Fall Cauliflower

It’s fall. And in Seattle this means two things, one being that the rain is coming down in droves, and the second that it is unbelievably beautiful out. This recipe just seemed so fall like that I had to try it, and it was good. I’ve never had cauliflower not with cheese, but this topping was delightful. The one thing I wasn’t in love with was the texture of the cauliflower, I don’t like it baked so much.



Cauliflower with Raisins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 3 servings

1 head cauliflower, trimmed of leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons fresh soft bread crumbs
1 tablespoon plus
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons whole almonds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons raisins
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon finely sliced chives.



Sauté bread crumbs in 1 tablespoon butter for three minutes until toasted and golden brown. Set aside, and put in almonds and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss until lightly browned and then remove from pan. Roughly chopped (we pulled out the wooden bowl and chopped used to make charoses), and then also set outside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wipe out pan and add remaining olive oil, cut cauliflower into slices (which I was less successful at) and sauté until lightly browned on each side. Since I don’t have an oven proof skillet, I transferred everything onto a pan and baked that for 12 minutes which worked well.

So I busted the pan back out, poured the vinegar and remaining butter and raisins, and cooked until plump, about five minutes. Then add the drained raisins, almonds, capers, and spices together. Once the cauliflower is cooked pour this on top, and then spread over the bread crumbs. Serve immediately!

Peel a tomato?

If the judge of the quality of a dish is how fast it disappears then this counts as a success. Considering that I made two pies, and the only people in my household who are eating it are me and my Dad, it is rapidly disappearing. The first night both me and my darling ex-roommate and my Uncle all had seconds, and the rest of it has spiced up lunch like PB&Js never did.

This says it made enough for one pie, and while the crust measures out to that I had more than enough filling for two pies, and I even forgot the cheese. So I’ve adapted the recipe for enough filling to make only one pie. I thought it tasted fine without cheese (I’m not a huge cheddar fan) but it would probably be better with it.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Tomato Pie that isn't Pizza

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted

3/4 cup 2% milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 pound beefsteak tomatoes (about two large ones)

1 ear corn
1 tablespoons finely chopped basil,

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped chives,

1/8 teaspoon black pepper,

3.5 ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 cup),

Crust: Have butter room temperature/slightly softened (I popped mine in the microwave for a quick ten seconds because I have no foresight). Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Then fold in butter with your hands until it has a sort of coarse texture. Add in milk and make dough. Divide into two balls, and roll one out on a floured surface. Mine did not come out round and pie shaped, but I made it fit into the pie pan anyways.

Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice. This will look like icing, which is misleading.

Cut large a large ‘x’ in the bottom of each tomato and then blanch. You do this by dropping in boiling water for ten seconds and then immersing in an ice bath, this makes it easy to peel which is the next step. Which was weird for me because normally I skip the peeling step in most recipes, but what Smitten Kitchen recommends I blindly follow, and the result was nice. This is also a little soupy so the recommendation is to remove the seeds and tomato juice, but I couldn’t bring myself to follow.

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Chop tomatoes into slices and lay on top of crust, put corn over this (you could also just use a cup of frozen already cut corn, but I am always one for fresh ingredients) and sprinkle herbs and cheese. Pour mayonnaise over this, and then roll out second half of dough and cover. Cut four vents and brush with the melted butter. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes (32 worked well for me). The top is biscuity and the filling is delicious, and this is all super easy.

Not Marina Sauce

So this was meant to be a sauce, only it was not very saucy. Still delicious and served with some plums that I foraged. Maybe slightly unethically, but hey, they were not picking them. Anyways, if you wanted to turn this into a sauce you could probably just add some tomato paste to thicken it up. Also, this is a little mushroom heavy which makes me ridiculously happy, but my dinner guest didn’t like mushrooms. My bad.

Faux Marina Sauce
Serves 3 and a half

8 white mushrooms
2 tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic
2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
Handful of fresh oregano and basil leaves
1 piece bread
1 walla walla onion

Mozzerella cheese for topping

Take out a pot, and put in the diced tomatoes and sliced mushrooms, diced onion, and all ingredients but bread. Garlic should be minced and is about two cloves worth. Turn on stove medium heat and cover, make sure you stir it a lot. It may seem tempting to add liquid considering that there is none, but resist the urge. The juice from all vegetables will come out soon. Put piece of bread in toaster. Then chop into smaller pieces and add into mixture 30 minutes in. I cooked mine for about 45minutes which seemed to do the trick, but cook until the vegetables are as tender as you want them. Serve over spaghetti noodles. Sprinkly a little cheese on top, and viola!

As a side note, it always amazes me how much spinach shrinks when cooked. It is sort of like a magic trick.

Bell Peppers stuffed

At a local grocery store down in Kent the other day, I spotted a rarity. A purple pepper. Having previously exclaimed my love for the color, you can imagine that I went and bought one (it tastes like all other bell peppers, closest to red I’d say), and since my friend was coming over to cook I decided to combine the two occasions. Stuffed Peppers Granted, by the end the peppers were pretty weak and not the best containers, and the filling wasn’t as flavorful as I’d have like (bread crumbs would have been a good edition as would mushrooms) but it was tasty and filling and though this recipe makes two there was still leftovers.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

½ cup brown rice or some sort of grain
½ large onion (I used walla walla)
¾ cup fresh spinach
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 bell peppers
Mozzarella cheese
1 ½ cup water
1 small tomato
Spices to preference

Brown rice/grain, diced onion, diced tomato, minced garlic, and ½ of a bell pepper diced in a saucepan with olive oil. After 3-5 minutes add in water and cook rice/grain per directed (I simmered mine for 45 minutes covered). Once 20 minutes are left place bell peppers deviened and open on top in oven on sides, turn every five minutes. When there is only 15 minutes left add in the spinach and spices, I put in some fresh basil leaves, thyme, savory, and oregano, but many other combos would work as well. Once the mixture is cooked spoon it into upright standing bell peppers (though mine were more than a little tipsy), place some mozzarella slices on it, and let cook eight more minutes.