A tale of two cauliflower recipes

Roasted Cauliflower
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2003 Copyright 2002

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 medium onions, quartered I used a sweet onion
5 garlic cloves, halved
4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley I left this out

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Place onion mixture and cauliflower in a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine water and mustard; pour over vegetable mixture. Toss to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 500� for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 94(30% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 4.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 63mg; SODIUM 408mg; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.4g

Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006 Copyright 2005

1 teaspoon olive oil
3 pounds fresh cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 500°.

Toss oil, cauliflower, and garlic on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Place cauliflower mixture in a large bowl. Add onions and remaining ingredients to cauliflower mixture; mash with a potato masher.

Nutritional per serving: Calories: 93 Calories from fat: 38% Fat: 3.9g Saturated fat: 2.1g Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g Protein: 4.5g Carbohydrate: 12g Fiber: 4.8g Cholesterol: 9mg Iron: 0.8mg Sodium: 215mg Calcium: 79mg
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I don't know why it took me so long to realize cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I picked up two heads in a buy one get one free deal and decided to try these two recipes. Since they both required the same roasting time and temp, I made them at the same time. They both had a few flaws but with a few tweaks I think they're both winners.

The Roasted Cauliflower had a sweet flavor and the mustard was not overpowering. It had a surprising amount of flavor for something that looked so basic. However, the garlic was too bitter. I think the roasting temperature needs to be lowered and while I would probably sauté the onions again next time, I wouldn't sauté the garlic. It got rather browned during that step and the roasting just killed it. Alternatively, I might experiment with cutting out the sauté step altogether and just cutting the onion and garlic small enough to roast completely along with the cauliflower.

The Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash was delicious (I love green onions) but liquidy and not creamy. Roasting didn't soften the cauliflower as much as steaming it or boiling it would. I couldn't get it mashed very well. The milk just puddled in the bottom of the dish. I did halve the recipe but I don't think that affected the outcome.  I would leave the milk out next time, maybe add a touch of cream instead. The roasting temperature needs to be lowered for this one too.  At a lower temp,  I might be able to get it a little bit softer and it might mash a bit better. I don't think it necessarily needs to look like mashed potatoes though - I liked the texture of this the way it turned out.

Neither of these dishes had a lot of eye appeal. I left the parsley out of the Roasted Cauliflower which would help but not much.

And, as usual, I ate every bit of these cauliflower dishes faster than I care to admit.  There is something about cauliflower that once I start, I just can't stop eating it.

These will get a second chance

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Nigella Kitchen Copyright 2010

1¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg, refrigerator cold
1 egg yolk, refrigerator cold
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 x 11.5-ounce bag milk chocolate morsels or chips I used semi-sweet

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.

Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg, the cold egg yolk, until your mixture is light and creamy.

Slowing mix in the flour and the baking soda until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the cookie dough into a quarter-cup measure or a ¼ cup round ice-cream scoop and drop onto the prepared cookie sheet, plopping then cookies down about 3 inches apart. You will need to make these in 2-3 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the refrigerator between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks and cool completely.
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This recipe might be the one I've been looking for but I overbaked them.  They were crunchy in a pleasant way but I'm not really into crunchy chocolate chip cookies.  It actually worked out well because they didn't tempt me after I brought them to work.  Something tells me if I had heeded the baking times given, I would have had a winner.  I second-guessed Nigella and paid the price.  I'm going to have to try this recipe again.

Just when I was getting back into blogging, I stopped feeling it.  That is actually a good thing - my blog is a bit of an escape I think.  It's time to face the real world a bit more. Also, swim suit season in on the way and I sort of made a promise to my son at the end of last summer about joining the community pool, breaking my long-standing rule of not being seen in a bathing suit unless I'm at least 20 miles from home. I do best when I take as much focus off food as possible. Expect it to be slow around here.  Sorry.

Kale - not bad at all

Cheese Tortellini Soup with Cannellini, Kielbasa, and Kale
The Bon Appétit Cookbook Copyright 2006

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces fully cooked smoked kielbasa sausage, thinly sliced I used a smoked chicken sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh fennel bulb I used celery
4 garlic cloves minced
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme I used some dried
½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
10 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups chopped kale (about ½ bunch)
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained

1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini I used dried so I cooked them most of the way first
1 cup grated Asiago cheese or Parmesan cheese I forgot this

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add next 6 ingredients and sauté until vegetables are soft and kielbasa is brown, about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in kale and cannellini . Reduce heat to low and simmer until kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Add tortellini to soup. Simmer until pasta is tender but still firm to bite, about 5 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing grated cheese separately.
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I bought a HUGE bag of kale to make baked kale and I was left with a ton of kale.  I happened to have some smoked sausage and cheese tortellini too so I decided to make this soup and I'm glad I did.

Why does kale get such bad press? I guess all the greens used to get maligned but I hope everyone has figured out that they can be pretty darn good. I loved the peppery taste of this soup and the kale was completely inoffensive and actually delicious. I added too many tortellini because I just wanted to use them up.  Next time I will add more kale and less tortellini. The dried tortellini worked really well here. They have a nice sharp cheesy flavor.

As much as I love kale, I still can't figure out that huge bag. I didn't find that it shrinks down as much as spinach but maybe I'm wrong. Heck, they don't even sell spinach in bags that large. What's the deal?

Something a little different with cauliflower

Fresh Cauliflower Gratin
American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America Copyright 2005

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 teaspoons salt
1 whole head cauliflower, trimmed and washed
3 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise I used regular
4 tablespoons honey mustard or stone ground mustard I used half Dijon and half honey mustard
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2-quart ovenproof casserole dish with the cooking spray.

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil; add the salt and the cauliflower. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork tender.

Combine the mayonnaise, mustard and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; set aside.

Remove the cauliflower with a large slotted spoon. Place in the prepared casserole dish and separate the cauliflower florets slightly. Cover with the mustard mixture and top with shredded cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
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This was a great cauliflower recipe, if you like mustard.  It is the predominant flavor.  There are so many mustards available that you can really picked and choose what you like. Yellow mustard is too harsh.  I misread the recipe and started with Dijon mustard but I only had a couple of tablespoons so I rounded it out with honey mustard. Then I saw that it was supposed to be all honey mustard. I think the mixture was better because I only had some store-brand generic honey mustard.  I did have some better hot honey mustard that I might try next time.

Cauliflower is one of my trigger foods.  I don't want to stop eating it once I start (unless it's raw - yuck!) I made this as a side but I decided to make it the main course.  I ended up that little dish you see pictures several times.

Sorry, that's it. I can barely get a post up these days, never mind make it interesting.

Mushrooms and birthday pie

Kennett Square Mushrooms
Best of the Best from America Cookbook Copyright 2005

20-25 medium-size mushrooms (approximately ½ pound)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced (I added this ingredient)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/3 cup soft, fine bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley
2 tablespoons water

Select mushrooms with closed caps. Pull stems from mushrooms and chop finely. Melt butter in skillet and add stems and onion. Sauté until tender and translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients except water. If preferred, parsley may be sprinkled on top instead of mixed in with the other ingredients. Fill mushroom caps with mixture, mounding over top. Arrange mushrooms in oven-proof serving dish. At this point mushrooms can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Before serving, add 2 tablespoons of water to dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
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I had more of those baby bellas from Costco to use up so I made a half-recipe of these stuffed mushrooms.  I've free-styled stuffed mushrooms a few times and I can never get them quite right.  There is always something lacking.  For a simple version (no crab, sausage, etc), these were very good. They were cooked perfectly and the filling had good flavor.  I did add a clove of garlic just because I felt like it. They only required a bit of bread crumbs and a bit of cheese so I didn't feel guilty eating them.

Nick turned 8 this week and this is the first time in 8 years that I didn't plan him a party or make him a cake. He was okay with that (or a party and cake would have happened!)  He got to pick out a present, I bought him a steak lunch (they have steak on the kids menu at Applebees!), I made him birthday treats for school and then I made the pie he requested (Truffle Pie).

I won't lie - I did enjoy a break from the usual insanity of trying to plan a birthday party just a few weeks after Christmas.   I was able to use things I had already - sprinkles, decorations, food coloring, cupcake rings. His birthday treat was Heidi's Sweet and Crunchy Popcorn. I made it in black and gold, his school colors. I packed it in treat bags and added a football cupcake ring (I had a ton of extras from last year since there was a mix up).   It felt good to use up some of my surplus.