Food – Page 3 – Cheeky Attitude

Cooking and eating together: Sharing Bourbon Maple Glazed Pistachios

Orly from Yumivore.com had the brilliant idea of a cooking group and she just happens to be in my area – Lucky me! She hosts the monthly “cook-up” and announces the theme. This time it was “Boozy March: Cooking with alcohol.” We signed up ahead of time for a dish or course so there wouldn’t be too many of one thing. I volunteered to make a salad and originally thought I’d dress it with a champagne vinaigrette. But I soon realized that usually that is made with champagne vinegar rather than champagne itself. doh!

My farm box and neighborhood has been overflowing with Meyer lemons, so I decided to use the dressing recipe from White on Rice Couple but omitted the mayo. I also got a fennel bulb in my CSA box and planned to add that to the spring mix of greens. When I found the recipe for the Bourbon Maple Toasted Pistachios, I knew it would be a perfect idea to mix these Mediterranean flavors.

I altered the recipe just a little. Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:
1 8-ounce bag shelled pistachios (Trader Joeâ€™s carries them roasted but unsalted)
1.5 Tablespoons bourbon
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
.5 teaspoon packed light brown sugar
.5 teaspoon turbinado sugar
.25 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 250Â°F and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper or use a silpat mat.
In a medium bowl, combine bourbon, maple syrup and brown sugar together and toss well.

Arrange the pistachios in a single layer on the parchment-lined jelly roll pan and toast the nuts for about 15 minutes. I gave them a quick stir about half way through.

Remove them from the oven and turn off the heat. Allow the nuts to cool slightly then toss them in a dry bowl with the salt and turbinado sugar. This breaks up the sticky maple syrup. Lay them out on the pan again and put them back in the oven to cool down with the oven.

Try not to eat them all before you sprinkle them on a salad.

I used a mandoline to shave a small fennel bulb into a mix of greens. As I mentioned above, I tossed the greens with the dressing recipe from White on Rice Couple(omitting the mayo). Lastly, I sprinkled the nuts on top.

note: I think the nuts could have been a little crunchier. Next time I might try to find raw pistachio meats instead of the already roasted ones.

Here was the menu from the whole evening:
Beer bread
Drunken pasta
Sake steamed clams – by Beth from OMG Yummy : who has found the key to tasty clams.
Stuffed mushrooms soaked in wine – by Orly from Yumivore
Drunk cupcakes

This was the second Cook-up group meeting. I couldn’t make the first one with the olive oil theme but all the recipes are in a recap on yumivore.

Enjoy!

Never stop learning

I thought I got Madonna’s bra in my farm box. Turns out it’s called romanesco.

You can support the ASPCA by buying Walker’s Shortbread

California likes a little booze in their treats: Not sure about the beer infused ones, but the wine infused chocolates sound nummy.

Canada gets ketchup flavored Popchips and Nashville gets a donut food truck .

Why didn’t I think of this? Save time preheating your oven by turning on the broiler first. Men’s Health has this and 20 other handy kitchen tips.

Yikes! Yoplait has twice as much sugar per serving as Lucky Charms. The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food (New York Times Mag.)

Roasted Cauliflower with Curry and Lemon

Hubby’s groan was intentionally loud when he saw me unpack the beige blob of cauliflower. He’s not a fan. I think of cauliflower as a vehicle for other flavors and I I remembered a recipe that fit his palate – tangy and spicy (but not hot).

Based on a roasted cauliflower salad that Chef Susan makes at work.

Preheat oven to 450F
Spray a jelly roll pan with olive oil spray

2 lbs cauliflower florets
1 lb small fingerling potatoes
1 tsp salt (divided)
1 Tbs chopped garlic
1 tsp sweet paperika
1 tsp sweet curry powder
freshly ground black pepper (about 4 cranks of the grinder)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place cauliflower florets into a large bowl. Cut potatoes into chunks no bigger than the larger florets. Add 1/2 tsp salt, garlic, paprika, and curry then stir. Pour in the olive oil, toss, then spread on the jelly roll pan sprayed with olive oil spray. Roast for 20 minutes at 450F, then furn with a spatula. Return pan to oven and roast for 10 more minutes. Cauliflower and potatoes will begin to brown and soften. Cool to room temperature.

While the vegetables are cooling whisk lemon juice with 1/2 tsp salt until salt dissolves (I just put it in a glass jar and shake it).

When ready to serve toss cauliflower and potatoes in a bowl with the lemon juice.