Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

cauliGarlicTrick your friends by telling them that this dish is garlic mash potatoes.

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
2 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

  • Bring water to boil in medium-large pot.
  • Wash and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Be sure to include the stem, no need to waste that.
  • Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until tender. Drain well.
  • In a food processor, add cauliflower, cream cheese, butter, Parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper, pulse until mixed or puree until smooth.

Serves 4.

Maple Baked Acorn Squash

acornSquashThis is an easy, delicious fall/winter side dish. I grabbed a couple of acorn squash from our dwindling stash saved from our last farmers market visit in October. We had this the other night with a roasted chicken.

Ingredients
2 small acorn squash
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
Salt and pepper

Method

  • Preheat oven to 400ºF
  • Wash the acorn squash well and cut in half, from stem to end.
  • Scrape out the seeds (save to roast) with a spoon. Score the insides of each half several times with a sharp knife, be careful not to pierce the skin.
  • Place the squash half cut side up in baking dish.
  • Place 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of maple syrup into each half.
  • Bake at 400ºF for about 40-50 minutes or until the squash is very tender.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve half of a squash per person. Serves four.

African Peanut Stew

Some cooks like to test their recipes before serving them to guests. I see guests as excellent guinea pigs; they get to experience my good meals and my bad ones. I like to think it gives my husband someone to commiserate with when they don’t turn out so well.

The other night, we invited our neighbor John over for African Peanut Stew. This is a recipe that I cut out of the Washington Post probably 10 years ago. I’ve made it many times and have modified the original recipe to suit my taste. It is a delicious, interesting, one-dish meal; warm, filling and healthy. It is perfect for these cold winter evenings. No problems there.

What I had never made is Ugali. Ugali is a cornmeal dish that is supposed to be like a soft bread and is often served with African dishes. It is served in the middle of the table; diners pull off bits, roll it into a ball, smash it with their thumb and then use the dough to scoop up the stew. Mine came out like over-cooked grits. After we all, good-naturedly but unsuccessfully, tried to grab a piece (imagine eating oatmeal with your fingers), I added a serving spoon. We improvised and ate it like dumplings in the stew. We did eat just about all of it, but I won’t count it as a success. At least it tasted good!

As I was making the stew, I was struck by all the healthy stuff I was adding to it — sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, turmeric, garlic, pumpkin seeds, etc. I wanted to find out just how healthy the dish was so I turned to NutritionData.com This cool site analyzes the nutritional value of your recipes. You search for your ingredients, select the amount and add it to your recipes. It’s a bit time consuming but, when you’re done, you have an in-depth dietary profile of your recipe. You can also print out a nifty nutrition label just like the ones on packaged foods. I was so proud of the nutritional prowess of this dish that I was tempted to print out a label and slap it on the side of the bowl.

Here’s the abridged lowdown:
Calories: 401; Vitamin A: 308% RDA (Wow!); Vitamin C: 51% RDA; Vitamin E: 22% RDA; Vitamin K: 231% RDA; Vitamin B6: 26% RDA; Folate: 31% RDA; Protein: 30% RDA; Calcium: 11% RDA; Iron: 32% RDA; Magnesium: 50% RDA; Potassium: 28% RDA. Not too shabby.

The peanut butter pushes the fat content to 40% RDA, but I don’t fret about that. The only fats that I try to totally avoid are trans fats. Just be sure that you are buying all-natural peanut butter with no partially hydrogenated oils. The only ingredient in your peanut butter should be peanuts (and maybe salt). Some peanut butter makers add partially hydrogenated oils to keep the peanut butter from separating. I’d much rather stir my peanut butter than ingest trans fats!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 (10-ounce) bag spinach, washed (you may substitute kale or other greens)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups diced tomatoes (or about 2 cans or one 26 ounce box)
4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped


Method

  • Heat oil in a large soup pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.
  • Add onions and chopped sweet potatoes.
  • Finely chop the spinach (I give mine a whirl or two in a food processor) and add to pot, sauté until the onions are soft.
  • Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper, sauté for about a minute (do not brown garlic).
  • Add tomatoes and vegetable stock; bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.
  • Add peanut butter; stir to combine.
  • Add vinegar, honey, pumpkin seeds and cilantro. Cook a few more minutes until thoroughly heated.
  • Season with salt and pepper.

Serves eight.

This post appears on Real Food Wednesdays.

Rouille

This version is basically a garlic, saffron aioli or mayonnaise. If the idea of raw egg wigs you out, just mix mayonnaise with saffron, chopped garlic and hot chili sauce. This makes more than you will need, but it is so delicious you’ll be serving it with dinner all week.

Ingredients
3 to 4 tablespoons fish stock (or steal a bit of broth from your bouillabaisse)
1 clove garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 egg yolk
Saffron, a pinch
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of salt (more to taste)
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (optional)

Method

  • Combine all ingredients except the olive oil and blend using an immersion blender, regular blender, food processor or, for the Luddites, a whisk.
  • Start adding the olive oil while the blender is running. You have to add the oil drop by drop to make a smooth emulsion. This is sometimes tricky. If you find that the rouille isn’t thickening the way you want, add the bread crumbs and blend well.

Keeps refrigerated for three to four days.

Bouillabaisse

boulaTraditionally, bouillabaisse was considered an everyday meal, not the fancy dish it has become. This simple Provencal fisherman’s stew was made with whatever the catch of the day was. The first time I had bouillabaisse was at a restaurant in Maine with my friend Todd. While the mound of seafood piled in the bowl was impressive, it was the broth with which I was enamored.

The backbone of a bouillabaisse is the stock, so use a good one. I make my own fish stock. I once left a dinner party quite happily with the fish heads from the night’s meal. (If you are shy, it helps to know the host well when asking to take home the table scraps.) Anytime I have leftover fish parts, shrimp shells or, if I’m particularly lucky, lobster shells, I place them in a pot of water, let simmer for about an hour, strain and either use it right away or let the stock cool and freeze it.

Saffron is another essential ingredient of bouillabaisse. Unfortunately, saffron, which is cultivated from the stigmas of crocuses, is one of world’s most expensive spices. Luckily, a little goes a long way. Anise or fennel adds to the complexity of the broth as well.

For me, after the broth, the best part of bouillabaisse is the rouille. Rouille is garlicky, spicy and delicious. It is spread on nice, crunchy French baguette slices and traditionally served with bouillabaisse. The baguette slices are often floated in the stew.

Health wise, this dish is isn’t too shabby. It has fish, so you’ll get a dose of omega-3 fatty acids, and the tomatoes are loaded with of vitamin C and lycopene. Plus, I believe the six cloves of garlic, and the garlic in the rouille, help ward off vampires … I mean colds.

Fish is one of those things that we hear we should add to our diets. We also hear that some types of fish are full of mercury and other seafood is in danger of being over fished. It’s hard to keep track of all of it. To the rescue comes the Monterey Bay Aquarium and their nifty pocket guide to sustainable seafood. I downloaded and printed the one for the Northeast region. And yes, I have been known to whip out the credit-card-sized guide at the seafood counter in Price Chopper.

Shelling out for a bunch of seafood plus the saffron can put a strain on your wallet, so I often make ours with just fish (but I always use saffron). Like I said, it’s the broth that makes me happy, the rest is just window dressing.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium leek (cleaned thoroughly and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Additional onion may be substituted)
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (additional teaspoon of fennel seeds may be substituted)
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons anise seeds or fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chopped tomatoes with juice (canned or fresh)
6 cups fish, seafood or lobster stock
1/4 cup Pernod (or any anise flavored liquor)
2 to 3 pounds assorted seafood (use any combination of any or all listed): Littleneck or other small clams, well scrubbed; white-fleshed fish, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; sea scallops; lobster; mussels; shrimp.

Method

  • Heat butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat until the butter is melted.
  • Add leaks, onion, fennel bulb and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
  • Add bay leaf, anise seeds or fennel seeds, saffron, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
  • Add tomato paste and white wine. Cook, stirring, for about a minute.
  • Stir in chopped tomatoes.
  • Add fish stock.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. The bouillabaisse broth can be made a day in advance; in fact, I think it is better the next day.
  • Add Pernod.
  • Bring to a gentle boil again and add seafood. Cook for five to seven minutes or until seafood is done. Discard any clams or mussels that do not open.

Serve with rouille on French bread.
Serves six.

Chicken Stock

Making stock is something I do all the time. If I’m chopping a bunch of vegetables, the unused ends go in a stock pot. If I have shrimp shells, I throw them in a pot with water and make shrimp stock. I feel like I’m throwing away good money if I don’t make stock out of the leftover pieces and parts of whatever I’m cooking.

The great thing about making your own stock is that you know exactly what is in it and can customize it to your taste. I don’t like thyme, so my stock never has to have it! Plus meat stock has a healthy dose of minerals. If you want to read about the health benefits of stock, check out Sally Fallon’s Broth is Beautiful article on WestonAPrice.org.

If you are short for time, put your stock-making ingredients in the freezer and make it later.

Ingredients
chicken carcass from a roasted chicken

Method
-Once the chicken has cooled, pick the meat off the bone, save the meat for another dish.
-Add all the unused chicken parts (bones, skin, etc) to a large stock part and cover with water.
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
-Add peppercorns, herbs, garlic, vegetable ends, or whatever you have around.  You don’t really need to add anything, but it will enhance the flavor.
-Heat over medium uncovered for at least an hour. I often leave mine on for several hours if I have time.
-Strain stock, discard everything but the liquid.
-Once the stock has cooled, divide into 1-2 cup portions. I pour the stock into freezer bags and freeze. You can also pour it into ice cube trays and freeze for quick inclusion into dishes.

Chicken Gravy

chickenGravyIt would be a shame to have all the good drippings from a chicken and not make gravy.
-Using your roasting pan, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from pan.
-Place pan across two burners and heat the drippings gently on the stove top for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. (Note: if you used a glass or ceramic dish to roast the chicken, transfer the drippings to a pot. Glass will likely break if heated directly on a stove-top burner).
-Add 2 tablespoon of flour and stir constantly for 1 minute. Use a fork to smooth out the lumps.
-Stir in two cups of water or milk and simmer, stir until thickened.
-Season with salt and pepper.

Brined Roasted Chicken

roastedChickenI love to roast chickens. I know that with one bird I can get two or three meals, a soup and, maybe most importantly, the bones for making stock. It’s very satisfying for my frugal nature.

I try to only buy locally raised, organic chickens. My thinking on meat is to buy better quality and eat less. Your overall meat costs will be close to the same and you’ll be healthier for it, especially if you use the extra room on your plate for vegetables.

My sister likes to stuff her birds with grapefruit, so I follow suit and use whatever citrus I have on hand. Lately, I’ve been into brining my chickens. It produces a juicy chicken and imparts a nice flavor throughout the meat.

Ingredients
Whole chicken about 2- to 3- pounds
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 garlic cloves minced (for the brine)
1 orange (or half of a grapefruit or 2 lemons)
3-4 garlic cloves slices (for roasting)
1 Tablespoon olive oil or butter
pepper

Method

  • The night or morning before you plan to roast a chicken, place chicken in a large bowl or pot and cover with water.
  • Mix salt, minced garlic, brown sugar in about two cups of water and add to the pot/bowl with the chicken.
  • Refrigerate and soak for 6-12 hours.
  • After brining, rinse the chicken in cold, running water. Pat dry.
  • Heat the oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
  • Place chicken in a pan, breast-side up. I used a roasting pan with a rack but you can set the bird in a regular oven pan.
  • Brush olive oil (or butter) over the bird
  • Stuff the cavity with citrus, quartered. Place many garlic clove slices under the skin.
  • Pepper all sides and the cavity.
  • Place chicken in the oven. Roast it until internal temperature of the thigh reaches 170°F (About 50-60 minutes). If you don’t have a meat thermometer, cook until the juices run clear.

Let it rest for 15 minutes. This will lock in the juices. Serve chicken with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes (skins on for extra nutrition). Save the dripping for gravy.

Note on trussing:
I never bother to truss my chickens. If you want to be fancy (and some say have the chicken cook more evenly) get some kitchen twine and tie the legs together. If you are serving to guest, be sure they see the nicely trussed bird so they can be duly impressed.

Prosciutto Wrapped Fried Pickles

Otto from Ottos’ Market got me to try La Quercia Prosciutto Americano from Iowa. Not only does it hold it’s own against fancy imported Italian salumi, it’s made with humanely raised hogs without antibiotic, nitrates or nitrites.

This recipe uses coconut oil. The once shunned oil is now the new darling of the food world. Coconut oil is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, an antioxidant and is, in fact, good for your heart.

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoon coconut oil (enough for about 1/8-1/4 inch of oil)
2 cup pickles (any type will do. Click here for a quick pickle recipe)
1/4 pound thinly sliced Proscuitto
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup wheat flour
1 egg
1 Tablespoon water
dash of salt

Method

  • Place egg and water in a bowl and whisk.
  • In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, flour and salt.
  • Wrap each pickle slice with Proscuitto.
  • Dip each Proscuitto wrapped pickle in the egg then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.
  • In a small sauté pan, melt coconut oil over medium- medium high heat. Keep temperature right below the oil’s smoking point.
  • Set each slice in the heated oil. Cook each side until golden brown.
  • Set on a paper towel-lined plate and let cool slightly before serving.

Soaking Grains

counter3On our small bit of counter space, you will often find various bowls and jars sometimes with odd-looking items floating in them. Today, for instance, in one bowl, I have bread dough, and in another, I have beans soaking. I plan to add to my counter clutter a jar of soaking gains. Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions and my friend Jan have long been preaching the health benefits of soaking grains, but somehow I never got around to it. New year, and hopefully, a new habit.

The Nourishing Gourmet has a great post about the benefits of soaking grains along with instructions.Click here to read it.

Chocolate and Orange Oatmeal Cookies with Walnuts

oatmealCookiesI think of this as my secret recipe. I guess it isn’t a secret any more! It’s a great cookie for a snowy winter day.

Ingredients
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest from one orange
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Method

  • Heat oven to 350° F.
  • In large bowl, beat butter, sugars and orange zest until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats, chocolate chunks and walnuts; mix well.
  • Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
  • Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for a minute on the cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Makes about three dozen.

My New Year Kitchen Resolutions

I love making New Year’s Resolutions. My annual, arm-long list inspires me. I have a few kitchen resolutions this year.

1. Get all the ingredients out before I start to cook.
I know this is Kitchen 101 but I rarely do this. When I do, it makes me happy.

2. Clean as I go.
I try, yes, I try, but I always seem to end up with a daunting sink full of dishes. It’s very satisfying to produce dinner and have a clean sink.

3. Never start to cook with a dirty kitchen.
Maybe if I keep resolution number 2, this won’t be a problem.

4. Keep things from rotting in the frig.
I like to think I’m good about using or freezing things but it seem like something is often rotting away.

Happy New Year!