roasted cauliflower with almonds and raisins

Where o' where have been you all ask, well let me tell you it has been a time of culinary dearth! We are moving in less than a week and the condo has been on the market for just over a week. We have made it squeaky clean, including the kitchen, in an effort to "neutralize" the place prompting Thomas to impose a "no cooking" ordinance (and, afterall, he does do most of the cleaning...).

So, needless to say, there has been very little to post coming out of my kitchen and it has been sad for me. The fridge is looking a little grim as we are trying to limit the amount of dead weight we move out of here.

sad, sad fridge...except for the chinese takeout!

However, I did have a lonely little cauliflower in the fridge, a relic from the last farm box we received before pausing it until the new house and I decided that it was high time to use it. And then an interesting thing happened - as though it was an old standby from my repertoire a recipe formulated so concretely in my head (divine inspiration?). I followed it step by step and I've got to tell you it has got to be one of my favorite new side dishes (plus I almost always have the necessary ingredients in my pantry!).

RECIPE

roasted cauliflower with almonds and raisins

serves four as a side dish

1 head of cauliflower
4 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp salt
1/2 cup roasted almonds (whole or slivered)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

- set oven to 400 degrees
- cut cauliflower into bite-sized florettes
- toss with salt and olive oil, place on baking tray
- roast for about 20 minutes (until the edges start to turn golden brown - sprinkle with almonds and raisins, return to oven for another 5 minutes (the raisins will get golden and puffy)
- remove from oven and sprinkle with cilantro

chanterelles + flaky crust = paradise

You hear people say that Santa Barbara is paradise, especially people from Santa Barbara. Now, I'm a firm believer in the fact that each person's paradise is their own, especially having grown up in the Northwest and loving everything about it (yes, even the rain).

However, when a friend came by the other day wielding a paper sack FULL of local chanterelle mushrooms, well I couldn't help but think "I guess Santa Barbara is paradise," (I mean we have 70 degree weather 362 days out of the year and chanterelles grow here - I'm sold!) and then proceeded to make a mental list of all of the deliciously decadent ways I could prepare these little pillows of goodness.

 The mighty Chanterelle

Now anyone unfamiliar with the Chanterelle, you need to try them now. Even if you're not a fan of mushrooms, these are different...so different. Chanterelles are a light orange color and have flat tops and have not one, but two soul mates - cream and garlic.Yes, they can be a little expensive, but you don't need a whole lot of them to impart a ton of flavor.

I think that my favorite way to prepare chanterelles is in a cream sauce for pasta, but this time I decided to do something different. This time I decided to make a tart with them and combine them with the lovely head of cauliflower that I received in my box this week. Now the challenge of being able to whip up a tart after work on a school night is being able to make a good enough crust in a small enough amount of time. After some searching around, I've found a recipe (see below) that is super simple and is flaky and tasty after only an hour's chilling time.

 

 

Next, an important thing to note about all mushrooms is that they are like 99% water (not really, but you get the gist). That means that they either need to be sweated first or your method of cooking them either calls for the mushroom water (as in pasta sauce) or your going to cook it down sufficiently enough. For this tart I chose to pre-saute the mushroom so as to get rid of as much of the water as possible. That way I didn't end up with goopy tart.

 like i said, paradise

The rest from there is just tossing the ingredients into the pan, letting the flavors infuse and popping it into a tart shell...couple that with a nice glass of Chardonnay and you've got paradise just about anywhere...

RECIPES

pate brise (shortcrust pastry)

for a 9-10 inch tart/pie

1 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
5-8 Tbsp iced water
*if you want to make a sweet crust, add 1 Tbsp sugar in with the dry ingredients


- put dry ingredients into the food processor and whiz a few times
- add the cubed butter to the food processor and pulse about 5 or 6 times
- add 5 Tbsp of iced water and pulse 8-10 times, the dough should come together into a ball that is only lightly wet. If you need more water, add it in, one Tbsp at a time.
- shape the dough into a disc, handling it as little as possible, and place it in plastic wrap (I like Ziploc bags for this).
- refrigerate the dough at least one hour or up to overnight.
- to roll out the dough, place a generous amount of flour on the work surface. Place the dough disc atop the flour and then sprinkle flour on top of the dough.
- roll the dough out. Once you've got the dough rolled out an inch on all sides, add a bit more flour to the dough. This will prevent it from sticking to your rolling pin.
- now your dough is ready for use.

Chanterelle and Cauliflower Tart

serves 4-6

1/2 lb fresh chanterelle mushrooms
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme (1 Tbsp fresh)
1 head cauliflower, cut into small bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cut this chanterelles into 1/2 inch strips. Place them in a saute pan over medium-high heat and saute until the majority of the water has come out of them
- pour off the water and set the mushroom aside.
- place the butter in the pan and add onions. Cook until translucent and add the garlic and thyme. Saute another 2 minutes.
- return the mushrooms to the pan and add the cauliflower. Saute until the cauliflower just starts to get golden.
- add the white wine and cream. Cook down to about a 1/4 cup (or so that it pretty much just coats the mushrooms and cauliflower), this should take about 8-10 minutes.
- place your rolled out tart crust into a ten inch tart pan and place the filling in the crust.
- bake your tart for 30 to 40 minutes and remove from the oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

When it's cold outside...viva Mexico!

 It is the middle of winter and the weather is cold, well, at least as cold as it gets in Santa Barbara, and I was feeling like something a little spicy to warm up. Chicken enchiladas fit the bill perfectly and it had the added bonus of being something that I'd never made before.

Simmering enchilada sauce - so spicy!

In everything that I make, I always try and incorporate more  vegetables because once a week I get a CSA box (Community Supported Agriculture) and it's always full of organic and local produce that I need to incorporate into my culinary adventures. This week the box included spinach and cauliflower and I wanted to throw them into my fiesta fare.

Fresh spinach mixed with chicken - great twist on a standard

I decided to make the enchiladas chicken and spinach and I actually really liked the combo. It gave the dish more depth and I felt a wee bit healthier eating it too. I'm not going to include the recipe however, because I wasn't that impressed with my enchilada sauce. First of all there wasn't enough of it and second it was WAY too spicy. I think that the problem lied in my chili powder which was a bit more potent than I'd expected.

I will, however, include my mexican cauliflower recipe which was a surprising and refreshing way to use this vegetable that I eat a lot of in the wintertime. It is basically steamed or boiled cauliflower mixed with fresh pico de gallo and topped with feta. I would definitely make this again!

The onion and lime mix - made a tangy marinade for this fresh cauliflower dish

RECIPE

Braised Cauliflower and Fresh Salsa

1 onion, finely chopped
1 lime - both zest and juice
1 medium head cauliflower
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 - 1 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Fresh tomatoes, diced
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 cup feta

- Put the onion, lime zest and lime juice into a small bowl so that the juice cooks the onion
- Cut the cauliflower into small florets
- Put the can of tomatoes into a pan with the water and heat, add the sugar and salt. When they start to simmer add the cauliflower and braise for five minutes.
- Add the onion mixture and warm through - about another five minutes (if you like your cauliflower softer you might want to pre-boil it for a few minutes before adding it to the tomatoes).
- Mix the cauliflower, fresh tomatoes, cilantro and feta in a larger serving bowl and serve.