Millennium Farmers' Market Cooking Class

Who: Associate Editor Jennifer Chen

What: Millennium Restaurant's Farmers' Market Cooking Class

Where: San Francisco, Calif.

When: July 30 & 31, 2011

Why: To take a cooking class at one of my favorite restaurants

The Scoop: It may come as no surprise that I love food and cooking. Millennium is one of my favorite restaurants, so when I read that Executive Chef Eric Tucker would be teaching a cooking class using produce picked at the local farmers' market, I jumped at the opportunity. 

Day One: Shopping Day!

We met at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market in San Francisco to shop for ingredients for Sunday's class. Instead of a set list of items, Eric asked us to find produce we were interested in and we'd base the menu off of what we bought. One of my classmates pointed out fresh squash blossoms so we grabbed a bagful. Next, we stopped by Hodo Soy to pick up fresh soymilk and yuba (tofu) skins. Eric said we would be making a silken tofu custard using the soymilk, and I was thrilled. I grew up eating tofu custard, but never attempted to make my own. Then we went to Blossom Bluff Farm to pick up ripe peaches. Farm Co-owner Fran Loewen gave us each a rare breed of plum to try. Along the way, we snagged snap peas, rose geranium, and abalone mushrooms.

Day Two: Let's Cook!

At 10am, I felt like I was ready for the vegan version of Top Chef, armed with my favorite knives and measuring cups. Eric and his team had coffee and freshly made cinnamon beignets, along with aprons, chefs jackets, and kitchen towels ready for us before we broke up into two teams to make variations on the same menu. My team and I started making the olive oil rose geranium sorbet. I never thought of adding olive oil to ice cream but it gave the subtly sweet ice cream a rich flavor. Next, we moved on to making the tofu custard, combining agar agar and kuzu to our fresh soymilk. Thomas, the line cook assisting Eric, taught me a simple trick to prepare kuzu. Slowly add your liquid then crush up the kuzu, then add more liquid. This way the kuzu turns into a smooth paste rather than a clumpy mess. While the other members of our team prepared the other menu items, we used the restaurant's industrial Vitamix to blend the almond garlic sauce for the panisse. 

Chef Eric Tucker overseeing the panisse and squash blossoms.

We took a break for lunch to taste the fruits of our labor. Ann Wheat, the co-owner of Millennium, joined us for our meals, relishing in our tasty dishes. It was back to the kitchen to make the sunchoke-corn risotto while the other team made a potato-corn risotto. Sunchokes look like knobby ginger root but taste like artichokes. Then we carefully opened up squash blossoms and stuffed them with a savory tofu cheese. Eric showed us how to properly batter them by dipping them in the dry cornmeal mixture, then the soymilk, and back into the cornmeal for a perfect coating. My teammates and I were chanting, "Dry, wet, dry," as we dropped the squash blossoms into the fryer.

What I really loved about the class was learning easy kitchen tips, how to make fresh produce into a stunning dish, and being able to say that I cooked at Millennium. Eric ran the class the way he runs his kitchen, having us taste along the way, creating recipes on the fly, and asking us to work together. When I walked out at 4:30pm, I was exhausted, happy, and full of delicious food. 

Silken tofu custard in a ponzu sauce with 

seared snap peas and yuba skins.

The complete menu is below. Check out our Facebook album for the complete visual tour of our class—from farmers' market to table.

Menu

Squash Blossoms, two ways, stuffed with tofu cheese, 

deep fried in cornmeal batter with a cilantro pesto dipping sauce, 

grilled served with a mushroom corn relish

Panisse (chickpea cakes) topped with 

a sweet-and-sour eggplant and tomato, 

served with an almond garlic sauce

Seared snap peas with yuba skins and silken tofu custard

Grilled romano beans with olives

Vanilla-glazed grilled abalone mushroom, 

served with a potato-corn risotto and a sunchoke-corn risotto

Spelt zucchini rum cake, topped with grilled peaches, 

served with lemon verbena sorbet and olive oil rose geranium sorbet

Farmers' Market Dinner

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland

What: Millennium Restaurant's 11th Annual Farmers' Market Dinner
Where: San Francisco, Calif.
When: July 28, 2010
Why: It's the season to celebrate fresh organic produce and the farmers who grow it

The Scoop: If "but what do you eat?" is runner up to the protein question, how about this retort: A five-course, fresh, organic feast also known as the Annual Farmers' Market Dinner, courtesy of San Francisco's Millennium Restaurant?

First Course: Mariquita Trio

Millennium's much-anticipated FMD is designed as a celebration of both the food as well as the local artisan farmers who grow it, many of whom were in attendance last night. Each course honors one or two of the producers, and for the first time the restaurant also paired the wines of Philip Staley, a small, family-owned vintner from the Russian River Valley north of San Francisco.

Second Course: Warm Butterball Potato & Purslane Salad

If for some inexplicable reason these photos don't have you salivating like Pavlov's companion animal, I can assure you that each course was perfection on a plate, combining the peek-season produce with the proper dose TLC to bring out the intricacies of the featured main ingredients. At the risk of cliché, it honesty tasted as if we were eating produce that had been picked five minutes previously from a garden outside the kitchen door.

Third Course: Scallion & Sesame Seed Pancake

Favorite course? Do I really have to choose? OK, I'd say the Cornmeal Crusted Green Zucchini (maybe because I'm so fried deprived?) with roasted fennel and garlic ragu accompanied by the absolute most buttery snap peas I've ever had. As an added bonus, many of the farmers brought their produce to Millennium, and guests were encouraged to take home a few items. Um, yes, I left with the Happy Boy peas.

Fourth Course: Cornmeal Crusted Green Zucchini

The Farmers' Market Dinner was just one highly anticipated annual tradition celebrated last night. July 28 also just happened to be the birthday of long-time restaurant Executive Chef Eric Tucker, adding an extra layer or celebratory-ness to the night out. Rumor has it that the kitchen staff baked Eric a cake, but the "family nature" of this blog prevents us from showing you a photo of it, so instead I'll tidy this up with our just-as-tasty sweet treat, the Blackberry Chocolate Bread Pudding, which I forced myself to finish, stuffed as I was.

Final Course: Blackberry Chocolate Bread Pudding

P.S. Farms whose produce was featured in the 11th Annual Farmers' Market Dinner included Maraquita Farm, County Line Harvest, Rancho Gordo, Terra Sonoma, Blossom Bluff Orchards, and Happy Boy Farms.

Millennium's owners Ann & Larry Wheat with birthday boy Executive Chef Eric Tucker

Millennium's Southern Comfort Dinner

Who: The Entire Toothless VN Posse
What: Annual staff trek to Millennium RestaurantWhere: San Francisco, Calif.When: May 26, 2010Why: Southern-fried, artery-clogging extravagance. And Beer.
The Scoop: Not sure zackly how long we-all ben goin' to this-here Millennium Restaurant for its annual Southern Comfort Dinner, "an evening of embarrassingly unsophisticated family favorites," but we never miss th' family reunion or chance to stuff ourselves comatose with the down-right tastiest, anti-McDougall menu this side o' Tupelo.

Fer starters we had this ol' bucket of the finest suds money kin buy, seen here wetting the whistles of Miss Lyndsay and Miss Abby.

Olympia, Hamm's, and MHL. Only the best!

Dat's Miss Lyndsay and Miss Abby

Next was a trio of breads plus backyard-raised chicken wing "appeteasers," which left yo' mouth hotter than a half-bred fox in a forest fire.

Cornbread, Cheddar & Green Chili Bread, and Parker Houses Rolls with Pimento "Spam" Butter

Danielle's chicken wings, spinach non-skinny dip and chips

Not sure why we had such a healthy course, maybe health 'surence cause o' dat new law the Prez'dent passed. Check out dat feda cheese!

Fun's Over for the Greek Salad with gov'ment feta "cheese!"

There was a quartet of entrees, which is like four I think, and I'm glad you asked yes we had to try all o' 'em. Loosen yo' belt!

Chef Hot Carl's Roast, straight from the carving station

Dunbar's Missed Bris Minnesota Meatball Sub

Li'l Brother Nic's Crispy Tacos

The M. Crew topped off this bypass brouhaha with a sticky sundae bar jammed with more fixins' than allowed by law. We all managed to squeeze in the "sweat treat with no meats" before crashing and burning. Asked by Grand Ol' Chef Eric Tucker with satisfactory glee, "You feeling comatose?" "Yes." "Good."

The sundae bar included coffee bark, rice mellow creme, and oreos

Praise the Good Lord it's only once a year. See you there next May!

Veg Cooking with Tal Ronnen

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Kristen Haney

What: Vegetarian Cooking Workshop with Chef Tal Ronnen

Where: California Culinary Academy, San Francisco, Calif.
When: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Why: Because I'll go anywhere that involves over-sized Vita-Mixes and tasting samples.

The Scoop: I don't much consider myself a chef, unless baking vegan cookies and eating half of them when they come out of the oven makes me the next Eric Tucker. Luckily, as the only editorial assistant with a car, I had the opportunity to learn a thing or two from vegan chef Tal Ronnen when he stopped by San Francisco's California Culinary Academy for a vegetarian workshop. The man behind VN's 2009 Book of the Year, The Conscious Cook, Ronnen has worked with Oprah, creating recipes for her 21-day vegan cleanse, and catered Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's vegan wedding.

After applauding myself for arriving 10 minutes early, I spent the next 15 looking for parking and trying to find my way around the maze that is the CCA building. I eventually coerced a security guard into escorting me to the workshop room, scooted my way past the chef coats and little white hats, and finally plopped down onto a tiny red stool before turning my attention to Tal. Chef Ronnen started off with a brief presentation on vegetarian sources of protein. After discussing the comparative merits of the different "meat analogues"—tofu, tempeh, seitan, and (of course) Gardein—he launched into the food demonstration. But not before breaking out this bad boy:

Ronnen unveiling one freakin' big Vita-Mix

Here at VegNews we love Vita-Mixes more than we'd love our first-born children, so I was expecting a little more enthusiasm from the crowd when Ronnen broke out the biggest beauty of a Vita-Mix I have ever seen. I was the only one giddily clapping and leering at it, even after Ronnen explained that it was theirs to keep. They'll learn. Ronnen demonstrated that vegan cooking can be just as creative and flavorful as meat-based dishes—and proved his point by making a celery root soup with granny smith apples; artichoke ricotta tortellini with saffron cream sauce; and Gardein "chicken" scaloppini with shiitake-sake sauce, braised pea shoots, and crispy udon-noodle cakes.

Ronnen demonstrating how to prepare the udon cakes.

Ronnen interacted well with the crowd, which was primarily made up of meat-eating, meat-cooking chefs. He breezed through the meal preparations while fielding questions that ranged from thoughtful (how soy effects estrogen levels) to slightly ridiculous (if consuming eight pounds of quinoa was the only way to get adequate meatless protein). He was able to completely finish three of the menu items, and let everyone come up and have a taste. The response from the vegan-skeptics was fantastic. Everyone kept exclaiming "this is so good," and one guy tried to be sneaky, coming back for second and third helpings.

While I'm not entirely convinced that the chefs decided to eschew meat following Ronnen's workshop, they did leave more informed about how to cater to a growing vegan and vegetarian community with discerning palates. At least no one will be trying to fit eight pounds of quinoa on a plate. I hope.

Sayonara, San Francisco

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Abigail Young
What: One last hurrah in my favorite city 
Where: Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco, Calif.
When: December 21, 2008
Why: To celebrate an incredible internship at VegNews

The Scoop: Since September, I’ve had the pleasure of spending my days at the VNHQ, learning the ins-and-outs of magazine publishing, vegetarianism, and the art of cooking for a large group of hungry co-workers.  It’s been an amazing four months, and I’m still in denial about the fact that I’ll be hopping on a plane tomorrow morning, headed for the Midwest. 

To celebrate my time spent at VegNews, my boyfriend, Bill, and I had the honor of going to Millennium for a farewell dinner. Amateurs in gourmet dining, we knew we were in for a treat. 

Abby and Bill at Millennium in San Francisco, Calif.

Despite the dreary weather and cool temperatures, we made it to Millennium in good spirits and with big appetites. After drying off the December rain, we were seated at a cozy table for two. It took a surprisingly short time to decide what to order, even though the mouth-watering menu made us wish our stomachs were three times as large.

To start, we each ordered a small appetizer, our indecisiveness making it impossible to pick just one to share. Bill immediately singled out the Herb-Dusted Gold Potato Frittes with smoked ketchup, and I pretended to be healthy and chose the Seared Brussels Sprouts.

I initially scoffed at the idea of ordering fries at such an upscale restaurant. You can get fries anywhere, right? Then I took a bite, and happily ate my words (and quite a few fries). Thick-cut potatoes, sprinkled with sea salt and a tasty blend of seasonings, were made even better with a quick dip in sweet and tangy ketchup.  I quickly apologized for doubting Bill’s gastronomical judgment.

The Brussels sprouts were nothing to scoff at either, and were devoured—mostly by me—in minutes. Seared, seasoned, then served with smoky tofu and olives, these little guys were delicious. I don’t think either one of us thought such a notorious vegetable could taste so good.

Brussels sprouts and fries—this versatility is one reason I’m so impressed with Millennium. On one hand, they take something “accidentally vegan” and lowbrow like fries and transform them into a gourmet appetizer. They also tackle stereotypical vegan fare, like Brussels sprouts, that most of the nation considers bland and boring. That is, until Eric Tucker turns those little cabbage look-a-likes into culinary gold. 

The appetizers were finished with gusto, and I started to worry that we had ordered too much. My stomach was filling up and we hadn’t even made it to the main course! Alas, when you’re at Millennium, you always find room.

The meal was in full swing as the entrées came out. Bill had the Winter Spice Tamale, a tasty Mexican tribute stuffed with pumpkin and pinto beans, and served with chocolate-almond molé sauce, fresh avocado, and sautéed greens. I ordered the Cornmeal-Crusted Portobello Mushroom, served with a fresh side salad of marinated greens, carrot, thinly sliced onion, and mandarin wedges. Slices of flavorful Portobello had the perfect level of crisp on the outside while still being tender on the inside. I had no problem sending back a clean plate.

At this point in the evening, we’re finished—tapping out, throwing in the towel, surrendering to the gods of good food. We were ready to ask for the check when our waiter returned, asking “Would you like to see a dessert menu?”

“Yes, please,” we responded without hesitation. Oh, come on! You can’t leave without dessert.

To jolt us from our imminent food-induced sleep while we waited, we sipped organic, fair-trade coffee with soy creamer and a sprinkle of sugar. Our sweet treat arrived to seal the deal—the German Chocolate Torte, complete with classic coconut icing and a sweet scoop of chocolate ice cream. Paired with the full-bodied coffee, it was an ideal ending to a phenomenal meal.

One seriously delectable dessert, courtesy of Millennium 

The dessert quickly disappeared along with our coffee, leaving not one centimeter of empty space in our stomachs. Ashamed of the gluttony but in awe of the experience, we left giddy and grinning. 

It was a bittersweet walk to the Muni stop, as I realized this would be the last time—for now—that I would be in downtown San Francisco. As if to cheer me up, my favorite street performer happened to be at the corner of Geary and Powell, beating an infectious rhythm on his makeshift drum kit of plastic buckets and five-gallon jugs. We danced a little at the stoplight before catching our train home, and I said a silent goodbye to the city.