Roasted Cauliflower

Call me strange but I think roasted cauliflower is really delicious. I know many either shun it or coat in flour and egg and fry it. I think if you ever try it roasted, you will truly find it delicious. And it's so easy, it practically cooks itself.

You will need:

1 Head cauliflower separated into florets, the smaller they are the crunchier it will be when roasted

2 tbs oil ( I use grape)

Salt to taste

Mix cauliflower in oil and salt. Roast in preheated over at 425. Flip every 10 minutes or so to prevent from burning.  You may want to remover the smaller pieces and continue to cook larger pieces till golden brown.

These are a great side dish or yummy alone.

Roasted Cauliflower

Potato Latkes: Experimenting with Fried and Baked Versions

Fried Latkes

Baked Latkes

Happy Belated Hanukkah to my jewish peeps and well as non Jewish peeps who like latkes.  Hanukkah is not Hannukkah without these puppies.

This year, I tried to make 2 versions fried (the authentic way) as well as baked less authentic but more healthy (there is only so healthy potatoes can be).

Judge for yourself but I was rather impressed with the baked ones and might totally switch up next year.

INGREDIENTS:

6 all purpose potatoes

1 onion

4 eggs beaten

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (white flour or matzo meal also work)

1 1/2 tsp salt

Oil for frying (I used grape)

Lots of paper towels for draining.

DIRECTIONS:

Wash and peel potatoes, keep peeled ones in a bowl of cold water to keep them nice and fresh.

Grate potatoes and onions hopefully you have a food processor. Now is the time to use it. If not, grating will be a huge pain.  Grate potatoes, drain excess liquid, get out as much as you can.

Add eggs, flour and salt. 

For frying, heat a large skillet with plenty of oil. Add about a tablespoon of potato mixture at ta time. Cook till golden and flip over until the other side is golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel. Repeat till all pancakes are done.

For baking, preheat oven to about 400. Oil baking sheet, baked till golden about 15 minutes, flip over, cook other side till golden. 

I served both fried and baked and really found there was little difference in taste.

We had them with applesauce and with Fage Total 2% (instead of sour cream).

adapted from http://feedmyworld-sri.blogspot.com/2008/12/potato-latkes.html

Osso Bucco aka Bone with Hole with White Beans

Osso Bucco. Trust me, it tastes even better then it looks.

Osso Bucco may sound fancy but is actually fairly simple to make and once it's in the oven, you work is basically done. Such a comfort food. Serve over a side of your choice. Mashed potatoes or risotto come to mind.

All the ingredients are an estimate and you can add/remove ingredients without compromising the taste.

This can be made with either veal or beef, I happened to have 2 of each (long story) so I used that. I always braise/stew in a dutch oven that I have from LeCreuset. 

You will need:

4 bones with hole ( I prefer veal but beef is fine too)

Flour for dredging ( I used whole wheat)

1 small can of tomato paste (6 ounces)

1 can of white beans (optional)

4 tbsp of oil (I use grape)

1-1 1/2 cups of white cooking wine

Water

Bay leave

Thyme

Combo of veggies--carrot, anise, onion, a few garlic cloves.

1) Pulse veggies in your food processor till smooth. Reserve. The veggies can really be modified based on your taste or what you have.

2) Preheat oven to 375.

3) Wash and pat dry your meat. Dredge in flour. In the meantime, heat enough oil in your dutch oven to cover the bottom of the pan. Brown your meat on both sides about 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd. You may need to do this a few times.

This is what it will look like at this point:

Browned Meat Ready for the Oven

4) Remove meat.  If you have oil left, spill out but leave the meat bits. Add a bit more oil. Add the veggie combo from step one. Bring to simmer.  Add can on tomato paste. Bring to simmer. Add back the meat, add about a cup of white wine. Bring to boil. Add enough hot water to just about cover the meat. Add bay leave and fresh thyme. Cover, stick in the oven.

5) Cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover. Cook another 20 minutes. If you are using white beans, drain and rinse. Mix into stew and cook another 20 minutes or so. Meat should be soft and falling of the bone. 

Winter Salad--Kale with Roasted Root Vegetables, Pine nuts and Aged Parmesan

Winter Salad

If you have been following my little blog even a little, you know by now that I am all about using leftovers in a creative way so that they feel brand new and enjoyable.

Case in point here in this tasty salad. Made some roasted root vegetables last night. Recipe here:
Roasted Root Vegetables. We ate them with shrimp last night. Tonight they were reborn in a winter salad.

You will need 

For the Salad

1. 2 cups of roasted vegetables. Since mine were leftovers, I reheated them in a pan and added a little maple syrup.
2. 4 cups washed and spun dried kale with rough center pieces removed
3. Handful of pine nuts
4. About 4 table spoons of aged parmesan shaved
5. about a tbs of maple syrup if you are reheating veggies

For the Dressing:

4 tbs ponzu sauce (soy sauce/lemon juice)

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp of lemon juice

1/4 shallot finely chopped.

Assemble your dressing in a bowl. Wash and spin dry kale and mix in 3/4 of the dressing. Leave kale to sit in the dressing. Since kale is so rough, I found it gets softer by sitting in the dressing for a bit.

Toast pine nuts in pan. Heat or roast veggies if you are starting from scratch.

Toss veggies into the kale, add remaining dressing. Divide into plates. Top with pine nuts and cheese. 

Enjoy! 

Roasted Root Vegetables

Roasted Root Vegetables with Thyme

Roasted root vegetables make a lovely side dish. I made these last night and we ate them as a side to Shrimp Mark Bittman's Way. These would be great with a roast chicken or even for breakfast with some lovely sunny side up eggs.

You can really improvise here as was what veggies you include but the key is to cut them into uniform pieces so that they cook at the same time.

I used:

2 turnips
2 pasnips
2 sweet potatoes
a few sprigs of thyme
3 tbsp of grape oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and cut all your veggies. Toss in a large bowl with oil salt, pepper and thyme. Roast tossing every 15 minutes or so for about 45 minutes total. Put under broiler on high for a few minutes at the end.

Veggies tossed with salt and herbs ready for roasting

Dinner is served: Shrimp "Mark Bittman's Way" and Roasted Root Vegetables

Baked Bison Meatballs with Mushroom Shallot Sauce

Bison Meatballs

Mushroom Shallot Sauce

I don't know why but I have never made meatballs before. This was my first time and of course it's so me to gi for a more exotic meat. Got the recipe from a friend. Made a few modification based on what I had on hard and voila!!! These were super easy and definitely critique approved!

On a whim, also decided to make some mushroom sauce.

Ingredients for the meatballs:
10 ounces ground bison
1 tbsp steak sauce (I used Peter Lugers)
Whole Wheat Panko (Ian's), about 1/2 cup
Chopped finely shallot
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp italian seasoning
Dash of garlic powder
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I used my Breville Smart Oven to bake these. My newest kitchen purchase that I am in love with.
Mix beef in a large bowl with all the ingredients and mix well. Form 1 1/2 inch meatballs (bigger ok but make them even size and allow extra time for cooking). Place onto backing sheet covered in oil spray. 
Bake till no longer pink in center, about 20 minutes. Turn over half way through.

Meatballs prior to being baked

For Mushroom Sauce:

One pack of white mushrooms chopped
One shallot chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
Thyme (optional)
1 tbs flour (I use whole wheat)
3 tbs water
1 tbsp oil (I use grape)
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute shallots in oil till they start to soften. Add mushrooms, cook about 5 minutes till they start to shirk. Add broth, wine and thyme if using. 
In a small bowl, mix flour with water into a paste. Add to skillet. Simmer about 2 minutes till starts to thicken. I served this over meatballs but would also be good over pasta or mashed potatoes. 

Whole Wheat Lemon Basil Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna Roll Ups. A pice got snatched up before it even cooled off

Saw this yumminess written up in People Magazine recently and something about it really appeal to me.  I am usually not a lasagna person, particularly the kind with meat but this one just sounded so light and delish that I could not pass it up. It did not disappoint. I made a few small changes but it's mostly based on Candice Kumai's recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
16 lasagna noodles ( I used whole wheat by Bionaturae)
2 1/2-3 cups of marinara sauce ( I used Amy's Organic Basil Marinara)
15 ounces of part skim ricotta (small container)
1 tbsp fresh oregano ( I used dry as did not have fresh)
1 cup fresh basil chopped plus more for garshish
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons 
Salt to taste

1) Preheat oven to 350. 
2) Cook lasagna noodes per package directions till al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. 
I actually cooked them 4 at a time. It took longer but resulted in no ripped or broken lasagna noodes.
3) Cover bottom on 9x13 inch baking dish with about 1 1/4 cup of marinara sauce.
4) Mix ricotta, basil , lemon zest, oregano and salt in a large bowl. 

5) Spread 2 tbsp of mixture onto each noodle. Roll tightly, place into baking dish. Repeat till done.
6) Cover with remaining sauce. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. 
7) Top with fresh basil.

Ricotta, lemon zest, basil, oregano and salt. This will be inside.

All rolled up. Add sauce on top and stick in the oven.

Finished product.  

I am going to serve this with roasted eggplant. A yummy meatless dinner.

By the way, are wondering what to do with your poor skinless zestless lemons? I was. Did a little research and found a great idea. I squeezed the juice out,  removed seeds and froze in and ice cube tray.
Storing in a ziploc bag for future use. And feeling so very resourceful.

Whole Wheat Penne with Chestnuts, Mushrooms and Shallots

WHOLE WHEAT PENNE WITH CHESTNUTS, PORCINIS AND SHALLOTS

All the Thanksgiving cooking left me with about a cup and a half of roasted chestnuts that I needed to use. And all the leftover turkey eating left me craving pasta big time. Turns out, Mark Bittman had a similar idea in 2007. So this is a modified version of his recipe published in the NY Times in December  2007.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat pasta (penne or ziti) I like De Cecco Whole Wheat Penne
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chestnuts (I used Roland brand in a glass gar that I had left over from thanksgiving)
• Dried Mushrooms (I used porcinis)
• 1 cup of shallots (about 4) peeled and sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbs oil (I used grape)
• 1 tbs butter
• grated cheese to taste
• Fresh sage leaves divided(optional)

Soak mushrooms in very hot water. 

For the pasta, bring water to boil in large pot. Salt generously.

Heat a skillet on medium high, add oil. Add shallots, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, chop chestnuts into 1/4 inch chunks. Add them to the skillet. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

Remove mushrooms from water, strain and RESEVE liquid. Wash the mushrooms. Chop and add to skillet with a bit more salt and pepper. Add a few sage leaves as well if using. Reserve the rest of sage.

Strain liquid from mushrooms through a seeve or a paper towel, add liquid to your skillet. Cook another 5-7 minutes.

Your mixture will look like this:

CHESTNUTS, SHALLOTS AND MUSHROOMS

Cook pasta till tender but not mushy. Drain pasta, reserve a little water. Combine pasta with the chestnuts/shallot/mushroom mix. Add butter, heat till melted. If needed, add a little reserved water.

Serve immediately topped with grated cheese.

If you are using sage, heat some oil in a small skilled till very hot and fry the sage leaves. I am currently obsessed with doing this. About 2 minutes per side and drain on paper towel. They immediately make a simple pasta look gourmet.

I served this with a side of roasted zucchini. Recipe here:

How to Roast Zucchini

Enjoy! Hope to see you soon!

Roasted Turkey with Herb Butter and a few tips for Thanksgiving Day Success

*Method adapted from Alton Brown and Sassy Radish

I like to keep things simple and organized. What I have discovered from hosting thanksgiving is that PLANNING is the key to success. If you are organized, even the turkey is not that scary.

I think this year I have really outdone myself and it's because I was way more organized then usual.
I also realized that making the turkey is way easier and FASTER then I thought.

This is my final product and star of the Thanksgiving Day Show.

I buy a kosher antibiotic free turkey every year as I do not like a dry turkey nor do I have space in my fridge to brine a turkey.

INGREDIENTS:

1 KOSHER Turkey (mine was about 13 pounds)
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

4 cloves garlic: 2 smashed, 2 finely chopped
1 tablespoon sea salt

4 shallots or one onion sliced
FOIL TO MAKE BREAST PLATE (do not eat)

FRESH HERBS:

• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (unchopped)
• 4 sprigs of sage (unchopped)

STEPS TO SUCCESS:

1) Let turkey come to room temperature, this will take a while so plan in advance. I woke up extra early, took the turkey out and got started on the sides. My bird was room temperature in about 3 hours.

2) Once turkey is at room temperature, wash and pat dry with paper towels.

3) Preheat oven to 500F. Place turkey on roasting rack in roasting pan. If you don't have one, you can make a foil "snake" like contraption and place on the bottom. This will keep your turkey from floating around in the oil/juices it will be spewing.

4) In a large bowl, combine your softened butter, and the CHOPPED herbs. Reserve the unchopped for later. Also, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Smoosh it all together because you are about to give your bird a very nice massage. Giggle.

5) MAKE SURE YOUR TURKEYS is at room temperature and is dry. Rub is all over with herbed butter. Make sure to get some under the skin as well. Really get in there like nobody's business.

6) Once your turkey massage is complete, add the shallots, smashed garlic and the UNCHOPPED herbs into the cavity.

7) Take your foil and fold it over to make a triangle. You will need this later to protect the breast from drying out. You will be placing it on the breast pointy side down with the other two points tucked under the wings.  Butter this on both sides. Reserve for later.

TURKEY PRIOR TO COOKING TRYING ON BREAST PLATE

8) At this point, your oven should be preheated. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. If your smoke alarm is crazy like mine, during this time, it may go off. I actually had to remove the batteries from mine temporarily as it was alarming despite oven windows and door. Watch your turkey, if it's breast is getting too brown, cover with breast plate prior to 30 minutes end.

9) Once 30 minutes are up, reduce oven temperature to 350F and put on breast place if you have not already. Insert thermometer alarm set to 161 degrees. My 13 pound bird took about 2 hours from start to finish--1/2 hour at 500 and 1 1/2 hours at 350.

10) Remove from oven. If you need to, you can reheat at 350 for about 15 minutes


Here you have it. No basting, no brining! Easy Peasy.


I served this with:

Dressing of Cornbread, Sausage, Chestnuts and Leeks

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Candied Yams

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Crunchy Bacon

Butternut Squash Apple Leek Soup with Fried Sage

Another side was pan seared hericot verts--forgot to take a picture.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Crunchy Bacon

I usually make these without bacon for an every day dinner but for Thanksgiving, I make these WITH BACON since everyone know that thanksgiving calories do not count.

Ingredients:

6 cups on brussel sprouts top layer removed and halved
3 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Bacon (I used 1 pack of Applegate Sunday Bacon)
Paper towels for draining

Toss brussel sprouts in oil and salt. Mix well. Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes (toss a few times to avoid burning). For the convection oven, I modified temperature to 400, otherwise, no big difference. Add bacon at the very end of cooking. Mix well and cook another 5 minutes with bacon.

My convection oven is something that I got recently and have been totally obsessed with this think to a point where I barely use my regular oven. The link here in case you are interested. 



Cook bacon till very crunchy. Drain on paper towels. Cut up into small bits. Toss with brussel sprouts. 


Enjoy!

ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH CRUNCHY BACON