Raven's Restaurant - Vegan Cuisine

A note: We are working on an equally tasty vegan version of our scones. The recipe we are providing here is for our non-vegan, rich scones.

Honestly, we believe that the most beneficial diet for the planet's health is a whole foods vegan diet and our scones are neither vegan nor whole grains. Vegan diets save the emissions from the equivalent of 12,000 miles driven per year by a vehicle getting approximate 22 miles to the gallon. Nevertheless, we offer this recipe and ask those readers who use it to also try a whole foods vegan lifestyle one or more days a week. Just one day a week is equivalent to saving the emissions from 1,700 miles each year.

This is our most often requested recipe and is based on traditional English scone recipes. We use all organic ingredients and have found that ingredients make a huge difference.

Experiment: When we first worked on the recipe we found that the scones flowed across the baking sheet. Too much butter - and we reduced the butter by a quarter. The difference we believe was the amount and quaslity of butterfat in the organic butter we used. In those days, we could not get Strauss Organic Butter on the Mendocino Coast and when a supplier added Strauss we switched and again had to use about 3/4ths the amount of butter we had been using. Ingredients make a huge difference. Bear that in mind when preparing this recipe.

Ingredients and Procedure

1. Mix the following dry ingredients
4 ¼ cups all purpose organic flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2. Cut in with two knives or a pastry blender
¾ pound organic butter, cut into small squares
(When you’re finished with this process, your mixture should look like small peas.)
3. Mix the following wet ingredients in a separate bowl or container
½ cup buttermilk (may need a bit more)
½ cup cream (may need a bit more)
1 egg, beaten
Splash vanilla
4. With swift, quick strokes, fold the wet mixture into the dry mix. Do not over mix.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and press together without over working the dough.
2. Flatten with a rolling pin into a rectangle. Fold dough into thirds, like you would fold a letter. Add one cup of fruit of your choice. Roll and fold two more times.
3. Splash buttermilk or cream on top, brush evenly, then sprinkle with sugar.
4. Cut into triangles and bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Makes 16 scones

We haven’t been particularly “religious” about entries to this blog. This is not because we feel it is unimportant: it is because we have been working to develop recipes for the restaurant which assure an outstanding experience for our diners, many of whom walk into the dining room believing that the will be disappointed because we do not serve animal products.

Along this line, we would like to share the our Crab-less Cake recipe. It is a wonderful interpretation of the classic and makes a great appetizer or brunch dish.

Ravens Crab-less Cakes
By Barry Horton

Ingredients
1 cup yellow onion, bruniose
1 cup celery, bruniose
½ cup sour cream (see recipe)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire (vegan)
2 teaspoons Dijon
1 tablespoon season mix (see recipe)
2 cups zucchini, peeled & grated
1 cup bread crumbs

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly, let set for 5 minutes.
2. In a sauté pan, heat oil. Form 2oz pattie with hands and brown 2 minutes on each side. Serve immediately

Crabless Cake Seasoning
Ingredients
2 tablespoons celery seed
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons red pepper
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
2 tablespoons mustard

Procedure
Mix thoroughly.

Vegan Sour Cream
Ingredients
2 packages extra firm silken tofu
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons garlic

Procedure
Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

Just a quick post to connect readers to San Francisco's ABC affiliate KGO's View From the Bay which featured Chef Barry Horton's Cherry Cobbler this afternoon. Just click on the link http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=6279886#bodyText

Below is is the recipe:

½ cup walnuts
½ cup coconut flakes
4 - 6 dates, pitted
Pinch of salt

Procedure

1. In a food processor, blend walnuts until finely chopped, then add coconut
2. While processing, add dates one at a time until mixture becomes crumbly.
3. Mix in salt. Set aside.

Filling:
Ingredients

3 cups fresh cherries, pitted
6 - 8 dates, pitted
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Procedure

1. In a blender process 1 cup cherries with enough dates to create a thick sauce. We recommend a VitaMix - which you can buy on line at http://www.vitamix.com/ or at the Stanford Inn by the Sea
2. Transfer to bowl.
3. Fold in remaining ingredients.

Assembly

Using a fancy glass of your choice, place 1/4 - 1/3 cup filling in bottom, and top with thin layer of crumble. Refrigerate and serve cold.