Roasted Romanesco - Italian Cauliflower

I discovered this gorgeous vegetable a few years ago but I had never seen it at the farmers' markets here until a couple of weeks ago. I can't stop buying it or eating it and everyone I introduce it to is similarly obsessed.

I have only roasted it with olive oil and salt and pepper, which brings out its nutty cauliflower flavor. But at the same time there is a hint of green, like roasted spinach or Swiss chard.

While this hardly qualifies as a recipe I just wanted to get the word out about this amazing vegetable. I have a feeling it is very seasonal and will disappear soon. If you can find it get some!


Roasted Romanesco

1 head romanescu, cut into florets
olive oil
salt

Toss florets with oil and salt and bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Dust with pepper after you remove from oven.

Hugs!

Red Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) is one of those super grains that has become all the rage, and with good reason. It is full of complex carbohydrates, protein, and is gluten free, a boon for people who cannot eat gluten. In addition, it cooks up quickly and soaks up flavor without tasting starchy.

Quinoa grains come in white, red and black, and while there is no difference in taste that I notice, I like the red for its color. Here it combines well with the tabbouleh flavors of garlic, lemon, parsley, mint and olive oil to create a wonderful salad.

Traditionally tabbouleh includes onion, cucumber and tomatoes. Unfortunately I didn't have any cucumber so I substituted some celery for a little crunch and was happy with the substitution. Feel free to do as you like!

Red Quinoa Tabbouleh

1 cup dry red quinoa
2 1/2 cups water
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped parsley
1 cup chopped mint
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
2 stalks celery, diced
pepper to taste

Place quinoa in pot with water; bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cover, cook 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. While quinoa is still hot, stir in garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add parsley and mint and mix well. Add lemon juice and remaining olive oil and stir well. Add salt, celery, and tomatoes and pepper to taste. Allow to chill for flavors to marry.

Hugs!

Farmers' Market Bounty - February 24

Take a gander at some of the lovelies available at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market this week. Gorgeous carrots that come in orange, purple and white, alongside of red and golden beets

Hubbard and kabocha squashes side by side with butternut and spaghetti squash.

I bought some strawberries to couple with the rhubarb in a simple preserve (look for the recipe soon.)

These chanterelle mushrooms are huge, like forest coral.

Greens are going strong and celery root has finally made an appearance as well. I'm pickling it with carrots in a traditional Sicilian way.

Enjoy!

Grilled Artichokes with Aioli

Artichokes were the first food for which I developed an extreme obsession. Growing up on the East Coast they were only available in season, which last about 6 weeks. Every May when I returned from college I knew my mother would have several cooked ones waiting for me in the refrigerator. I would gorge on artichokes, easily eating two or three in one sitting. Dipping them in homemade vinaigrette and scraping off every last edible bit was my idea of food heaven.

Not until I lived in California did I see an artichoke plant and the sight of my obsession growing on huge aloe-like bushes was astounding. Picking some off of said bushes and then steaming and eating them was almost a supernatural experience. Now that I have grown somewhat accustomed to seeing them growing in fields I am losing some of that first blush of awe, but it has not dulled my enthusiasm for them.

Last week we were experiencing atypically warm weather in L.A. and decided to grill dinner in honor of the heat. Having just procured some artichokes on sale I knew that it was time to try them grilled, the traditional Italian way. Aioli, the homemade garlic mayonnaise, is the traditional dipping sauce used by the French with artichokes and it perfectly complimented the grilled flavor of the artichoke. Incidentally, my dinner guests assured me that aioli would compliment just about anything! Making aioli was simpler than I imagined and it was all quickly eaten up!

Grilled Artichokes with Aioli

2 artichokes per person (or more if you want leftovers)
olive oil
salt

Trim artichokes by chopping off 1/2 to 1 inch of the tops and snapping off the hard leaves at the base of the globe near the stem. Drop the artichokes in a bowl of water with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in it since the leaves will begin to brown as soon as they are cut. Peel the outer skin off of the stems (which are edible). In large pot with a lid, steam artichokes, cut side down, in medium boiling water for 15 minutes to parboil them. Remove from pot and allow to cool. Before grilling, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.

Prepare a charcoal grill and allow coals to burn until they are white and the flames have died down. Cut artichokes in half and grill flat side down for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately or serve chilled.

Aioli (Homemade Mayonnaise with Garlic)

4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (or cider vinegar or white vinegar)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared smooth mustard (I used a Dijon)
metal mixing bowl (or ceramic) and whisk, chilled for 15 minutes

In a mortar and pestle mash the garlic and salt together until it is as smooth as you can make it. Transfer to mixing bowl and add egg yolks, whipping with whisk until very well blended. With one hand whisking yolks, begin to add olive oil in drops (using a tablespoon to scoop up some oil and allow it to run drop by drop into the yolks) and beat furiously. The point is to create an emulsion with the yolks and the oil so furious beating is required. If you can see the oil creating rivulets in the yolks, stop adding oil and beat for 10 seconds until it is well combined. Add all of the olive oil in this manner. Add vinegar and beat in well. Add 1/2 of the safflower oil (or other vegetable oil) in the same manner until it is all combined. Your aioli will begin to thicken. Add the lemon juice and mustard, beating well after each addition. Taste for salt and finish adding last of the oil. Chill to allow flavor to meld and intensify. This produces a mayonnaise that is a little thicker than store bought and will keep refrigerated and tightly capped for about 5 days. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Hugs!

Grated Beet Salad, Italian Style

Beets are definitely one of those vegetables that many people revisit in their adult years and generally fall in love with them.

(Just as an aside, I wonder how the beet gods feel about that...)

Since Market Gardeners (what people call the farmers at farmer's markets) have started growing a wider variety of beets, it's the perfect place to try out some new varieties. I had never bought golden beets and was shocked to find that their inside was an iridescent neon yellow rather than the orange of the skin.

The rings in the beet growth - similar to the rings of a tree trunk - are so delicate in the golden beets but just as apparent. I roasted them and they had a much mellower beet flavor than their red counterpart. Here I grated them together with a red beet, and while the photo doesn't show it as well, the shredded golden beet turned orange from the red beet juice.

This is a simple salad, made in a traditional Italian style for carrots. It is best to let this sit for a couple of hours for the beet flavor to emerge.

Grated Beet Salad, Italian Style

1 medium golden beet, peeled and shredded
1 small red beet, peeled and shredded
juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 plus teaspoon salt to taste
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chiffonaded

Combine beets with lemon juice, olive and salt, adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt at a time. The salt brings out the beet juice which brings out the flaor and the sweetness of the salad. Add mint if you like. Chill several hours before serving.

Hugs!

White Mushroom Pizza

I am really enjoying exploring how to make different versions of what can be called pizza. This one took inspiration from two places: a failed attempt at making mushroom ragout with creme fraiche and a recent post on Bitten by Edward Schneider.

I had purchased several different types of mushrooms - shiitake, cremini, chanterelle - in anticipation of trying to make a mushroom ragout that used creme fraiche, but never seemed to be in the mood for pasta with the ragout sauce. When I read Bitten and saw that Edward Schneider made a pizza with sauteed mushrooms and cream and used that as a pizza sauce and base I decided to try it.

Using creme fraiche instead of simply cream seemed an acceptable solution and I added some grated parmesan to the dough before spooning over the mushroom ragout. I really loved how the mushrooms played the starring role with very little distraction from a cheese. It was more of a mushroom tart rather than a pizza but very tasty!

White Mushroom Pizza

Pizza dough to fit small cookie sheet
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1 1/2 lbs assorted mushrooms, sliced in 1/3 inch slices
1 leek, cleaned, white and light green portion, cut in half and sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 larges pieces dried porcini mushrooms, hydrated in 1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup white wine
1 cup creme fraiche

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Soak porcini mushrooms in 2 cups boiling water and set aside to rehydrate for at least 15 minutes. Saute leeks in olive oil for 5
minutes until they begin to soften. Add mushrooms and toss to coat, cooking over medium heat for 10 minutes until mushrooms give up much of their water. Remove porcini from water and chop. Add to mushrooms and add 1 cup of mushroom liquid to pot and turn up to high heat and boil away. Add white wine and cook until evaporated. Add salt and thyme and cook another few minutes. Stir in creme fraiche and cook 5 minutes until sauce thickens.

Sprinkle cornmeal on cookie pan and stretch dough to desired thinness. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on dough and spoon mushroom mixture over cheese. Bake for 12 minutes until sauce is bubbling and crust is lightly browned.

Hugs!