Purple Cauliflower

Posted on April 29, 2017 by melsmosaic

I’m always up for fun veggies, and new ones. So the last time I was at Pike Place Market (in Seattle) there was of course overwhelming presence of everything fresh. The purple cauliflower caught my eye as I had never had it. I’d heard that it could turn white when cooked, so that gave me more reason to grab it to see what all would happen.

After going over a few options, we decided that if we grilled the cauliflower, there would be little chance that it could lose its color. So we broke it into medium size pieces and threw it on the BBQ after drizzling it with some olive oil and S&P. As you can see in the picture below, still bright purple! The ‘inside’ is white though. The taste was very nice — a tiny bit sweeter than traditional white cauliflower. I look forward to picking more up at farmer’s markets throughout the year, along with some of the other non-white colors.

Coriander-Roasted Broccoli

Posted on January 3, 2017 by melsmosaic

Some recipes catch my attention. Some ingredients in the kitchen find ways to catch the side of the shelf and shatter. Some determination then comes about to still make a recipe happen.

Saw this recipe for Coriander-Roaster Broccoli in a recent issue of Food & Wine, which just sounded amazing. So, had been to the store, everything was ready and cooking was starting.

Ingredients

-2 garlic cloves
-1 tablespoon cumin seeds
-2 teaspoons coriander seeds
-Kosher salt
-1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
-2 heads of broccoli  (1 3/4 pounds), sliced lengthwise through the stems 1/4-inch thick

Well, reached for the coriander and the (glass) jar fell from the shelf onto the (granite) countertop. I had opted to use ground coriander vs. seeds and the stuff was everywhere, along with chards of glass mixed in. Ok, that was not going to be used. Very fortunately, I happened to have cilantro on hand! Magical/close enough of a substitute.

Note, I was also using ground cumin.

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 450°. In  a mini food processor, combine the garlic, cumin, coriander,  1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 cup of the olive oil; puree until smooth. *I added a bit of water because of the (arbitrary) amount of cilantro I used, to make it smoother. Played with the amount of oil, too.

-Arrange the broccoli on  2 large rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with the remaining  2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and toss to coat. Roast for 5 minutes. Spoon the coriander oil over the broccoli, toss and roast for about 10 minutes longer, until just tender, shifting the baking sheets halfway through. Serve hot.

This stuff was awesome! Luckily it was a small error that occurred and can’t wait to try with coriander proper. I will likely make it with this again, too.

Nom Nom…tomatoes and eggplant

Posted on October 14, 2016 by melsmosaic

Found another recipe recently that I had to try from Food & Wine — Marinated Eggplant and Tomato Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella. What sounded unique about it is that the eggplant is never cooked, it just marinates for a heck of a long time. Hey, think about it as veggie ceviche, right?

Ingredients

1 pound small or medium Italian eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick, slices scored on both sides at 1/4-inch intervals — I just picked up the first eggplant I saw
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 basil sprigs, plus basil leaves for garnish
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, coarsely chopped
8 ounces buffalo mozzarella, coarsely torn or chopped (I used a goat gouda)

Directions
-In a colander set over a large bowl, toss the eggplant slices with 1 1/2 teaspoons  of salt. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, tossing occasionally. — I actually let that sit for a few hours while I was out

-Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, basil sprigs, oregano and crushed red pepper; season lightly with salt and black pepper.

-Squeeze all of the water from the eggplants and pat dry. Chop into bite-size pieces. Add to the marinade and let stand for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. — then once this was done I put it in the fridge overnight — was REALLY glad I actually read this recipe thoroughly several times

-Add the tomatoes to the eggplant mixture and toss to coat; discard the basil sprigs and garlic. Transfer to a serving platter and top with the mozzarella and basil leaves.

Make Ahead
The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

This was pretty good, quite unique. It also looks quite Chrismas-y. I think it got even better the next day. And actually, the next day, used it more as a bruschetta and also tossed it in salad. Can’t complain!

Farmer’s Market Finds

Posted on August 4, 2016 by melsmosaic

Roamed by the farmer’s market the other day and had to stop when I saw all the great looking heirloom tomatoes. These guys were awesome. I knew I wouldn’t be leaving without some. I had to pick, though, and that was the hardest part. The one I really wanted was the big orange one behind the the large group of smaller red guys on the right (not in the basket). But first I had to take it to the scale…1.8 pounds. WHOA! Ok, I was not going to pay over $7 for 1 tomato. I grabbed various colors of the smaller guys.

Then, next to them were some eggplant I’d never seen before, Fairy Tale Eggplant. I was told to slice them longways and grill (can’t have a BBQ at my place) or pan sear/cook them. They had a nice flavor to them, different than a normal eggplant — a bit sweet — and just so fun.

Love the farmer’s market!

Brussels Sprouts Turned Chips

Posted on March 4, 2016 by melsmosaic

I love kale chips so it’s fun to find recipes that parallel them. I was going through some sites recently and found a similar one for Brussels Sprouts chips. Those little round green veggies taste great to begin with so why not try them in another form?

Ingredients:

-2 cups of Brussels sprout leaves (outer leaves from 2 pounds of sprouts)
-2 tablespoons of melted ghee (I used olive olive)
-Kosher salt to taste (threw some pepper in there, too)
-Lemon zest (optional)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F
-Mix the leaves, ghee, and salt together in a large bowl
-Line two large baking trays with parchment. Divide the leaves evenly in a single layer on each tray.
-Bake each tray for 8-10 minutes or until crispy and brown around the edges.
-Microplane some lemon zest over the chips (optional)

My deep thoughts on these; they took WAY too much work. You have to peel all these sprouts. My friend and I must have stood there for well over 20 minutes doing this. I felt like we were picking crabs. We tried various methods for this — quick tear, cutting the bottom to see if leaves would fall. No method seemed super efficient.

The taste was great. Crisp, flavorful. So, if I need to kill time, will totally make them again. Otherwise, will stick to kale chips.

Carrots, Cheese, Honey…what more?

Posted on February 18, 2016 by melsmosaic

I try my best to make recipes out of cooking magazines I get each month. The most recent one I went for was from Food & Wine — Glazed Carrots with Goat Cheese and Honey.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I eliminated this)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds medium carrots, peeled
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tarragon sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
2 star anise (couldn’t find any, went with anise seeds, even though I know they are different)
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds
Kosher salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Gremolata

1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon finely grated garlic
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
6 ounces fresh goat cheese*I had the goat cream cheese on hand and used that and flaky sea salt, for serving

Directions:

In a large, deep skillet, melt the butter  in the olive oil. Add the carrots, garlic, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, star anise and the cumin, fennel and mustard seeds and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are golden, about 12 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of honey and cook, stirring, until the honey is lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook until the carrots are evenly coated, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 20 minutes; discard the herb sprigs, bay leaves and star anise. Transfer the carrots to a plate and let cool slightly; halve lengthwise.**I cut them before I started cooking to avoid having to do this now/at this point.

To make the gremolata, in a medium bowl, combine the parsley, tarragon, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
Spread the goat cheese on plates and drizzle with honey. Top with the carrots and gremolata, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve.

It was tasty but took some time. Worth it but not the highest on my list. I think one of the biggest annoyances was all the fresh herbs and the small quantities of spices you need for flavors. Four grocery stores later on a freezing (that doesn’t even qualify it) day, most of them were found.

Roasted Squash Heaven

Posted on February 18, 2016 by melsmosaic

Made another delicious recipe from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook the other day as pary of a friend’s 50th birthday dinner. I can’t find anything bad from his book. Just love it! This time it was Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Onions with Tahini & Za’atar

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash (2 1/4 lb), cut into 3/4 by 2 1/2″ wedges (I peeled it and cut into cubes)
2 red onions, cut into 1 1/4″ wedges
3 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 1/2 tbsp tahini
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1 garlic close, crushed
3 1/2 tbsp pine nuts
1 tbsp za’atar
1 tbsp coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Put the squash and onion in a large mixing bowl, add 3 tbsp of the oil, 1 tsp salt and some pepper and toss well. Spread on a baking sheet with the skin facing down and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some color and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions as they might cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To make the sauce, place the tahini in a small bowl along with the lemon juice, water, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt. Whisk until the sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or tahini if necessary.

Add the remaining 1 1/2 tsp oil into a small frying pain and place over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts along with the 1/2 tsp salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown. Remove from heat and transfer the nuts and oil to a small bowl to stop the cooking.

To serve, spread the vegetables out on a large serving platter and drizzle over the tahini. Sprinkle the pine nuts and their oil on top, followed by the za’atar and parsley.

This was served with a spinach salad from the same cookbook and some roasted shrimp. Could barely stop eating this stuff. Definitely on the list to make again.

Ratat-oooo-ille

Posted on January 12, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was in the mood for something hot and veggie-y and for some reason ratatouille came to mind. Hadn’t made it for awhile and couldn’t find a recipe on hand, so what else to do than google it? Came across a recipe on Bon Appetit that received many stars.

Ingredients

1 onion, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 tablespoons olive oil
a 3/4-pound eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
1 small zucchini, scrubbed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into thin slices
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 pound small ripe tomatoes, chopped coarse (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil leaves (totally forgot to grab this so had to use dry)

Preparation

In a large skillet cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat it over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking.

Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened. Stir in the zucchini and the bell pepper and cook the mixture over the moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occassionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well.

The ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving.

I added some extra tomatoes (had some canned ones that were easy to throw in). I also added plenty of extra garlic, which never hurts. This recipe hit the spot! The first time I had it, it was enjoyed with some roast chicken and delicious french bread at my friend’s place.

Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs

Posted on December 26, 2015 by melsmosaic

I was introduced to Yotam Ottolenghi‘s cookbooks a few months ago and finally have one of my own — Jerusalem. The recipes and pictures are mouth-watering just when reading them. I made Christmas Eve dinner for some friends and had to break the cookbook out. One of the recipes I tried was Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio and mixed herbs.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 /40 g tbsp unsalted butter (I just used some olive oil)
2 cups/360g basmati rice, rinsed under cold water and drained
2 1/2 cups/560ml boiling water
1 tsp saffron threads, soaked for 30 minutes in 3 tbsp boiling water
1/4 cup/40g dried barberries, soaked for a few minutes in freshly boiled water with a pinch of sugar (I couldn’t find them after checking out several specialty stores, went with dried cranberries)
1 oz/30g dill, roughly chopped
2/3 oz/20g chervil, roughly chopped (nixed it because there was none at the store and it was such a small amount)
1/3 oz/10g tarragon, roughly chopped (used dry)
1/2 cup/60g slivered or crushed unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the rice, making sure the grains are well coated. Add the boiling water, a teaspoon of salt and some white pepper. Mix well, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook on a very low heat for 15 minutes. Don’t be tempted to uncover the pan – you need to let the rice to steam properly. –I had to go a bit longer than 15.
Remove the pan from the heat – all the water will have been absorbed by the rice – and pour the saffron water over about a quarter of the surface, leaving most of the rice white. Cover with a tea towel, reseal tightly with the lid and set aside for five to 10 minutes.
With a large spoon, transfer the white rice to a large bowl and fluff it up with a fork. Drain the barberries (again, just used cranberries) and stir them in, followed by the herbs and most of the pistachios, reserving a few to garnish. Fluff up the saffron rice in the pan, then fold gently into the white rice – don’t overmix: you don’t want the white grains to be stained by the yellow ones. Taste, adjust the seasoning and transfer to a shallow serving bowl. Scatter the remaining pistachios on top and serve warm or at room temperature.

This was so good. The nice taste from the saffron and all other flavors jumping together. And the red and green colors coming together on Christmas Eve. So glad I tried this!

T2

Posted on March 28, 2015 by melsmosaic

So, after making the salad a couple weeks ago with turnips, and being quite happy with the taste of those root veggies I hadn’t tasted for ages, had to give them another try – T2, . Also, since I had purchased two of them I also don’t like food to go to waste. I googled some recipes to see what I could find and nothing overly exciting was coming up so I basically just decided to roast them and make ‘home fries’ — aka the same as what you’d do with potatoes.

I cubed them and threw some delicious Penzey’s spices on there.

Put them in the oven at about 400 for 20-30 minutes. I checked them after 20 and decided they needed more time.

They looked good after 30. Tasted them and you know what, they really just weren’t that exciting. Sort of mushy (?). Maybe I overcooked them? Maybe their flavor had been nicely hidden when I enjoyed them in the (crispy) salad a couple weeks ago. Oh well, I tried them so that’s all I needed to do. At least the turnip didn’t go to waste.