BRAISED FENNEL WITH SAFFRON AND TOMATO

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

This side dish is elegant and luscious. Perfect to pair with chicken, pork or a mild fish like cod or sea bass. But, if you prefer to walk the vegetarian path, enjoy it over farro, barley, or as we did, a colorful quinoa. Add a hearty loaf of bread, and you will be all set…

The recipe is published in Vegetable Literacy the latest cookbook from Deborah Madison. Lisa from “Lisa is Cooking” wrote a great review about the book a few months ago, and shared a recipe from it, check it out by jumping here. Deborah Madison has the amazing ability of bringing the best out of the most humble vegetable. I do not own a copy of this particular book (bravely resisted so far), but her classic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is part of our collection.

The recipe is available online, just click here.

Definitely the most important advice is to take the time to brown the fennel well, that will ensure a deeper flavor in the end. I don’t recommend this dish for those who have issues with fennel, because its flavor is very prominent. I crumbled goat cheese over the braise, allowing it to melt down in the liquid, and right before serving added the greens from the fennel, minced. As the recipe states, if your fennel bulbs came without the tops, use parsley instead. My main modification from the published recipe was to squeeze a little lemon juice all over, and reduce slightly the amount of tomato paste. I thought three tablespoons seemed excessive, so I added only two. Capers and saffron are fantastic together, by the way.

Because we have nothing against a little meat with our veggie goodness, a boneless, grilled chicken breast was part of our dinner too. As far as looks are concerned, I suppose a fully white quinoa would have been better, but the bag of tricolor quinoa acquired months ago at a Trader Joe’s was winking at me from the pantry. I spooned a little of the braising sauce over the chicken, so that it all got tied together in a beautiful caper & saffron glory!

Dinner is served!

ONE YEAR AGO: Revenge of the Two Derelicts

TWO YEARS AGO: Grilling Ribbons

THREE YEARS AGO: Peppery Cashew Crunch

FOUR YEARS AGO: Baked Shrimp and Feta Pasta

23Oct2013

MISO SOUP, A JAPANESE CLASSIC

Posted in Soups, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Post dedicated to the memory of my Dad, who today would be 93 years young…

When the weather chills down, we always have a bowl of miso soup to start our sushi dinners. I’ve never had a bad miso soup, but some are definitely better than others. Considering the very few ingredients that go into this soup, it’s clear that technique matters. Last Friday we were so tired that the idea of going out to eat seemed like too much effort, so we resorted to take-out sushi from one of our grocery stores, which is actually pretty nice. Since they don’t offer miso soup, I decided to make my own. Read a bunch of articles, and felt ready for the challenge. It turned out delicious: soothing, with a mild flavor and smooth consistency. That is actually the most important aspect of a miso soup: it should not be grainy.

MISO SOUP
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

4 cups water
1 tsp instant dashi (see comments)
4 Tbsp white miso
firm tofu, cut in cubes
green onions, light and green parts, thinly sliced

Boil the water in a large saucepan, add the instant dashi and mix until dissolved. Turn the heat off, keep the pan with the lid on to retain heat.

Place the miso in a small bowl, add a small amount of the very hot water/dashi, whisk to completely dissolve the miso, so that no lumps stay.

Add the miso to the original saucepan with the rest of the dashi, mix. Add the diced tofu, let the pan covered for a couple of minutes as you place green onions inside the serving bowls.

Laddle the miso soup with pieces of tofu in each bowl, and serve immediately.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Obviously one cannot make miso soup without miso, but apart from that, lots of variations are out there. Some recipes use water, some vegetable stock, others call for chicken stock. However, for the real, authentic Japanese flavor, dashi is the way to go. I admit to using a shortcut in my version, though. I used instant dashi instead of making a broth with its two traditional components: seaweed and bonito flakes. I had both ingredients at home, but when I made this soup they were somewhere in that twilight zone of boxes kept in the garage, as our kitchen is waiting for the green light from the crew working on its hellnovation. Sanding floors and cabinets generate an amount of fine dust that you simply do not want to have over every little item in your pantry. So, I took the easy way out and bought a little bottle of instant dashi. It is actually a very nice ingredient to have laying around, a handy source of the funky-elusive fifth flavor, umami.
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Once you have dashi (or make it from scratch), all you’ll need is some miso and firm tofu. Green onions are a great addition, but not mandatory. You can use either type of miso, white or red, they differ in the fermentation time, and resulting flavor. White miso will be milder. Follow the instructions to a T, because the main thing to avoid is boiling the miso once it’s added to the dashi: that leads to an unpleasant grainy texture. I also like to cut my tofu in small pieces and add to the pan for a couple of minutes before serving the soup. That allows the tofu to absorb the flavors of the miso more efficiently. With those two tips in mind, you will be on your way to a great bowl of soup to warm you up on the chilly evenings ahead.
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Dad dancing with my niece Fernanda…

(No, he would not touch miso soup even if his life depended on it… ) 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: On my desk

TWO YEARS AGO: A must-make veggie puree

THREE YEARS AGO: Vegetarian Lasagna

FOUR YEARS AGO: Brazilian Pão de Queijo

29Sep2013

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: LINGUINE WITH CAULIFLOWER PESTO

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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!

😉 😉 😉 😉

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

20Sep2013

SILKY CAULIFLOWER PUREE WITH ALMOND MILK

Posted in Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

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.

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!

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… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Beef and Broccoli Stir-fr
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TWO YEARS AGO: Wheat Germ and Sage Sourdough Bread

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

16Sep2013

DITALINI PASTA SALAD

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Salads, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I am not at all fond of pasta salads that are loaded with oily dressing, or the dreadful mayo to weigh things down even further. I like a salad that leaves me feeling refreshed and light. Ditalini is a shape normally used in soups, but I thought it would work well in this type of recipe. It has slightly more body than orzo, and is not as “slippery” . Rather than a strict recipe, this is all about flexible amounts, so play with it, and make it shine!

DITALINI PASTA SALAD
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

Ditalini pasta, cooked all dente and rinsed in cold water
1/4 cup grape seed oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbs lemon juice
Dried oregano to taste
Dried mint to taste
Red pepper flakes, a pinch or two
Cherry tomatoes, red and yellow
Green onions, sliced thin
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the cooked and cooled ditalini pasta on a large bowl.

Make the vinaigrette by mixing and whisking well the grape seed oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, mint, and red pepper flakes.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Add the vinaigrette to the pasta and mix well. Incorporate the cherry tomatoes, add the green onions, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep cold… and….

ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Feel free to use fresh mint instead of dried, as well as fresh oregano, although I find fresh oregano too overpowering and always use dried instead. I kicked myself for not thinking about adding capers, so keep that in mind, this salad begs for a handful of those. We like our vinaigrette to be more about the vinegar than the oil. We also prefer the milder taste of grape seed compared to olive oil, so grape seed was my choice. You should make it the way you prefer, more oil, olive oil, a little mustard, maybe some garlic. As you may have noticed, we are not garlic people. It is quite possible that if they sequence our genome, a few vampire genes might be found here and there. But, nothing to worry about, we are usually very well-behaved, your neck is safe with us. 😉

Are you familiar with Vincent Price’s cookbook? A classic, a real classic….