This is the DELICIOUS Food & Wine version (mostly) of Marcus Samuelsson’s Roasted Carrots with Ayib and Awaze Vinaigrette Recipe. Ayib is an Ethiopian cheese. A substitute is goat cheese. You also need berbere spice blend for this recipe. You can buy berbere spice blend or make your own. I’ve included a recipe that I like for berbere from an African Woman Zurie that is on www.food.com . The only issue is that although DELICIOUS Zurie’s berbere recipe makes way more than you need. I cut her berbere recipe in half and still have extra that I will use on chicken latter. This recipe makes around 8 servings.

Ingredients for around 8 servings.

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/8 teaspoon cardamon (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/8 teaspoon fenugreek (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/8 teaspoon coriander (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (Zurie’s Berbere)

pinch ground clove (Zurie’s Berbere)

pinch allspice (Zurie’s Berbere)

1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (Zurie’s Berbere)

2 Tablespoons cayenne (Zurie’s Berbere)

2 Tablespoons sweet paprika (Zurie’s Berbere)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick) (spiced brown butter)

1/4 small red onion – fine chop (spiced brown butter)

1 sprig thyme (spiced brown butter)

1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger – peeled – coarsely chopped (spiced brown butter)

1 small garlic clove – fine chopped (spiced brown butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (spiced brown butter)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (spiced brown butter)

1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric (spiced brown butter)

1 teaspoon berbere (spiced brown butter)

2 pounds carrots cut on a diagonal into 3 inch pieces

6 Tablespoon vegetable oil – divided into 4 and 2

kosher salt – to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 orange thinly sliced (remove any seeds)

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1/2 cup parsley with only the tender stems

1/4 cup Ayib Ethiopian fresh cheese or substitute crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Make the berbere.

Seeds should be toasted and then cooled. Then grind seeds.

In a small bowl mix up the first 11 ingredients (ginger, cardamon, fenugreek, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, clove, allspice, sea salt, cayenne and sweet paprika). You only need one teaspoon. The rest put away to use on something else.

Make the spiced brown butter.

Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan on medium-low heat. Skim off foam. Continue heating up the butter until it is no longer foaming and is beginning to brown (about 15 minutes). Mix in the onions, thyme, ginger, garlic, cumin, oregano, turmeric into the brown butter. Cook until the onion is golden brown (about 15 minutes). Stir in the berbere until fragrant (about 1 minute). Strain with a mesh strainer over a bowl and discard the solids. Let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place carrots with orange slices on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 4 Tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast carrots for 30-40 minutes (around half way turn the carrots so they cook on both sides) or until they are tender to pierce with a fork and are a little brown in spots.

In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, remaining 2 Tablespoons oil, and three tablespoons spiced butter. (this is the Awaze vinaigrette)

Transfer the carrots to a platter. Top the carrots with vinaigrette, cheese and parsley.

This taste Forking Amazing!

ENJOY!

A special THANKS to Zurie for her AMAZING berbere recipe and to Marcus Samuelsson and Food & Wine Magazine fir this AMAZING Recipe!

Here’s another way to do butternut squash. I hasselbacked it (the way I cut it) but you don’t have to do that. You can cut in slices if you like. Feel free to add a little goat cheese or a quality feta cheese that isn’t too tangy. They would work here but I thought I had enough going on so here it is.

1 butternut squash – peeled, remove membrane with seeds, (if you squash is very small with thin walls you can hasselback) (If your squash is medium or bigger then you need to roast it at 425 degrees f for 10-15 minutes to get it soft enough to hasselback) ****OR**** just cut it up into cubes or thin slices…it really doesn’t FORKING matter. Serving size is impossible to judge because the size of the squash will differ and also your appetite will differ.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted

1 orange + zest – you need the fresh squeezed juice and keep the zest separate

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo red pepper (or substitute 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper)

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this I guessed I just squirted the squash well with this)

1 hot pepper of your choice grated (I used a Mexican yellow pepper)

2 Tablespoons sugar

6 sprigs fresh thyme

2 oz roasted salted pistachios – smashed

1/4 cup pomegranate

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley leaves

non stick spray

Directions

Set your oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.

In a large bowl mix together the butter, orange juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. This mixture goes on your squash. Paint it on with a brush two times and then give it a spray of olive oil. YOU WILL HAVE EXTRA that you will use in about 15 minutes when you apply again.

In a small bowl mix together the orange zest, grated hot pepper and sugar. This gets sprinkled or rubbed on the squash. If you did cubes or slices add the thyme now. If you are doing hasselback add the thyme with the next 15 minutes.

Your squash goes in the preheated oven AGAIN for 15 minutes. Paint your squash again with the orange juice/butter mixture and put the squash back in another 15 minutes.

Now here is where things differ.

Depending on the shape and size of your squash and cutting the timing will differ greatly….If you did cubes the squash might be almost done.

If your squash is not done keep going every 10-15 minutes and paint on the thickened juices that are oozing from the squash till it’s done to your liking.

Apply pistachios, pomegranate and parsley and then serve.

Enjoy!

I make cauliflower often and wanted to season it in a way that was different and delicious. After doing a few Indian recipes I learned that the combination of mustard, cumin and sesame seeds are delicious together. All that and a few other things make cauliflower something special. Every cauliflower is a different size so exact portion size is impossible. This recipe will season around 4-8 portions depending on portion size and size of cauliflower.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

1 large cauliflower cut in florets (or two small)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (not an exact measurement. I used a spray bottle and guesstimated)

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

Instructions

Set oven to 450 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet with olive oil.

In a small mixing bowl add the mustard, cumin and sesame seeds and mix well.

Spread the cauliflower florets on a baking sheet in a single layer. Spray the cauliflower with olive oil. Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the cauliflower. Spray the cauliflower again with olive oil. Place baking sheet of cauliflower on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Remove cauliflower when cooked but not soggy and lightly charred. In my oven this took 20 minutes but your timing might differ.

Finish with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

ENJOY!

You know that saying when life gives you lemons that you got to make lemon-aid? Well I was sort of gifted with more yellow squash than I could eat. So I made my last two pounds of yellow squash into faux sour kraut that isn’t too sour. Actually it taste better than most sour krauts out there and it’s quick and easy to prepare. Two pounds seems like a lot of squash but this shrinks down a lot. This will stay fresh around up to three weeks. My idea of serving size will differ from yours. This makes at least 6 servings.

Ingredients for 6 servings

2 lbs yellow squash – thin spiral cut

1 large sweet onion – sliced very thin on mandolin

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

9 juniper berries – ground

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Directions

In a large mixing bowl combine the spiral cut yellow squash and mix well with the thinly sliced onions and set to the side.

In a small bowl combine the vinegar, sugars, salt, juniper berry powder, caraway seeds and mustard seeds and mix well. (you can heat to dissolve sugar and salt but it isn’t necessary because it melts as it sits)

At this point it is easier to put the squash/onion mixture in a gallon zip lock bag and pour the vinegar mixture into the bag. Scrape out anything that didn’t dissolve in the bowl and add it to the squash mixture. Squeeze the bag mixture and squash things around to distribute as best as you can. Squish out as much air as you can and let this sit out on the counter for an hour. The sugar and salt will cook and sweat the squash. It will be delicious on your food.

Add some to a hotdog, or pastrami or whatever you like kraut on.

Enjoy!