Romesco Sauce is a Nut and Red Pepper based sauce originally from Spain.  Red Bell Pepper is not traditional to Romesco but the traditional Spanish Dried Peppers are very hard if not impossible to find so in the US so nearly all US recipes use Red Bell Peppers and sometimes a combination with some sort of dried pepper. Any combination of Almonds, Hazelnuts or Pine nuts can be used but most often it’s a combination of skinned roasted almonds and hazelnuts. I choose to use all Hazelnuts because of the unique flavor and I didn’t want this sauce to be too similar to the Muhammara Lebanese Roasted Red Pepper Dip also with nuts that I made before. Often but not always a slice of bread is added to Romesco and also Muhammara to thicken it more but I didn’t think it was needed in either recipe.

Romesco Sauce is used for grilled meats, fish and vegetables. Often when used for fish fresh mint is added.

Ingredients

3-5 Tomatoes (I used 5 VERY small tomatoes)

1/4 Sweet Onion (rough chopped)

1 Head Garlic (split in half)

approx 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Large Red Bell Peppers (roasted, skinned, seeded)

1/2 Cup Roasted and Pealed Hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

Directions

Set oven to roast at 375 degrees.

On your roasting pan place your tomatoes on one side of pan and your onions and garlic on the other side of pan and give a good drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil over the produce.

Get some foil and cover the half with the onions and garlic.

Let it roast for about an hour.

After an hour it will look about like this.

The Skin with peal easy off your tomatoes. And just squeeze the Garlic Halves to get the cloves out.

Toss your cleaned up tomatoes, garlic, onions and all the liquid into your blending container.

Add your roasted Peppers and Hazelnuts.

Blend till smooth. It will have a slight texture from the nuts.

Add your dry spices, vinegar and blend some more.

Now you have Romesco Sauce.

 

 

I saw fresh Parval at the market and they looked fresher than the Tindora that I buy sometimes. The tindora look the same but are smaller and you can use them like cucumbers. Both the Tindora and the Parval are members of the watermelon family. The seeds in the tiny Parval are very similar to hard watermelon seeds but the seeds in the tindora are soft and edible.  I thought the Parval would be good pickled and I used a whole sweet onion so I’d have the sweet onion flavor and also a good amount of pickled onions for sandwiches.

This recipe is quick and easy you just bring ingredients to boil and pour over your cored Parvel, Sweet Onion and Fresh Dill. Place it all in a sanitary container, set in your refrigerator and it will be ready in about three days.

Ingredients

About 3/4 Lb. Parval (cored)

Sweet Onion Sliced Thin (I used a whole onion but you can use less if you don’t eat pickled onion)

Bunch of Fresh Dill

1 1/2 Cup Water

1 Cup Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

1/4 teaspoon Celery Seed

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1 Bay Leaf

4 Garlic Cloves Minced

1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns

Bring all the liquids and everything except the Parval, Onions and fresh Dill to a boil and then pour over the Larval, Onions and Dill and mix. Place in a sanitary container in your refrigerator and the pickles will be ready in about three days.

 

 

 

 

 

I used Heirloom Carrots and infused each color differently.  While the carrots roasted I also threw my pan of rice in the oven since it was on. I added seasoning to the rice so this was a very easy dish to whip up.

Ingredients (Oven at 375)

6 Yellow Heirloom Carrots pealed and cut in chunks

6 Orange Heirloom Carrots (either pealed or not and cut in chunks)

6 Red Heirloom Carrots (either pealed or not and cut in chunks)

about 1 1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock

1 orange cut in 1/8 wedges

1 Apple cut in small pieces (only edible parts no core) Peal if you like

1lb. Black Rice

Water

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 small hot pepper minced (I used a chile de arbor)

1/2 Sweet Onion Sliced Fine and then Chopped

Fresh Ground Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

about a Tablespoon of Kosher Salt

A couple splashes of Heavy Cream

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Some Fresh Basil

Directions

Rice goes in a pan, add 2 parts water per one part dark rice, salt, garlic, hot chile, onion. splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cover pan. Place in oven and it will be done in an hour.

Place yellow carrots in a pan with vegetable stock, and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and cover.

Place Orange Carrots in a pan with Oranges, Cup Water, Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cover.

 

Place Red Carrots with Apples, Cup Water, Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cover.

Add all the carrot pans to the oven. Depending on how you cut them and how the carrots are they will be done in about 1/2 hour or up to an hour to be fork tender. I found that my yellow carrots cooked up much quicker than the others.

When Carrots and Rice are done remove them from the oven. Throw out the oranges from the orange carrots.

Take the yellow carrots and blend with a little bit of the vegetable stock.

Add about two splashes of Heavy Cream. Taste and determine if it needs any more seasoning.

Plate up your Black rice, add some pureed Yellow Carrots, Top with orange carrots, red carrots and apples. Add Fresh Basil, Sea Salt, Black Pepper and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

These Pancakes come out light airy and custardy. The Korean Leek Tops add the perfect complimentary flavor to the zucchini.

Ingredients (makes about 20 pancakes)

1 Zucchini Shredded (mine came to a little over 2 cups)

1 Cup of Chopped Korean Leek Tops

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

2 Beaten Extra Large Eggs

2 ounces melted Butter

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Canola Cooking Spray

Combine Zucchini, Korean Leek Tops, Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Pepper and mix well.

In another bowl mix your beaten eggs, heavy cream and pour in your melted butter and then combine with your other mixture.

 

 

Get your Fry Pan on a medium high heat with cooking spray when hot drop a heavy Tablespoon of batter into the pan. (you should be about to do about 4 at a time. When they bubble on the ends you can flip them.

 

They come out really perfect. You don’t need any toppings.

I thought it would be interesting to make a salad with three flavors of carrots. Each color of carrot has a naturally different flavor and I picked different spices or seasonings that influenced me by their colors. This is a very light salad that is healthy and low in fat. Not too spicy but flavorful. Every bite is different because the three carrots have been seasoned differently.

Ingredients

2 Cups Cooked Millet

6 Rainbow Heirloom Carrots (Cut in small bite sized pieces)

About a pound of Heirloom Tomatoes (Cut in small pieces)

2 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 small Hot Pepper (minced I used a Chili de Arbol)

Handful of Korean Leek Tops (minced)

About 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Parsley

Juice from 1 Meyer Lemon

About a Cup of Non-Fat Farmers Cheese

Handful of Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for drizzling)

1/2 teaspoon Yellow Curry

1 tablespoon Date Molasses

good pinch of Saffron

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Prepare your Millet similar to preparing arborio rice or Israeli Cous Cous. Put your millet in pot and toast with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Eyeball (or measure) You need 2 parts water per one part Millet. Add your water and about a teaspoon of Kosher Salt and bring to boil, Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff. Set aside.

Your oven needs to be set at 400 degrees.

Top your cut tomatoes with the minced garlic, hot pepper and Korean Leeks. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Your Heirloom Carrots need to be separated. Either use three small pans or use aluminum foil to make them separate. The Carrots should have been drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Sprinkle the yellow carrots with curry

Pour about a tablespoon of Date Molasses on the red carrots

Add a Good pinch of Saffron to the Orange Carrots

the carrots need about a 1/4 cup of water each and need to be covered with foil.

Put your Covered Pan of Carrots on your middle oven rack.

Put your uncovered tomatoes on your lower oven rack.

After about 1/2 hour your tomatoes should be done. Remove tomatoes and set aside. Season with fresh crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper.

Your carrots should be fork tender. Remove foil and put them back in the oven on your upper rack and let them cook 15 more minutes so they brown up a little bit.

Add your Tomatoes, Carrots, Fresh Meyer and Lemon Juice to the millet and stir. Season with more Fresh Crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste. Top with dabs of Farmers Cheese, Fresh Parsley and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

Some substitutions can be made but the end results will differ.

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy delicious Chestnuty tasting Kabocha Squash is often paired with brown butter,  sage and Chestnuts in American and Italian Recipes.

I made some very light Kabocha Squash Dumplings and thought of an original really delicious sauce using my leftover squash.

Place your squash on a pan with a little water and cover it with foil.

You roast your squash in a 375 degree oven for somewhere usually between one and two hours depending on it’s size, or until fork tender. Then when the squash is cool enough to handle cut it in half and remove the stringy seeds.

Then scrape out the flesh.

You are left with creamy soft Kabocha Squash.

I removed 1 pound of squash for the dumplings and the leftover I used for my sauce. I didn’t measure it but I’m guessing it was around three cups.

Ingredients

Around 3 cups of cooked soft smooth Kabocha Squash

1 cup of vegetable stock

splash of heavy cream

pinch nutmeg

pinch white ground pepper

pinch saffron.

Directions

Cook in Fry Pan till it reduces to desired consistency.

It was delicious over Kabocha Squash Dumplings

It was the saffron and other delicate spices that really make the squash pop with complimentary flavors that weren’t over powering.

This side dish is made of some Asian Ingredients in it but really is only mildly Asian scented and just delicious. The Black Garlic doesn’t taste like garlic it’s more of a sweet prune kind of taste. I think what makes the salad pop are the leftover Lotus Root I had. The Lotus Root was already boiled a few minutes in water with some white vinegar and a little salt. Then it was sautéed in a small amount of garlic and a hot chili so it already had a nice flavor and texture that adds interest to this combination. I also added non-traditional roasted pumpkin seeds to this dish. I thought the look and taste went really well with these flavors.

Ingredients

About 5 Baby Bok Choy (cut down the center in 4 -6 wedges)

2 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 small hot chili (minced) either a Thai or Chili de Arbol

A big handful of Korean Leek Tops (already chopped up)

3 different Heirloom Rainbow Carrots (sliced somewhat thin)

about 1/2 a Lotus Root that was leftover from last recipe. (The Lotus was sliced somewhat thin. The root was already boiled a few minutes in water with some white vinegar and a little Kosher Salt. Then sautéed in a little oil with a small amount of garlic and hot chili.)

About 1/2 inch of grated fresh ginger root

2 heads of Black Garlic (just the clean cloves)

2 Tablespoons of Sugar

Splash of Ponzu

Couple Splashes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 or 4 Splashes of Dry Sherry

A handful of Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

A few Cilantro leaves

Directions

Heat up your fry pan on medium high heat with your Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Hot Chili, and ginger.

When the garlic turns clear looking toss in the Carrots and Korean Leek Tops. They only need a few minutes.

Now add the Ponzu, Sherry, Sugar and Black Garlic and stir and let it cook a few minutes.

Place the Bok Choy on Top and cover with foil and let it steam only a few minutes.

Remove foil add The Already prepared Lotus Root stir and serve with some toasted pumpkin seeds and a small sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

The different textures and taste go together really well. The lotus root really adds interest to this dish.

Ingredients

One Bunch of Korean Leeks

A few Pats Butter

Maybe two Cups of Vegetable Stock

Lotus Root

Some White Vinegar

Fresh Crushed Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

A few Eggs

One Heirloom Carrot

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Thai Chili

A couple Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I like Korean Leeks because they taste more like green garlic and  less dirty than regular leeks.

You need to remove the Green Tops and Roots. Save the Green Tops and use like green garlic that’s a little tough.

Braise the Korean Leeks for about 10 minutes on medium heat with either butter or oil and let them brown.

 

Cover the Korean Leeks with Vegetable Stock, cover with foil and turn the heat to low and let it go about a half hour till soft.

Lotus Root is back in season so I picked up one.

Last time I made the Lotus Root I made it into tasty chips but this time I thought I’d cook it more traditional that means boiling a few minutes in water with vinegar. First I pealed the Lotus Root and then sliced it somewhat thin.

 

The Lotus root goes into boiling water with a little salt and a couple splashes of vinegar. The vinegar removes any bitterness the lotus root might have.  Just Boil it a few minutes.

Remove the lotus root and set aside. Since you still have boiling water you can drop in a few eggs and let them go 5-5 1/2 minutes pull out and carefully peal and you will have easy soft cooked eggs.

Next you heat up some oil in a pan and then add your minced garlic and one small minced hot pepper till soft.

Add your Lotus Root and your carrots. They only need a few minutes. Then add your Green Tops from the Korean Leeks and cook that maybe a minute more. Add Fresh Crushed Sea Salt and Black Pepper.  Serve on top of braised Korean Leeks and add your soft cooked Egg and season the egg.

This is one of those super easy recipes you can throw together quick and not really measure. The Quinoa and Lentil Mixture comes out very much like cooked ground beef.  You can flavor it a multitude of ways but it also good plain with a dipping sauce of your choice.

 

Ingredients

Lentils about 1/3 of a medium strainer (rinsed)

Quinoa about 1/3 of a medium strainer (always rinse quinoa even if it’s pre-rinsed)

A carrot

a pealed Whole Onion

about 3 cloves of garlic minced

one small hot pepper minced (I used Chile de Arbol)

about a teaspoon of thyme

about a teaspoon Kosher Salt

about 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Brined Grape Leaves

Directions

Add your Quinoa, Lentils, Onion, Carrot, Chile de Arbol, Garlic, Salt & Pepper to your sauce pot add water to look maybe double of what you have in pot and Bring to Boil and then turn down to simmer and cover. Let the pot simmer 20-25 minutes till the lentils are soft.  Discard the Onion and Carrot.

Taste and adjust seasonings and when cool enough to handle make into small log shapes and place in the vein side up Grape Leaf.

Serve as desired.

Freeze leftovers.

Ever since I tasted the Spaghetti Squash with Harissa from the FnB Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ I just have to make my spaghetti squash in a similar way.

You just put your spaghetti squash(s) in a covered pan with a little over a half inch of water in the pan and roast it in a 375 degree oven. Depending on the size of your squash it will take about an hour up to an hour and a half.  I like the squash strands to be firm so the squash is still almost hard when I remove it from the oven but also is fork tender.

You open up your squash and scoop out the stringy seeds. Then you scoop out the spaghetti squash strands.

 

Now you top it with your Harissa Vinaigrette that you might want to warm up to go on your warm squash.

Harissa Vinaigrette

2  Roasted Red Peppers (skin and seeds removed and pepper chopped up)

1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Caraway Seeds

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic minced

3 Hot Chiles (I used Thai Chiles)

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

Fresh Juice from one Meyer Lemon

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

Fresh Ground Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Blend it up. It makes about 8 ounces. It is spicy and flavorful about a number 7 on the Thai scale out of 10. If you want it milder use one or two chiles and garlic cloves.

I added some Heirloom Tomatoes and a small amount of cilantro.