Pasta with Cauliflower-Tomato Sauce (Slow Cooker Friendly) & Crunchy Bread Crumbs

Michele Scicolone, one of my favorite cookbook authors,  
posted a  Spicy Cauliflower Pasta Sauce made in 
the slower cooker on her Facebook page a few days ago ~ 
it sounded interesting and I had the small head 
of cauliflower on hand . . .  I'm sure you can guess the rest!

As usual, I was compelled to change it a little to suit my 
own taste, although you may like it just as Michele posted it.
It's healthful, low in fat and vegetarian friendly.
Plus it's easy on the budget.

I'll post Michele's way, plus my changes over on my

recipe blog so you can make it the way you like.  

Michele's original recipe calls for

a small head of cauliflower, a large can of crushed tomatoes,

water, olive oil, garlic, a little dried oregano, salt and red pepper flakes.

During the last few minutes I added some chopped, marinated

artichoke hearts, and some brined capers.  (I also had a bit

of Trader Joe's Artichoke Tapenade left over so I stirred

that in as well . . . you know, waste not - want not.)

Since we're not so keen on really spicy food any longer,

I cut the amount of red pepper flakes and only added

the tiniest pinch. Perfect!

For the crumb topping : 

Bread crumbs, a little olive oil, anchovy fillets, and

freshly ground black pepper. (Please don't let the

anchovies put you off ~  as they truly enhance this dish!)

If you don't have anchovies on hand (or cannot 

tolerate them), you can substitute fresh garlic and a little

sea or kosher salt instead. But I prefer the anchovies,

and I promise you, you'll barely notice their presence 

because they are cooked in a little olive oil until they nearly

dissolve and the flavor mellows, enhancing the oil, 

then added to the crumbs and sauteed gently until the

crumbs turn crisp and golden brown. Yum! 

This is an excellent condiment on other pasta dishes and

steamed/sauteed vegetables or grilled chicken/fish, too.

 I always make extra and store in an airtight container in

the fridge, ready to use and it keeps almost indefinitely

in the fridge, even longer in the freezer.

 

I think it would be safe to say that you and those you

 cook for would probably have to favor

rather assertive flavors to really enjoy this dish... 
Kraft Mac and Cheese® it's not.  ;)

I thought it was very good; quite low in fat

(but not lacking flavor.)

If you would like a printable copy of the recipe,
please jump on over to my recipe blog
right here.


Thank you for stopping today ~
I love your comments!

~Mari  :)

Crispy Herbed Chevre with Heirloom Tomatoes ~ PLUS Easy Herb Batter Bread

We're getting down to the nitty gritty; the very last of the tomato season here. After this it will be the hothouse variety until next season.

I like to treasure these last few colorful remnants of summer in the most simple way, to let their natural sweetness shine.



This presentation is similar to what Chef Jonathan Waxman introduced way, way back at the beginning of California Cuisine, in the 1970's.   Long before PCs were a household commodity I remember  clipping newspaper and magazine recipes which featured  this exciting nouveau style of preparing food ~  I think most of us "of a certain age" did the same. 



Practically unheard of here prior to that time,  fresh goat cheese became all the rage, thanks to  Laura Chenel in Sebastopol, CA.  She was  America's first commercial producer  of goat cheese in the US.     I remember meeting Laura around 1980 as she introduced her  newly published cookbook (featuring, of course, goat cheese)  at one of the first Williams-Sonoma stores to branch off from the  original store in nearby Sonoma, California.
Those were exciting times ~ though we now take the  concept of California Cuisine rather casually, it is important to  remember that it was the start of a food revolution,  heavily influencing the way we eat today.

 

I love the colors of a mix of tomatoes! But any kind of fresh, ripe tomatoes you have will do, slice the larger ones and just half the cherry or pear tomatoes.



Fresh and vibrant, this salad exemplifies the roots of California Cuisine.  Chef Jonathan's method is very simple; get the ripest, most flavorful tomatoes adorn them simply with salt and pepper, lemon juice and your favorite nut oil, such as walnut, hazelnut, etc.
Blend a couple of teaspoons or more of freshly minced herbs into the goat cheese very well,  then form the herb cheese into patties  (about 2 ounces each), one per each serving.   Dip in beaten egg and then in plain breadcrumbs which have been seasoned with salt and pepper.  (You can use Panko crumbs if you like.)
Chill the patties or at least 1/2 hour in the refrigerator,  (they will hold together during cooking a little  better if you chill  them even longer.)    When thoroughly chilled bake them on a buttered baking sheet  @ 375ºF for about 8 minutes, or brown them in a little oil  in a frying pan over medium high heat for a few minutes  on each side, turning once, until they are nicely golden brown.
Place on plates or a platter, arrange the tomatoes around the patties, sprinkle with herbs of your choice, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze lemon juice or a little of your favorite vinegar over and drizzle with nut oil sparingly.
Serve and enjoy while the cheese is still warm.

~*~*~*~*
Fast and Easy Herb Batter Bread
As an accompaniment I baked up some Herb Batter Bread, it's from Sunset Magazine from about the same era.
It's a really easy yeast bread, so if you've ever felt intimidated by yeast breads ~ try this one, it's practically fail proof!
 It goes really well with soups or salads, and any other simple meal. 



 I cannot count the number of times I've made this bread,  but you can probably guess by the condition of my 1971 edition of the Sunset book. (It cost a whopping $1.95 then.)
Back then fresh artisan bread wasn't readily available as it is today and homemade bread like this was a treat.
  You can mix it all up in your stand mixer, or by hand it is not difficult and there is no kneading required.




I usually would bake the bread batter in a round cake pan, but this time  I baked it off in a little rectangular pan. (About 6.5-inches x 10-inches)
I substituted about 80% of the all-purpose white flour with whole wheat flour.
It goes together quickly and is a fantastic recipe to have baking when your loved ones or guests arrive at your home. The aroma is so enticing!
Although we didn't know it then,  the batter is very similar to a foccacia dough  (which I didn't even know about years later.)
When it comes out of the oven the top is brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with a little coarse salt to heighten the flavor of the herbs.



You can use any herbs you like, fresh or dried. In addition to the herbs I usually always add some minced dehydrated onion to the batter.
A little butter melting on the baked, warm bread, and you just about have heaven on a plate!  




It makes a really good little luncheon dish, or light supper, and brings back a flood of memories of my early cooking days.

~*~*~*~*~

If you try either or both of these, I hope you'll love them!
If you would like a printable copy of the Herb Batter Bread, hop on over to my recipe blog ~ HERE.

Thank you for coming by today, I really appreciate your comments. 
See you next time~  ~Mari  :)

Cheesy "Pizza" Broccoli

I didn't want to serve the same ol' steamed, or stir-fried broccoli, then I remembered a recipe similar to this one, by Daphe Oz (Dr. Oz's daughter), from her lifestyle/cooking book "Relish"
Click image to learn more about the book. It's a perfect choice for college students, young singles and newlyweds. I'm none of those and I like it too. :)

Daphne's version is even more simple than the one I devised (no roasted tomatoes/garlic/red onions or mozzarella in her version)  but this one is a lot more flavorful, in my opinion.

By now, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I love cooking intuitively ~ that is with a basic recipe in my head, and then letting the creative juices flow!  This is another one of those, and you can adjust it to suit your own taste.



Easy and flavorful, here's what you'll need for the basic recipe:
Cherry or Roma Tomatoes Salt, Freshly ground black pepper Olive oil (or oil of your choice)
Dried oregano leaves 1 or 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced Red pepper flakes Half an onion, slivered Fresh Broccoli Spears Grated Mozzarella Cheese Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Optional: Lemon wedges Fresh oregano or basil leaves (Extras ~ see below)
Method:
Place rack in center of oven, preheat to 400ºF.
Wash and cut in half a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, or as many as you want to make a single layer~  (you can use quartered Roma tomatoes or a similar variety;  tomatoes that are not too juicy work best in this recipe.) In a shallow baking dish toss them with some olive oil, sea salt and  a little freshly ground black pepper.
Place pan in oven and roast tomatoes for 10 to 12 minutes (make take longer, depending upon your oven and the baking dish you are using.) Scatter 1 or 2 sliced garlic cloves, half of a slivered onion (white, yellow, red/purple), a couple of generous pinches of dried oregano, and a couple of pinches of  red pepper flakes (optional), give a stir to coat with oil and continue roasting for 10 to 12 minutes ~ it's okay if some tomatoes begin to char.
While tomatoes are roasting, steam broccoli spears until just crisp tender. Remove tomato pan from oven, arrange broccoli over tomatoes, add a little s & p if desired,  sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese (as much or as little as you like),  sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and place back in oven, or under hot broiler until cheese is melted and begins to bubble.  Remove from oven allow to cool for a moment, sprinkle with a few  fresh oregano or basil leaves. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.



Add any of these optional ingredients if you like: (to be added during second half of roasting tomatoes, or upon serving, as garnish):
sliced or halved flavorful black olives roasted red pepper slivers or pieces marinated mushrooms sliced green onions (scallions) cured anchovy fillets marinated artichoke hearts cooked Italian sausage crumbles, torn prosciutto, etc.   ~ almost anything goes!




Colorful and tasty, it makes a fine main course or a great side dish for simply prepared meat, poultry or fish.
Gluten-Free and Vegetarian friendly, too.

Bon Appétit! And thank you for visiting today!

xo~mari

The Novel Bakers ~ "Gathering in the Garden" ~ Part II

Hello and welcome to the Wednesday installment of The Novel Bakers  where we are featuring the book "Gathering the Garden" written and illustrated  by Shelly Snow and Elaine Husband.




Same old story at my house... 
The summer wildfires made it nearly impossible to capture  garden gathering outdoors this summer,  so I dredged up one from my archives.  
It is from a few years ago. 
Thanks for understanding!






Now, I normally wouldn't serve these three  items together . . . these are just ideas for items you might serve at a gathering in the garden.

First up are Tomato Melts:

Garlic Bread toasted, spread with mayonnaise, a layer of fresh basil, then thinly sliced ripe tomatoes, a generous sprinkling of bacon then a layer of sliced or grated cheese ~ placed on shallow pan and baked in a 450º(F) oven  until the cheese is nice and melty and the  slices are warmed through.
Click here for a printable copy of Tomato Melts.






Next up, Warm Yukon Gold Potato salad:




Though this recipe also calls for bacon, it seems to me that we had  plenty of bacon on the Tomato Cheese Melts, so I substituted sweet red onion to lighten it up a bit (and omitted the mayonnaise.)   I also added a couple of sprigs of fresh tarragon, optional. 






Back to the Tomato Melts ~

Instead of large slices of bread I sliced the bread into narrow diagonal pieces and made them into "boats"





 ~ the basil "sails" are an idea I copied from Mary's inspiring blog:
Home is Where the Boat is
Thank you Mary!! :)






I also made a few  ~



~ Quiche d'Olives and Basil Tomato Tarts ~
Click here for a printable copy of the Quiche d'Olives recipe.

Instead of one large pan of each, I made individual size portions.





I used tiny Nicoise olives in the olive quiche, and cherry/grape tomatoes cut in half for the  Basil Tomato Tarts.
Click here for Basil Tomato Tart.







Using smaller tomatoes and olives worked out perfectly for these small tart pans.

Thank you for stopping by today!


Please come on back on Friday for our "Gathering in the Garden" finale ~




Thank you for any comments you would like to leave ~ they absolutely MAKE my day!  :) :) :)


And please do check out the other Novel Bakers' blogs  to see their creative ideas as interpreted from 'Gathering in the Garden'  :

Home is Where the Boat is
Rattlebridge Farm
A Quiet Life Blog

The Novel Bakers ~ Gathering in the Garden ~ Part I

This time the Novel Bakers are cooking from "Gathering in the Garden", a cute book written by Shelley Snow and Elaine Husband.
Shelley and Elaine have been lifelong friends from the time they were young girls, growing up in much simpler times. If you're a baby boomer, you will easily identify with these two delightful women and some of  their experiences.
They had much in common then, (as we learn through the book),  and are still best friends some 50+ years later.
They and their families live in Tennessee ~  both women are recognized watercolorist;  their artwork is featured throughout the book.
This fun little gem of a book is filled with ideas for themed parties for today, and is interspersed with memories (at times hilarious) of their time growing up together.
~*~*~*~*~

I must say, this assignment has been a bit of a challenge for me since the forest fires around here drastically cut into the time we were able to spend outdoors ~ so this post was put together rather hastily (yesterday) on one of the first clear (ash free) and cooler days since the fires began in late July.

Ahem. I think I'm not so good at following 'themes' sometimes (that's just me...) So I skipped around and chose recipes from the book that fit in with what we normally eat.  I fudged a little and tweaked the recipes to suit our tastes. 



Not many cherry tomatoes this year, so I picked other tomatoes from the garden and made the Pickled Shrimp recipe (I omitted the olives and substituted sliced baby cucumbers from the garden.) 



Cover painting "Still Life with Blue Goblet" by co-author Shelley Snow. (watercolor)





I took some liberties and made a Roasted Bell Pepper and Crab Bisque,  because it complements the shrimp (though the soup recipe is not in the book.)  You can serve it hot or cold.




We're relishing the last few days of summer  here . . .




I served the soup with some slices of Asiago cheese bread.

Roasted Red Pepper soup with Crabmeat, garnished with Cilantro.





Tomato Salad from the garden harvest, drizzled with herb vinaigrette and served with Pickled Shrimp. I used the same vinaigrette for both the tomatoes and the shrimp... (see below.)

I love the fresh  colors of summer on a plate . . .




Fishy ~  Crate and Barrel glass tumblers from years ago.



 Zebra striped green tomatoes ~ one of my favorite varieties, very sweet and mild.






Savoring every fresh vine ripened tomato from the garden . . .








. . . because soon they will be gone. 
We won't be able to enjoy these treasures until next year.





Okay.
Truth in recipes . . . 
I didn't use the bottled dressing as the authors' recipe instructed.   I made my old tried and true simple dressing/marinade for the cooked shrimp:

Your favorite minced herbs  (I used fresh parsley and chives from the garden),  minced garlic if you want ~ a bit of oil, your favorite vinegar,  salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar or  other sweetener  just to mellow it a bit. 

You can't beat it ~ it's FRESH. And the bonus is, no synthetic taste, no chemicals or preservatives  (and costs only pennies.)





You can serve a few shrimp on the tomato salad . . .





. . .  or serve each person a bowl of shrimp.  :)





I hope you, too, are enjoying these last days of summer for this year.
Thank you for coming by to visit!


Please stop by Wednesday for the next post from our featured book.

And please do check the other Novel Bakers to see their fabulous impressions of  "Gathering in the Garden"

Unlike me, I'm sure they followed the rules . . .  ;-)



a quiet life blog
Rattlebridge Farm
Home is Where the Boat is

Bon Appétit!