Whole Cauliflower with Homemade Cheese Sauce ♥ How to Cook a Whole Head of Cauliflower

How to cook a whole head of cauliflower, it's surprisingly unfussy! I like to drape mine in homemade cheese sauce, it makes for dramatic presentation, yes?

The sheer beauty of the vegetables arriving in the markets — that would be arriving from California and Mexico; that would be arriving in supermarkets, given that I write from Missouri, where gardeners worry whether there's still time to get cool-weather lettuces, peas too, into soggy gardens — some times stops me in my tracks. If I close my eyes, I can conjure them again, even many weeks later. Last winter, purple-topped turnips glistened in the mist. (Does your supermarket announce the start of the produce misters with a lively rendition of 'Singin' in the Rain'? Mine does!) A couple of weeks back, the eggplants were baby-bottom smooth, there was no not running a hand along their smoky curves. This week's vegetable miracle was a bin overflowing with perfect white heads of cauliflower, unblemished, taut with life.

When a beautiful head of cauliflower presents itself, I'm tempted to cook it whole, like my mother did, but the idea always seemed a touch fussy. Hardly! All it took was trimming the cauliflower (which has to happen anyway) and then cooking it in shallow boiling water for 20 minutes. Yes, that easy. And isn't it pretty?!!
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Roasted Broccoli with Lemon & Garlic ♥ Recipe

Until now, I just couldn't get roasting broccoli right. Turns out, it's as simple as can be, just roast the broccoli (careful knife work makes a difference but it's just the usual way of roasting fresh vegetables) but then, this is the trick, splash the broccoli with lemon juice. It makes all the difference. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 or 2 points. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

There's a reason why a food blog about vegetables, yes, that's A Veggie Venture, has more than 1000 vegetable recipes but doesn't yet have one for something very basic, roasted broccoli. I've tried a half dozen times to like broccoli roasted in the oven, it just wasn't happening. I'd even reached the conclusion that while broccoli could be roasted, why waste a cruciferous bunch to the oven? I decided to give it one more try.

Turns out, the trick to roasting garlic is what happens after roasting, just a splash of lemon juice. I know, I know, call me the last person in the world to know this about broccoli and lemon. But. Now. I. Do. TOO.

TODAY'S SMILE People may love broccoli but sure can't spell it. Google searches often come in for 'brockley' and 'brockly'. Welcome, broccoli lovers! You've found the right place.

ROASTING VEGETABLES IS EASY! No recipes are required, just use How to Roast Vegetables: 15 Tips & a Master Recipe.
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Chayote Soup with a Kick ♥ Recipe from the Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca, Mexico

Today's soup recipe, a bisque, really, a creamy blend of chayote squash, onion, garlic and spinach and for that promised kick, roasted poblano. Serve it at room temperature or better still, chilled.

Last week when I published the recipe for my current favorite protein-rich brunch dish, Refried Bean Sauce with Eggs on Top at Kitchen Parade, I teased a little about someone attending the Seasons of My Heart cooking school outside Oaxaca, Mexico. Well, the secret's out: that lucky someone was me! (Remember those little Mexican jumping beans that used to be sold at dime stores? That was me, so excited about this day.)

The school is owned by the lovely Susana Trilling. Readers may know her cookbook, also called Seasons of My Heart and the 1999 PBS series called (menotes a theme here, you too?) Seasons of My Heart.

My brain is madly processing the day at Seasons of My Heart, the whole week really, even while my fingers pore through hundreds of photos, picking and cropping, all to build and frame the story, one plate, one dish at a time. More later ...

In the mean time, the soup, the soup! In the many-course meal at Seasons of My Heart, the soup wasn't the favorite (that, people, involves mounds of mangoes and pillows of cream whose recipe, I promise, will emerge some time soon) but it was the one dish we all imagined making most often. In the dim evening light of the Mexican high desert, the soup's color was a pretty pale green; mine today turned out decidedly more spinach green, which makes me think less spinach is a good idea.

In the grocery line, the woman behind me asked, "What will you make with the chayote?" I pointed to the poblano, "Chayote soup with a kick". She smiled. The chayote soup of her childhood, she remembered, was pale and bland. "How will you make it?" she asked. Here's how.
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How to Roast Potatoes to Perfection ♥ (Maybe) My Grandfather's Recipe for English Roasted Potatoes

A two-step technique for roasting potatoes that produces potatoes crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

So I've been thinking about Chocolate & Zucchini's post for Perfect Roast Potatoes for two months now. Seriously, Clotilde, you stopped me in my tracks three ways. Such is the power of blogging, yes?!

THE BIG IDEA First, the idea of mastering, really nailing, the simple recipes you'll make again and again. Until now, my own practice has been all about variety, throwing noodles against the wall to see how each one sticks. That's well and good but what, you know, if you'd just like to roast some really good potatoes? You want to know exactly how to do that. Thank you, Clotilde, this idea has embedded itself in my brain, it won't let go.

SIMPLE IS GOOD BUT IT ISN'T ALWAYS BEST Second, Clotilde's recipe for roasted potatoes. Yes, it takes two steps and usually, I'm all about eliminating steps. But these are by far the crispiest, most evenly cooked roasted potatoes, to emerge from my oven. I've made them every couple of weeks since mid-January, they're fabulous. The lesson is, some times, not always but some times, a little extra effort pays huge dividends.

JUST MAYBE, A FAMILY CONNECTION Third, I call this Clotilde's recipe but all her commenters from Britain are asking, "Isn't this how everyone roasts potatoes?" In a funny way, I keep thinking that this is my grandfather's recipe for roast potatoes -- a grandfather who died when my mother was young, so not a man I knew, but he was English, and family lore says that he loved Sunday dinner's roast beef with roasted potatoes. What a funny recipe connection, this. If my Canadian family ever updates the family cookbook, I'll include this recipe and call it "Grampa's English Roasted Potatoes".

So what's the big deal about these roasted potatoes? Technique, technique, technique.
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Irish Soda Bread

Irish soda bread is awesome, and it's that time of year when the supermarket starts stocking it and the recipes are in every food magazine and Website. So I'm joining the crowd. It's hard to believe that up until past week, I've never made it. According to Irish chef Rory O'Connell (in Bon Appetite's online article), both the white and the brown Irish soda breads are traditional, and butter was not an original ingredient. The recipe I read about was made with 50% wheat flour and had butter, but not too much, and that's nice compromise in my mind.

The recipe came to my attention in the doctor's office. That seems to be when I get inspired to cook - looking at the recipes while I wait for my appointment (just seeing how my wrist is doing). This time, I brought along the latest issue of Bon Appetite. There was a fabulous article about Andrew McCarthy's (the actor) search for the Irish soda bread of his youth. It was a great read and the recipe was a tempting one for me. Though I had every intention of disgracing Andrew McCarthy's concept of what Irish soda bread is by adding nuts and currants.

The results were mixed. Things I did like were the oat flour and walnuts. But there were issues with the dough being too dry, my overworking it, and the difficulty cooking it through without burning on the outside (I scrapped the worst parts of the piece in the picture).

Based on the issues with the first loaf, I also made some changes which worked out well. I was pleased with the loaves when I took them out of the oven.


The flour mixture was 2 1/2 cups of white, 2 1/2 cups wheat, and 1 cup oat. If I were to make the recipe a third time, I would make change it to 2 1/2 cups white, 2 cups oat, and 1 1/2 cups wheat. If I don't become completely sick of Irish soda bread, I see a third batch in my future!


Irish Soda Bread
Inspired by Bon Appetit

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
(note: I also enjoyed 3 cups white flour and 3 cups oat flour)
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled margarine or butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups buttermilk + 1/4 cup reserved to the side in case the dough is too dry
2/3 cup currants
1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Whisk the flours, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder in medium bowl to blend. Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender (aka dough blender). It will be ready when the bits of butter are the size of peas.

Add the buttermilk and stir until the ingredients are just blended. There will be clumps at this stage. But if you notice that there is no way that the dry ingredients are going to be able to become one with the dough, you should immediately add more buttermilk.

Turn the dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until the dough comes together, about 10 turns. Be careful not to overwork the dough!!! If you kneed it too much, the bread will be tough.

Shape the dough into two 6" rounds and cut large "x", 1/3 inch deep, in the top of the dough.

I read that cutting the "x" on the top serves several purposes. For the bread, the cut helps the bread cook because it is at the thickest part of the bread. For the people of Ireland, it signifies the cross, and is a way that the bread is blessed. It also is a symbol for breaking the bread - which is easier to do once the bread is baked.

Place dough on prepared (oil-sprayed) baking sheet. Mine baked for 42 minutes, but I suggest checking the dough's progress at 35. I did the toothpick test, but with a wooden skewer. Poke it into the thickest part of the bread, and you'll know it's done by a lack of resistance when you pull it out, and when you look at it, it's clean (there's no dough on the toothpick/skewer).

Let it cool completely before cutting it.

My favorite way to eat it is toasted, with butter and honey.

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Crispy Salty Kale Chips ♥ Recipe aka Why Did I Wait So Long to Bake Kale in the Oven?

Today's vegetable snack: Fresh kale rubbed with a little oil and mustard (or a vinegar, anything with a little acid) and then baked until crispy and salty. Weight Watchers 1 point. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

A couple of St. Louis restaurants are famous for their flash-fried spinach. People like the spinach so much, I get tempted again and again. But to my taste, it's just a greasy pile of greens, especially because it cools down so fast, becoming a cold greasy pile of greens. Eww.

I figured that the food-blog famous kale chips would be the same. But not! They taste fresh and alive and I just love the crispy-salty texture. I have the idea that they'd make a quick pre-supper snack, a way to stave off hunger with something hot and nutritious while cooking the meal.

There's a Woody Allen line about the difference betweeen Episcopalians and Catholics: "All of the pomp, none of the guilt". The same applies to kale chips and flash-fried spinach: "All of the greens, none of the grease."
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