Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is intended to use the remaining puree from the Cauliflower Steak with Quinoa recipe.

Combine:

Cauliflower vegetable puree (~ 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 c chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 c skim milk (or another 3/4 c of stock)
1 t fresh thyme leaves
1 t fresh chives, chopped

Heat until warm.   Place in two warm bowls and garnish with:

Fresh thyme leaves and/or chives, chopped
Lemon zest

Serve with salt and pepper to taste.

Reviewed 7/9/2017

Cauliflower Steak with Quinoa

In the recent weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal  the headline  "Meet the Meaty Veggies" and a photo of a cauliflower "steak" caught my eye.

Always on the lookout for good vegetarian dishes, I read further and found that the cauliflower recipe was provided by Dan Barber, the chef at Blue Hill in Manhattan.  Since Alex and Dan had been entertained at Blue Hill recently and reported the food was excellent,  I decided to give this a try.

Family legend has it that when my husband Ed was a young boy in New Jersey, he burst into the dining room, which was already full of seated guests, slid into his chair and exclaimed loudly, "Steak at last!"  Needless to say he was not responding to a huge slab of cauliflower.  When I ran the cauliflower idea by him he was less than enthusiastic, in fact quite skeptical of my use of the word "steak". He asked me to define "steak" and I could not easily find any definitions that supported my argument. Finally he suggested maybe this concept would work if the cauliflower had enough sauce....  I  modified the ingredients, adding a marinade to address this concern and the preparation so that I could prepare the bulk of the dish ahead and would not need to use two ovens simultaneously.

Serves 2

Cut a cauliflower in half, then slice a 1" thick piece off each side of the head to create 2 "steaks". Place the two pieces in a marinade of:

2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1 t Herbes de Provence (I used an "Americanized" blend that Ed likes that includes lavender)
1 t crushed rosemary

Be sure all sides of the cauliflower are well coated with the marinade and set aside.

Cut the remaining cauliflower into small florets and blanch in hot salted water until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Drain and spread the florets on a baking sheet and place in a 300 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

While the cauliflower is baking, saute in a medium skillet until vegetables are wilted and soft:

1 1/2 t olive oil (heat first)
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 leek, white part only, coarsely chopped
1 small apple, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, chopped

Place in a food processor and add the cauliflower pieces and blend well, then add:

1/2 c no-fat chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian)

Continue blending until mixture is very smooth,  Put in a storage container and set aside. The cauliflower and sauce can be prepared to this point several hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.

About 20 minutes prior to serving, cook (I use rice cooker):

1/2 c quinoa (rinse well, see notes on quinoa below - use black quinoa if possible) *
1 c water (or chicken or vegetable stock)

While quinoa is cooking, preheat a gas grill (or have charcoal grill ready to cook over low coals). Spray or brush cauliflower  steaks with olive oil and cook over low heat for about 12 minutes, basting with marinade and turning half-way through. In lieu of grilling, the preparation in the Blue Hill recipe can be used: In a hot pan coated with olive oil, roast the steak on each side until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. 

To assemble.  Heat the vegetable puree (I use microwave).  Add:

1 t fresh thyme leaves

Mix 1/4 c of the vegetable puree with the quinoa. Divide the quinoa between two warm plates. Place 1/4 c of the puree in the center of the quinoa on each plate and place the cauliflower "steak" directly on top.



Garnish with:

Lemon zest
Fresh rosemary

Serve immediately.

Save the remaining vegetable puree to make soup.

*ABOUT QUINOA
When I compared my photo (at top left) with the Blue Hill photo in the Wall Street Journal article I found that the quinoa used by Blue Hill was much darker than mine and presented the cauliflower steak much better (mine looked better in fact than in the photo, but still not as good Blue Hill's). Following up on this I discovered that quinoa comes in three colors, the common white, red which is reportedly quite bitter and black which is to white quinoa as wild rice is to white rice, crunchier with a stronger, nuttier flavor.  Though not specifically called for, I assume black quinoa was used in the Blue Hill recipe that was photographed. The Blue Hill recipe calls for rinsing the quinoa well and this is especially important if using black quinoa (verses prewashed white). To remove the saphonin dust, put the quinoa into a fine strainer and run water through it, or stir it in a bowl of cold water and pour it through a clean kitchen towel. Repeat the process until the water runs clear and is no longer sudsy. The amount of rinsing necessary may vary greatly. 


VARIATIONS:  The Blue Hill recipe suggests "a ring of sauteed zucchini around the quinoa".  

Reviewed 8/30/2017

Mushroom - Arugula Salad

REVISION to 16 MARCH 2011: The second time I made this I used a flour dusting on the mushrooms and this made the mushrooms crispier and improved the salad.  On my third attempt I used a flour dusting but with baby bella/crimini mushrooms.  These mushrooms were not as crisp as the shiitake, most likely due to the higher water content.  Lessons learned are incorporated in the recipe that follows. Note: second photo down shows "first attempt salad" (mushrooms not dusted in flour); lower photos show salad with mushrooms dusted in flour.

The recipe for this salad evolved from "Funghi Fritto - Arugula, white truffle essence" that we had at  240 Union in Denver and "Crisp gnocchi salad - roasted wild mushrooms and butternut squash - truffled oregano vin" that we had at Six89  (now closed) in Carbondale and later at The Pullman in Glenwood Springs.*  Six89 and Phat Thai in Carbondale and The Pullman, which opened in January, are all under the same ownership and feature locally grown meats, poultry and produce.

Back to the salad.  The key ingredients here are cooked mushrooms and white truffle oil.  At 240 Union the mushrooms dominated. The salad was mostly fried mushrooms served on a small bed of arugula.  The waiter told us that the mushrooms were fried in a very light (almost imperceptible to us, probably just flour) batter then tossed while hot with grated Parmesan cheese and white truffle oil.  At Six89 the salad was tossed, not layered, and consisted of mixed baby greens (weeds), thinly sliced mushrooms and small pieces (about 1/8 - 1/4 inches square) of winter squash which had been roasted (in olive oil?) and goat cheese gnocchi about 1/4 the size of regular gnocchi that did not seem all that crisp to me either time I had it.  Working with these basic ideas, this is my recipe:



Serves 2-3

Thinly slice

~8-12 shiitake mushrooms (For 240 Union version, use more mushrooms and less arugula.)

Then place in a small paper bag (or small container with cover) along with


1-2 T flour to coat mushrooms on both sides


Shake contents of the bag gently several times over a period of 1/2 - 1 hour. Remove mushrooms from bag leaving any excess flour.  Cook about one third at a time (point of small batches is to keep water ratio low, a larger pan with more oil could accommodate a larger batch) in a small pan containing about 1/2 - 1 inch (less than 1/4 full) of

hot olive oil  (olive oil can be strained and reused for this recipe).

When mushrooms are golden, remove, drain excess oil, then place on:


3 ounces of baby arugula


Sprinkle immediately with:

Parmesan cheese.

Toss with:

1 scant teaspoon white truffle oil.

Serve immediately.

May 2014 SIMPLE VARIATION:  Ed and I went to Cambridge 1 before a play and had an arugula salad  dressed with just olive oil, lemon juice and garnished with grated Parmesan. This "light Caesar" is very easy to make and is rapidly becoming one of our favorite salads.

* And much later Town in Carbondale.  Also under the same ownership.

Reviewed 6/18/2017

Beef Stroganoff

Seems like some weeks we just have "the old favorites" or the newest find (currently Mushroom Arugula Salad) over and over again.  I had broken the pattern by making New England Boiled Dinner when the markets were full of corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day and had sour cream left from the sauce.  It occurred to me that I had not made Beef Stroganoff in a very long time.  I remember Ed's Mom (Florence Pfalzgraf, "Grandmother Up-Down" to Alex and Chris) making this from part of the huge steaks she got from William's Market.  I looked for her recipe, which I was unable to find (still looking), so I winged it (using less beef than FPK, I'm sure):

2 Servings

Thinly slice, trimming off any fat

1/3 pound sirloin steak and dredge* in

2 T flour, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste

In a medium size skillet heat:

2 T olive oil (am sure FPK used butter)
1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced and cut in quarters
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

and cook until onion is wilted. Then add beef and cook over medium heat until meat is browned on both sides.  Then add:

1/2 c baby bella/crimini or other mushrooms, stir gently for 2 -3 minutes, then add in this order:**

1 t Hungarian sezged paprika (not sure FPK used this, maybe tomato paste and/or mustard - see below)
2 T red wine
2/3 c beef stock
1 T parsley, chopped

Stir well with a wooden spoon incorporating any loose flour (brown bits) from pan sides and bottom until sauce is smooth and mushrooms soft;  add additional stock if sauce is too thick.  Finally, add:

1/3 c sour cream.

Mix just until smooth and warm but do not bring to boil.

Serve with noodles.  Homemade would be best; I used Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta.

* (June 2011) As I read more about "browning" I am inclined to omit the dredging next time.  Brown the raw, dried beef in the oil then blend butter with flour as in the recipe below or roll the browned beef in flour, then proceed as above.  January 2013: See Browning for discussion on whether to flour meat before browning, not at all, or as Julia Child does after initial browning.  This post also notes heating pan to 400 to 450 degrees before adding oil will minimize contents sticking to the pan.

** While I successfully combined all the ingredients in one pan all at the same time, the recipes I subsequently consulted in in The New York Times Cookbook (1961edition) and The New York Times International Cookbook (1971 edition) both by Craig Clairborne cook ingredients and sauce separately.  In the former the sauce (for 1 1/2 pounds of meat "about 6 servings": 1 1/2 T butter blended with 1 T flour to which 1 c boiling consomme is added all at once followed by 1 t prepared mustard) is prepared in a separate pan, the meat, not dredged, and onions are sauteed  in butter until browned on both sides in another pan.  The meat is then removed to a hot platter, sour cream is added to the sauce and then the sauce poured over the meat.  In the recipe in the The New York Times International Cookbook, the dredged meat (1 pound, "about 6 servings") is browned in butter, then the mushrooms, onion and garlic are added and cooked for about 4 minutes then removed from the skillet and kept warm.  The sauce (2 T butter to which when melted 3 T of flour are blended then 1 T tomato paste and 1 1/4 c beef stock added) is then made in the same skillet, adding sauce ingredients to "the pan drippings". The meat is then returned to the pan containing the sauce and  1 c sour cream and 2 T dry sherry are added and the mixture heated briefly.  This latter approach might be preferable if making more than 2-3 servings.

Reviewed 5/7/17

Grass Fed Meat

© 2013 Edward C Kern, Jr.

It's not that I don't like hamburgers.... When I was at Harvard GSD I joined the guys in my class (and sometimes the one other gal) for lunch at Bartley's Burgers several times a month.   After Alexandra arrived, restaurant lunches were replaced by picnics in Harvard Yard, and subsequent stories of CAFO feedlots led me to choose a portobello burger over a standard hamburger when dining out.

When Ed and I skied Snowmass recently we found that Ullrhof, a restaurant at the base of the Big Burn (which we frequently choose for convenience rather than food), had been transformed to a "burger - shakes -  fries" stop. While  portobello and mahi mahi  burgers were options so was a locally raised grass fed beef burger;  I opted for the latter and found it quite good, cooked medium rare, and served with lettuce, onions, tomato and house dressing. I could identify with Barbara Kingsolver  (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life ) and her family ordering hamburgers at The Farmers Diner (moved to Quechee Vermont, now closed):

"The Vermont-raised hamburger with a side of slaw, home fries, or a salad is $6.50. At any price, it's an unusual experience to order a diner burger that does not come with a side of feedlot remorse.  For our family this was quiet a little red-letter occasion, since we'd stopped eating CAFO-produced beef about ten years earlier..... In Lily's life, this was the first time we'd ever walked into a diner and ordered burgers.  Understandably, she kept throwing me glances - this is really okay?  It was."(1)

As part of writing this post I called Bartley's Burgers and was delighted  to discover that they are now serving grass fed beef.  It really is okay to go there now too.

Right after we arrived home this week I got an e-mail from Alexandra sharing an article on grass fed Oregon beef as well as a link to the website of the farm she and Dan were about to try (pork chops that night).  She reported that the chops were excellent but the pick-up location still problematic.

1  Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, page 149

© 2013 Edward C Kern, Jr.

March 2013:  Riding up the Big Burn chairlift this month, I noticed a factoid: last year the restaurants at the Aspen Skiing Company's four mountains served "43,000 pounds of Milangro Ranch beef." The "classic" Ullrhof hamburger, shown at left and above, is actually two (for faster, more-even cooking) 2.5 ounce patties.







Reviewed 5/7/17

Links to Bittman

If I were to pick my 2 most used cookbooks, they would be: How to Cook Everything (I have original edition/1998) by Mark Bittman and The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins .

Rosso and Lukins's The Silver Palate Cookbook (again I have the original edition) is also one of my very favorites but is not as all emcompassing as The New Basics Cookbook.

So on one hand I was sorry to read in The Minimalist Makes His Exit that one of my favorite cookbook authors, Mark Bittman,  would no longer be contributing recipes to the daily New York Times. On the other hand, as promised, Bittman is writing excellent op-ed pieces on the food industry and has also started contributing recipes to the NY Times Sunday Magazine.

As part of this transition, along with The Minimalist Makes His Exit (the pasta link on the first page of this article leads to some amazing information and additional links), the New York Times also published The Minimalist Chooses 25 of His Favorites; this list can also be found on Bittman's blog. There are a number of recipes within these links that I plan to try in the near future.

Reviewed 9/23/2017

Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Although last minute assembly is required, this dessert is so easy and if made with no-fat frozen yogurt (I use Stonyfield Farm) or sorbet, relatively healthy. In the photo at left, I have combined vanilla and chocolate no-fat frozen yogurt with sliced kiwi.  The topping is melted Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips.*  To melt the chips, place chips in a ramekin and microwave at high power for 30 seconds.  Stir and repeat this process until the chips are almost completely melted.  Careful, they will burn! Remove from microwave and continue stirring until all chips are melted and have a creamy consistency.

When entertaining in Colorado recently I gave guests a choice of Haagen Dazs Chocolate or Raspberry Sorbet or Boulder Ginger Ice Cream. They all said, "all three" and ate every bite with rave reviews (photo at left).  Another night, to finish a Mexican-theme dinner, I combined Boulder Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream  and Haagen Dazs Mango Sorbet with fresh sliced mango (photo below). This is a desert that works with infinite combinations.  For a slightly more time consuming variation see: Sort of Pears Helene. 

I make this so often that I just cover the ramekin containing any remaining melted chocolate and refrigerate until next use.

*  Ed's current preference for chunky (not metled) chips on (Java) frozen yogurt is Whole Foods 365 Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks (67% Cacao); I now use these for melting as well.



September 2017:  In reviewing this post I almost removed the bottom two photos. Combination of too much food, though the camera angles make it look like more than there actually is, bad plating and not very "artistic" drizzle. But then I thought about the "learn from your mistakes" bit,  Bottom two photos are examples of how not to serve this dessert; top photo how this dessert should look. Of course when guests ask for "all three", serving does become a challenge.

Reviewed 10/1/2017