Eating Dinner With My Family

The boy still has cauliflower as one of his veto ingredients, even after the cauliflower soup he loved.  I decide we should make a cauliflower puree to go with steak and see if he likes it.  He ate FOUR helpings!!!  He loved it.  And, despite being almost half potatoes, it really tasted mostly of cauliflower. We all loved it.  The incredible thing to me, was no butter and very little cream , yet it tasted like the most creamy mashed potatoes.  A wonderful side dish.  I was thinking if there was any left over, which of course there was very little, I would like to try making knishes out of the puree.   I couldn't find the source of the recipe, sorry. Cauliflower Puree   1 small cauliflower (1 1/2 pounds) cut into 1-inch florets 1 Lb large Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch dice 3 Tbl heavy cream Salt and freshly ground pepper 4 Cloves of Garlic, Roasted* 1. In a large saucepan, cover the ca...

I thought this soup was wonderful!  But the amazing thing, my son who hates cauliflower, who used up one of his two veto ingredients on cauliflower, loved it too.  He rated it a 4!  Lets just let that sink in; the boy who gags when he puts cauliflower in his mouth, loved cauliflower soup.  Wow!  It was easy and fast to make, with most of the time spent largely inactive cooking time.  While it uses chicken stock, it could easily be made vegetarian with veggie broth.  With the chicken broth, does it count as meatless for meatless Monday?  I did have a bit of a problem with the Parmesan crisp.  It didn't break off the sheet of aluminium in large peices, it crumbled off.  Next time I won't spread it so thinly.     Silky Cauliflower Soup With Parmesan Crisps 1 head cauliflower 2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 1 small onion chopped 2 Clove garlic minced 1 Qt low-sodium chicken stock 1/2 Cup finely grated Parmesan Salt and...

This recipe is out of Top Chef: The Cookbook .  I have made it before, long, long ago and really loved it.  It was still tasty this time too.  My biggest problem that happened, then and now, was the pasta just didn't get done enough.  Before, I used angle hair pasta as I couldn't find fideos, but this time, I spotted some in the store and thought I would try it again with the proper pasta and it will get done enough.  Wrong.  It was edible, and yummy at that, but seemed ill prepared.  I don't think this is how it came out when made by the chef.  And while I expect that they will make a dish much better than I could, I am perplexed as to how to work around this issue I keep having with out adding a lot more liquid and increasing the cooking time.  So while I wholeheartedly recommend you make this dish, I just want to give you a heads up on what to expect.  If you find the solution, please clue me in:)! Fideos with Clams & Saffron ...

I was so excited to get Romanesco Cauliflower in my Front Porch Pickings basket!  I have seen pictures before and always wanted to try it, but could never find it.  Chalk up yet another reason to get a local produce delivery company or join a CSA.  The vegetable is striking!  I would find my self staring at it whenever I opened the fridge.  I found several recipes I wanted to try, but ended up deciding on this one for two reasons.  One, I wanted to make sure we didn't cover up the cauliflower's natural flavor since it was the first time we were trying it, and two it would be a crime to make anything that called for us to cut the head up into anything smaller than florets!  Now I could have just plain roasted it (or steamed it for that matter) and would have been happy, but my less that cauliflower loving boys wouldn't have taken so kindly to that.  In fact, cauliflower is one of the two veto ingredients I allow my boy.  He usually gags if ca...

Since Monday was Christmas, we didn't go meatless.  I decided to make up that say today.  We love cilantro, and expected to love this.  It was pretty good, not the wow we thought it would be, but good. They didn't carry Cavatappi at my store, so I went with another tube shape rather than a macaroni.  I have been really lazy lately about the blog.  I blame the hectic schedules of the holidays and utter exhaustion.  I haven't even really wanted to cook much!  So, that means short post.  Hope you all are having a great holiday season! Cavatappi With Cilantro-Pistachio Pesto Kosher salt 1/2 large head cauliflower,cut into small (1/2- to 3/4 inch) florets 3  medium carrots,halved lengthwise and then cut on the diagonal 7 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 c  lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves 1/2 c  unsalted shelled pistachios 3   medium cloves garlic,peeled 1   Tbs. fresh lemo...