Chef Tal Ronnen

1. To prepare the artichoke hearts: Fill a large bowl halfway with water. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and toss the lemon halves into the water too. Remove and discard the small artichoke leaves at the base of each artichoke and then the tough outer leaves. Using a chef’s knife, cut off the top 1 inch of each artichoke crown. Then snap off or cut off all of the remaining large leaves with kitchen shears and put them in the lemon water. You should have 20 to 24 large leaves. These leaves are your “oyster shells.” Set aside. 

2. Working with one artichoke at a time, use a vegetable peeler to trim off the tough outer part of the stem, to reveal the tender inside. Cut off the stem, coarsely chop it, and put in the lemon water. Run a paring knife around the base of the artichoke to remove any tough green parts or bits of leaves. Cut the artichoke in half. Using a sharp spoon or a melon baller, scoop out the spiky purple center leaves and fuzzy choke inside and discard. Transfer the prepared artichoke hearts to the lemon water as you work to keep them from oxidizing and turning brown. 

3. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the artichoke leaves and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside in the refrigerator. 

4. Meanwhile, remove the prepared artichokes from the lemon water, pat dry, and coarsely chop. 

5. Put a small pot over medium heat and add the butter substitute. When it has melted, add the chopped artichoke hearts and stems, shallot, and garlic and cook until tender but without any color, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

6. Add the stock, wine, cashew cream, and nutritional yeast flakes and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. 

7. Carefully transfer the artichoke mixture to a food processor and process until chunky-smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm. 

8. To serve: Spread the rock salt on a serving platter. Arrange the artichoke leaves decoratively on the salt. Spoon a small dollop of the artichoke puree on the meaty end of each leaf, then set a fried oyster mushroom on the puree and pour some tomato béarnaise on top. Garnish each artichoke oyster with a small dollop of the caviar and some seaweed. Serve immediately. 

A flavorful stock is one of the fundamentals of cooking. A good stock should enhance, rather than overwhelm, whatever sauce or dish you make with it. Every layer of flavor creates the sum of the parts, so the goal with making stock is versatility. This vegetable stock has a fairly neutral flavor that works in all kinds of preparations. The recipe couldn’t be easier—chop up some vegetables, cover with water, and simmer—you’re done. 

The majority of commercial brands of vegetable stock are too dark in color and overly salty and/or sweet. If you’re pressed for time and must use a prepared stock, More Than Gourmet is our favorite. It has no artificial anything and contains no MSG or excess sodium.

1. Combine the vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, herb sprigs, and salt in a large stockpot and add enough cold filtered water to cover. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the stock steep and settle for 10 minutes. 

2. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into another pot; discard the solids. Place the pot in a sink full of ice water and stir to cool the stock down quickly. The stock can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. 

Cashew cream, made from soaking raw cashews and blending them with water, is an indispensable part of my vegan cooking. It stands in for heavy cream in a variety of ways—in the batter for Hearts of Palm Calamari and as a base for Spinach Cream Sauce among others. The cream is at its best when used for cooking; it thickens up even faster than heavy cream and adds richness. You will never miss dairy if you use cashew cream. 

It’s essential to use raw cashews to make the cream; the raw nuts have little flavor of their own but provide a fatty creaminess. Roasted cashews taste too strong and won’t blend as well. 

Making cashew cream requires planning ahead, since you have to soak the cashews for at least 12 hours. Use only filtered water; the impurities in tap water will add a grayish tinge to the final product. The cream keeps for up to 4 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator, at room temperature, or in a large bowl of warm water. The cream will separate upon defrosting, so give it a whirl in a blender to re-emulsify. 

1. Put the cashews in a bowl and pour in enough cold filtered water to cover. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or up to 1 day. 

2. Drain the cashews in a colander and rinse with cold water. Transfer the cashews to a blender, preferably a Vitamix, and pour in enough cold filtered water to cover them by 2.5 cm, about 3 cups. Blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes, until very smooth and creamy without any trace of graininess. The cashew cream should be smooth on the palate; add more water if necessary. If you’re not using a heavy-duty blender, you may need to strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve to get rid of any grittiness. 

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. It will thicken as it sits, so blend with ½ cup or so filtered water if needed to reach the desired consistency. It can also be frozen; see the headnote. 

To make thick cashew cream, reduce the amount of water in the blender so that it just covers the cashews, about 2 cups. 

With a meaty texture like oysters, these little mushroom bites are also good for snacking. Serve with Cocktail Sauce for dipping. The cashew cream needs to be prepared a day in advance, so plan accordingly. 

1. To prepare the batter: Put the cashew cream in a bowl and add the water, ground nori, salt, and pepper. Stir the batter to combine; it should be smooth and not gloppy in the slightest. If you have time, set aside for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. 

2. Add the mushrooms to the batter, gently turning the pieces over with your hands until thoroughly coated. Set aside. 

3. Put the cornmeal in a food processor and process to a fine powder. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, add the rice flour, salt, and pepper, and toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. 

4. Using a slotted spoon, working in batches, scoop the mushrooms from the batter, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, add to the cornmeal mixture, and toss with your hands until evenly coated on all sides. Transfer the breaded mushrooms to a strainer set over a bowl, or work over the sink, and shake off the excess cornmeal. This is a key step to ensure that the cornmeal crust is light and not clumpy whatsoever. (All of this can be prepared up to 2 hours in advance. Arrange the breaded mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered. Allow the mushrooms to come to room temperature before frying.)

5. Heat 5 cm of oil to 160°C in a deep cast-iron skillet or a heavy saucepan. Working in batches, add the mushrooms to the hot oil and fry, carefully turning with tongs, until golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove the cooked mushrooms to a paper towel–lined platter to drain. Season lightly with salt and pepper while still hot and serve. 

“Don’t get saucy with me, Béarnaise” is one of my favorite lines from Mel Brooks’s History of the World. If you haven’t seen it, you must. The key to this “eggy” béarnaise is Indian Kala Namak salt, which is high in sulfur, so it smells and tastes curiously like eggs. The cashew cream needs to be prepared a day in advance. 

1. Preheat the oven to 80°C. 

2. Put the tomatoes in a small baking pan, drizzle with oil, and season generously with kosher salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Roast the tomatoes for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft. Set aside. (The roasted tomatoes can be prepared a couple of hours in advance, covered, and held at room temperature.) 

3. Combine the wine, vinegar, shallot, tarragon, and peppercorns in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Pass the wine reduction through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the solids. You should have about ¼ cup. 

4. Transfer the wine reduction to a blender and add the roasted tomatoes, cashew cream, nutritional yeast flakes, Kala Namak salt, 2 teaspoons oil, and the butter substitute. Blend on low speed to break down the tomatoes, then increase the speed to high and blend until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; add 1 teaspoon water if the sauce becomes too thick. Strain the sauce to remove any bits of tomatoes and give it a smooth texture. Season with kosher salt and pepper and serve, or set aside, covered, in a warm spot until needed. 

Formulated to resemble Beluga caviar, Cavi-art, or seaweed caviar, is a seaweed-based delicacy that looks and tastes like the real thing. The tiny black beads burst with a clean, briny flavor and texture that “pops” in your mouth, much like fish eggs. Cavi-art is available online and in gourmet markets. 

Nutritional yeast may not sound like the most appetizing ingredient, but it has a cheesy, nutty, savory quality that gives any dish extra oomph. Just a tablespoon or two adds a creamy, salty richness to dips, soups, and sauces. Look for nutritional yeast flakes in the supplement section of the market or health food store. Be sure to select flakes instead of granules, which will deliver a bit of texture to whatever you add them to.