Category: Entrees

Pasta with Cauliflower and Anchovy Sauce Recipe

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 35 min
This is a wonderful, mild flavored pasta we’ve adapted from Marcella Hazan. I know it sounds like an odd combination of ingredients, but you should definitely try it. It’s unlike any pasta you have likely eaten before, and it is quite tasty. We will definitely make it again. Serve with the roasted broccoli below for a nice combination of flavors and a healthy meal.

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
6 flat anchovies, chopped very fine (canned is fine)
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes or to taste (we substituted 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper to suit our kids)
1/2 tsp kosher salt or more to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 to 1 1/2 pounds penne pasta (we use Barilla plus)

Directions
Strip the cauliflower of all its leaves except for the tender inner ones. Rinse and cut in two.
Bring 4-5 quarts of water to boil, put in the cauliflower, and cook it till tender, about 25-30 minutes. Prod it with a fork to test for doneness. Remove from the water and set aside. When cooled, chop the cauliflower into pieces not bigger than a small nut.
(Or alternatively, roast the cauliflower for 25 minutes at 400 degrees – 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt)
Return the water to the stove, bring to boil, and add the pasta and cook until done.
While the pasta is cooking, put the oil and garlic in a medium saute pan, turn the heat to medium, and cook until the garlic becomes colored a light, golden brown. Then add the chopped anchovies and cook for a few minutes while stirring an mashing the anchovies against the sides of the pan with a wooden spoon until they are close to the consistency of a paste.
Add the cauliflower pieces and turn them until thoroughly coated with the oil, mashing some with the back of the spoon.
Add the chili pepper flakes or black pepper and kosher salt. Turn up the heat and cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. (This can be prepared a few hours ahead of time, but don’t refrigerate it.)
Toss the sauce with the cooked and drained pasta. Add the chopped parsley, toss, check and adjust seasoning, then serve immediately

Sicilian Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Raisins, and Pine Nuts

Servings: 3
Preheat: 400°
The raisins add a touch of sweetness to an otherwise savory pasta dish. I think that people who don’t care for cauliflower will enjoy this pasta. I like to use orecchiette as the raisins, nuts, and little bits of cauliflower seem to nestle inside the little ear shaped pasta. I served this dish with sautéed cherry tomatoes to give both color and as a nod to those cooks who put tomatoes in their recipe. I hope you will prepare and enjoy this dish.

Ingredients
1/2 lb orecchiette pasta (be sure to separate the noodles before boiling)
1/2 head cauliflower, broken and cut into small florets
1/4 cup raisins, soaked and drained
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 sm onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 inch squirt of anchovy paste from a tube or 3 anchovy filets, mashed
1/4 (or less) cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 handful of pecorino grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Place cauliflower florets on a baking pan, drizzle with a little oil. Salt and pepper and toss to coat. Place in hot oven and roast until lightly caramelized and tender. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook to al dente. Save a cup of the pasta water.

While pasta is cooking, sauté the onion and garlic until soft but not brown. Add the anchovy paste and wine, stir to mix. Add the raisins, pepper flakes and taste for seasoning. Add cooked pasta, simmer for one minute. Add just enough pasta water to keep mixture moist but not soupy. Add the roasted cauliflower, pine nuts, and a handful of cheese and gently toss. Add chopped parsley and plate. Serve with additional cheese on the side.

Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Capers

Servings: 4
Source: Cook Something, Mitchell Davis, Macmillan
Another classic combination, this dish makes people think you went to a lot of trouble. Actually it’s quite simple. It’s an adaptation of a dish my friends Ed and Katie brought to my prebook party. Any shape of pasta works, but I prefer a small noodle such as shells or bowties. Despite what an Italian might otherwise recommend, I like to serve this dish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 sm onion, chopped
1/4 lb smoked salmon, chopped
1 cup heavy cream (a.k.a. whipping cream)
3 Tbsp capers, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 lb pasta, cooked al dente, drained (reserving about
1/4 cup of the cooking water), and tossed with olive oil
Freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese

Directions
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned. Add the smoked salmon and continue cooking just until the salmon turns opaque, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the cream and add the capers. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Be careful how much salt you add because the smoked salmon and capers are both salty. Add the pasta and toss to coat. If there doesn’t appear to be enough sauce, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to thin it down. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Sprouted Brown Rice Bowl with Carrot and Hijiki

Servings: 3 to 4
recipeNotes: Sprouted brown rice is a packaged product that you can find in natural foods stores with other packaged grains. The grains are sprouted, then dried. It looks and cooks like regular brown rice.

Same as germinated rice
Julienne carrots with hijiki seaweed is a traditional Japanese combination. Here I’ve added some tofu to bulk up the protein. Hijiki is an excellent source of iodine, vitamin K, folate and magnesium; the seaweed is soaked and simmered before cooking with the carrot and aromatics.

Ingredients
1/2 oz (ab 1/2 cup) dried hijiki
1 Tbsp soy sauce, preferably tamari (more to taste)
2 tsp mirin
1 Tbsp peanut oil or canola oil
1/2 lb firm tofu, cut in 1/2-by-1″” dominoes
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp shredded or minced ginger
1/2 lb (2 large) carrots, cut in 2- or 3″” long julienne
Salt to taste (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
3 cup cooked sprouted brown rice
1 Tbsp dark sesame oil

Directions
1. Place the hijiki in a medium bowl, and cover with water. Soak 15 minutes, and drain. Place in a medium saucepan, and add just enough water to cover, along with 2 teaspoons of the soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Combine the remaining soy sauce and mirin in a small bowl, and place within reach of your wok or pan. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water quickly evaporates from the pan. Swirl in the peanut or canola oil by adding it to the sides of the pan and then tilting the pan side to side. Add the tofu and stir-fry until lightly colored, one to two minutes. Add the ginger, and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds.

3. Add the carrots, and stir-fry for one minute until they begin to soften. Add the hijiki, soy sauce and mirin. Continue to stir-fry for another two to three minutes until the carrots are crisp-tender. Stir in the sesame oil and rice, and toss together for a minute or two, pressing the rice into the sides of the wok before scooping and stirring. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Flea Street Cafe Stir Fry

Servings: —
Source: Jessie Cool
Serves 4 as an entree when tossed with 1 lb. of buckwheat noodles

Ingredients
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 medium onion sliced thin
1/8 tsp. chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 Tbs. tamari
1 Tbs. fresh garlic chopped
1 Tbs. fresh ginger chopped
1 lb. mixed greens
salt to taste and toasted sesame seeds to garnish

optional: 1 lb of tofu

Directions
Over medium heat, in a large saute pan, saute all ingredients except stir fry for 5 minutes. Add stir fry. Toss for 2 to 3 minutes. Cover, turn off the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. Season and serve as is or tossed with cooked noodles.

Red Beans and Rice

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 3 hrs
Source: The New Orleans Cook Book
This is the way red beans and rice were cooked in the old days -loaded with meat and steeped in a rich, natural gravy. You must include a large ham bone, whose marrow gives the beans that creamy texture and distinctive smoky flavor. Many supermarkets now carry only pre-boned hams, and you may have difficulty finding ham bones. Ask your local packer which butchers still bone their own hams and buy the bones in large batches. Ham bones freeze well, and a good supply in the freezer will enable you to prepare red beans the right way whenever you wish. If you have any left over. red beans freeze beautifully. Just add a little water and perhaps a pinch of salt when you reheat them.

Be sure to use baked rather than country or smoked ham in this and all other New Orleans beans dishes. Smoked ham is too salty and will unbalance the seasonings. Pickled pork is pork shoulder marinated in brine for over a week; New Orleans markets regularly carry it, but elsewhere you probably will not find it. A good substitute for pickled pork is salt pork; with salt pork eliminate all other salt in the recipe.

Ingredients
2 lb. dried red (kidney) beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover
2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. thinly sliced green scallion tops
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1 1/3 Tbs. finely minced garlic
2 Tbs. finely minced fresh parsley
1 lb. seasoning (baked) ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 lb. pickled pork (page 9), cut into large chunks
1 large ham bone with some meat on it, sawed into 4- to 5-inch lengths
1 Tbs. salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper pods
2 whole bay leaves, broken into quarters
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. dried basil
2 qt. cold water, approximately
Boiled Rice (page 17 ~ double the recipe)

Directions
Drain the soaked beans in a colander and put them, along with all the other ingredients, into a heavy 8- to 10-quart pot or kettle, adding just enough of the cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer on low heat for 2 1/3 to 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and a thick natural gravy has formed. Add about 1 cup of water toward the end of cooking if the mixture appears too dry. During cooking, stir frequently and scrape down the sides and across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent scorching. (If you use a heavy pot and very low heat – just high enough to keep the barest simmer going – you should have no problem with beans sticking to the pot during cooking.) Stir the entire mixture thoroughly just once about every half hour.

When the beans are cooked, turn off the heat. To serve, ladle about 1 1/2 cups of beans, with meat and gravy, over a portion (about ~2/3 cup) of boiled rice.

Sancocho – Fish and Potato Stew

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
recipeNotes: From Jose’ Andres “”Made in Spain””

Ingredients
For the mojo sauce

3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sweet pimenton (spanish smoked paprika)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon spanish extra-virgin olive oil

For the stew

1 bay leaf
1 small spanish onion, peeled and quartered
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2- inch strips
6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 pound yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 fennel bulb – sliced in quarters (optional)
sea salt to taste
4 6-ounce sea bass fillets

Directions
Prepare the sauce: Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, guindilla pepper, pimenton, and salt into a paste, Keep turning the mortar clockwise while mashing and scrape down the paste from the sides of the mortar with the pestle, Slowly pour in the olive oil and continue mashing until the oil is well incorporated, then set the sauce aside,
Prepare the stew: Put the bay leaf, onion, bell pepper, parsley, potatoes, and sweet potatoes into a medium saucepan, add 4 cups of water, and bring to a boil over high heat, Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until tender, about 20 minutes, Stir 1 teaspoon of the cooking liquid into the sauce in the mortar, Season to taste with more salt.
Season the sea bass with salt and add the fillets to the pan. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes or until the fillets are cooked through. Don’t let the liquid come to a boil once the fish is added.
The stew should cook low and slow so the fish doesn’t break apart in the broth. Transfer the fillets to serving bowls and ladle several ounces of broth over each. Place some potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, parsley, and red pepper around the fillets and top the fillets with a spoonful of the mojo sauce.

Warm and Spicy Stir Fry

Servings: —
Source: J. Cool Flea St. Cafe

Ingredients
2 Tbs canola oil
1 medium onion sliced thin
1/8 tsp. chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 Tbs tamari
1 Tbs fresh garlic chopped
1 Tbs fresh ginger chopped
1 lb. mixed “”Stir Fry”” greens
salt to taste and tasted sesame seeds to garnish

Directions
Serves 2 generously as a side dish or 4 as an entree when tossed with 1 lb of buckwheat noodles

Over medium heat, in a large saute pan, saute all ingredients except stir fry for 5 minutes. Add stir fry. Toss for 2-3 min. Cover, turn off heat. Let sit for 5 min. Season and serve as is or tossed with cooked noodles

Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe

Servings: —
Source: From Super Natural Cooking, Page 155
recipeNotes: Filling ideas:
 Avocado Slices
 Cipollini onions – sweet and just the right size
 Sliced Roma tomatoes
 A sprinkling of smoked paprika
 Grilled vegetables
I’m going to highlight one of my favorite recipes from Super Natural Cooking – my favorite veggie burgers. I think I cracked the code on how to make a better veggie burger, I was doing it wrong for years. When you put a bean or lentil patty on a bun, you run the risk of building a burger that is too dry and bready. The ratio is all out of whack, with not enough ooey-gooeyness to balance the bread and mashed beans. It wasn’t until I sat down to write this recipe for the book that I had the revelation I needed: Turn the patty into the bun and stuff that with all sorts of good stuff. Problem solved.

These make great do-ahead meals, and you can store shaped, ready-to-cook patties in the refrigerator for a week’s worth of work lunches. Sprouted garbanzos are becoming more readily available, but if you can’t find them, canned or cooked garbanzos (chickpeas) will work great. Sprouting boosts their already fantastic nutritional value even more…

Ingredients
2½ cups sprouted garbanzo beans (chickpeas) OR canned garbanzos, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 onion, chopped
Grated zest of one large lemon
1 cup micro sprouts, chopped (try brocolli, onion, or alfalfa sprouts – optional)
1 cup toasted (whole-grain) bread crumbs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)

Directions
If you are using sprouted garbanzos, steam them until just tender, about 10 minutes. Most of you will be using canned beans, so jump right in and combine the garbanzos, eggs, and salt in a food processor. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cilantro, onion, zest, and sprouts. Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick patties. I err on the moist side here, because it makes for a nicely textured burger. You can always add more bread crumbs a bit at a time to firm up the dough if need be. Conversely, a bit of water or more egg can be used to moisten the batter.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add 4 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties. Carefully cut each patty in half, insert your favorite fillings, and enjoy immediately.

Makes 12 mini burgers.

Tuscan Grilled Chicken, Sausage & Sage Skewers

Servings: 6-8
Source: Fine Cooking September 2006
The crisp, intensely flavored sage leaves are delicious eaten with the chicken and sausage on these skewers.

Ingredients
2½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 7 or 8), trimmed of excess fat and cut in half (the pieces should be roughly equal in size; if the thighs are large, cut them in thirds or quarters)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons Rosemary-Garlic oil (see the recipe below)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper

1½ pounds sweet Italian sausage links, cut into 2-inch pieces
24 large fresh sage leaves

Rosemary-Garlic Oil

Yields 1½ cups.

1½ cups extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Heat the olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic starts to bubble steadily, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rosemary, remove from the heat, and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a clean glass jar or other storage container, cover, and refrigerate. Use within five days.

Directions
Up to a day ahead and at least a couple of hours before serving, toss the chicken in a medium bowl with 2 tablespoons of the oil, the rosemary, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.

If the grill isn’t already fired up, heat a gas grill to medium or prepare a medium hot charcoal fire. Divide the remaining ½ cup oil into two small bowls (one for grilling and one for serving). Alternately thread three pieces of sausage, three pieces of chicken, and four sage leaves onto six 12-inch metal skewers (or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for ½ hour).

Grill the skewers, covered, until one side is browned and has good grill marks, about 4 minutes. Brush with some of the rosemary-garlic oil, flip, and cook the other side until it, too, has good grill marks, about 4 minutes. Brush with more oil and flip again. Continue cooking, flipping, and brushing with oil until the sausage and chicken are both cooked through (check by slicing into a couple of the thicker pieces), about another 10 minutes.

Let cool for a couple of minutes and then arrange on a platter, drizzle on the remaining oil, and set out for guests to serve themselves.