Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

I haven't been cooking much for the past few weeks. I've been making food, yes, but I haven't really been cooking. And even when I did Cook something Real, it wasn't photogenic (though tasty!) Examples of the latter category include whole roasted chicken and pierogies with applesauce (beige and beige and beige!) or tonight's dinner, my first homemade Spaghetti Carbonara (beige!).

But I plan to start cooking more just as soon as this whole moving-to-DC thing is sorted out in the next few weeks, so in the mean time, to keep the blog afloat, I present one of my favorite all-season vegetable dishes: Spiced Roasted Cauliflower. It has won over several cauliflower-dubious friends, and takes only about 20 minutes if you preheat the oven while you chop cauliflower.

Note: Once, I made it in the toaster oven, when I was using the oven at a different temperature for something else, but I wouldn't advise it; the cauliflower needs to be spread out on the baking sheet for maximum toastiness.

Spiced Roasted Cauliflower
Adapted from December 2002 issue of Food and Wine

Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), cut into florets
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (Alternatively: Use same amount of olive oil)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with butter or oil, coating evenly. In a small bowl, combine sugar, salt and spices and mix cauliflower with hands, ensuring that spice mixture has been evenly distributed.

Spread florets on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast in oven until fork tender, at least 15 minutes. Serve in a bowl as a side dish or with toothpicks, as a party snack.

Chile Shrimp

(tweaked from a post on the Washington Post food blog, which in turn was taken from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World, which I don't have but wish I did.)

Mango Lass's Note: I used chipotle peppers instead of fresh ones, and I wouldn't advise following my lead on that. It gave it a strangely smokey, Latin-American flavor which didn't mesh entirely with the rest of the dish. That being said, I did happily eat the leftovers cold for lunch the next day, and they were great. In the photo here, they're shown on Trader Joe's curry soba noodles.

Chile Shrimp
Adapted from The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman
1 pound medium or large shrimp, peeled
Sprinkle of salt
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1 medium shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
Chiles: Depends on personal preference; try one seeded, chopped pepper of your preferred level of spiciness
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fish sauce (also known as nam pla)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

Lightly sprinkle salt over peeled shrimp and set aside.

Place ginger, garlic, shallot and chiles in food processor and whiz until minced. Place tomato paste, lime, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl, set aside.

In a wok or large skillet, add oil and heat for one minute until quite hot, but not smoking. Add ginger mixture and stir constantly over medium heat, about one minute.

Stir in tomato paste mixture, plus 2 tablespoons of water (add 1 tablespoon more if sauce needs thinning). Cook until sauce begins to bubble and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink or opaque, about five minutes. Serve over rice or thin noodles -- enough for two chile-loving fiends.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I'm in the middle of making my second batch of Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop, because the first batch was such a hit (presented with Lean Chocolate Sauce from the same cookbook).

I purchased my ice cream maker about a month ago, and it's already made 6 batches of frozen yogurt or ice cream, counting today's. So to those people who told me it would be a waste of money and kitchen space: You haven't tried this recipe! It's creamy and fresh, without requiring the stove, as so many ice cream recipes do.

For the party, I paired it with the Roasted Banana Ice Cream, which was also good, but which strangely only made about 1/3 the quantity of the strawberry, so it's the strawberry that wins, which is why I'm bringing it along to a friend's party tonight.

(Keep reading after the recipe for the most amazing chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe...)

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop
1 lb strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vodka or kirsch (I used blueberry vodka)
1 cup heavy cream (I've also used whole milk instead here, when I didn't have any cream; it worked fine)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp lemon juice, fresh if possible

Hull the strawberries and chop coarsely; put in a medium bowl with the sugar and vodka/kirsch. Stir vigorously until the sugar begins to dissolve (about 30 seconds). Cover and leave on the counter for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Pour mixture into the blender, and add cream, sour cream, and lemon juice. Blend until mostly smooth, but with some small pieces. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in ice cream maker according to its directions.



Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooks Illustrated

The last few times I made chocolate chip cookies, I was lazy and just used the recipes on the bag of chips I had in the pantry. The cookies were mediocre -- certainly not the meltingly thick and chewy rounds of goodness that came out of the oven this week, when I turned to an Actual Cookbook for direction. These were quite simply the best cookies I have ever made. Mmmmm. This recipe describes a special way to form the dough balls which is a little hard to describe, but which made amazingly precise, chewy rounds. So if you can figure it out, give it a try. It doesn't really take any longer than the usual way, once you get the hang of it.

Cooks Illustrated note: These truly chewy chocolate chip cookies are delicious served warm from the oven or cooled. To ensure a chewy texture, leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool. You can substitute white, milk chocolate, or peanut butter chips for the semi- or bittersweet chips called for in the recipe. In addition to chips, you can flavor the dough with one cup of nuts, raisins, or shredded coconut.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled until just warm (I used the freezer for the cooling - 5 minutes is more than enough)
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (I used peanut butter chips, which I highly recommend in this cookie)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)

Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

Tomato-Basil Bruschetta

Last Saturday, we had a big party, complete with homemade strawberry and banana ice cream (amazing! post to follow soon!), spinach dip with pita chips, traditional devilled eggs, hummus and veggies, tomato-basil bruschetta on toasted baguette rounds... oh, and a lot of beer. Though there are still 15 bottles in the fridge - anybody want some?

Seriously, I've never had that many people in my apartment, though everyone was very well-behaved and the only untoward incident was the accidental tipping of half a glass of white wine. (That's if we don't count the toast going up in flames before the party... see recipe below for details!)

And it ended with 14 people in the bedroom playing Guitar Hero, which is always a blast.

The spinach dip, from Cooks Illustrated, was subpar, possibly because I didn't have any scallions. The hummus was a last-minute addition when I realized how many people were bringing guests, and it was pretty good even though I ran out of lemon juice in the middle of making it.

The bruschetta, on the other hand, vanished immediately upon presentation.


Tomato-Basil Bruschetta

A fresh baguette
3 ripe tomatoes
6 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Mine garlic (easiest in a garlic press); chop tomatoes in 1/2-inch dice; chop basil finely.

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl; let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Slice baguette into rounds and toast.* Just before serving, put a heaping spoonful of tomato mixture on each toasted baguette slice. Enjoy!

*This can be done in a toaster oven or under your broiler, but be careful not to put the slices too close to the heating element! This was my first time using the broiler in my new apartment, and I put the tray too close to the element... within 1 minute, there was a smoke, and one of the slices even caught on fire! Very exciting! (Very small flame, easily put out in the sink. Smoke alarm didn't even go off.) Point here being: The slices will likely toast in less than 2 minutes. Don't leave them alone. If you smell smoke, pull them out immediately.