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.

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

While the rest of NYC was freakin out about Hurricane Irene, I just relaxed and did some cooking. Not exactly an exciting Saturday night for most, but I made the best of having to stay inside! This is a recipe that I have been using for years. Pork tenderloin is a great cut, but sometimes can be lacking in flavor. This marinade definitely brings some flavor to the party.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. water

1 t. packed brown sugar

2 t. lemon juice

2 t. vegetable oil

1/8 t. ground pepper

1 pork tenderloin (about 3/4 lb.)

Make a marinade with all ingredients and put in a shallow glass dish or plastic bag. Add pork and turn to coat with marinade. Cover and refrigerate, turning occassionally, at least 1 hour but no longer than 24 hours. Heat oven to 425. Remove pork from marinade and put in a baking pan. Bake uncovered 27 to 30 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160. Cut pork crosswise into thin slices.

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.

Bourbon Bella Steak Sauce

I found some flat iron steaks in my freezer over the weekend - what a nice surprise! I wanted a summertime meal but have no yard for a grill, so I put the indoor machinery to work. I used the stovetop grill pan for the steaks and roasted both beets & corn in the oven. I had some baby bella mushrooms that I put to good use by pairing them with my favorite ingredient of life, bourbon.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces sliced baby bells mushrooms (any type work work)

1/2 vidalia onion, sliced (any type would work)

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon creole mustard (any brown type would do)

2 tablespoons bourbon (tonight's selection: Redemption)

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat with the butter. When the butter is melted, add in the mushrooms and the onions. Stir and cook until onions are fragrant and softened. Pour in the chicken broth, mustard, bourbon and season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 2 minutes. Serve over any type of steak or pork and enjoy!

Fatteh

Fatteh is Arabic for "crushed" or "crumbs." This dish is basically a layered dish that starts with stale flatbread, then topped with meat and a chickpea mixture, then yogurt and nuts. As you can imagine, there is a lot of room for variation. This is definitely a dish to make when cleaning out the fridge. My pal Irene and I recently took a cooking class for cooking on a budget at Whole Foods, and this was one of the featured recipes....so not only is it delicious, but it's also easy on the pocket. I'm going to list the exact recipe below, but please improvise. I ended up throwing out my chicken after the first serving and eating it vegetarian style because I wasn't happy with the quality of the meat I had purchased from a new store. I used pistachios instead of pine nuts too....it's what I had at home...and worked perfectly. And I didn't have any stale flatbread to use up, so I just bought a bag of pita chips...just perfect!

Ingredients:

For the chicken and marinade:

2 t. sweet paprika

1 t. cumin

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 T. cooking oil, like canola or grapeseed

4 small chicken thighs (about 3/4 lb), skins and bones removed

For the pita and chickpeas:

Three 6" round flatbread or pitas

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for cooking

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, coarsely chopped

one 14 oz can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

salt & pepper

For the topping:

1 cup strained yogurt, at room temperature

juice of half a lemon

3 T. cooking oil, like canola or grapeseed

1/3 cup pinenuts

3 T. honey (optional) - I recommend

6-8 mint leaves, torn into small pieces (optional) - I skipped this...no like mint.

Marinate the chicken: Combine the spices in a medium bowl. Add the oil and stir into a thick paste. Add the chicken and use your hands to rub the mixture into the meat. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Prepare the bread: Preheat the oven to 450. Cut each piece of bread in half to make into 2 thin rounds. Brush one side of each round with some olive oil, then cut each round into 8 triangular wedges. Place the braed slices on a sheet pan and bake until crispy and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, turn off the oven, and set aside to cool.

Cook the chicken: Coat pan with oil and heat over med-high heat. Cook chicken above 4 min or until golden brown. Flip and cook until done, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

Cook the chickpeas: Heat 2 T. oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until lightly browned. Add tomato, chickpeas and the broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

Assembly: Spread the bread chips on a large shallow bowl or rimmed platter. Spoon some of the broth over the chips to soften them. Tear chicken into bite-size pieces and place them over the chips. Spoon the chickpea mixture over the chicken and drizzle in the rest of the broth. Top with yogurt and a squeeze of lemon. Top toasted nuts over, then drizzle with honey and sprinkle with mint.

Potato Salad, Lisa Style

Potato salad in New York is gross. It's just so....white. I grew up on the yellow stuff, and that's what I like. This potato salad recipe is for the mustard-based potato salad lovers ONLY! Everytime I make this, I always get asked for the recipe. It's the closest thing to traditional southern potato salad served at meat & 3's down home.

Ingredients:
5 lbs. potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 cups mayonnaise (don't touch that diet crap here..or really ever for that matter)
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1 cup chopped onions
2 T. prepared horseradish
sea salt to taste
8 hard cooked eggs, chopped
3 dill pickles, chopped
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and place in a serving bowl. Stir the onion, salt and pepper into the potatoes while they are still hot to soak in the flavor. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard and horseradish to the potatoes and mix well. Gently stir in the eggs and pickles. Finish off with a generous grinding of black pepper on top and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

This recipe makes enough for a large bbq party....I usually half it and still have too much.

Aunt Deane's Red Beans and Rice

It's Monday....so you know what is for dinner. You got it - red beans and rice, darlin. When I spent a few years living in Louisiana, this was a given. It's a bit of tradition down there. Why, you ask? Well, laundry day was usually on Monday, so the women would cook a big ole pot of beans while they kept busy washing their clothes. My Aunt Deane submitted her recipe for red beans and rice for the family cookbook, which is the version you see here. This is not the traditional recipe that I was served down in Louisiana... this one used ground hot sausage and ground beef instead of the traditional link smoked sausage or andouille...think a little less soupy and more of a thick consistency. But it was easy, and I enjoyed it. Prewarning: It makes a lot....I'm going to freeze half for later.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. hot sausage

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped
2 cans Hunt's tomato sauce

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (cowboy up and use the spicy version)
3 cans dark red kidney beans
cooked white rice, for serving

Saute onions and peppers. Add meat and brown. Add Ro-Tel, tomato sauce, beans, salt and pepper. Cook slowly for 2 hours or overnight in a crockpot over low heat. Serve over rice. (And if you are anything like me, add some Crystal hot sauce!)