Sicilian-Style Spaghetti

I didn't have any plans for dinner last night, but I noticed that I had the ingredients to make Sicilian-style spaghetti from Tyler's Ultimate cookbook...pasta, cauliflower, anchovies, raisins, nuts, parsley. And since I've had that recipe bookmarked for a while, I decided to give it a try.

It's easy enough to make...cook the cauliflower & anchovies in olive oil, steaming then sauteing, add raisins & nuts, and top with parsley, lemon, & toasted breadcrumbs.

I did have to make a few substitutions...I used pecans instead of pine nuts, plain breadcrumbs instead of panko, and I omitted the lemon.

Overall, I thought it was good...but it was dry. I ended up adding a bit more water to the finished dish and drizzled my bowl with a touch of extra-virgin olive oil. Would the addition of lemon juice, as the recipe calls for, have helped? It only calls for half a lemon, so I can't imagine that would make the dish less dry. It would, however, "brighten" it up...as it was a bit bland. I would add garlic to the cauliflower & anchovies next time. A sprinkling of red pepper flakes would add a nice kick as well.

photo from Serious Eats

Sicilian-Style Spaghetti

Serves 4

1 head cauliflower, cored and broken into bite-size florets.
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 anchovy fillets, smashed into a paste (use the side of a chef's knife)
1/4 cup raisins (I used golden raisins.)
1/4 cup pine nuts (or pecans), toasted
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped, about 1/2 cup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Freshly grated Parmesan to taste

• Bring a pot of salty water to boil, and preheat the oven to 350°F. In the meantime, put the cauliflower in a large skillet (12-inch, if possible) with 1/4 cup olive oil and the anchovy mash. Heat the oil over medium heat until the anchovies begin to sizzle, then add 1/4 cup water, season with salt, toss, and cover.
• Steam for 5 minutes until somewhat tender, then remove cover, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook until the water has evaporated and the cauliflower is well-browned in the remaining oil.
• Add the raisins and pine nuts to the cauliflower to warm them. Cover the pan and remove from heat.
• Once the cauliflower is started, spread the panko on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Toast in the oven until crunchy and browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
• In the meantime, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, transfer to a serving bowl, and drizzle in a two-count of olive oil. Add the cauliflower mixture, lemon juice & parsley and toss. Transfer servings to plates, and top with panko, black pepper, & Parmesan.

Creamed Turnips

A recent conversation I had:

Them: "Foodies are just thirty- and forty-somethings who used to shop at The Gap."

Me: "How do you mean?"

"I mean, they cook and eat the things that are fashionable at the time to be considered trend-setting and cool...like people who shopped at The Gap in the 80's & 90's."

"So, what foods do you consider trend-setting?"

"Right now, it's old-fashioned--I mean, retro--foods that foodies are bringing back and modernizing...like macaroni & cheese made with goat cheese or curried egg salad or creamed turnips."

"Hey, now! I'm not making turnips because they trendy-retro. I'm making them because someone just gave me an entire bag of fresh turnips!"

"Whatever...you foodie! Go buy another pair of khakis!"


I wouldn't consider turnips to be a trendy food, but I am noticing that turnip recipes are appeared on several blogs lately. My guess is that's because turnips are currently in season, not necessarily in fashion, at the moment.

Turnips were another food I'd never cooked or eaten. So, I chose to make Alanna's creamed turnips to go with roasted chicken earlier this week.

I think turnips have gotten a bad rap in past. Uncooked, they have a strong, peppery aroma. Cooked, they taste slightly sweet...though, I can see how they could be bitter if prepared incorrectly.

I thought this was a good alternative to mashed potatoes, and now I'd definitely try other turnip recipes.

Creamed Turnips

1 pound turnips, peeled and quartered
Water to cover, salted
1 cup whole milk
2 bay leaves
2 whole cloves
2 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
freshly ground nutmeg

• Bring water to boil in a small pot (if possible, use something other than non-stick so you can mash the turnips in the same pan later) on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the turnips and return to a boil, then reduce heat to MEDIUM to maintain a simmer. Cook until cooked through, about 15 minutes.Drain and return to pot.
• While the turnips cook, combine the milk, bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns in asmall saucpan. Bring it just to a boil over MEDIUM heat, then let rest until ready to use. Remove the bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns.
• While the milk is warming, melt the butter in a small saucepan on MEDIUM. Stir in the flour until the mixture is thick and silky and without lumps. Slowly & gradually add the hot milk, stirring all the time, incorporating the milk completely before adding more. Once all the milk is incorporated, continue to stir for a couple of minutes, finishing the cooking process. It's okay if small bubbles form but don't let the mixture boil. Once the white sauce is cooked, reduce the heat to LOW to hold. Season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
• Add the sauce to the pan with the drained turnips and mash with a hand masher or hand mixer until somewhat smooth -- though they won't be as smooth as mashed potatoes. Spoon into a serving bowl, then top with another sprinkle of nutmeg.
  

Tuesdays with Dorie: Arborio Rice Pudding

Thanks to Isabelle of Les gourmandises d’Isa who chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. Until last night, I'd never eaten rice pudding...though, it's something I'd been wanting to try for a while.

I was a little hesitant at first, because all of the comments on the TWD website were negative. A lot of people complained about having soupy pudding. However, Dorie herself posted this response:

Oh how I wish I’d seen this earlier. I’m traveling in Southeast Asia without a steady internet connection, so I didn’t see that you”re all making the rice pudding until a minute ago.

There’s a fatal typo in the recipe — the pudding needs to cook for 55 minutes, NOT 35 minutes. I posted this somewhere a while ago and am so sorry that I didn’t post it here sooner.

I know some of you had soupy rice instead of pudding and I’m deeply sorry.

With apologies — Dorie

Luckily, I'd read through the Q&A comments before making the pudding. As a result, I reduced the milk by 1/4 cup and cooked the pudding for about 1 hour. I wanted a thick pudding that I could eat while it was warm, instead of chilling in the fridge. For some reason, I think of rice pudding as a warm, comforting dessert.

I mixed half of the pudding with bittersweet chocolate and half with vanilla, cinnamon, & bourbon-soaked golden raisins. The vanilla version was really good! However, I didn't think this recipe was worth the hour+ it took to make.

So, next time I want rice pudding, I think I'll make it just like risotto...using Arborio rice sauteed briefly in caramelized sugar & butter, then mixed with whole milk (instead of stock)...a little at a time, letting each addition absorb into the rice to get creamy.

Sorry there are no pictures. It was after 9:00 pm when I ate the pudding, and the pictures were really horrible! Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bloggers for some great pics!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

One of the perks of having a food blog is free schwag. Because of this blog, I've had the opportunity to sample new products...like You Bars (custom-made nutrition bars), chocolate, and chutney all thanks to Blake Makes. I was even invited to a free tasting dinner at a local restaurant (though, unfortunately, I couldn't make it).

Most recently, I was offered two free bottles of Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce. The catch, of course, to all these offers is that I'd blog about the products in return. In this case, that's a good deal for me...because I already buy and use Country Bob's!

I mainly use Country Bob's like a steak sauce. I've never cooked with it. So, I browsed the recipes on their website, looking for something new to try, something "blog worthy." The chicken wings sound good, and I will most likely make them in the near future, but since the weather has finally gotten cold here, I thought soup was in order.

This stuffed pepper soup caught my eye because it reminds me of the cabbage roll soup that I make every year. You see, my Grandma Martin used to make stuffed cabbage rolls, a meal we always looked forward to. I remember her steaming cabbage and stuffing the leaves, then stewing them in tomato sauce. I remember it taking all day. When I crave cabbage rolls now, I make a soup with all the ingredients, and it tastes pretty much the same. Likewise, this soup tastes just like stuffed peppers.

Stuffed Pepper Soup
slightly modified from the original recipe

1 pound ground beef

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce
14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup (or more) cooked rice
salt & pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

• Saute the ground beef with the peppers, onion, & garlic until the meat is brown and the veggies are soft. Be sure to season this with salt & pepper.
• Add the bouillon, oregano, vinegar, Country Bob's, tomatoes, tomato sauce, & water. Stir until combined and simmer on low, covered, for about 40 minutes.
• Stir 1 cup of the rice into the pot OR put a few spoonfuls of rice into a bowl and spoon soup on top.
• Top with cheese to serve.

Chorizo, Tomato, & Pine Nut Cake

I am verging on a cookbook addiction. It doesn't help, of course, that I work at a place which sells cookbooks. In an effort to curb my addiction, I've decided to start making recipes from the books I have before buying any more.

I bought Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate & Zucchini--a beautiful, fun book based on her blog--a while ago, but hadn't yet made any of the recipes. One, however, was always on my mind. The chorizo, tomato, & pistachio "cake" seemed the perfect thing to snack on with a glass of wine. So, when I was invited to a trivia contest last night, I decided to bake a loaf to take with me.

The original recipe calls for Spanich chorizo, a spicy dried sausage that's similar to pepperoni. I used Mexican chorizo, which is much easier to find, that I cooked in a skillet before adding to the batter.

And, since I can't seem to find shelled pistachios at any of my local grocery stores, I used pine nuts instead.

Chorizo, Tomato, & Pine Nut Cake
Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 1/4 cups unbleached AP flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain, whole-milk yogurt)

3 1/2 ounces Mexican chorizo, cooked.

12 sun-dried tomato halves, packed in oil, finely diced

3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Butter a 9-inch loaf pan and sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds, tilting the pan to distribute them.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, salt, and pepper. Add the oil and buttermilk .
• Sift the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, stirring until barely incorporated. Don't overmix.
• Gently fold in the chorizo, tomatoes, pine nuts, and parsley.
  
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds.
• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pan to get out the loaf.
  

• Slice when cool. This is really important! My loaf was still warm--hot, really--when I sliced it and it was very crumbly!