Monthly Archives: September 2013

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: LINGUINE WITH CAULIFLOWER PESTO

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Secret Recipe Club, Vegetarian-friendly by

Linguini Cauliflower Pesto

A sensible person evaluates a situation and chooses a path of action that is compatible with it.  For example: a sensible food blogger whose kitchen is undergoing renovation would take a break from The Secret Recipe Club to be back once she actually has a place to cook.  I did consider that option for a while, say… 5 seconds.  😉 So, throwing caution to the wind, here I am to join once more the virtual party in which bloggers are paired in secret to cook recipes from their matched blog.
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Last month was my 2nd anniversary with SRC, so this post opens my third year with the group. And what could be better for an “old-timer” than to be paired with a new member?  I was assigned Vintage Kitchen Notes, hosted by the beautiful  Paula, who just joined SRC. She cooks and blogs from Argentina, right next door to my home country. Paula blogs in English, but she also keeps another blog in Spanish – talk about blogging stamina!  I actually tried to include recipes in Portuguese for a while, but quickly realized it was too much of a struggle for me.  So, I am in awe that Paula can do it all!  Her photography is beautiful, I had a wonderful time browsing her site. Let me share a few of her concoctions that were particularly tempting to me: 8-Hour Cheesecake with Roasted Grapes,  Limoncello-Glazed Citrus Poppy Seed Cake, Chocolate-Hazelnut Mini-Bundt Cakes (gorgeous!), Pastel Azteca (gotta make that sometime), Roasted Radicchio and Provolone Risotto (go drool over the photo, will you?), and just to tempt my bread baking addiction, she has more than 40 different bread recipes listed on her index.  I will just mention one: Soft Pretzels with Spicy Beer Cheese Sauce.   I’ve always wanted to make soft pretzels at home, but that will have to wait for calmer days.
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Since our kitchen looks like a war zone.  I ended up choosing a very intriguing recipe that required only the food processor and one pan to cook the pasta.  Seemed doable under the circumstances.  So, I am delighted to share with you my first experience with a cauliflower pesto!

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LINGUINE WITH CAULIFLOWER PESTO 
(from Paula, at Vintage Kitchen Notes, originally adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)
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1 pound (450g) fresh cauliflower
1 medium shallot, quartered
pinch of red pepper flakes
½ cup toasted almonds
2 oz. (60g) Asiago cheese
4 sun-dried tomatoes, dried-packed
1 Tbs drained capers
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil (I used 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (I added 2 tsp)
1 pound linguine
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Cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water in a small bowl and let them stand for 5 to 10 minutes to soften. Drain well and chop them coarsely. Rinse the cauliflower, cut off the leaves and hard stalks.  Cut the rest into chunks, and add to a food processor, processing them until they are more or less the texture of couscous. Transfer to a large bowl and reserve while you prepare the other ingredients.
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Add to the food processor the pieces of shallot,  pepper flakes, almonds, cheese,  sun-dried tomatoes, capers and parsley. Process until they´re as fine as the cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper. Add oil and vinegar and pulse until a paste forms. If you feel it´s too dry for your taste, add another tablespoon of olive oil.
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Transfer to the bowl with the cauliflower, check the mixture  for salt and pepper and add more if necessary.
Cook the linguini until al dente in plenty of salted boiling water.  Reserve some of the cooking liquid, and drain the pasta, transferring to a serving bowl.   Add some of the pesto and mix gently.  If necessary, add some of the reserved cooking liquid. Add the remaining pesto, sprinkle with grated cheese, a few parsley leaves and serve immediately.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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Comments:  You might remember that Phil is not too wild about cauliflower, so I  was hoping to prepare the pesto while he was doing something outside, maybe playing golf or trimming tree branches.  My plan almost worked but not quite. I had cleaned all the “remains” of the cauliflower from the crime scene,  but he caught a glimpse of the processed cauliflower, and…

What is this? some exotic type of rice?

This? No, not rice.
(quickly moving the bowl away from view)

Hummmmm… couscous?

 No, not really…

What IS it?

I cannot quite tell you.  It’s a surprise. It’s going to be a pesto..  A surprise pesto..    

Pesto? Great, I love pesto!

😉 😉 😉 😉

served

Verdict: Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for this pasta! I can understand why Paula made this dish twice in  the same week. One could imagine the raw cauliflower to be too sharp and omnipresent in the pesto, but it’s not.  It is just a perfectly balanced dish, with the capers, the vinegar, the sun-dried tomatoes, the parsley,  a real winner.  I divulged the “secret ingredient” of the Secret Recipe Club concoction to Phil, and he was amazed.  The heat of the pasta slightly changes the texture of the cauliflower, taming its raw taste.  I highly recommend you try this recipe.  If you use the reduced amount of oil I did, make sure to save some of the pasta cooking liquid to adjust the consistency at the end.  If it still seems too thick, swirl a little olive oil right at the table.

Paula, it was great to get your blog this month, I hope you had fun stalking and cooking from your assigned site!

For a delicious collection of tasty dishes prepared by my friends from Group D of SRC, click on the blue frog at the end of the post…

ONE YEAR AGO: Carriage House Apple-Walnut Pie

TWO YEARS AGO: Chicken Marsala

THREE YEARS AGO:  Home, sweet home

FOUR YEARS AGO: Levain Bread with Caramelized Onions

BEER-MARINATED GRILLED SKIRT STEAK

Posted in Beef by

When grilling meat, I normally follow the Brazilian rule of using only salt as seasoning.  We are all about the flavor of the beef, preferring not to mask it with spices and rubs. But, I thought that Marcella’s take on skirt steak was too tempting to pass.   She marinates the meat in beer and soy sauce, and also adds orange slices to the party.  I normally reach for lemons or limes, but whenever I use oranges in cooking I am  surprised by how much I enjoy their subtle citric tone, a tad less aggressive.   We both loved the flavor they imparted to the meat… the beer definitely comes through loud and clear.  I marinated the meat from early morning to dinner time.

sliced

BEER-MARINATED GRILLED SKIRT STEAK
(adapted from Mexican Made Easy)

1 orange, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, smashed
2 + 1/2 pounds skirt steak
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup light-colored beer (preferably lager style)
1/2 cup soy sauce
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In a wide, shallow glass baking dish, scatter half of the orange slices, half of the onion slices and the garlic on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the steak all over with salt and pepper and put in the dish on top of the orange and onion slices. Scatter the remaining orange, onion and garlic over the steak and pour in the beer and soy sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
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Prepare a grill on medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the steak to your taste,  about 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second for medium-rare.
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Let the meat rest, tented with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing it.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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served
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Comments:  Skirt-steak is one of the busy cook’s best friend!  Less than 10 minutes on the grill and you are on your way for a tasty dinner.  Now, if not only you are very busy but you also don’t have a functional kitchen, this type of meal will be a life-saver.   I like to wrap the meat in large butter lettuce leaves, top with salsa and/or guacamole, but this time I made it even simpler and only added fresh, juicy tomatoes, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of grated Cotija cheese, just to keep it on the Mexican environment…    😉 Of course, corn or flour tortillas, fajita-style are the most authentic way to go.
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The same marinade worked great on chicken thighs, as you may remember from a recent post.  I marinated the chicken the whole day in the beer-soy-oranges, roasted low and slow with the skin side down, then flipped the pieces to have the skin up, and finished them off under the broiler.
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ONE YEAR AGO:  Secret Recipe Club: Corn Chowda

TWO YEARS AGO: Page-A-Day Calendar (Pits and Chief 5 minutes of fame…)

THREE YEARS AGO: Home Sweet Home (our beloved Pits in one of his last photos)

FOUR YEARS AGO: Marbled Rye

JUST MARRIED!

Posted in General by

This past weekend Phil and I drove seven hours all the way to Lake Texoma, for a very special wedding: my handsome stepson and his gorgeous fiancée, who got engaged during our trip to Hawaii last year, remember?  The ceremony was perfect.  Simply perfect.  The outdoors venue, the sunset, the breathtakingly beautiful bride, the joy of all guests, the food, the dancing…

marriedbride

We wish them a wonderful life together!

A SONG FOR YOU

Posted in General by

We were 19 years old and deeply in love.  This was our song.

I’ve been so many places in my life and time
I’ve sung a lot of songs I’ve made some bad rhyme
I’ve acted out my love on stages
With ten thousand people watching
But we’re alone now and I’m singing a
song for you

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I love you in a place
Where there’s no space or time
I love you for in my life
You are a friend of mine

And when my life is over
Remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singing a
song for you
We were alone and I was singing a
song for you

lagonegroGramado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.  Memories of 1983.

Rest in peace, my  first love.  I will never forget you.

(Comments are shutdown for this post)

SILKY CAULIFLOWER PUREE WITH ALMOND MILK

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by

I am not sure why it took me so long to try almond milk, but  I fell in love with it the moment I tasted it.  This one is my favorite, the plain and lighter version made by Silk.   It is part of my daily routine now, half a glass of almond milk right before going to work, and another half after lunch.  Shockingly cold is best, by the way.   Phil used it in his lunch smoothies in place of  yogurt and loved it too. My passion for almond milk started me on a virtual expedition in the internet chasing for recipes using it in cooking.   I was pleasantly surprised to find quite an extensive number of possibilities.  My first adventure with Silk was a winner:  cauliflower puree.  I share with you the recipe,  inspired by Food and Wine.

AlmondCauliPuree1

SILKY CAULIFLOWER PUREE WITH ALMOND MILK
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 medium-sized head of cauliflower
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 celery stalk, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 shallot, diced
Half gallon Light Almond Milk (or slightly less)
salt and pepper

Prepare the cauliflower by removing the outer leaves and the central core.  Cut the florets off, slicing the large ones in two or three pieces.

Heat the oil on a skillet. Saute the celery, onion, and red bell pepper until the onion is golden, and the mixture is very fragrant. Season with a little salt and black pepper.   Add the cauliflower to the skillet and cook it on high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring often.  Transfer the mixture to a saucepan so that the cauliflower fill it no more than halfway up.   Add almond milk to the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil.   Reduce the heat, cover the pan keeping the lid slightly ajar, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.

Transfer the cooked cauliflower to the bowl of a food processor, keeping the almond milk in the pan.  No need to drain it completely, the amount of liquid that stick to the florets will help ensure a nice texture.   Process until smooth.  If necessary, add a little more warm almond milk.   Test for seasoning.   Serve warm.

ENJOY!


to print the recipe, click here

As I said, my first adventure with almond milk in cooking won’t be the last. In fact, I have this recipe on my “to try soon” folder, and hope I can actually switch it into the “tried and true”  in the near future.  One store in town normally carries Marcona almonds, which is the only tricky ingredient to find. With that in hand, I should be good to go.

Probably because I used light almond milk instead of full fat, the liquid seemed to separate a little as the cauliflower cooked. It definitely did not harm the dish, so if you use the light version, ignore its looks.  It will all come together in a silky happy ending!

dinner

Our dinner felt quite special, considering it took place at the height of our kitchen renovation. Here is the full menu for that evening:  roasted chicken thighs marinated in beer-soy-orange (marinade to be blogged about soon), green beans with almonds, and the cauliflower puree.  Mr. Hamilton roasted the chicken thighs, Mr. Breville broiled the skin for a couple of minutes, and our single burner induction stove took care of the rest.  A few sautéed almonds on top of the puree tied both side dishes together quite nicely… even if I say so myself…   😉

plate

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THREE YEARS AGO: Popeye-Pleasing Salad
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FOUR YEARS AGO: Summer’s Finale