I Love Cauliflower

I love cauliflower raw, steamed, blanched, roasted, mashed, whole, ... you get the idea. 

Last night, my friend, Elaine, gave me the following recipe. I am not ashamed to say that I licked the bowl clean.

You will need:

2 T butter

A squirt or two of grape seed (or other vegetable oil)

1 small onion

1 head of cauliflower

1 handful pine nuts

1/2 a handful currants

Salt and Pepper

Add butter and oil to a pan. Dice a small onion and saute it until it starts to caramelize. 

While the onion is cooking, cut the cauliflower into very small pieces - saving the stems for another dish (like a stir-fry or to add to mashed potatoes).

Toast a good handful of pine nuts in a pan on the stove taking care not to burn them.

Add cauliflower to the onions and cook for a couple minutes.

Add pine nuts and half a handful of currants.

Cook until the cauliflower is slightly browned and tender but not mushy.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Zucchini Boats

Many thanks to my sister, Janine, for this great recipe. 

2 large zucchini
Grapeseed oil (or canola/ olive)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Drizzle with EVOO and bake, cut side down, for 10 minutes.

In a pan, cook ground turkey and remove. In the same pan, saute onion, garlic, carrots, green and red pepper, and celery. When barely soft, add tomatoes, Worcestershire, and cooked turkey. Heat through.

Turn zucchini cut side up and fill with the ground turkey mixture. Top with fresh mozzarella and bake for 20 more minutes.

Chop up whatever veggies you have on hand and toss them in! Or make them Asian style with soy sauce,

Serve with a fresh garden salad!


Coming soon ... What I did with the leftover filling.

January Dinner

I started with small peppers stuffed with ricotta, chorizo, parmesan, parsley, -- the usual lasagna type filling. I got tired of stuffing the peppers before the filling was gone so I took some egg roll wrappers, filled them with the ricotta mixture, rolled them and dumped some tomato sauce on them. Both the peppers and the lasagna rolls took about 20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.


The salad is spinach leaves, parmesan, and onion topped with Tessemae's Lemon Garlic (dressing - marinade - dip). Added some cracked pepper and it was good to go.


The lasagna rolls were a bit starchy and could have used some hot sauce so I'll try them again using flat lasagna noodles instead of won ton wrappers.

Radish Dip

This is a recipe adapted from the newsletter from my CSA, Spiral Path.


Greek yogurt
Sour cream
Parsley (dried or fresh)
Onion - diced
Radishes - diced


If I had to put proportions to this ... 2/3 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2-3 t parsley, 1/2 cup minced onion, 1 cup minced radishes, and salt & pepper to taste.


The original recipe calls for 8 oz cream cheese instead of the yogurt and sour cream. I didn't have cream cheese. I'll try it with that next time.

Ratatouille as Made in Ratatouille

1 small can San Marzano tomatoes
eggplant
zucchini
yellow squash
onion
fresh thymes
salt and pepper
EVOO

Preheat oven to 325.

Pour tomatoes into bottom of a round baking dish and gently squish them up with your hands. Watch out for shooting tomato juice!

Add some fresh thyme, oregano and salt and pepper to the tomatoes.
Cut the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. Cut one end off the onion and peel back first layer.

I used a mandoline to slice the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and onion into very thin slices. You can use a knife but be prepared to spend a lot of time cutting. The mandoline also ensures the slices are the same width.
 
Alternate overlapping slices of eggplant, zucchini, and squash along the outer rim. Every so often slip in an onion slice.

Make another circle inside and then fill in the middle with a few veggies.
Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and season again with salt and pepper. Top with more thyme.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. I just placed the dish on top of the parchment paper and drew around the dish. Makes it easy to cut to fit the inside of the dish.
 
I wanted to save this and reheat the next day so I only baked it for 40 minutes. If you want to serve immediately, bake for about 55 minutes. You want the veggies tender, not mushy.

I had a bunch of veggies left over and just threw them in a pot with a small can of diced tomatoes. Cooked for a bout 15 minutes and then let it cool.

I put that in a container and decided to freeze it for use later in minestrone soup or a pasta sauce.

Hot Cow!

I planted cowhorn peppers this summer. The guide said that they were 'medium hot'. I LOVE hot food and was afraid I would be disappointed by the milder cowhorns. Oh man, was I wrong! The best hot sauce I've made:

8-10 pineapple sage leaves
¼ cup diced red onion
1 clove garlic
¾ cup diced tomatoes
¾ T EVOO
2 cowhorn peppers
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
¾ t salt
¾ t white sugar

1. In a saucepan, heat EVOO. Add red onion, cowhorn peppers, and garlic. Let it go for about 3 or 4 minutes.
2. Reduce heat. Add vinegar, tomatoes, salt and sugar. Let that simmer for about 5 more minutes.
3. Add pineapple sage leaves and simmer another minute or two.
4. Put it all in a blender and whir until pureed.
5. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
6. Let cool and then pour into a small glass container.
7. Taste it and comment that it's not too hot.
8. Wait 20 seconds.
9. Comment on how it's got a little zing.
10. Wait 15 seconds.
11. Say, "Oh man, that's a nice burn!"
12. Cover and refrigerate.

Spicy Eggplant

Don't go to the grocery store hungry! Do go to the local farm hungry!

I stopped by Spicknall's on the way home and loaded up my canvas bags with a bounty of brightly colored fruits and veggies. Here's what I did with a few of them ... (note that while it is contrary to my typical style, I will try to be more exact with ingredients as I have a sense that it matters in this dish).

(Mini Eggplant)

Roast 3 small eggplants with EVOO and S&P at 375 until soft. Scoop out innards and set aside.

Boil one small potato and set aside. I used a potato left over from another meal.

Heat about 2 TBL ghee in a saucepan.
Add about 6 peppercorns and about 6 corriander seeds.
After about four minutes, crush them with a heavy spoon or pestle.

(Galangal)

(Cowhorn Pepper)

Add a medium piece of galangal and about an inch of cowhorn pepper.

Add one small onion and three small cloves of garlic - both diced.

Add three good shakes of fenugreek, five shakes of garam masala, and one shake of turmeric.

Cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute,

Dice half of a green tomato and add to the saucepan. Cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Run a knife through the eggplant and add to the saucepan.

Dice potato and add to saucepan.

Remove cowhorn pepper and galanga.

Add a little water if it looks dry.

Add a few shakes of salt - I used a very fine grey sea salt.

Heat through and enjoy alone or with rice or naan.

Feijoada

MP’s Version of Feijoada

It’s long and involved, so bear with me. This will feed about six people, so double or triple as needed.

NOTE: This meal is a labor of love. Don’t even think about making this for people who will not appreciate what you put into it.

MP’s Feijoada has six required parts:

Meat

Beans

Rice

Greens

Farofa

Oranges

And if it is served any time after 1:00 p.m., it must be accompanied by caipirinha.

Preparing Feijoada goes much easier if the cook begins with a caipirinha, so let’s start with that recipe.

Caipirinha

• ·         Cut half a lime into four or six pieces and put them in a short glass
• ·         Add two teaspoons of sugar
• ·         Mash with a wooden spoon or muddler
• ·         Fill glass with ice
• ·         Add Cachaça (I buy PITU but I think 51 is another good brand)

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOEar1woto&feature=related

Meat

Traditional Brazilian Feijoada calls for all sorts of crazy pig parts like tongue, ears, and other odd things that we don’t normally eat. There are many versions of Feijoada and it is a dish that most cooks adapt to their own style. Here is mine:

·         Four beef short ribs

·         One meat dept. sized pork shank

·         One meat dept. sized ham hock

·         One package smoked sausage

·         I have also used chorizo, pork shoulder, thick cut bacon … any meat is fine, but it should include several types and one of them should be some sort of salted pork.

Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot with vegetable oil.

Coat ribs with flour, salt & pepper.

Ribs should sizzle when you put them in the pan – don’t put too many in at a time or they will steam instead of getting brown and crispy.

Brown all sides then remove to a large plate.

Without the flour coating, brown the remaining meats one at a time and move them to the holding plate. The smoked sausage should be sliced before browning.

Remove excess oil from the pot – leave only a couple tablespoons in there.

Add ½ of a medium onion - chopped, 2-3 cloves diced garlic, and 2 bay leaves. Sauté until onions are soft.

Deglaze pan with a little of a 26 oz. container of Swanson beef stock.

Put all meats back in and add remaining beef stock.

Add enough water to cover meat. Add salt & pepper.

Cover pot and simmer on low for at least 3 hours.

Regularly skim ‘scum’ that rises to the top. Add water as needed to keep the beef submerged.

As meat starts to fall off the bone, remove bones from pot. Cut large pieces of meat into smaller pieces and remove excess fat.

Beans

If you want to go to the effort, you can soak and simmer dried beans. I just open two large cans of black beans – drain and rinse them. When meat has simmered for several hours and meat is cut off the bone, add beans.

Also add one small can of diced tomatoes. I like Giant brand organic. If you don’t use those, try to get tomatoes that don’t have a ton of crazy additives.

I add the beans and tomatoes to the meat. Some people like to serve the meat and beans in separate bowls. If you do this, add the tomatoes to the meat and add some garlic and onion to the beans.

Rice

·         Melt two tablespoons butter in a saucepan.

·         Add about ¼ of a medium onion - diced. Sauté until tender and add 1 cup of rice. Stir to coat.

·         Add 2 cups of water, a pinch of salt, and return to a boil.

·         Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let it go for 17 minutes.

·         Remove from heat. Do NOT open lid until time to serve.

Greens

·         Collard greens are traditional but I used kale because I like it better.

·         Heat a large frying pan to medium or medium high and melt three tablespoons butter – I also add a little olive oil.

·         Chop two cloves garlic and add to hot oil.

·         Add a 16 oz package of Glory Foods pre-cut and washed kale (or equivalent).

·         Salt & pepper to taste.

·         Toss until it starts to wilt.

·         Add a ¼ cup of water (or more if needed) to help steam and wilt kale.

·         DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Farofa

·         Brown about six slices of thick cut bacon until very crispy. Set aside.

·         In a medium sized frying pan, melt three tablespoons butter.

·         Add ¼ of a small onion – diced. Sauté until translucent.

·         Crumble bacon and add to butter and onion.

·         Stir in about 1 ½ cups of manioc flour (can be found in Brazilian food stores or online).

·         Coat manioc with butter and let it brown. Stir occasionally.

·         Take off heat and set aside.

Oranges

Whew. This is the easy part.

Slice oranges. That’s all. I sliced two for the four of us and there was some left over.

It’s a meal that takes a lot of love and stamina to produce. I think it’s worth it.

From Eat Better America - Pork Tenderloin

This was DELICIOUS! The only change I made was to fry the sage that I used for garnish. It increased the fat and calories, but not by much.

Served it with a salad of spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and Asian Mix Salad topping. Just a little EVOO and Rice Vinegar to dress.

Roast pork tenderloin with rosemary, sweet potatoes and pears for an elegant dinner. From eatbetteramerica.

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:45 min

1 pork tenderloin (1 to 1 1/4 lb)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 large dark-orange sweet potato (about 1 lb), peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 firm ripe small pears, unpeeled, each cut into 6 wedges
1 medium sweet onion (halved crosswise), cut into thin wedges
1 tablespoon olive oil Fresh sage leaves, if desired

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray. Place pork tenderloin in pan. In small bowl, mix rosemary, salt, sage and pepper. Rub half of seasoning mixture on pork.

2. In medium bowl, toss sweet potato, pears and onion with oil until coated. Sprinkle with remaining seasoning mixture; toss. Place vegetables around pork.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, stirring vegetables and pears gently once or twice during baking, until pork has slight blush of pink in center and meat thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F, and vegetables are tender. Cut pork into 1/2-inch slices. Serve with vegetables. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Kitchen Sink Salad

This is one of those dishes where I am embarrassed by one of the ingredients but I love it and everyone who's tasted it, agrees.

I call it Kitchen Sink Salad because I throw in whatever I've got around. The constants are the sauce, green onions, cabbage, carrots, and almonds. Then it's time to clean out the 'frige and throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Make this salad well enough in advance for the noodles to soften.

Kitchen Sink Salad

Break up two packages of ramen noodles in a bowl. Save one flavor packet; discard the other. (This is the embarrassing part -- I mean really, RAMEN?)

In a saucepan, bring to a boil:

o Equal parts rice vinegar and cider vinegar to total a little more than ½ cup

o Equal parts sesame oil and olive oil (or whatever’s on hand) to total a little more than ½ cup

o Tablespoon brown sugar

o One Ramen flavor packet

o A few shakes of soy sauce

o Garlic powder and anything else that strikes you. I used cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and hot sauce

Pour boiling sauce over noodles; stir occasionally and let cool. Noodles will soften but will not be completely cooked and some may even be a little hard.

Here’s where the ‘kitchen sink’ comes in. Add veggies, dried fruit, nuts, etc. to the salad. I always use:

o Green onions

o Green and red cabbage

o Slivered almonds – toasted

o Grated carrots

This time I also added:

o Dried cranberries

o Celery

o Sugar snap peas

o Cucumber

Other times, I’ve substituted pine nuts or sesame seeds for the almonds, added granny smith apples, green and red peppers, tomatoes, … you get the idea.