Cauliflower mashed potatoes

Let me say from the start that these are definitely not Dad's World's Best Mashed Potatoes, and they aren't pretending to be.

I've been trying to get more veggies into our diets lately, but have been feeling uninspired by what's available (hoping to change that by going to the farmers market this weekend) and by my usual standbys.  So, I looked around the internets a bit and found a recipe for mock mashed potatoes made from cauliflower.  I tend to like cauliflower, and I've enjoyed mashing in other veggies with potatoes before (I really like a mix of potatoes and celery root/celeriac) so I thought I'd give it a try.  I modified the recipe to include some potatoes.  They turned out really well!  The kids didn't like them, but Aleks and I did.  They are lighter than regular mashed potatoes in texture and flavor, and the flavor of the butter came through really nicely. You can serve them either as a healthier version of mashed potatoes, or a less healthy version of cauliflower as a vegetable.  I would recommend them to sub in place of mashed potatoes as for a regular weeknight dinner, but not for a weekend grilled steak dinner.  You could also play with the ratio of potatoes to cauliflower depending on preference.

I used:

4 small-med russet potatoes
1 large, dense head of cauliflower
~2 T butter
3 cloves of garlic
~2 T cream cheese
salt and pepper (not as much salt as you would need if using 100% potatoes)

Cut the potatoes into 1/2" dice, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil until cooked as normal for mashed potatoes.  (Note, potatoes really, really do cook much better if you start them in cold water.  I resisted this instruction for years before finally trying it, and now it's what I always do.  Somehow it prevents the outside from cooking too much and falling apart in the water while the inside is still hard.)  Cut the cauliflower into florets and steam until tender.  (The potatoes and cauliflower took about the same time to cook for me, so you could put the potatoes in the bottom of a pan and cover with water, then pile the cauliflower on top to steam.  One less dish!).  When everything is cooked, drain the water.  Meanwhile, cut the cold butter into cubes.  Press the garlic through a press into the bowl with the butter.  Microware the butter and garlic together until the butter is melted (30 s in my microwave).  This cooks the garlic just enough that it doesn't taste like chunks of raw garlic, but you still get a good strong flavor.  Put it all together in a pot and mash it with a mixer.

Like I said, this has a pretty strong butter flavor and wasn't at all dry, so you could definitely get away with using less butter or cream cheese if you want to cut down on the fat.

Mushroom Barley Soup

In my recent post about chili, I included the recipe I used to slow cook the seasoned beef brisket for the chili.  When the smoke had cleared from the chili making I still had about 3 cups or maybe a scant quart of broth left from the beef which I froze.  Tonight I thawed it out to see what could be done with it.

It was fairly concentrated so I added another cup of water.  The flavor was different, mostly derived from the spices used to cook the beef, somewhat on the sweet side.  I decied to try working it up into a barley soup, so:

1 shallot diced fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
The center of a head of celery, maybe about 2-3 stalks worth from the inside, sliced
Mushrooms sliced and baked - enough to cover the pan that came with the toaster oven one layer deep
1/3 c pearled barley
1 medium potato diced to ~1/2 inch cubes

Everything except the potato into the broth and cooked for as long as the barley takes (~45 min); potato added about 15 min before done to prevent overcooking.

The potato and barley kind of "gentled" the sweet taste of the broth.  In the end, this was really good.  Needed a little more salt, in my view (what doesn't?).  I did not try to add any other seasonings because there were so many flavors in the beef recipe.

Lentils and Sausage in Wine

Alright friends, this absolutely one of my new favorites.  Made a half recipe of this last night and we ate it all up and both really loved it.  Give it a try.

Ingredients

• 1lb (about 4 links) Italian sausage, taken out of the casing and cut into bite size pieces.  We used hot.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped (I left this out)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1.5 cups of lentils
• 2 cups red wine
• 2.5 cups water
• bay leaf
• salt
• spinach

Method

1. Cook up the sausage.  When it's done, remove it and place it on a plate.
2. Cook the onion, carrot, and celery and cook until done.  Add the garlic and sausage to the pan and stir it around for a few seconds.
3. Add the lentils, water, wine, 1/4 t salt, and bay leaf.
4. Bring to a boil, then partially cover, and turn heat down to low and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the lentils are tender.
5. Just before serving, add the spinach and stir it around til it's wilted.
6. Add salt to taste.  At this point, I added some cayenne for a little kick.  I didn't add enough that it was spicy, just to add a little extra dimension.  I highly recommend that.

The recipe didn't call for it, but I chopped up a tomato and threw it in at the very end (about 30 seconds before the spinach) as well.  It's an easy way to use up a tomato and add an extra veggie to the meal.

We ate it with mashed potatoes.  That might sound odd, but DO IT!  Oh man, it was so so good.  The other thing we thought it would be delicious with is parsnips.  Next time I make it, I'll either put parsnips in with the carrots or maybe mashed with the potatoes.  Though now that I think of it, maybe we thought that because that other sausage lentil stew has parsnips I think?  Either way, it'd be good.

There weren't a lot of herbs and spices in this, but we thought it was full of flavor.  My recommendation would be to make it as written the first time.  Then see how your inspired to play with it when you make it again.  I guess I didn't quite do that cause I added cayenne, but what can ya do.

Actually we have a few lentils left over, so I may throw a poached egg over that for lunch.  

The other great thing is that it only used part of a bottle of wine, so we had to drink the rest :-).  

Alrightly, enough said.  This was one of my favorite new recipes I've tried in awhile.  Enjoy!

Molly

'Nother Experiment

Jo sez, "Everything tastes better with a poached egg on it."  But chili?  Chili con carne?  Especially Dad's new chili which is really peppers and onions, not just beans?

Well, I was trying to figure out what to have for breakfast this morning and the left over chili was in the 'fridge, so naturally, I had to try...

I ain't lying, this was AWESOME.  Jo is proved right once again:  poached eggs go on everything.  Still a little squeemish?  Think of it as poached egg dropped on corn beef hash...only the beef isn't corned...and the potatoes are green chili peppers and red beans...  Other than that, it's just the same,  sort of.  Really good tho'; unlikely sounding but definitely worth a try.

Let's Talk Chili

So I know that chili is usually basically a bean stew or thick bean soup, often, but not always. made with red kidney beans, usually with some sweet green pepper pieces and some tomato, often containing meat of some sort (con carne) often ground beef.  Then, of course it's time to season it and everyone has his own recipe leading to the chili cook-off as a form of entertainment throughout the country.  Key to the seasoning is red chili pepper, right?  Hence the name?  And versions are made from bland to incandescent depending upon how much chili powder (or how many whole red chilis) is added.

But I had heard once from my brother Tim that chili is properly just that, cooked chilis (usually green, I believe) to which other things can be added:  usually onions and some tomato, meat (con carne), beans (con frijole), etc.  One day in Produce Junction I was looking at the big bag of green chili peppers for $2 and said, "Heck, gotta try it!"

First time through, I made peppers and onions using the green chilis for the peppers to which I added some red kidney beans and a can of tomatoes.  It was interesting enough to want to try a second time, paying attention this time.  Also, I wanted to try it con carne.

SO

For the meat, I used 1.15 lb beef brisket which I put in the crock pot with:
12 oz beer
1/4 t whole black peppercorns
1/4 t whole cardamom seed
1/4 t whole black mustard seed
1 bay leaf
4 whole cloves
1 stick cinamon
2 Juniper berries
and 3 cups of water to cover
I simmered this in the crock pot for 6 hours after which the meat fell apart into shredded beef

For the chili:
349 g green chili peppers, sliced into strips about 2 inches long
343 g yellow onions, sliced into strips
17 g garlic
3 t ground cummin
1 t ground yellow mustard
2 t paprika
3 T oregano
2 T unsweetened cocoa
2 cups of broth from the beef
1 can diced tomatoes
59 g fresh cilantro, chopped
38 g lime juice
1/2 t salt or to taste
567 g cooked small red beans

Sliced chilis and onions sauteed in a skillet with the garlic, broth added as needed, seasonings added and stirred in, tomatoes, beans and shredded meat added and stirred in, let cook until peppers and onions are done.  The peppers and onions look like peppers and onions you would make for a boardwalk sausage sandwich except with chilis instead of sweet peppers.

I really like this.  It is very different from regular "bean stew" chili.  The flavor of the peppers really comes through.  Also, it's peppers and onions with some beans, not bean stew with some peppers.  It certainly was not bland but not incandescent by any means; it leaves your mouth full of a warm sunny glow all over.  Not for the faint-at-heart, but not flamin'-Texas-hot.  Notice there is no red chili powder in the recipe; easy enough to dial up the heat by adding some, but I like the natural heat of the green chilis.

Flavor-wise, this came out tasting like peppers and onions with cumin.  It's good, but I was aiming for the full orchestration of a multitude of flavors and the whole thing pretty much got stepped on by the cumin.  Next time I will limit the cumin to 1 t and crank up some of the other seasonings to get a more intricate blend.  I will keep you posted.

Dad

Rice Noodles

I first made this at Jo's direction just after we had gotten home from Produce Junction, so it's really her idea.  But I just made it for supper tonight and it was awesome.

The other day I wanted some light broth so I made chicken bouillon with rice noodles.  Then I read the label from the bouillon.  This is not something we should be eating.  So,  I bought 10 lb of chicken legs for $7 to make broth to have on hand in place of bouillon.  With broth on hand and wanting something light tonight, I decided to reprise Jo's recipe.

I used about 4 c of chicken broth for two people.  I sliced and roasted 4 large mushrooms (I used white button mushrooms, Jo used shitake;  the shitakes had more flavor) and diced up a large shallot.  Into the pot along with three stalks of celery, some fresh garlic and some fresh ginger.  Salt, pepper, and a little ground mustard, of course.  Simmer until the veg are done, add half a pack of rice noodles, cook until noodle are done.  Serve with rice crackers (ours were Wasabi), and tonight, since there were ripe avocados at the store, sliced avocado.

Great light meal!

Foil Packets

Ever since Andy came home from scout camp and introduced us to "Bunyan Burgers," I've loved the idea of cooking in foil packets.  We almost always have some when we go camping.

Last night we cooked up some foil packets for dinner.  We were going to use the grill, but I got home from an audition pretty late, so we just used the oven instead.  Also, I guess I really should say that Tom cooked the packets.  And they were awesome!

These are super easy, healthy, and delicious.  There's something about the combination of sweet potatoes and spicy food that is delicious.  We didn't really measure, but here's what we threw together.

• Sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly cubed.  Our pieces were pretty big, it cuts down on prep time.
• Onion, again big chunks is fine.
• Zucchini, you guessed it, big old chunks
• Red Pepper, cut however ya want, strips, squares, triangles?
• Olive oil
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Chipotles, one or two cut up depending on how much spice ya like.
• Salt (duh)
• Sausage, we used hot Italian because it was on sale, but you can use whatever you like.

Ok, so chunk up all your veggies.  Throw them in a bowl and toss with some olive oil.  Then throw on the spices til it looks good to go.  At this point I was doing some dishes and there's a chance that Tom added some garlic powder and African bird pepper.  Yeah, ours were super spicy. 

Once your veggies are spiced to your liking, put them on top of a piece of foil.  Then we just put an entire piece of sausage on top and folded up the foil.  You could probably cut the sausage if you want, but we saw no need to do that.  Anyway, we put the packets in the oven at 425 til it was done.  I think it was maybe 25 minutes?  I don't know.

If you're looking for a really quick but delicious and satisfying meal, I recommend this.  If you're vegetarian, you could likely replace the sausage with black beans or chickpeas or something?  Or maybe make a grain the stove and serve the veggies on top.

This is really about the combination of spices and sweet potatoes.  Ours were pretty darned spicy cause we had a healthy amount of chipotle peppers, hot italian sausage, and some African bird pepper.  Boy it made the beer taste good.

Any of you have an foil packet combinations you love?

Enjoy!

Molly

Two of my new favorite things - kale and quesadillas

I recently read a suggestion for a different way to cook kale that has immensely increased my appreciation for this green.  Take a kale leaf, cut out the stalk, then cut the leaves into strips about 1/4 inch wide, cutting across the leaf.  You can then saute the dry kale in a little oil over a medium high - high heat.  The kale will soften and decrease in volume, but not quite wilt and it's not "wet" like other greens get.  I like to throw a clove or two of finely chopped garlic in with the kale and get the best results when I sprinkle it with a little salt as it sautes.  After that there's a lot you can do with it.  My favorites are 1) just eat it.  2) put it in a tortilla with some sharp cheddar to make a kale quesadilla.  Trust me, the cheddar and the kale are GREAT together.  (more on that later) 3) I made up a pasta topping with it for lunch for Aleks, Suzie, and me the other day, and it got great reviews.  Here's what I did:

~1/3 c thinly sliced red pepper, cut into 1 inch long pieces
~1 small-medium bunch of kale, stems removed, sliced into 1/4" strips - - probably about 6 cups of chopped kale
garlic
~3/4-1+ c of cooked white beans - more or less depending on how much protein you want
lemon juice - a few shakes from the bottle, probably ~1-2 T
~2 T cream
~1/4 c grated parmesan
Pasta

Heat some oil in a pan, then add red pepper and saute while you cut the garlic and kale.  When the pepper is starting to get a little soft, add the kale and garlic, along with a bit of salt.  Saute, stirring, until the kale turns bright green.  Add the white beans and let them heat up as the kale finishes cooking.  Add the lemon juice and stir to distribute.  When the kale is finished cooking add the cream and parmesan, stir, then serve over top of pasta.


My other new favorite thing is veggie quesadillas of every kind and flavor.  We get blocks of a decent sharp cheddar for <$4/pound at CostCo, so we've always got it hanging around.  I like to mix it with a bit of monteray jack.  I've already mentioned the kale quesadillas I've been making.  For lunch today I made one using leftover cauliflower that I'd topped with toasted pecans and garlic for dinner last night, and cheddar.  I stayed with the theme and made another one tonight using a few big handfuls of arugula wilted in the microwave, a few strips of steak from last night, ~1/4 red pepper cut into very thin strips and sauteed a bit, a touch of chipotle pepper, and my go-to cheddar/mont.jack mix. At the end I added ~1/4 avocado cut into slices.  It was about an inch thick, mostly veggies and oh man, was it ever good!  These aren't as cheesy as your typical unhealthy quesadilla, but still satisfy my (apparently constant) craving for cheese.

What's your favorite quesadilla filling...?

-Maggie