Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower has a bad reputation. You don't see it a lot. You don't eat it a lot. Most people choose its friend, broccoli, when they are looking to add a side dish. But don't overlook this guy, my friends. This is a delicious recipe, from Simply Recipes, to serve it year-round.

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
Lemon juice from half a lemon
Olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Slice the cauliflower info florets and put in single layer in an oven-proof baking dish. Toss in the garlic. Sprinkle lemon juice over cauliflower and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place casserole in the hot oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Test with a fork for desired doneness. Fork tines should be able to easily pierce the cauliflower. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Carpaccio

Ah...late summer...my favorite time of year for all things food. Everything just tastes SO good. Minimal preparation is encouraged and practiced over here at Casa Burnett. All that work in the kitchen can wait for winter! I went to the farmers market yesterday and loaded up on all kinds of goodies: beets, corn, tomatoes, peaches, garlic, and zucchini. Tonight I made a super simple dish that I would highly recommend for an easy appetizer or side dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb. zucchini
4 T. pine nuts (i used slivered almonds)
4 T. extra virgin olive oil
3 T. fresh lemon juice
fresh ground pepper
fleur de sel
6 T. shaved Parmesan Reggiano

Slice the zucchini super thin, using a mandoline. Arrange the slices, slightly overlapping, on a serving tray. Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge. Toast the pine nuts over medium heat in a dry saute pan until slightly brown and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle the dressing over the zucchini; season with salt and pepper and top with pine nuts.

Christmas Eve 2010

Every Christmas Eve is spent at Mamaw's in Drew with my Mom's side of the family. We meet up and visit, drink Mamaw's punch & eat her famous cheeseball, and then proceed to a family feast. The staples of the meal stay the same but in the past few years, we've tried incorporating different side dishes into the mix. After dinner comes....you guessed it, PRESENTS!

Here is a shot of the spread this year (Mom didn't want me to take a picture because we didn't use pretty serveware)


The feast menu:
Honeybaked Ham
Jezebel sauce (recipe featured last December)
Glenn's beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce
3 Green Salad with blue cheese, toasted pecans and dried cranberries
Gayla's Potatoes
Pineapple Casserole
Broccoli and Gruyere Gratin
Corn Pudding
Rolls

Here is my plate:

The 2 family recipes I want to share from this meal (and the cookbook) are below:

Gayla's Potato Casserole - This recipe is created by my "Aunt" Gayla Marley, but was submitted by my cousin Lesley Smith. She told me that they have had this at a many Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings and that it's always a crowd pleaser. I would have to agree - this is delicious and a great alternative to ordinary mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
5-7 big red potatoes
1 small carton cottage cheese
1 small carton sour cream
3/4 stick of butter
Milk
Garlic salt
Salt & Pepper

Peel the potatoes and cute them into chunks. Mash them with an electric mixer. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt and a dash of milk. Add cottage cheese and sour cream. Mash it all again in the mixer. Grease a 9x13 casserole and put the potato mixture in. Melt the butter and pour it on top. Bake on 350 uncovered for 1 hour.

Corn Pudding - This recipe, submitted by Jan Burnett, might be easiest recipe in the world. Don't judge the ingredients!

Ingredients:
2 cans (16 ounce each) creamed corn
1 package (6 ounce) Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas! Here's to more eating in 2011!

A Thanksgiving Grows in Brooklyn - Cranberry Chutney

I didn't get to go home to Mississippi for Thanksgiving, so I joined forces with some good friends in the neighborhood and had a spectacular Thanksgiving feast. Needless to say, we all cooked entirely too much, but it was all delicious! I had this cranberry chutney at Mary Margaret's house last year, and she managed to get the recipe for me from her co-worker, Kim. So here's to you Kim: I don't know you, but I like your chutney!


This isn't just for Thanksgiving, but can be served anytime. Mary Margaret served it with pork tenderloin, and it really complimented it well.

Ingredients:
1 bag of fresh cranberries
Less than 2 cups sugar - I wasn't really sure what this meant, so I used 1.75 cups.
1 cup water
1 T. grated orange peel
1 cup orange juice (this took about 3 oranges)
1 cup golden or dark seedless raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 t. ground ginger


In a 3 qt. saucepan over medium heat, heat cranberries, sugar and water to boiling, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook a few minutes more for flavors to mix. Cover and refrigerate or process and can.


I would personally cut the orange flavor a bit, maybe use a little less zest, next time. But taste as you go along, to get to your liking. Enjoy!

Shoepeg Corn Casserole

This is a staple at every Burnett Thanksgiving, so since I wasn't going home this year, I decided to bring this dish along with me to celebrate with friends down the street. Now, this is not a fancy dish. Actually, it's kind of embarrasing to even tell you the ingredients. But at the end of the day, this tastes like home, which means it tastes damn good!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 can french-style green beans, drained
1 can shoe-peg corn, drained
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 pint sour cream
1 stick melted margarine
1 stack Ritz crackers, crushed
salt & pepper to taste


Mix first 8 ingredients. Add salt & pepper. Place in a 9x13" dish. Melt oleo and mix with Ritz. Spread on top of mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Back to Basics: Southern Green Beans

I picked up some fresh green beans from the farm yesterday. I worked especially hard on these beans, weeding the beds one week and fertilizing another. I've never been so attached to a vegetable -sounds like I need to step up my love life. I didn't want to totally cook these down too much; I wanted to be able to taste the freshness. So I altered a basic recipe with ingredients I had on hand.

Green Beans - I grabbed a handful, probably 1/2 lb., trimmed and cut into pieces

1 piece bacon, cut into pieces

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 T. red wine vinegar

1 t. sugar

Cook green beans in 1-inch simmering water, covered, for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside. Return skillet to stove, add bacon and brown. Add chopped onions to the pan and cook until tender with the bacon. Add cooked green beans to the pan and turn to coat in bacon drippings and onions. When the beans are hot and bacon crisp at edges and onions translucent add vinegar to the pan and season with beans with sugar. Cook 1-2 minutes and serve.

Just Beet It

Beets. Oh how I love you. I love you in salads, roasted all by yourself, and even just your greens. Even though beets have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, suprisingly they are very low in calories. Let's also not forget all the powerful nutrients they have to protect against heart disease and cancer.

My mom doesn't like beets, so I never grew up eating them, much less cooking them. Luckily, they are super easy. And don't even think about throwing the greens away - I recently started cooking them and am obsessed. You can cook just like any other greens, and they are delicious. The best part is that one vegetable makes 2 sides. I served with some chicken/feta/spinach sausage for a nice light meal.

For the beets:
Clean off any dirt with a paper towel, but do not wash. Trim the roots and stems to 1/2." Place the beets in an oven-proof baking dish and cover (foil works fine). Bake at 400 degrees for one hour, or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Then simply slip the skins and root off with your fingers.

For the greens: (from simplyrecipes.com)
1 pound beet greens
1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (I have made it without bacon and it is still good)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup of water
1 T, sugar
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/6 cup of cider vinegar

Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and cut away any heavy stems. Cut leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a large skillet or 3-qt saucepan, cook bacon until lightly browned on medium heat. Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occassionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.

Add the beet greens, gently toss in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar.

Elote (Mexican Corn)

I discovered elote during my first year in NY at this great little place, Cafe Habana. It took me forever to realize the secret ingredient is mayonnaise. I always bring this to outdoor cookouts in the summer - everyone loves it! Cotija cheese can be found at any Mexican grocery store, but if you can't find it, I've heard Parmesan is a good substitute.

Ingredients:
Ears of corn (however many you want)
Cotija chese
Mayonnaise
Cayenne Pepper
Lime

Shuck corn, leaving husk on. Wrap husk back and grill for roughly 15 minutes, turning, until hot.. Remove husk, slather each ear with mayo and then roll corn in the cheese to stick. Sprinkle with cayenne and lime juice and enjoy!

Broccoli Slaw

I had an impromptu rooftop bbq the other night and was on the hunt for a quick side. Potato salad? Takes too long. Macaroni salad? Mayo Glop City. I went to my lovely neighborhood market, Brooklyn Fare, to take a look at their pre-made sides and found a great looking broccoli slaw. I had seen the bagged mix in the grocery, but I had never had it before. I was so suprised to realize how yummy it was that night on the roof. I picked up some broccoli on yesterday and found an easy recipe tonight. With my trusty food processor, whipping this up was super simple and even though I plan on eating tomorrow with my lunch, I took a bite to taste..... yum yum! Try this as a new side this summer for something different.

Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli
1/2 cup golden raisins (Feel free to improvise here; cranberries or currants would be excellent substitutions)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
3/4 cup slivered almonds (or whole almonds that have been roughly chopped)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

Shred the broccoli in a food processor, using the grater disk. In a large bowl, combine the shredded broccoli, raisins, red onion, and almonds.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if needed.

Allow to sit for 30 minutes (or an hour in the fridge) so the flavors can mingle.

I read in some of the recipe reviews that some people added bacon....mmm.....bacon. Just passing on the suggestion.

Scalloped Potato Grain

I saw this recipe online the other day and want to cook it for Christmas Eve. However, I believe in the rule of never trying a new recipe out at dinner parties. I learned this from experience of course. This dish is very simple, easy to make, and turned out to be delicious! It's definitely going on the menu next week. Ok, ingredients, you're up.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Butter
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling (serves 4-6)

First, preheat the oven to 375.

Then, chop up those 2 cloves of garlic.
Next, peel the potatoes. I have a serious crush on my peeler. It has great memories and always puts a smile on my face when I see it. I know what you're thinking; Lisa has officially lost it. She's in love with her peeler? Well, the lovely Mr. Joseph Ades sold me this peeler. If you've been to visit me in New York, you probably need no introduction to "Peeler Guy." But for everyone else, you've never seen such a sales pitch. Unfortunately, he passed away this February, but thanks to the internet, you can see him in action still. Take the time to view his obituary article, as well as this video. It's a fascinating story.
Kodak made me spend a lot of money with them this year "or else" they were going to delete my pictures....so guess what I purchased? A Peeler Guy Beer Mug - I can't think of a more appropriate time for a cold one! CHEERS!!!!!
Ok, back to cooking. So now you need to slice the potatoes....if you don't have one already, invest in a mandolin now. I just have the simple hand held one by OXO. Doesn't take up too much space and works great. Slice, slice, slice away!
In a saucepan, heat up the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg.
While that is heating up, butter a casserole dish. I was taking this dish to a friend's apartment, so I went with a disposable one. Then layer the potatoes in an overlapping pattern.
Add some salt and pepper on top. Can you tell I LOVE pepper???
Then add some of the cream mix.
Then top with a handful of Parmesan.
Make 2 more layers. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Sprinkle some more Parmesan and broil until cheese browns, about 5 minutes.

Served along with a filet and broccoli, compliments of the Gomez's. Yummy!