The Vegetables - Xmas 2008

Along with the cranberry sauce and chutney, the Hoopers requested vegetables. They love my vegetables. I love cooking vegetables. And the Hoopers are always kind in accepting whichever recipes I choose to explore each year.

I brought three vegetable dishes this year. My first choice was a cauliflower dish I discovered a few months ago. For the record, I am not a big cauliflower fan. I find it boring, tasteless, a pale sister to broccoli. But this recipe turned the bland into beautiful. The cauliflower head is sliced into thick slices, roasted in the oven and tossed with a lemon mustard butter sauce that is out of this world. The carmelization from the roasting combines beautifully with the sauce and this dish is a big hit in my book.

I love broccoli and enjoy finding new ways to prepare it that don't include butter, cream or cheese (because that is cheating, anything will taste great with enough butter, cream or cheese!). I found this recipe at Epicurious. It's a Mario Batali recipe and I wasn't sure it would be too exciting, but it is! The wine infuses the broccoli spears with a tangy goodness that is absolutely addicting.

I had to please the children at the party as well, so carrots were in order. (Can anyone tell my why children love orange and white food so much? My 10 year old spent at least 2 years of his life eating only only foods that were orange and white. Strange.) I cheated and used a bag of organic baby carrots and the texture of the final product always suffers when I do this. But hey, I was busy, it was Christmas Eve! I often do a orange glazed carrot recipe using marmalade and butter, sometimes garlic and ginger too. I kept it simple this year and just used the marmalade and a knob of butter in a large frying pan with a little bit of water. I simmered them slowly until they were tender voila. No recipe, just winged it.

Here are the recipes for the other two:

Cauliflower with Mustard Lemon Butter

Ingredients:
1 large head of Cauliflower
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest finely grated
6 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly butter a rimmed baking sheet. Cut cauliflower in half, then cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in single layer on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle with salt. Roast until cauliflower is slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in lemon juice, mustard, and lemon peel. Spoon mustard-lemon butter evenly over cauliflower and roast until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes longer.
Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Broccoli with White Wine and Garlic

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 pounds broccoli, cut into spears
1 cup Frascati or other dry white wine
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange

Method:

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil with the garlic over medium-high heat until just sizzling. Add the broccoli and cook, tossing frequently and gradually adding the wine to keep the garlic from browning until the stalks are tender 8 to 10 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and zests, and tossing well, taste and season with salt, serve immediately.

The Simple Joys of Mirepoix

I'm teaching my husband how to cook. He helps me with my mise en place on big recipes, stirs and flips, and keeps an eye on slow braises and stews. It's a great thing to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen.


In teaching him, I've tried to follow the guidelines I learned in cooking school so long ago. We've started with knife skills and are moving on to stocks and soups. He's a slow prep cook and I give him a hard time about it. I don't know if it's just that I'm quick or if he truly is as slow as the culinary sloth I think he is.


I haven't really been strict about teaching the fundamental cuts for vegetables (brunoise, baton, small, medium, and large dice). It's now become a priority. If I don't specify right up front the exact size I want the vegetables, they are likely to become very small dice. He really likes to cut things small, he thinks it takes more skill and he's anxious to please. But most of the time these little bits are too small. I can sometimes turn them into a good thing, pureeing them into a sauce as a final step. But, most of the time, they turn to mush before the dish has finished cooking.


One of Bruce's most favorite lessons in cooking has been the basic mirepoix (onion, carrots and celery). The novice cook may not appreciate these three basic ingredients. But the knowledgeable chef knows the value of this first step in most any classic dish. Mirepoix is the first set of ingredients for almost all stocks, soups, stews, braises, and roasts in French cooking. Whether vegetarian or meat filled, all dishes are enhanced by starting with these three vegetables cooked slowly (sweated) in a little olive oil or butter. These simple ingredients become magically fragrant and add an amazing richness to home cooked foods. They fill the kitchen and the house with the warm savory fragrance of ... home, of food lovingly prepared, of something good, simmering slowly.


We love garlic and often add a few cloves in after the vegetables has been sweating over a nice low heat to add a distinct piquant richness that only garlic can. There are a few different varieties of mirepoix with other such additions or subtractions. Here are a few I find useful:



Cajun or Southern Mirepoix: Onions, Celery and Green Peppers

Southwest or Mexican Mirepoix: White Onion, Garlic, Chile Peppers

Indian Basic Aromatics: Onion, Chiles, Garlic, Ginger cooked in Ghee (clarified butter)

Italian: add a few cloves of garlic; use olive oil instead of butter or a combination of both

White Mirepoix: Onions, Celery and Parsnips (leeks and mushrooms often added)