You can never have too much caulifower

Frequently, if I am at a loss for what to serve as a side dish with dinner, I opt for cauliflower. There's always a head in the house. I can clean it quickly while the oven preheats. It's one of the milder cabbages, so everyone in the family likes it. And it is so incredibly flexible that, after a rubdown with olive oil I can squirt it with lemon juice or some other liquid, like maybe wine. I can season it with just about any spice or herb. I can give it a final flourish of cheese if I wish. 

I can break the cauliflower head into small chunks or cut it into thick slices, like "steak" (a recipe from The Modern Kosher Kitchen). Or roast it whole.

Saute it instead of roasting it in the oven.

Make it into salad.

And so on.

This is the latest version. Quick. Easy. Goes with everything.

 

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 small cauliflower
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or marjoram
• salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (substitute ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Wash the cauliflower, trim the ends and break the head up into smaller pieces. Wipe dry with paper towels. Mix the olive oil and white wine vinegar in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower pieces and toss the pieces to coat them on all sides. Place the pieces on the prepared sheet, drizzling them with oil left n the bowl. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally, or until the pieces are crispy and lightly browned.

Makes 4 servings

Quickie Ratatouille

Classic ratatouille is time consuming and labor intensive. Also fabulously delicious.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time or patience to cook the authentic recipe these days. Especially not for Passover.

So, whereas a cartoon rat might win raves for his ratatouille, and my version might not be quite so beautiful as the one in the Disney movie (Ratatouille), here are the benefits to my recipe:

it's easy: about 30 minutes prep time

it's quick (less than 30 minutes to cook)

it's a perfect dish for Seders, vegetarian meals or side dishes, any old dinner

it's fabulously delicious

So here's the recipe:

Quickie Ratatouille

• 1/3 cup olive oil, approximately
• 8 thick scallions, chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium fresh chili pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 2 cups diced eggplant
• 1 cup diced red bell pepper
• 2 cups diced zucchini
• 8 large tomatoes, chopped
• 6-8 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• salt and freshly ground red pepper to taste

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the scallion, garlic and chili pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for one minute. Add the eggplant and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Pour in the remaining olive oil and add the zucchini (add more olive oil if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan). Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and basil and cook, stirring frequently, for 12-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and there is little liquid left in the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 8 servings

How Many Servings Was That?

Last night my sister-in-law Eileen and brother Jeff were supposed to come over for dinner and watch the Oscar show with us, but she has a cold and needed to stay put at home.

I had already prepared dinner -- breaded some turkey cutlets, cleaned some string beans, mixed the batter for vegetable fritters and fried them to a crisp.

Ed came in to the kitchen and sampled a hot fritter fresh from the pan and declared it fabulous.

About a minute later he came back for two more.

I was about to say something trite like "you know, these are for dinner," but realized we had plenty and why should it matter if he eats them first instead of with ....

The recipe makes about 10 pieces, (serves 4-5 people) and now there would only be the two of us to eat the remaining 7.

We finished them all. 

Vegetable Fritters

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked vegetables (I used carrots, broccoli and sauteed mushrooms)
• vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg, stock and olive oil. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in the vegetables. Heat about 1/8-inch vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Pour about 1/4-cup of the batter into the pan for each fritter, leaving about 1-inch space between the pieces. Cook for about 2 minutes per side or until browned and crispy. Do not crowd the pan. Repeat with remaining batter. Drain the fritters on paper towels.

Makes about 10 pieces

Bugs Bunny: How a Generation Learned to Appreciate Classical Music

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

If you think Bugs Bunny is just a character in a bunch of silly cartoons in which a grown man goes around trying to shoot a pesky rabbit but the rabbit usually wins, you're only partially right.

My friend's son says that he learned to love classical music from these cartoons. I remember that once, when it was my carpool day and I drove him to school, I had tuned in to WQXR on the radio and this little boy, who was all of 6 years old said "Hey, that's Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2!"

I was totally impressed! Because his mother listened to classical music in the house and I figured it all just rubbed off on the kids. But NO! I asked how he knew and he said he heard it in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

It seems as if an entire generation also heard and learned to appreciate classic music -- and opera -- from Bugs Bunny (okay, also Tom & Jerry, Minnie Mouse and assorted others). Ask around!

And, as if to underscore the point, the New York Philharmonic is presenting three concerts featuring BUGS BUNNY cartoons for children to watch on a huge screen as the orchestra plays the music!

We are taking our 4-year old grandson. It's never too soon to hear a piece from The Barber of Seville.

But of course, I am a food writer. So what do I think of when I hear "Bugs Bunny?"

Carrots of course!

Bugs Bunny was always munching a carrot. Always an orange one or course. To the best of my knowledge, he never tasted rainbow carrots. And, although raw carrots are always a fine snack, sauteed carrots are awesome. And are especially pretty made with rainbow carrots.

Thanks for helping a generation of children appreciate music Bugs! And here's hoping that in make-believe, you can feast on these:

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

• 1 pound medium rainbow carrots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Peel the carrots, trim the ends and halve the carrots widthwise. Cut each half lengthwise into 2 or 4 pieces. Place the carrots on the prepared baking sheet. Heat the olive oil and honey together over low heat, briefly, until the thick honey has softened a bit and is easy to combine with the olive oil (about one minute). Pour the honey mixture over the carrots. Sprinkle with the scallions, orange peel and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the ingredients to coat the carrots completely. Roast for about 20-25 minutes, tossing the carrots once, or until they are tender and lightly crispy. 

Makes 4 servings

Gorgeous Blood Oranges! Get them while you can!

Once upon a time fruits and vegetables such as strawberries or asparagus were nowhere to be seen except after March sometime. Peaches and melons only in the summer. Apples and sweet potatoes in the autumn. But in recent years we've become accustomed to buying almost every item of produce whenever we want it. 

With some exceptions.

Blood oranges for example. They're available at the moment, but only until March or May, depending on the variety.

Blood oranges taste more or less like regular oranges, except they aren't as sweet and they're less acidic. They cost more than regular oranges, so you might wonder whether and why they are worth buying.

I guess it's because the flesh is so beautiful. The ruby-ish color looks so fabulous when you mix it with other vibrantly colored ingredients like bright green lettuce leaves or white coconut. Or roasted beets. Like in this dish, which pairs especially well with grilled or roasted salmon or Arctic char:

Roasted Beets with Blood Orange

• 2 medium beets
• 1 blood orange
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Scrub the beets, trim the tip and stem ends, wrap the beets in aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool, peel and dice. Set the beets aside. Slice the blood orange and trim the peel from the slices. Cut the slices into smaller pieces. Heat the butter and vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the beets, blood orange, mint, orange peel and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until ingredients are nicely distributed and hot.

Makes 4 servings

Cauliflower wins

Because it is the prettiest, mildest and most versatile of all the cabbages.

Because, for me anyway, it doesn't do the same awful things to my tummy as the other cabbage cousins do.

It's pretty, and usually has a creamy-color head but you can get it in several other colors, including purple.

It's healthy.

It tastes so good, especially when you roast it.

The other day I had a cabbage and a Meyer lemon in the bin. What to do?

Make this incredibly easy side dish for dinner:

Roasted Cauliflower with Meyer Lemon

• 1 medium cauliflower
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice (or use regular lemon juice)
• salt to taste
• Aleppo pepper, cayenne or crushed red pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Wash the cauliflower, trim the ends and break the head up into smaller pieces. Wipe dry with paper towels. Mix the olive oil and Meyer lemon juice in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower pieces and toss the pieces to coat them on all sides. Place the pieces on the prepared sheet, drizzling them with juices left n the bowl. Sprinkle with salt and Aleppo pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally, or until the pieces are crispy and lightly browned.

Makes 4 servings

Four Ingredient Roasted Butternut Squash

Few side dishes are easier than this one.

This recipe for roasted butternut squash has four ingredients (not including salt) but is a powerhouse of flavor because just a little olive oil, cinnamon and cayenne pepper are enough.

And ….. it also goes with: meat, poultry, fish or other vegetarian dishes.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 small butternut squash

2 teaspoons olive oil

salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch or two cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop the seeds. Peel the halves and cut them into small chunks. Place on a cookie sheet. Pour the olive oil on top and toss the squash to coat each pieces. Sprinkle with salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Roast for 25 minutes. Makes 4 servings

Potato Latkes

What do you do when you have finished preparing potato latkes for a Hanukkah party and you’re sitting in your family room watching TV and your husband comes in with a handful of the latkes you just made and says “I’m taking a down payment on our Hanukkah party on Saturday night.”

And you’ve cleaned up the kitchen and everything and you thought you were done with latkes and the entire house smells from fried so you had to make a kitchen bouquet (1/4 cloves, 3 broken cinnamon sticks, tablespoon or so cardamom pods, orange peel, water) so that anyone who comes to the house even the next day (like the UPS delivery man or the guy who is coming to repair the oven) isn’t blasted with stale fried smell?

Why, you get up the next day and make more latkes. Otherwise there won’t be enough. Because I know what happens when people see potato latkes. You can’t eat just one.

And so I did.

These:

Potato Latkes

• 4 large peeled baking potatoes

• 1 large onion

• 2 large eggs

• 3 tablespoons potato starch

• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• vegetable oil for frying

Shred the potatoes and onion in a food processor. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible (I put portions of the shreds in a kitchen towel and squeeze until they are practically dry). Place the shreds in a bowl. Immediately mix the eggs in (this helps keep the potatoes from browning). Add the potato starch, salt, pepper and baking powder. Heat about 1/4” vegetable oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Shape latkes by hand, squeezing liquid out if there is any, and place them in the hot oil, leaving space between each one so that they brown well and become crispy (if they are too close they will “steam” and become soggy). Press down on the latkes to keep them evenly shaped. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until the pancakes are golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels. Makes 12-15

Root Vegetable, Caramelized Onion and Chestnut Crumble

Parsnips, carrots and onions are my comfort foods in the vegetable world. Even though I like these three ingredients all year, there’s something better about them when the weather gets colder. Maybe because they’re earthy and sturdy and instead of steaming them or roasting them as “fries” like I do year ‘round, I can use them as part of another filling winter dish, like beef stew or vegetable soup.

Or for those dinners when the vegetable is more the star, not the meat or fish.

Or those times when I have a traditional meat or fish meal but have vegetarians as guests and need something substantial for them. Thanksgiving for example. I make a lot of side dishes so none of the folks who don’t eat turkey goes hungry as the rest of us are stuffing ourselves.

This Root Vegetable Crumble contains the big three plus winter squash and chestnuts, which make the dish even more suitable for winter. The streusel top gives it some eye appeal don’t you think? And has a lushly soft texture to it. 

I make this dish a day ahead and pop it into the oven for dinner.

Root Vegetable, Caramelized Onion and Chestnut Crumble

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 2 medium parsnips, diced
• 1 cup diced butternut squash
• 1 dozen cooked, peeled chestnuts (I use packaged)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a casserole dish. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Place the onions on the bottom of the casserole dish. While the onions are cooking, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the carrots, parsnip and squash. Bring to a second boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and place in the casserole dish on top of the onions. Scatter the chestnuts on top. Make the crust: mix the flour, breadcrumbs, almonds, thyme and some salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Add the butter in chunks and work into the dry ingredients until they are crumbly. Scatter on top of the vegetables. Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 servings

Baked Kuri Squash

Yesterday I sang the praises of kuri squash, a large, hard-skinned winter squash that is exceptional for its flavor and texture. I buy this variety whenever I see it, usually during the autumn, because it isn’t around for very long. I roast the vegetable, scoop the flesh and freeze it in portions (lasts a couple of months).

Of course I use some immediately too. Like in this side dish, which is a terrific accompaniment especially to roasted chicken or turkey.

This recipe is really easy. Not too many ingredients either. And you can make it ahead, leave it in the fridge for a day or so and pop it into the oven to heat up.

Baked Kuri Squash

1 large kuri squash

1-1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

salt to taste

3-4 tablespoons orange or mango juice

2 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash into quarters; scoop and discard the seeds (or roast them separately to nibble). Wrap the quarters tightly in aluminum foil, place in the oven and roast for 50-60 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool in the aluminum wrapper. When cool enough to handle, scoop the squash flesh from the shell and place the flesh in a bowl. Discard the shell. Add the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and juice to the bowl. Mash and mix the ingredients until smooth and well blended. Spoon into a baking dish. Scatter nuts on top if used. Baked for 10-15 minutes or until hot. Makes 4-6 servings