Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower is notoriously healthy, and, in my kitchen, inherently bland. I came across this recipe for roasted cauliflower in Cook's Illustrated magazine, and it has a lot of potential - maybe season with curry powder, or sprinkle with parmesaen cheese after it comes out of the oven. Amazingly enough, the cauliflower was crisp and tender, and great dipped in kung pow sauce or ranch dressing (it's probably delicious with any sauce though!).

You will need -
1 Head of cauliflower
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt, ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat over to 475 degrees. Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom. Cut head into 8 equal wedges (so florets stay attached to the stem). Place wedges cut side down on foil or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper - rub to evenly distribute seasoning. Flip cauliflower and season other side with remaining oil, salt, and pepper.

2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of cauliflower pieces are golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove sheet from oven (this is very imporant...i lost a wedge to gravity and the door when trying to flip the pieces while still in the oven) and using a spatula carefully flip wedges. Return sheet to oven and continue to roast until cauliflower is golden all over, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, serve immediately.

Ciabatta Stuffing with Chestnuts and Pancetta

I made this for thanksgiving this year. Very good indeed.... chestnuts are expensive though.

As taken from the Food NEtwork:

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Italian Thanskgiving


6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
8 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (7.4-ounce) jars roasted peeled whole chestnuts, coarsely broken
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 pound day-old ciabatta bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 15 by 10 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a large bowl. Melt the remaining butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and garlic. Saute until the onions are very tender, about 12 minutes. Gently stir in the chestnuts and parsley. Transfer the onion mixture to the large bowl with the pancetta. Add the bread and Parmesan and toss to coat. Add enough broth to the stuffing mixture to moisten. Season the stuffing, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mix in the eggs.

Transfer the stuffing to the prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down, and bake until the stuffing is heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the top is crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.

Seasonal goodness

I've been recieving a gift subscription to Bon Appetit for nearly 6 months now, and everytime a new issue arrives in the mail I can't help squealing "food porn!" with glee. There are loads of recipes in there I'm not quite ambitious enough to try, but almost without fail, there are a few recipes in very issue that suit my kitchen and cooking sensibilities just fine.

This month it made my day to find a recipe for Fingerling Potatoes with Oyster Mushrooms - I'd just been to Farmer's market and bought a pound of wee little potatoes, and the asian market down the street is a weekly stop for mushrooms and miso.

This recipe was easy, simple, and I imagine it would go well with just about any slab o' animal and veggies. I rounded out this particular meal with chicken cooked in a soy sauce/balsamic vinegar/garlic/cinnamon/sugar mix (ala Joy of Cooking) and some broccoli cooked in olive oil and garlic.



Fingerling Potatoes with Oyster Mushrooms

(makes 6 servings)

7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds small yellow fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, halved lengthwise (i left the smallest ones intact)
4 tablespoons minced shallots, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 pound large fresh oyster mushrooms, torn into inch-wide strips
1 tablespoon chopped italian parsley

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 450F. Brush 2 large rimmed baking sheets with 1 tablespoon olive oil each. Place potatoes on 1 prepared sheet, drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil over and toss to coat. Spread potatoes in single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place potatoes on top rack of oven and roast 10 minutes. Sprinkle half of the garlic and shallots over. Transfer potatoes to bottom rack of oven and continue to roast until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, toss mushrooms on second prepared baking sheet with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and remaining garlic and shallots. Spread in single layer and roast mushrooms on top rack of oven until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Add mushrooms to potatoes, stir to combine. Add parsley to potato-mushroom mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Chapatis and hummus

I had plans to do hummus and pita bread, but being the prepared person that I'm not, I forgot yeast. So, I've found a simple substitute for the pita, Chapatis bread - an Indian staple. The hummus recipe yields 3 times as much as you can buy in the average container for a fraction of the cost. I've added rosemary and extra garlic as a way to spice up the basic recipe, but you can flavor your hummus to your own preferences!

For the Chapatis you'll need...

2 cups chapati flour or ground whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of water


Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and gradually stir in the water, mixing well with your fingers. Form a supple dough and knead for 7-10 minutes. Ideally, coverwith clear film and leave on one side for 15-20 minutes to rest.


Divide the dough into 8-10 equal parts. Roll out each portion in circle on a well-floured surface.


Place a heavy frying pan over high heat. When steam rises from it, lower the heat to medium and add the first chapati to the pan.

When the chapati begins to bubble turn it over. Press down with a clean dish towel or a flat spoon (I used a spatula) and turn once again. You might need to experiment a bit to get your bubbles to the desired golden brown.

Remove the cooked chapati from the pan and keep warm (piled up between two plates works, or foil and parchment paper) while you finish the rest.

For the hummus, you'll need...

3/4 cup dried chickpeas or two 14 ounce cans, well drained
juice of two lemons
2 (or more, to taste) garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of cayenne pepper
2/3 cup tahini paste
salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
extra olive oil and cayenne pepper for garnish

I've also included rosemary in my batch, though most fresh herbs would work. Parsley is a common seasoning and garnish as well.

If using dried chickpeas, put in a bowl with plenty of cold water and soak overnight. Drain and cover with fresh water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 1 hour until soft. Drain.



If you're using canned chickpeas, skip all that. Drain and process the chickpeas in a food processor to a smooth puree. Add the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, cayenne pepper and tahini and blend until creamy, scraping the mixture down from the sides of the bowl.

Season the puree with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and cayenne pepper. Grab pile of warm chapatis and devour!