Cauliflower is my favorite vegetable because it’s easy to make absolutely delicious. Quality extra virgin olive oil and a slow roast makes the cauliflower sugary sweet with caramelized ends and is absolutely delicious.  Cauliflower can also get transformed in so many ways…… No other vegetable is as versatile. A hard to find ingredient called Bomba di Calabrese was used here but you can substitute a Calabrian Pepper or two if you like. This dish is very good and you can toss in some protein and pasta to make this a complete meal or just make it as is for an interesting cauliflower dish. Better yet….YOU FORKING NEED THIS RECIPE!!!!!! FORKING PHENOMENAL as a pizza topping…with mostly Taleggio and a little Robiola cheese……(no reduced balsamic on pizza) Forking PHENOMENAL!!!!!!! (finish with just a SMALL pinch of basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper) It really was FORKING PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!! Really****** OFF THE CHARTS FORKING AMAZING!!!!!

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 head cauliflower – cut in florets

9 oz grape tomatoes – cut in halves

2 red bell peppers – cut in rough strips

12 olives (use quality olives, either with out pits or remove the pits) – cut in thirds ( I used meaty Spanish Queen Olives that were stuffed with pimentos)

1 sweet onion – quarter the onion and cut in thick slices

1/2 lemon (that you roast and turn sweet with cauliflower)

1 teaspoon bomba di calabrese (more or less depending on taste and brand that you are using some are much spicier than others) or substitute a Calabrian Chili Pepper or two and chop fine.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon capers

Thyme – small amount of either dried or fresh – to taste – for finishing

fresh crushed sea salt to taste – for finishing

fresh ground black pepper to taste – for finishing

reduction of balsamic vinegar of Modena (preferably Fini Brand because it’s not mixed with lots of additives) to taste – for finishing (I didn’t use this on pizza)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the cauliflower, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, olives, 1/2 lemon on baking sheet(s).

In a small bowl mix together the bomba with the olive oil and sprinkle it all over the vegetables.

Put it in the oven till the vegetables are soft and slightly charred. (about 40 minutes)

You might need to use an oven mint because the lemon half is very hot but you need to squeeze and sprinkle the roasted lemon juice all over (remove seeds). Finish the cauliflower with capers, thyme, salt and pepper and at the table a small drizzle of reduction of balsamic vinegar.

You heard this Italian Style Cauliflower is also FORKING PHENOMENAL on Pizza…and it  FORKING IS!!!!! It is far better tasting than it looks….*****OFF THE FORKING CHARTS!!!!!

Cauliflower is a lot  more special now!

 

This taste good but I didn’t get a picture that I am happy with……Oh well. This tuna salad with made with an Italian Condiment called Neonata.  It’s a Hot Fish Condiment. I thought it would work well with packaged tuna and it does. If you have Neonata the recipe is very easy and will be delicious. I learned of Neonata from watching a cooking competition show on Food Network.  Neonata was the ingredient the competitors all had to use. The restauranteur/Judge of the competition said Neonata is one of his personal favorite ingredients and he uses lots of it in his restaurant so I thought I’d give it a try. I recently made baked crispy potato balls with Neonata that were good and tasty but this Tuna Salad with Neonata is Special and was very good!

Ingredient for about 2 servings

6.4 oz drained light tuna

3 Tablespoons Neonata

10 cured olives – pits removed – rough chopped

1 lemon – the fresh juice and zest

2 Tablespoons sweet onion – chopped well

1/4 cup leftover sweet grilled corn

1 Tablespoon celery leaves – chopped well

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

fresh crushed sea salt to taste (you won’t need much at all)

Fresh crushed black pepper to taste (you won’t need much)

Directions

In a small mixing bowl combine everything and add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with bread, crackers, cucumber chips, salad or wrap.

Is this picture any better?

The Tuna Salad is really delicious and interesting. The Neonata just goes well with tuna. I used those extra special cured olives, lemon, balsamic and the pops of sweet corn just make it all work. I just had no luck getting a photo I was happy with. I should of just shoved it between bread.

Enjoy!

 

 

I was watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network and I watched a man prepare a Thai Papaya Salad. I thought it was interesting that he used Tamarind Water and he also used whole lime with skin. I planned to make Papaya Salad similar to what I saw on TV but I had some bad luck. The papaya I purchased was rotten inside and my peanuts that I purchased this year from my local supermarket expired two years ago and did indeed taste spoiled. I wanted to make the salad before I forgot what I saw so I made a few substitutions and came up with a Spaghetti Squash Salad with similar flavors. I made this salad Vegetarian Style without the fish sauce or other added meats this salad might contain like shrimp or crab. While Spaghetti Squash is not an authentic ingredient the Spaghetti squash has a similar texture to fresh shredded papaya. Thai papaya salads are usually served with sticky rice and maybe an entree like Larb.

Ingredients for about 2 servings

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash

4 green beans – ends snipped off and cut in 3/4 inch diagonals ( or a long bean…long beans are authentic)

2 Thai Chili peppers – minced

1 garlic clove (a large one) – minced

1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar – or to taste ( palm sugar is the authentic ingredient one or use any brown sugar) – (you might need salad slightly sweeter)

1 Tablespoon chopped lime with skin (or one key lime)

1 teaspoon tamarind

5 grape tomatoes – cut in half

2 Tablespoons peanuts  – crushed up a little but not too much – I cheated and used coconut butter toffy peanuts because my regular peanuts were spoiled…..but it tasted great!

2 sprigs cilantro

Directions

In your mortar and pestle  add the garlic, chili, sugar, lime, tamarind and muddle. Then add the green beans and muddle. You don’t want to break the green beans too much…..just bust them up a little to get the flavors into them..

To a medium to small bowl add the spaghetti squash, tomatoes and the contents of the mortar. Mix well.

Top with peanuts and cilantro.

Serve!

You can add a little fish sauce to make the taste more authentic. Tasty and different with really bright flavors…I finished with a little bit of fresh cilantro.

 

 

Neonato (Italian spelling is Nunnata) is an Italian Spicy Fish Condiment. Neonata is considered a delicacy and can only be made a few weeks a year when fish are very young. Different parts of Italy use different fish to make Neonata.  Anchovies, Sardines and Mackerel are popular in some parts but all kinds of other fish are used. The Coluccio Brand I used is made with ice fish. I was watching a cooking competition TV Show and Neonato was the ingredient the chefs had to use. The judge on the TV show said that Neonata is one of his favorite things. He also said many of the items on his menu in his restaurant have Neonata in them. I haven’t found Neonata at any of my local stores so I mailed away for some. I got the same exact brand they used on TV. It’s full of olive oil, not a strong fish taste…..maybe almost like tuna but lighter and it taste a bit like Calabrian Chili peppers. I since found out that most people spread the Neonata on bread or they mix it into pasta. I thought the Neonata would go pretty well with potatoes so I made Baked Crispy Neonata Potato Balls. This recipe makes around 40 balls.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

2 lbs potatoes – peeled – cut in half – in pot covered with cold water

1 Tablespoon salt – to put in pot of water with potatoes

4 Tablespoons Neonata

1 egg

1/4 cup scallions

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup flour (bowl one)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (bowl one)

4 eggs – lightly beaten (bowl two)

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard (bowl two)

2 cups whole wheat panko bread crumbs (bowl three)

2 Tablespoons dried basil (bowl three)

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt (bowl three)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (bowl three)

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray baking Sheet(s) with non stick spray and set to the side.

Add a Tablespoon of salt to pot of potatoes and put on a medium boil. Cook till potatoes are tender (about 15-20) minutes. Drain the water off of the potatoes and take off heat and then mash. Then mash with Neonata. Then mash with one egg and add the scallions and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper. Put pot of seasoned potatoes to the side.

Now set up your breading station with three large bowls.

Bowl #1 is 1 c. flour and 1/4 t. cayenne – Then mix.

Bowl #2 are 4 eggs (two eggs are pictured but I figured out I needed to double) and 2 Tablespoons dijon. Then mix.

Bowl #3 is 2 cups w.w. panko 2 T.basil 1/2 t. sea salt and 1/2 t. ground black pepper. Then mix.

Use a small scooper and put ball first in flour, then egg mixture, then crumb mixture and then onto sprayed baking sheet. You can do 5 or 6 balls at a time.

They go in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until done.

I made an aioli with lemon juice, lemon zest and a touch of bomba calabrese.

They don’t really need a sauce but sauce is fun…..I think a marinara sauce would be fine…. a lemon-ee parsley sauce would also be great.

A tasty different appetizer or side dish…….Enjoy!

 

The supermarkets have practically been giving away corn the last few weeks here in Phoenix so it’s necessary to make something with corn. This recipe has a lot of steps but it is easy. You cook the corn in the oven and make an easy corn stock at the same time. 1/2 the corn get blended in 1/2 of the corn stock and the other 1/2 of corn stock cooks the potatoes with the crab boil seasoning. See it’s easy and delicious. Just be careful and only use 1/4 cup of the potato/crab boil liquid to season the stew. The potatoes get a nice seasoning on them but the liquid is very strong tasting so you only need a little bit to season up the stew. Also I cooked off 8 ears of corn but I only needed to use 6 for this recipe. You will have two extra ears of corn for latter or you can remove the kernels and freeze for a latter use. This came out very much like a Chowder…but since it’s without cream or crackers to thicken……..technically this is closer to a stew so that’s what I called it.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

8 ears corn – peeled

2 bay leaves

2 celery ribs – quartered

1 large onion – cut in half and then thick slices

4 garlic cloves – smashed

2 carrots – cut in half

1 banana pepper – cut in half

4 oz unsalted butter cut in quarters

2 Tablespoons course sea salt

water to almost cover corn

2 lbs potatoes – peeled and cut in large chunks

1 Zatarain’s 3oz Crab Boil in Bag seasoning (mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, dill seeds, allspice)

1/4 cup potato/crab boil cooking liquid (ABOUT) – ******Note you might need a little less or a little more depending on the amount of water was used. Add a tablespoon at a time till you think the flavor is right…my guess is around 4 tablespoons or a 1/4 cup.

1 teaspoon dried thyme

sea salt to taste

black pepper to taste

6 teaspoons scallions – chopped

6 teaspoons parsley or celery leaves – chopped

6 pinches piment d’ espelette

Directions

Turn the oven to 350 degrees F.

In two large pans add 4 ears of corn each. Then in each of the two pans add a bay leaf, 1 rib celery, 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 carrot, 1/2 banana pepper, 2oz butter, 1 Tablespoon sea salt and fill the pan 3/4 high with water.

Cover the pans tightly with aluminum foil.

Place both pans on the middle rack of oven and leave in oven for two hours.

After two hours take the pans out of the over. Be care because hot steam is going to come out and loosen the end of the foil and let the pan cool off a little for an hour. Take the corn out of the pans and remove the vegetables and bay leaves from the liquid in the pans.

Cut the kernels off of 4 ears of corn and blend with one pan of the corn stock. Set to the side.

In a large sauce pot add the liquid (corn stock) of one pan. Put the potato chunks and crab boil bag in the pot and boil until potatoes are tender (about ten minutes). Drain the potatoes in a colander that is over a bowl.

Add the creamy thick corn to the drained potatoes. Remove the kernels from two more ears of corn and add to the stew. Add 1/4 cup of potato/crab boil liquid to season the creamy thick corn and potatoes. Season with thyme. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

Finish with scallions, parsley or celery leaves and pigment d’ espelette.

It substantial but delicious and not as heavy as it seems. Very small amount of butter was used but no heavy cream, milk or extra starches were used. It’s just delicious and satisfying.

 

I made Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s recipe for Dukkah. WOW! it’s really delicious!….You might be wondering what is Dukkah? Dukkah also spelled Duqqa and is an Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds and spices that are toasted and ground….but not to powder and not to paste…somewhere in-between. I only had Dukka a few times at FnB restaurant in Scottsdale and it might have been served on a vegetable?……. Or maybe not but I think that’s how I had it so I thought I’d make dukkah and put it on a vegetable too………..I read about 20 different recipes for dukkah and they differed so much that they didn’t even seem like the same thing. Some recipes were very short. Others were long. Most on the internet are pistachio based but I read the real thing is usually hazelnut based. I narrowed the recipes down to two that seemed like they’d be the best…..and went with the Y.O & S.T. recipe because they are award wining and this recipe was hazelnut based. After I made the Dukkah I didn’t want to put it on a vegetable because of the taste. It was delicious but it didn’t seem like it was for the vegetables I had around. The dukkah was very flavorful and very fragrant, sort of nutty, a little sweet and slightly spicy, maybe a little spice cookie-ish – peanut-ee like but yummier. My first thought was to bake it into cookies. I thought the dukkah would be great in either butter or peanut butter cookies but I didn’t want to eat cookies this week so I baked it up in bread so I can eat some and freeze some………guess I could have froze cookies too…oh well. I do also think the dukkah would be great to flavor chicken. I latter read that dukkah is suppose to be served with bread and oil……..You dunk your oiled bread in Dukkah to make it tastier……..I can see that now………This dukkah is quite delicious I don’t know if most other dukkahs are this good? You can purchase dukkah at the store these days or follow one of the more simple recipes for dukkah but your results will differ. The bread recipe is very easy. I just made a basic dough. Rolled it out. filled it and rolled it up like a jelly roll. Cut the jelly roll in half long ways. braided it around and in the oven it went on a quilon lined baking sheet.

Ingredients for around 14 servings

1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons or 1/4 oz)

1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups potato water at 100-110 degrees F or water

4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup scant extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons course sea salt (you might need 3 teaspoons if you use water instead of potato water..)

1 cup bread flour – this is for kneading, letting the dough rest in and for flouring surfaces

2 oz sweet butter – room temperature

dukkah recipe – the whole thing – I will post the ingredients after the recipe at the end of the page if you want to make Dukkah based on Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s recipe

4 oz feta – the creamy, not so salty or too tangy type……or use goat cheese – crumbled

1 Tablespoon barberries – if you don’t have skip – nothing will be similar

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for drizzling over the top of the bread

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

In a big bowl add the yeast, sugar and potato water and wait maybe 30 minutes for a foam to develop.

Now add 4 cups bread flour, 1/4 c olive oil, sea salt and mix well and make it into a ball. Add another cup of bread flour to let the ball rest in and knead some of that into the ball so it doesn’t feel sticky.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest till doubled.

Punch down and knead a bit more. Flour surfaces. You can roll out the dough into a something like a 23 inch by 16 inch rectangle and spread the butter on it.

Top the butter with the dukkah, feta cheese and barberries.

Then roll it up like a jelly roll.

 

Split roll in half.

Braid and put ends together.

Drizzle with oil.

After 15 minutes  turn pan around so it browns evenly.

Bread might be done 10-15 minutes later for a total of around 25-30 minutes.

Dig in!

Most people will enjoy this! Ummm it’s like a sophisticated Entenmann’s Cake.

I used Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s Recipe for Dukkah…..I didn’t mean to but I changed their recipe JUST SLIGHTLY due to what I found in my kitchen. This is how I made their recipe. If you use the Dukkah to bake with like I did then I wouldn’t bother toasting everything or the Dukkah might get burnt. I think baking it is enough.

1/2 cup hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin (not in Y.T. & S.T. recipe)

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (instead of the cumin the recipe should be 1 Tablespoon of cumin seeds but I couldn’t find them at first so I did a teaspoon cumin and later when I found my cumin seeds I just added 1/2 of what the recipe to make up for the cumin I added)

1 Tablespoon green peppercorn or substitute white peppercorn (I used white)

3 Tablespoons coriander seeds

1 1/2 Tablespoon sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon nigela seeds (I know I have them but couldn’t find so I used caraway seeds)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

Basically everything gets toasted and then gets ground up till course. ENJOY!

 

 

La Santisima Mexican Restaurant in Glendale AZ offers a very large Salsa Bar and one of the salsas they offer is Strawberry so I thought I can do Strawberry Salsa too. With all the great deals we had on strawberries lately and the humid weather we’ve been having strawberry salsa seems just right for this time of year.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 lb strawberries – green leaves removed, strawberries chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 red bell pepper – roasted, skin, stem and seeds removed and then chopped

1/4 cup sweet onion – chopped

1 clove garlic – grated

1 lime – the zest and the fresh squeezed juice

1 pickled jalapeno – preferably my recipe or from a farmers market (jarred from store are nasty)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon mild chili powder

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

.3 oz fresh cilantro chopped (about a 1/3 of a bunch or loose 1/4 cup)

.3 oz fresh mint chopped (just leaves no stems) (about a 1/3 of a bunch or a loose quarter cup)

optional – 3 chitepin chiles – hard to find but worth seeking if you like spicy because they are very delicious tiny peppers with flavor. If you don’t use these peppers you might want use another pepper or more jalapeno.

Directions

Strawberries, sugar and salt go in a medium/large bowl. Mix the bowl contents up and let them sit about 20 minutes. The sugar and salt pull out lots of juice from the strawberries. After the strawberries get really juicy you want to blend half of the mixture so your salsa will have a better texture. Now add the remaining ingredients bell pepper, onion, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, jalapeño, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, cilantro, mint, optional chitepin chili peppers. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and chilies to your liking.

Goes really well with melted pepper jack cheese on a chip.

 

 

I gave my husband some of Shishito peppers to try. He said they are REALLY DELICIOUS but I don’t know what I’m tasting. That is what I expect that most people would say when they try these peppers. I think almost everybody would love the flavors but they might not be able to figure out what they are tasting. I used a lot of uncommon ingredients that most people wouldn’t have in their pantry. Zahtar, Aleppo pepper, Sesame Seeds, Sumac, Cumin and Urfa Pepper these seasonings are amazing together. I tasted a lot of this kind of food at FnB restaurant in Scottsdale over the years so I developed a taste for this kind of food and sought out to find these seasoning and especially Urfa Pepper. They might sound spicy but they actually are more flavorful than spicy. I’ve found all these seasonings at the Asiana Market that is in or near to Deer Valley. Also added a few fresh herbs and creamy mild style feta cheese and that’s what makes this dish  irresistible!

Ingredients for about 4 servings

6 oz shishito peppers

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon urfa pepper

1 Tablespoon zahtar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sumac

1/4 teaspoon cumin

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

3 oz creamy style sheep’s milk feta cheese – crumbled

1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro – chopped

1/2 Tablespoon fresh mint – chopped

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium-large bowl add peppers, olive oil, urfa pepper, zahtar, Aleppo pepper, sesame seeds, sumac, cumin, salt and pepper and mix well.

Place evenly on a baking sheet and place in oven till peppers start to char and burst. About 15 minutes depending on size of peppers.

Evenly apply feta cheese and then fresh herbs.

ENJOY!