I had some leeks and I wanted to do something new with them that I have never done before. I found Jose Andres’s recipe from Food & Wine Magazine called, Leeks two ways with wild mushrooms. The thing that was new and different is that I learned that a leek puree can be made from the dark green leaves that I normally trim off. My leek green puree I added vegetable soup base instead of salt to add a little flavor…….My leek puree came out delicious but not silky smooth like the way Jose Andres’s leek puree came out and I cooked mine up twice as long to get tender…….I do chalk that up to maybe my blender isn’t as good and also I didn’t have farm fresh produce like the chef gets. The other thing that I had to change the most from Jose Andres’s recipe is that I can not boil my leek slices without them falling apart. I think maybe that Jose Andres’s produce is the best and is also farm fresh. The leeks I get seem ok but I’m sure they are much drier and just won’t hold together so I remedy this by doing mine in the oven in a covered pan to get soft. I removed the foil that covered mine and browned them slightly. I also didn’t have dried black trumpet mushrooms so I used whatever pack I had in my refrigerator (I used 4oz. pack of champignon mushrooms) Serving size is around one leek a person. I used one pack of leeks and mine were small so for me this only made 2 servings.

Ingredients for around two servings

4 oz mushrooms – cleaned and (cut in half if a round shape)

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vegetable soup base

1 pack leeks (2-3 leeks) – dark green parts cut off totally cleans and chop up the dark green parts. The white part gets cut in 1/3 inch slices

1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

sea salt to taste

2 thyme sprigs

1/4 Tablespoon olive oil (this is a guesstimated amount since I don’t measure what I spray)

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Tablespoon of mint leaves – torn

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

In a small sauce pan of simmering water add the leek greens and cook for around three minutes and then drain. (RESERVE LIQUID) Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter, add the soup base and leek greens. Cook another minute or two. Blend this up with maybe a tablespoon of water till as smooth as you can get it,

The leek slices go in a pan or baking sheet with walls. Pour some of the reserved leek liquid till about half way cup the leeks. Add the thyme sprigs.) Season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in small chunks. Cover the pan and place on a middle rack for 15 minutes.

Get another baking sheet and place the mushrooms on it. Add the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in chunks. Spray lightly with oil. Keep in oven till cooked and starting to crisp. (timing will differ…in my oven my mushrooms took 12 minutes on the middle rack) Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.

Your leeks by now are done. I took mine slightly further and removed the foil covering them and returned the mushrooms to the lower rack. By now they’ve absorbed the liquid so I added more of the reserved leek water. I left mine in for 20-30 minutes more.

Mix together a tablespoon of white wine vinegar with a tablespoon or two of olive oil to top everything with.

Serve when ready.

Puree, leek slices, mushrooms, sprinkle on the oil mixed with vinegar and top the mushrooms with small pieces of mint.

A special THANKS to Jose Andres for his FORKING AMAZING recipe and to Food & Wine Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.

This recipe is a variation of Cauliflower Piccata by Hetty McKinnon’s by The New York Times. I changed a few things as I was going along.. I roasted the garbanzos with the cauliflower instead of just adding them from the can. I cut the amount of butter in half because I thought I had enough. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of flour to give the sauce some body. Those were the changes I made. Serving size is hard to judge. For me this made 6 side servings. But if you want bigger servings than me it will only make 4 servings. It also depends on the size of your cauliflower too.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 cauliflower – cut into florets

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this is approximate and is for the cauliflower/chick peas and the frying of the shallots)

sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 (15 ounce) can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed three times

1 shallot – minced

3 garlic cloves ground to paste

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon flour

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (feel free to add 2 more Tablespoons if desired)

2 Tablespoons capers – drained

zest of one lemon

juice of 1/2 a lemon (thinly slice the other half of the lemon)

1/4 cup parsley leaves – chopped for finishing

Directions

Turn the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the cauliflower florets on a sheet pan mixed with the drained chick peas. Spray them well with the olive oil and season to taste with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast till golden and brown. Timing will differ….25-45 minutes. Remove when done.

Mix the flour with the vegetable stock and set to the side.

In a medium fry pan add a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. When hot add the shallots and stir as needed. After about a minute add the garlic and stir. As soon as you smell the garlic (less than a minute) add the vegetable stock (mixed with 1/2 teaspoon flour) and let it reduce by half. Turn down to low and add the butter, capers, lemon juice and lemon zest. Season to taste.

Serve and finish with lemon slices and parsley.

ENJOY!

A special THANKS to Hetty McKinnon and The New York Times for a great Recipe so I can do what I did!

Here is a delicious Indian Style nut butter tomato sauce that I made for a roasted cauliflower. It’s a delicious, creamy, fragrant, sauce that gets creamy from grinding some nuts into it so you need a spice grinder. It’s trendy to roast a whole cauliflower head but I’m sorry that I did it that way because it takes much longer to roast it that way. I would suggest roasting the cauliflower in wedges or even florets. I had some leftover turmeric pickled onions that I added that I thought would be good here. The onions were a big onion sliced, zest from one orange, with juice of the orange, 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric. Mix and let sit a 1/2 hour and then refrigerate. For the cauliflower you can use whatever kind you get. I do note that purple cauliflower are the most delicate and roast for less time in a slightly lower oven. I used an Italian green fancy cauliflower today. The other cauliflower that comes out the best is the orange cauliflower…but really any cauliflower will be fine. Serving size will differ. Every cauliflower is a different size and you might want a big portion or maybe only a small side order. I used 2 small cauliflowers and got 8 small servings.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

1 large or 2 small cauliflower – cut in serving size wedges

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this is what I guessed I used to spray down the two cauliflowers well.

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper- to taste

3 onions – sliced thin

4 Tablespoons canola oil

pinch sugar

pinch salt

28 oz can Italian crushed or chopped tomatoes

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

20 almonds – ground with a spice grinder

20 cashews – ground with a spice grinder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch cinnamon

garam masala – to taste for finishing

optional – 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Get out a baking sheet.

Spray the cauliflower well with the olive oil. Salt and pepper the cauliflower to your taste. Put the sheet of cauliflower on a middle rack of your oven. Roast till the cauliflower has brown edges. (timing may differ but this takes around 45 minutes…it could be more or less)

Put a large fry pan on medium high heat. Add the canola oil when it’s hot add the onions and pinches of sugar and salt. Sauté till the onions are slightly brown. Add this to a sauce pot on medium high heat add the garlic and the tomatoes. Now add the ground nuts all the remaining spices (ginger, turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cumin, pinch cinnamon) Stir as needed. Take this to a slow boil and then lower to simmer and simmer for at least 20 minutes. It’s best to use a stick blender and blend to smooth. Keep on slow waiting for the cauliflower.

Plate it up! Finish with garam masala to taste.

Enjoy!

I came across this recipe roasted carrots with yaji spice relish by Yewande Komolafe from The New York Times. Yewande Komolafe is a food writer and recipe developer for them. She grew up in Lagos and Nigeri so she knows that Yuji is a common spice in Northern Nigeria and West Africa. A spice blend of chile, ginger, pulverized peanuts gets mixed with scallions and lemon and works well to liven up the carrots. I cut the recipe in half because 4 pounds of carrots for me is way more than four servings. Some ingredients I rounded up or down slightly. I also cut the Yaji spice blend in half and have a bit extra left. In the end it did come out great. At first I thought the recipe was too sour for me but the carrots got so sweet that it worked out delicious. I think most people would enjoy it. For me this made around 4 side servings with extra yaji spice left.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 Tablespoons toasted peanuts (yaji spice)

1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (yaji spice)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (yaji spice)

1 teaspoon onion powder (yaji spice)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (yaji spice)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (yaji spice)

2 lb carrots – cut in 3-4 inch pieces thicker pieces halved

2 Tablespoons canola oil

sea salt – to taste

1 Tablespoon grated ginger

1/2 cup scallions sliced thin

1 smaller lemon – juice and zest

1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons yaji spice

pinch smoked paprika

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

2 Tablespoons toasted unsalted peanuts slightly crushed

Directions

Pulse the peanuts, ginger, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt to a fine powder. This is your yaji spice. Set it to the side.

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the carrots with canola oil and lightly season with salt. Spread the carrots out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast till the carrots are tender and sort of caramelized. (timing will vary….40 minutes till an hour) Rotate pans around halfway time.

Make relish. Grate the ginger into a large bowl and add the scallions. Add zest and juice of lemon. Stir and add peanut oil. Add yaji spice, paprika, and parsley. Taste and adjust.

When the carrots come out toss them in the relish and them place them on a platter. Scatter the crushed peanut and enjoy!

A special THANKS! To Yewande Komolafe and The New York Times for this amazing recipe.

I was paging threw Food Network Magazine and they had a recipe for Korean Chicken Stew. I’ve done similar recipes before. Then the idea popped in my head to do similar flavors on a butternut squash so I did. Serving size will differ because all squashes are a different size and all people don’t eat the same amount of food. I used a small squash that made 4 small side servings for me.

Ingredients for around 4 small side servings

1 small butternut squash, peeled, cut in half long ways, seeds and membranes removed (or use any size squash you want but timing and serving sizes will change)

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 Tablespoons gochugaru (or substitute Aleppo pepper)

2 Tablespoons gochujang (preferably a Korean brand purchased from an Asian Market)

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon granulated ginger

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 425 F.

Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray

OPTIONAL DIRECTIONS If you want to hasselback the squash put in the the preheated 425 F oven for fifteen minutes and let cool to handle. OH BUT BEFORE YOU PUT THE SQUASH IN THE OVEN sprinkle with canola oil.

then

Make the hasselback if desired….This looks better on bigger fatter squash. I use chop sticks so I don’t accidentally cut all the way threw.

Mix up the sauce.

In a small mixing bowl mix up the gochugaru, gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.

Spoon and rub it all over top surface of the squash. Place in oven 10 minutes. Take squash out of oven and spoon or brush on more sauce and put it back in for another 10 minutes. Mine was done at this point.

I made some cooked carrot flowers. I used something that looks like a pencil sharpener on a peeled carrot. Shaped the shavings into a flower. Put the carrot flowers in the oven with the squash for only three minutes.

Enjoy!