Riced and Spiced Cauliflower

Riced and Spiced Cauliflower with lamb and vegetable kebab

The Ingredients (for 6 servings):

• 5 sprigs of basil
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 110 g (or 4 oz) of onion
• 0.7 kg (or 1½ lb) of cauliflower florets
• 30 ml (or 2 tablespoons) of sesame oil
• 60 g (or ½ cup) of raw sesame seeds
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of rice wine vinegar
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of Asian fish sauce
• 2 small cans of coconut cream, approximately 320 ml (or 11 oz)
• 8 g (or 1 tablespoon) of no-salt lemon pepper such as Lawry's
• 3 g (or ½ tablespoon) of powdered cardamom
• 3 eggs
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of Tabasco
• 80 g (or 2½ oz) of frozen peas

The Method:

1. Remove the basil leaves from the stems and put them aside. Chop the tender part of the basil stems finely.
2. Chop the cilantro finely and put it aside.
3. Dice the onion finely.
4. Roughly slice the cauliflower florets and tender stalks then place them in a food processor or similar machine, using more than one batch if necessary.
5. Pulse the food processor so as to chop the cauliflower into rice-like pieces.
6. Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over high heat and stir-fry the riced cauliflower with the basil stems and onion for approximately 6 minutes, until the cauliflower releases most of its moisture and starts to turn slightly brown.
7. Reduce the heat to medium and add the sesame seeds, stir-frying for another 3 minutes.
8. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in first the rice wine vinegar and then the fish sauce so that both are thoroughly mixed with the cauliflower.
9. Stir in the coconut cream, cilantro, lemon pepper, and cardamom, stir-frying until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and/or evaporated.
10. Whisk the eggs together with the Tabasco sauce in a bowl.
11. Return the skillet to high heat, and add the egg mixture, reserved basil leaves, and frozen peas, stirring constantly and swiftly until the egg is incorporated and cooked thoroughly in approximately rice-size morsels.
    

The Story:

This recipe was inspired by Jackie Alper's recipe for Thai Cauliflower 'Fried Rice' with Coconut on her website. Many ingredients and amounts have been changed in my version but I did retain the coconut.

*PC Lamb Shank Soup

*PC Lamb Shank Soup garnished with a sauce made from garlic, salt, chèvre, and goat milk

*Pressure Cooker. (You can prepare this dish without pressure by simmering at boiling point for about three times as long as the pressure cooker in step 14.)


The Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 70 g (or ½ cup) of bulgur
• 2 medium onions, weighing approximately 450 g (or 1 lb)
• 4 cloves of garlic, weighing approximately 15 g (or ½ oz)
• 2 or 3 carrots, weighing approximately 225 g (or 8 oz)
• 2 sticks of celery, weighing approximately 170 g (or 6 oz)
• 6 sprigs of fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or the equivalent dried)
• 1 small bunch of fresh parsley, preferably the flat-leaf variety
• 4 lamb shanks weighing approximately 1.4 kg (or 3 lb)
• 20 g (or ½ tablespoon) of cinnamon powder
• 700 ml (or 3 cups) of beef stock or consommé
• 25 ml (or 1½ tablespoons) of tomato paste
• Cooking grade olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

The Method:

1. At least 3 hours before serving the soup, soak the bulgur in 350 ml (or 1½ cups) of hot water and let it stand for at least 1 hour.
   
   
2. About 1½ hours before serving the soup, prep the vegetables by first dicing the onion.
3. Finely dice, crush, or grind the garlic cloves.
4. Peel the carrots and cut them into bite-size pieces.
5. Cut the celery into fine slivers.
6. Wash and finely chop the oregano, rosemary, and parsley.
7. Wash, trim if necessary, and pat dry the lamb shanks.
8. Lightly season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
   
9. Heat the pan of a pressure cooker over medium-high heat and pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom.
10. Place the seasoned lamb shanks into the pan and brown them on all sides.
    
11. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and cinnamon powder.
12. Stir until the onions are starting to wilt.
13. Immediately add the beef broth, tomato paste, oregano, rosemary, and parsley, and 10 cups of water.
    
14. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and, following the manufacturer's instructions, cook the lamb shanks and vegetables at high pressure (100 kPa, or 15 psi) for 40 minutes.
15. Allow the pressure to recede gradually.
16. Remove the lid, and add the bulgur to the soup.
17. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes without the lid on to cook the bulgur.
    

*PC Coq au Vin

*PC Coq au Vin served with Smashing Cauliflower, also on this blog,
and steamed asparagus

*Pressure Cooker. (You can prepare this dish without pressure by simmering at boiling point for about three times as long as the pressure cooker in steps 24 and 37.)

The Ingredients (for 6 servings):

• 600 ml (or 20 oz) of a dry red wine
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 large carrots
• 3 to 5 cloves of garlic
• 6 g (or 2 teaspoons) of whole black peppercorns
• 1 chicken, weighing approximately 2.3 kg (or 5 lb)
• 170 g (or 6 oz) of thick-cut bacon
• 170 g (or 6 oz) of shallots
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, weighing approximately 14 g (or ½ oz)
• 4 to 8 sprigs of thyme
• 4 to 8 sprigs of parsley, preferably flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 4 bay leaves
• 120 ml (or ½ cup) of chicken broth
• 25 g (or 3 tablespoons) of garbanzo bean (chick pea) flour
• 450 g (or 1 lb) of mushrooms
• 12 to 15 small boiling onions, weighing approximately 450 g (or 1 lb)
• 28 g (or 2 tablespoons) of butter
• cooking grade olive oil

The Method:

1. The day before you intend to cook the coq, make a marinade by first pouring the red wine into a medium size saucepan.
2. Peel the onion, carrots, and the 3 to 5 cloves of garlic.
3. Roughly chop the onion, celery, carrots and garlic, and add them to the wine in the pan.
4. Add the peppercorns to the pan.
5. Bring the marinade mixture to a boil and simmer it for 5 minutes.
6. Allow the marinade to cool, then add 30 ml (or 2 tablespoons) of olive oil.
7. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into sections: wings, drumsticks, thighs, and breast pieces. The breast pieces can be boneless or with ribs still attached.
8. Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces.
9. Add together the chicken pieces and the cooled marinade. (I like to marinate in a ziploc plastic bag, pressing out the air before sealing it.)
   
   
   
   
10. Place the marinating chicken into the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
11. About 2 hours before you plan to eat, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and, using a colander or large sieve, strain off the liquid part of the marinade into a bowl. 
    
12. Pick out the chicken pieces and place them on a rack or paper towels to drain and dry and reserve the marinade vegetables.
13. Cut the bacon into thin slices across the grain.
14. Finely slice the shallots and the 2 to 3 cloves of garlic.
15. Pour enough oil into the bottom part of the pressure cooker to lightly coat it, and turn the heat to medium-high.
16. Add the bacon bits and stir them almost constantly until they render most of their fat and turn golden brown.
17. Remove the bacon bits from the pressure cooker and set them aside.
18. Pour off most of the rendered fat.
19. Replace the pressure cooker on the burner over medium-high heat, and place the chicken pieces, skin-side down in the pan.
20. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides.
21. Add the marinade vegetables into the pan and stir to brown them slightly. 
22. Add the marinade liquid into the pan and stir to deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker.
23. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and chicken broth and give a quick stir to distribute them evenly throughout.
    
24. Following manufacturer's instructions, cover the pressure cooker and cook the chicken at high pressure (100 kPa, or 15 psi) for 5 minutes.
25. Allow the pressure to recede gradually.
26. Meanwhile, place the garbanzo bean flour into a small bowl and add enough water to make a thin slurry. Allow it to sit while continuing with the following steps.
27. Plunge the boiling onions into a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, then drain them.
    
28. When they are cool enough to handle, cut off the tops and bottoms, and remove their outer skins.
29. Wash the mushrooms and, if they are large, cut them into bite-size pieces.
30. In a large skillet, melt the butter in an equal amount of olive oil over medium-high heat.
31. Add the mushrooms and turn them constantly until they absorb the oil. 
32. When the mushrooms begin to render back the oil, add the onions and brown them with the mushrooms, then turn off the heat.
    
33. Open the pressure cooker and remove the chicken pieces into a serving dish.
34. Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard all of the vegetables and herbs from the cooking liquid.
35. Add the reserved garbanzo bean paste to the cooking liquid, place the mixture back on the burner on high heat, and stir until it thickens slightly.
36. Add the reserved bacon bits, mushrooms, and boiling onions to the cooking mixture.
37. Following manufacturer's instructions, cover the pressure cooker and cook them at high pressure (100 kPa, or 15 psi) for 5 minutes.
38. Following the manufacturer's instructions, bring the pressure back to normal rapidly.
39. Pour the contents of the pressure cooker over the chicken pieces.

The Story:

The basis for this method is a recipe for "Classic Coq Au Vin" on the epicurious.com web site. The pressure cooker saves braising time (but not, alas, prep time), while maintaining the deep, rich, goodness of this classic dish.

Roasted Broccolette

The Ingredients (for 5 to 6 servings):

• 450 g (or 1 lb) of broccolette (also called broccolini)
• 5 g (or 2 teaspoons) of freshly ground black pepper
• 30 ml (or 2 tablespoons) of cooking grade olive oil
• 5 ml (or 1 teaspoon) of sesame oil
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of soy sauce
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of oyster sauce
• 15 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of rice vinegar

The Method:

1. Set the oven to a temperature of 200°C (or 400°F).
2. Wash the broccolette stalks and dry them in a towel.
   
3. Lay the broccolette stalks in a shallow baking tray and sprinkle the pepper on them.
4. Drizzle the olive oil over the broccolette stalks, then mix them around until each piece is lightly coated.
   
5. Roast the broccolette for 15 minutes, then turn the pieces over and roast for a further 10 minutes. The florets should be brown and slightly crisped.
6. Remove the broccolette from the oven and allow them to cool slightly.
7. Whisk together the sesame oil and oyster sauce until they are thoroughly mixed, then add the soy sauce and rice vinegar, whisk again. Drizzle this dressing all over the broccolette.
   

The Story:

Roasted Broccolette with Yummy Umami Pork,
also on this blog

This is my current favorite vegetable dish. Broccoli is too densely flowered for me to really enjoy the texture and I have searched long and hard for ways to make it more palatable, as in Broccoli Bouquet on this blog. Chinese broccoli, which in China and in Chinatown is known as 'gai lan', is mostly all stalk, and that stalk is often very tough and fibrous. Broccolette, a hybrid from these two, has softer, sweeter stalks than gai lan, and fewer, looser buds on top. Roasting enhances the flavor, and the dressing provides piquancy.

Green Energy

Menu Note:

• This is my first try at making a green smoothie. I started from the formula published by Jen + Jadah on the Simple Green Smoothies blog. We love this mixture because it is nutty, creamy, not super sweet, gives a small but definite energy boost, and it's a lovely shade of green.

The Ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings):

• 1 cup of pressed down baby spinach leaves, weighing 70 g (or 2½ oz)

  

  I usually freeze some ripe mango and banana
  when I buy them at the farmers' market

• 240 ml (or 1 cup) of unsweetened almond milk (preferably vanilla-coconut flavor)
• ½ of a ripe avocado, weighing approximately 85 g (or 3 oz)
• 1 or 2 frozen bananas, weighing approximately 85 g (or 3 oz)
• 1 to 1½ cups of frozen mango, weighing approximately 230 g (or 8 oz)

The Method:

1. Wash and drain the spinach leaves and put them into the bottom of a blender.
2. Add the almond milk to the spinach and blend them at high speed until the spinach is completely liquefied.