Roasted Sprouts & Beans, BBQ Mahi, Asparagus Soup, Cara Cara Marmalade, more

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Green Beans
Outstanding dish!  Don't forget, or substitute something else for the Pecans, they really make the dish. Makes a great side for chicken or chops, or a main dish for two.

20-30 small to medium Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and halved
2-3 good handfuls of fresh Green Beans, tipped and trimmed
1/4 cup Pecan pieces
1 Lemon, sliced
1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce with Garlic, warmed
Salt & Pepper to taste (not much)
EVOO

Preheat oven to 425F and foil line a large baking sheet to make cleanup a LOT easier.

Put the sprouts and beans in a plastic bag and drizzle in a tablespoon or so of EVOO, and shake to coat.  Lay the veg out on the baking sheet and dust with salt & pepper.  In one corner add the pecans. spread out somewhat.

Roast the veg tray for 15 minutes or so; then switch the oven to Broil and broil for 3-5 minutes until you start to get some nice caramelization.

Transfer the veggies (not the pecans) to a serving bowl, then sprinkle the nuts over the top.  Sprinkle too with juice of half a lemon and add the wedges of the other half lemon, then pour the (microwave) warmed Alfredo sauce on and serve.


BBQ Mahi Mahi
Awhile back I got some beautiful fresh Mahi Mahi from Costco, used part for another dish, and froze three filets for another day.  Well, "another day" arrived when it was my turn to make Sunday Lunch.  Such beautiful steaks deserved something more than being chopped into pieces and folded into Plokk Fiskur, or turned into panko-crusted slabs.

I also have this wonderful Pepper Palace Key Lime Barbecue Sauce that Holly got me for Christmas -- www.pepperpalace.com.  I brushed the steaks with the sauce and let them marinate for an hour before grilling  (I used the broiler rather than firing up another kind of grill).

Served this with boiled purple potatoes and sweet potatoes for the starch, and steamed broccoli for the side veg.

Asparagus-Cowpea Soup
I'm spending this week at my boat.  Our last chance, for awhile, for some alone time.  The Poolside Cabana is booked almost solid for the couple months.   Sally wanted me to make her a soup for the week, that she could have as lunch or dinner.  I've been saving asparagus trimmings for just such a task.  Cowpea is the general name for Black-eyed Peas.

1 lb Asparagus Butts, chopped into 1/4" pieces
1 Sweet Onion, diced
1 large Shallot, chopped
1 can Evaporated Milk (not Sweetened Condensed)
1 cup dried Blackeyed Peas (yields about 2-1/2 cups of cooked beans)
Bacon or Goat Cheese crumbles, or toasted slivered Almonds for garnish

Cook up the dry black-eyed peas in 4 cups of water, until just tender.  This will take about 45 minutes.

While that's going on, put the chopped asparagus, diced onion and shallot in your soup pot with a splash of EVOO, and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add 2 cups of water and simmer for about 20 minutes until the asparagus is tender as well.

Remove most of the veggie mixture to a food processor and take it for a spin until you have a nice puree.  Return the mixture to the pot and stir into the left-behinds.  Add a can of Evaporated Milk and 1 cans of water and bring to a simmer. 

Continue cooking, on Low, until the black-eyed peas are cooked.  Drain the peas and add them to the soup base.  Stir to combine.

Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.  Serve with a crusty baguette for sopping up the yumminess.

Cara Cara Marmalade
I ordered some Blood Oranges from our Produce Co-op, and got these strange looking things.  When cut open they looked more like a grapefruit than a regular orange, and definitely not a burgundy-fleshed Blood Orange in color or flavor.  Flavor was mild and sweet, not as acidic as the usual orange or grapefruit.

Turns out they are Cara Cara oranges, a special cultivar of the Navel Orange discovered in Venezuela back in 1976.  Apparently they are being introduced here as a variety that may be less susceptible to the Citrus Greening disease which is devastating our orange industry.

I gotta say they make a great marmalade!

Three (3) of these oranges will make almost 2 quarts of marmalade (they're that big).  Cut the fruit into pieces, and place in a food processor -- skin, pith seeds and all.      Take the fruit for a whirrrrrr until you get a puree that sorta looks like marmalade - small pieces of skin in the mix.

Measure into a microwave safe glass bowl (don't use plastic!).  Then add the same measure of sugar, cup for cup.  The kind of sugar doesn't matter, just don't use confectioner's sugar.  Brown sugar will affect the taste though.  Stir well to dissolve the sugar into the puree. 

Taste.  Too sweet, add a lime or half a lemon pureed to the mix.  Too tart, add a bit more sugar.

Microwave on High for 5 minutes.  Stir again and taste.  Adjust taste if needed.  Nuke again for 5 more minutes.  Carefully remove the bowl and spoon the contents into screw top containers.  Let them cool to room temperature before lidding.  Will last in the fridge as long as it takes you to eat it.

Not only good on toast, this goes great on firm white fish, stirred into cooking carrots, or sweetening up oatmeal in the morning.

This basic technique works with any and all Citrus fruit -- lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, pommelo, loquats, kumquats.  The pectin necessary for the cooked fruit to set up is in the skin and pith of citrus fruit.  Not enough natural pectin in mango, starfruit, strawberries or other non-citrus fruits.


Cajun Red Beans & Rice
This was a 'cheater' dish.  We needed something fast and filling.  Our Publix megamart has had a 'dollar a can' special on the many (over 40) varieties of Bush's Beanstm, including these New Orleans Southern Style Red Beans.  Nice 'gravy', but not nearly spicy enough, and no visible traces of The Trinity.

So while the Jasmine rice was working in rice cooker, I sliced and diced a bit of celery, onion and bellpepper, gave it a quick saute with some Tony Chacere'stm Cajun spice, and added that to the canned beans as they heated.

Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower Cheese

Sally remembers her Mum making this when Sally was a child.   Even those who don't care for cauliflower will love this dish!  Think of this as vegetable Mac & Cheese and you won't be far wrong.  I used a bright orange-yellow cauliflower because our produce co-op had them, and I thought the dish would look better than if I used white or purple cauliflower.

1 head Cauliflower broken/cut into small florets

2 cups Milk

4 Tbsp Flour

4 Tbsp Butter/Margarine

1/2 tsp Dry Mustard (Colemanstm)

Disassemble the head of cauliflower.  Bring it to a boil in a large-ish pot and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove the cauliflower to a strainer. 

Return the pot to the stove, and toss in the butter.

Add the flour to the melted butter.  Stir and cook a couple minutes to kill the floury taste.  Whisking all the while, add the milk and the dry mustard.  Continue whisking until the white sauce starts to boil and thicken.  The add, a bit at a time, the cheese and whisk as it melts into the sauce.  

Put the cooked cauliflower in a baking dish or bowl, and pout the cheese sauce over all. 

Bake @ 375F for 20-30 minutes until browning on the top.

Makes a great vegetarian main course, or a fabulous side to pork (in my case, ribs), beef, or chicken.


Roasted Parsnips Beets and Apples
Apples?  Yes, roasted apples.  We had parsnips and golden beets that I was going to roast, and I saw that a similar recipe included apple slices in the roasting.  They make a great splash of sweetness in what could be a bland dish.  Try to get everything cut into about the same sized pieces.  That way it will all get done at approximately the same time.

3 medium-to-large Parsnips, peeled and chopped
4 Golden Beets (red beets would work too but things get all red), peeled and chopped
1 large Honeycrisp Apple, sliced into wedges
1-2 tsp Thyme or Tarragon or some of each
1-2 Tbsp EVOO or Ghee
2 oz Goat Cheese crumbles
1/4 cup toasted Pecans

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Toss the veggies and spice(s) with the EVOO or melted Ghee.  Lay them out on a foil covered baking sheet.  The foil makes cleanup a snap.

Ghee is an Indian thing -- clarified melted butter -- with all the sediment removed.  In the fridge it's hard like lard, and when melted it's a clear liquid.  Not easy to find unless you have an Indian market around where you live.  I was gifted a jar by my foodie friend Sara Peterson.

Roast the veggies for about 45 minutes.  In the last 5-10 minutes  add the pecans in a separate container, to the oven to toast.  Switch your oven to broil, and cook another 10 minutes or so, turning the veggies at least once, until things start to get nicely browned.

Put the veggies in a serving bowl, top with dabs or crumbles of cheese and the nuts.

Serve hot as a main course or side.  As a main course, this is really very filling; the batch given above will serve 4 as a main!

Parsnip Patties, Eggplant Steaks and Fiskur

Aubergine Steak with Garbanzos & Tomatoes
Simple, really.  I was looking for a different way to serve eggplant, and thought "outside the box".  Instead of cutting into disks, I sliced the 'plant lengthwise into steaks about 3/4" thick.  Drizzled the steaks with toasted sesame oil, EVOO, and then dusted them with just a bit of Everglades Seasoningtm.   Broiled the steaks for about 4 minutes per side, and Bam!

Made an equally simple side by combining garbanzos with half a can of Ro*Teltm tomatoes and heating them through.  Fifteen Minute dinner for two!

Parsnip Patties
I really over-bought parsnips at Christmas, thinking they would be small.  I received beautiful giant 'nips and have lots to spare!  What to do,what to do?  Parsnip Patties, of course!  Great as a main course or as a side.

1-1/2 cups shredded Parsnips
1 small Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 small Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried Dill
1 Egg
1 pinch Cayenne or a Cajun spice blend -- to taste
1/4 tsp fresh cracked Black Pepper -- to taste
4 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (canned is OK)
3 Tbsp Milk
1/2 cup Flour

Beat together the egg and milk.  Add the flour and make a batter.  Use more milk if needed.  Fold in the parsnips, bell pepper,  onion and seasonings.  Form into 4 patties and fry gently in vegetable oil, 2-4 minutes per side until GB&D. 

Garbanzo was the "protein bean" of the week.  These are favored with Chana Dal, an Indian spice blend especially formulated for Garbanzos.

Make a simple Horseradish Sauce by stirring together mayonnaise and grated horseradish to taste, it really makes a great addition to these fritters.


Parsnip Fiskur
Back in September, when we came home from visiting Iceland, I posted my recipe for the classic Icelandic fish pie called Plokkfiskur.  See  September 25th:  http://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com/search?q=fiskur

This version is the same concept, except I used about half mashed parsnips and half mashed potatoes for the base, and added frozen mixed veg for color and variety.  Tweaking the potato flavor makes a nice change from ordinary potatos in this dish.

1-1/2 lbs cooked Cod or other white fish
1-1/2 lbs mashed Root Vegetables -- parsnip & potato, turnip & potato, rutabaga & potato
1 cup diced Onion
Butter, Flour and Milk to make a roux
15 oz bag frozen Mixed Veg
Paprika and chives or green onion tops for garnish

Pan Seared Brussel Sprouts with Corn & Caramelized Onions
For me, one of the neat things about Sally "going Veg" is that I'm experimenting with a whole new range of recipes.  We both love Brussel sprouts and this is an interesting and different combination of flavors.

20 Brussel Sprouts, halved
3-4 ears of Corn - off the cob
1 Sweet Onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 tsp Red Pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 tsp fresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste

In a hot skillet, melt together half of the butter and half the EVOO.  Lay the sprouts cut side down and sprinkle with half the pepper and a pinch of salt.  When the sprout are browned, turn them over and do it again.

Remove the sprouts to a bowl, add the remaining butter and oil to the skillet, and saute the onion and garlic.

When the onion is caramelized to your liking, add the corn and red pepper flakes and cook a minute or two more to get the corn heated.  Return the sprout to the pan, toss to combine with everything else, and cook another few minutes to marry the flavors.  Ta da!

Great as a side dish with almost anything.  I served it with salmon steaks.

Sorry -- having trouble loading a photo here....

Holiday Special Edition -- LOTS of Recipes!

I know -- I know!  I've been bad!  I've not posted anything in a couple weeks.  Mea culpa!  Sally was sick over Christmas (her flu shot didn't work on Type B influenza), and then I got a nasty head/chest 'thing' over New Years (which I'm still fighting).   The rest of 2018 will be better, I promise.

Holly Wreath Fruit Dessert

I saw a picture of this on Facebook, I think, and since Sally's daughter Holly was coming for Christmas, I figured it would be a great lite dessert item for Christmas Day dinner.  IMHO it turned out beautiful.  The original used slices of apple skin to make a red bow for the wreath, but Sally suggested the stars of carambola instead.

10-12 Kiwis

1Starfruit

1 container of Pomegranate Seeds

I found this really fast and simple way to peel and slice kiwis.  Trim off the ends, slide a thin bodied spoon under the skin, and turn the fruit.  Shazam!

To make the holly leaves, I cut the kiwis about 1/4" thick, and halved each slice.  Then it was just a matter of laying out the leaves and overlapping the inside ends to give the wreath its depth.  Scatter groups of pomegranate seeds, and slice a starfruit to give it finishing touches.

Homemade Ginger Beer
I got a huge hand of ginger (not just a finger, a whole hand!) from my Produce Co-Op supplier, with the promise that I'd make Ginger Beer from it.  Here you go, Steve!

This Ginger Beer, although fermented, does not contain any significant amount of alcohol; rather, the fermentation produces carbonation...

3-4 oz Ginger Root 1-1/2 cups or more peeled and shredded (I used our Saladmastertm machine)
3/4 cup (packed)  Brown Sugar, or to taste
2 quarts boiling Water (I used our hot pot rather than a stove pot)
Juice of 2 Limes
1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (champagne yeast if you have a brewing supply store nearby) otherwise ordinary Fleishman's works just fine.

Put the ginger and sugar in a large bowl, along with the lime juice.  Pour the boiling water over the mixture and stir strongly to dissolve the sugar.  Allow the liquid to cool to about 65F, in the fridge or an ice bath.  Filter through a wire mesh strainer and cheesecloth to get rid of the chunks.  Stir in the yeast until it hydrates and goes into the solution.

Bottle in a 2 liter clean soda bottle (or lidded bottles like I used) filtering again through coffee filters or paper towels to get rid of the scum and other particulates  Set in the pantry for 2 days.  Release the cap(s) at least once a day to prevent fermentation explosion messes.  At the end of two days place the bottle(s) in the refrigerator to kill the fermentation. There will still be a thin layer of sediment in the bottom of the bottle(s), pour carefully to avoid getting this in your glass.  Add sugar as desired when serving.

The taste is similar to, but not the same as commercial Ginger Beer or Ginger Ale.  Those products have all sorts of additives, sweeteners, etc. and are often made with "ginger flavoring" rather than actual ginger.  You may not care for homemade Ginger Beer, but it's a project worth doing.  If you already brew beers or make wine or mead, you'll have all the fancy equipment to make a high-tech batch.



Ginger-Carrot Soup
This one I borrowed from the website of The Naked Chef -- Jamie Oliver!

1-1/2 lbs Carrots, shredded (large teeth on a box grater works well)
1 White Onion, diced
3" thumb of Ginger, minced
4 cups Vegetable broth or Water
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/2 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg
Pinch Kosher Salt
Pinch White Pepper

Saute the onion and ginger in a splash of EVOO for a couple minutes until they start to soften.  Add the OJ, broth and carrots.  Simmer for about 30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Puree with a stick blender or by transferring to a food processor/blender.  Return to pot and add nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Simmer another 20 minutes to really marry the flavors.

Christmas Pudding Taste Test
At Thanksgiving, you saw the steps that the ladies followed to make this traditional English Christmas dinner dessert.  Richer and denser and more moist that a conventional fruitcake, it also tastes a lot better too!  Rich, unctuous, not quite cloyingly sweet.  A lot fruity, a little nutty.  As I've said before, this is what "fruitcake" wants to be when it grows up!!

Seafood & Eggplant Casserole
Sally announced her conversion to semi-Vegetarian (she will eat fish, shrimp milk in her coffee/tea)  beginning January 1st.  I've been looking for a whole new collection of vegetarian dishes.  This is one I found, inspired by 3 smallish eggplants just sitting there on the counter...

5 cups Eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 lb Shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup each -- Celery, Onion, Bell Pepper diced  - The Cajun Trinity
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cracked Black Pepper
1/2 tsp each Sage and Rosemary
1 tsp Cajun Spice Blend of your choice
5 slices White Bread
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Panko
2 Tbsp melted Butter

Put eggplant in a pot, cover with water; bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes or until tender.  Remove eggplant to a colander to drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

Soak the bread in the cooking liquid and drain in a colander.  Press excess water out of the bread and reserve. 

In a skillet saute the Trinity and the garlic until soft.  Add the chopped shrimp and seasonings.  Then add the egg, half the Parmesan and reserved bread.  Stir to combine.

Place the mixture in a 9x9 baking dish.  Combine butter, panko and remaining Parmesan, and sprinkle across the top of the dish.  Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, uncovered.

Broccoli-Cauliflower Casserole

This, as you'll see, is not only tasty, but colorful as well.  Have fun -- use purple or orange cauliflower when you can find it -- not that boring white stuff!

2 cups each  Small Broccoli florets and Small Cauliflower florets

1 cup Quinoa

1/2 cup diced Onion

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

2 Eggs

1 cup shredded Cheddar, divided

1/2 cup melted Butter

1/2-3/4 cup Panko

Cook the quinoa -- 1 cup grain to 2 cups water.  A rice cooker is perfect for this.  Drain and cool the quinoa, and spread about 1/2" deep in the bottom of an 8x12 baking dish.

Par-cook the broccoli and cauliflower separately, to maintain the colors.  Cover with water and boil just 2-3 minutes; drain and cool.  Layer the veggies atop the quinoa.

Beat the eggs.  Add the mayo, onion, and half the cheese (I used white cheddar).  Pour this mixture over the veggies.  

Then pour the melted butter over everything and scatter the remaining cheese on top. 

Last, top with the panko.  Bake @ 350F for 35-45 minutes until browned and bubbly.

Makes a great side dish or vegetarian main course.  

Soup Beans, Masa Cornbread, Brussels Sprouts and Butternut

Salmon & Shells Casserole

Sally spent the weekend in New York City, going to the theatre and other fun things, while I stayed home and took care of our guests.  Her return flight got in about 6:30, and I needed something for dinner that could be precooked and either hold its temperature or be quickly re-heated -- a casserole.  This is what I came up with:

1/2 bag frozen Peas

2 Salmon filets

Spice Blend of choice

4 oz sliced Mushrooms

3/4 jar Alfredo Sauce

1/2 box Large Shell pasta

Shredded cheese and Panko for topping

Dust the salmon filets with your favorite spice blend (I use Pride of Szeged Fish Rubtm).  Broil the salmon filets for 12 minutes, until flake-able.  Allow to cool while you boil up the pasta to package directions for al dente.  Cool the pasta.   

In a large bowl, fold together the pasta, flaked fish, frozen peas and mushrooms with the Alfredo sauce.   Turn the mixture out into  9x9 baking dish and pat it flat.  Top with a handful of shredded cheese and then a handful of Panko, and bake at 450F for 45-60.  

I baked it for 45 minutes, then turned the heat off just before I went to pick up Sally at the airport, and left the casserole in the oven.  When we go home, the casserole was still nice and hot. 

Very, very yummy.  As Sally said, it was a really upscale tuna casserole!

Stuffed Butternut Squash

I've stuffed a lot of different vegetables before, but never Butternut Squash.  It was a desperation move, actually.  I'd had a Spaghetti squash and a Butternut squash for a while, and decided to make Spaghetti Squash Boats.    But when I went to pick up the Spaghetti squash, my finger went through the side!! Oops.  It'd been sitting on the counter far too long!  Now what?  I had a hour to come up with something before Sally got home...   Hmmmmm.  stuffed butternut??  Why not?!

I par-cooked the squash for 3 minutes in the microwave (after punching a hole into the seed cavity to allow heat/gas to escape).  Then I sliced the squash lengthwise, removed the seeds, and nuked it a further 5 or 6 minutes until done but firm.  Then I carved away meat from the middle of the neck to give me a place to stuff.  That neck meat was added as cubes to the filling I made from 1/2lb of ground sirloin, half a can of tomato sauce, some mushrooms and onions and red bell pepper.  The stuffing was flavored with Ras al Hanut, the quintessential Moroccan spice blend.  

Stuff the squash, top with just a little cheese and bake for about half an hour to heat everything through.  De-lish!

Brussels Sprouts

Ever seen what these tasty mini-cabbages look like growing in the field?  Check this out:

That's about 30 inches of sprouts -- only about half of one stem!

Soup Beans

In the South, particularly Appalachia, it's Soup Beans, not Bean Soup.  Bean soup is thin and watery, Soup beans are thick and unctuous (but never pureed).

1 lb dry White Beans
8 cups Water
1 Hambone with scraps or 1/4 lb diced ham
1 Tbsp Thyme

It has been proven numerous times that you do not need to soak beans prior to cooking.  Soaking does not separate out good beans from bad, nor does it shorten the cooking time by even 5 minutes.

Thyme is a simple herb that should be added to every pot of beans you cook, regardless of type.  It is the perfect flavoring for any bean.  Salt, if you must, and a little cracked pepper is all you need.

Ham is another perfect flavor to add to white beans.  I used the bone from our bone-in Thanksgiving ham, which went from the platter to the freezer in November.

Put everything in a large pot set over medium heat and cook for an hour or thereabouts until the beans are tender.  You may need to add a bit of water, but remember this is not Bean Soup, you're making thick Soup Beans.

Don't forget the Beanotm!


Masa Cornbread
Soup Beans practically demand a side of cornbread! 

Lots of folks make cornbread from a box, like Jiffy Mixtm.  I like to work from scratch when I can.  This recipe is pretty simple, and uses Southwestern Masa Harina corn flour rather than yellow or white Cornmeal.  Same great taste.

Vinegar in the milk is a simple way to make faux buttermilk.  Easier than going out and buying buttermilk especially for this dish.

1 cup Milk or Half & Half
1 tsp White Vinegar (I used Rice Wine vinegar)
1 cup Masa Harina para tamales (Maseca brand is the best)
1 cup AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp Butter or pan-spray

Preheat oven to 350F.

While that's going on, mix the milk and vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes while you...

...mix together the flours, baking soda and powder, sugar and salt.   Stir in the eggs, vegetable oil and milk.  Mix together well.  You may need to add a bit more milk to make this a batter rather than a dough.

Prep your pan (I use at least a 9" pie dish) with the butter, then pour in the batter.  Bake for 20-30 minutes until the cornbread is lightly golden brown.

Serve with butter along those soup beans.

If you want a thinner pone, use a larger diameter dish, or a 10"-12" cast iron skillet (preheat in oven as it comes up to temp).

Sally Cooks, Gumbo Timbale, Mushroom Farro Risotto, Educated Golden Beets

Sally Cooks!!

Once a year, Sally cooks, and I enjoy the fruit of her labor!  Usually she cooks our British Christmas dinner, but last week she also cooked this beautiful Balsamic Glazed Salmon dinner with purple potatoes and roasted vegetables! Very tasty and colorful as well!

For the salmon, she used the leftover Balsamic Reduction that I made for the Strawberry-Farro Salad I made a week or so back.  Vegetables and potatoes came from our SW Florida Produce Co-Op box.

Gumbo Timbale (a.k.a. Inside Out Gumbo)
We needed a dish to take to the Americana Community Music Association Christmas party and Open Mic last Saturday.  This timbale is not only great tasting, but the presentation is great as well.  There was only one small slice left, so folks seemed to like it.

Basically this is the same recipe I wrote about here:
https://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com/search?q=Rice+Timbale

The difference between that recipe and this one is the filling. 

I got a bag of Gumbo vegetable blend from the frozen food section of the megamart, then added a diced red bell pepper, a couple sticks of celery diced, and half each of a red onion and white onion also diced.  I simmered that together with some Cajun seasoning (I like Tony Cachere's tm) until cooked through, and I tightened the concoction at the end with a sprinkle of Wondratm.

For the crust, you basically cook up 3 cups of short-grain "sticky" rice and let it cool.  Then beat 4 eggs together with about a teaspoon of Turmeric for color.    Mix the rice and eggs together very well.  Using a paddle or spatula and your wet hands, pack the rice around the bottom and side of a greased 8" springform pan, in a layer 1/2" thick (measure it, don't go by eye like I did the first time).  Use about 2/3 of the batch of rice).

Fill the rice shell with the gumbo mixture,

then top the whole thing with the remaining rice.  Bake at 450F for 45 minutes.

Let the timbale cool at least 15 minutes before removing the pan side, and carefully transfer to a platter for slicing and serving.  A serrated breadknife is a good choice for slicing.

Farrotto -- Mushroom Farro Risotto
I told you last week I was going to try this.  Sally's Mum came to lunch on Sunday and I prepared this alongside some really nice sausages.

1 cup dried pearled Farro
1 lb Mixed Mushrooms, chopped
1 Shallot, diced;  Green Onions would also work
4 Tbsp Butter, divided
2 Tbsp EVOO
3-4 cups Broth, kept warm
1 cup White Wine
Parmesan cheese and/or Parsley for garnish

In a large pan or skillet on medium heat (I used 350F to start then half way through reduced to 300F), cook the mushrooms and shallot in half the butter until they are softened.  Add the Farro and cook a bit while you measure out the wine.  Add the wine to the pan and cooking until it is almost all absorbed.

Add a ladle of broth at a time, cooking until each is absorbed.  I made broth from 4 cups of water and a half teaspoon each of these powdered mushrooms. 

You'll want to stir fairly frequently to prevent sticking.

Keep adding broth and cooking until the Farro is tender, but still retains some chewiness.  Taste, and season with salt & pepper as you go along. You don't want a lot of liquid in the final product, it's not a soup after all, so go slower at the end.  Total time maybe 30 minutes.

Stir in the other two Tbsp of butter and serve, topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese and/or minced parsley if you want.  As you can see, I served the risotto as a side to some nice sausages and steamed green beans.

This one is a real winner, folks!!  Will be making variations on this Farrotto many more times in the coming months.

I see no reason why you couldn't make this by adding all the liquid after the shallots and mushrooms are cooked.  You'd want to keep the temperature medium, and the cooking pan covered, so that the grain has a chance to absorb the liquid, rather than having the liquid evaporate.


Educated (Harvard) Golden Beets

College educated!  Why "Harvard"?  No one knows for sure. Could have been named by Yale students because of the Harvard red color and the 'thick' sauce of the dish.  Or it may be a mis-pronunciation of a tavern name.  Or a chef named Harvey(ed).

As a kid growing up, this was my favorite way to eat beets.  Usually the dish uses regular red beets, but I decided to make it with these beautiful Golden Beets we've been getting from the Co-op.
\

Harvard Sauce
1/3 cup Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 cup Sherry Vinegar (Apple Cider vinegar also works well.)
1/4 cup Water

Whisk all together.  Bring to a low boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over the cooked beets.  Toss to coat, and serve.

Short and Sweet....

... and tangy and oh so tasty!

Strawberry Basil Salad with Balsamic Glaze
I found this recipe by blogger Celeste while looking for something neat to do with the season's first strawberries and a bunch of basil from our SW Florida Produce Co-op.  Serves two plus a lunch portion.

1 cup uncooked Farro
2 cups quartered Strawberries
1/2 cup diced Red Onion
Juice of a medium Lemon
1/4 cup torn or chopped fresh Basil
1/2 cup Nuts -- chopped Walnuts or Pecans, Pine Nuts if you're rich.
1/4 cup halved Green Olives or Caper Berries (not capers themselves, which are seeds)
1/4 cup Craisins
1/4 cup diced Cucumber
Balsamic Glaze -- see below

Farro is an ancient grain; some food scientists think it is the Mother grain, from which wheat, emmer, barley, rye, etc. were all derived by primitive genetic manipulation (not gene tweaking, but rather Mendelevian genetics).

Cook up the cup of Farro in 3 cups of water -- a rice cooker works just fine.  After cooking, rinse the cooked grain to get rid of most of the stickiness, and spread it out to let it dry. 

Here's the Farro cooked and then toasted to help it dry.

You can also just cook Farro in a pot on the stovetop, or treat it sort of like a risotto. You could even toast the cooked grain under your broiler for an added layer of flavor.   That's what I'm going to do next week -- toast the grain a bit first, then cook it up like those Rice-aroni things we used to get, and then treat it like a risotto -- adding tons of mushrooms  as I add the liquid.

While the grain is cooking, chop the onion, basil and strawberries, etc.

Top:  craisins, strawberry quarters, chopped pecans

Middle:  cucumber, basil
Bottom:  balsamic glaze

Assemble the salad items and toss to combine well.  Plate, and then drizzle with the balsamic reduction.

Observations:  This is a really good "not a salad" salad!  Would have been better if I had put the red onion in and left the craisins out.  Next time I'll cop or rip the basil, not cut it chiffonade.  A handful of crumbled feta or even sharp white cheddar would not go amiss here, either.  You want a good balance of sweet, salty and sour or tart, whatever you add to this dish.

Balsamic Glaze
In a small pot, simmer together twice as much balsamic vinegar as maple syrup (or honey) until the liquid is reduced by half and the result coats the back of a spoon.  I started with a cup of vinegar (use the cheap stuff) and half a cup of seagrape honey (because that's what I had... again use the cheap stuff if you have it).   When reduced, cool and reserve.  Can be stored in the fridge for weeks.

Apple Yam Bake

I first posted this recipe back in 2014.

1 large Honeycrisp or Ambrosia Apple

1 large fairly cylindrical Yam

1/2 cup Sweet Onion, sliced thin

1/3 cup Golden Raisins, minced

1/2 cup Apple nectar

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Orange juice with pulp

1 tsp "Curry Powder" of your choice

1 tsp powdered Ginger, or 1 Tbsp fresh grated Ginger

Fillet the apple as I've shown you in the past. Cut the 'half moon' slices 1/8" thick. 

Peel the yam, microwave it for a few minutes to soften them just a bit for easier slicing.  Halve the yam lengthwise and slice it into 1/8" thick half moons as well. 

Arrange alternating slices of apple and yam in a fan around a 9" pie pan. Stack additional slices of each in the center, to fill the pan.

Combine the juices, raisins, garlic, curry powder and ginger in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook for 6-8 minutes to combine the flavors. In a small skillet, sweat the onions until fragrant and translucent, but don't let them brown.

Place the onions in the center of the apple-yam fan, pour the juice overall and bake in a pre-heated 375F oven, covered, for 30 minutes until the yams are fork tender.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate to serve the next day.  Makes a great holiday Potluck dish!