ok because you can use an egg to help bind it 9 i didn't with these so used the pan ), vegan is hard. Think I'll make the next batch a little more rustic, not process it as much to give it a little more texture, flavour was good though.
To get a bit of a grill taste to a panfried burger you can finish it off with a kitchen blow torch, in the kitchens we useed to have salamanda's, kind of intense grills that cook from the top rather than the bottom, perfect for veggie burgers
Awesomely inspiring header photo Mr G.
Delia may put together a mouth-watering burger but her Paschimottanasana would fall way short of yours.
The post on your practice itinerary was invaluable. Thanks!
I'm so into my morning Tadasana now, and finding that it's very complimentary to Ashtanga, (and easy to do when travelling etc.) I can't wait to get home and expand on it, using your practice guide and, of course the book for my individual needs. Thanks again!
Thanks Steve, thought the previous one was a bit 'in your face'. Quite pleased with my pasch recently, think it's improved due to that lift in the the tadasana and the long paschi's we do in VK. I tend to do five minutes every morning, ten if I have time, as per Rmaswami's recommendations. Give 5 mins a try with a timer and see how it feels, try it for a week though, perhaps after dropbacks. I'm going to do a post on it, if you think about it, back in the day in ashtanga they used to do 8 breaths in paschi in each of the three variations, that's getting on for three minutes, so it always used to be a long stay.
Really glad you enjoy tadasana.
Dear Grimmly
Hmm, the macrobiotic experiment sounds interesting. But I would make sure you're getting your nutrition. Macrobiotic diet is mainly based on grains. I would watch the video, but with our slow internet here it would take 30 minutes to watch.
Cheers,
Arturo
Hi Arturo, thanks for the concern, lots of grains but lots of green vegetables and seaweed too, very very Japanese style of eating from what I've seen so far. Having my doubts about it though, feeling heavy, perhaps I'm not chewing enough. Only playing with it at the moment, start taking it seriously next week. Think I'll stick with it 'till Christmas and see how I feel.
But do I have to eat ruddy kale!!!! Keep hearing my Father bellowing "Eat your greens".
Not missing much with the video.
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