S2 • E19 Jul 8, 2009 30m
Anna and Kristina are testing recipes from "The Flexitarian Table", which purports to solve the problem of having to cook meals for the household that has both meat lovers and vegetarians. The concept is to provide a basic framework for a recipe that can be made either with meat or as a vegetarian option, with the vegetarian option not being an "afterthought" as many vegetarian dishes in mixed meals often tend to be. The guest taster has some doubts. He is Nico Schuermans, executive chef and owner of Chambar Belgian Restaurant and neighboring Medina Café in Vancouver. Being Belgian, Chef Nico is used to a meat based cuisine, and is skeptical about claims that such recipes can be so easily converted without additional flavorings on the vegetarian side. He will have a chance to try seven dishes made by the twosome which they will prepare in four hours: spring vegetable & apple salad, crispy pressed chicken, crispy pressed tofu ("crispy pressed" being one of the convertible recipes), a slow cooked braise with white wine & escarole in both a lamb shank version and a vegetarian red bean version, cauliflower polenta, and pizzoccheri casserole. Being Belgian, Chef Nico would like a good Belgian Trappist beer with his meal. In addition, Anna and Kristina test Dutch ovens to see which material cooks a pot roast the best. And they taste test different varieties of extra firm organic tofu, plain.
