broccoli love

I guess it was fitting that the week we added raw broccoli to the boy's food list (he likes raw veggies much better than cooked), I found a broccoli recipe that we adults love. LOVE. I even, this week, made a huge batch for a potluck and it got rave reviews there as well.

I prefer the florets slightly smaller than I made them here so that is how I make it now

Usually, my broccoli consumption is entirely dependant on a pairing with cheese of some sort, as in broccoli in cheddar sauce or as broccoli cauliflower in blue cheese sauce over rice (a Delia Smith recipe from her How to Cook series that I made for years). This one comes from Molly at remedial eating and is delicious. The first time I made it, it was inhaled so I doubled up on the broccoli for the second time out and we got enough for leftovers.

Asian Broccoli with Cashews (adapted very slightly from remedial eating)
2 lbs of broccoli, cut into florets and the stalks cut into half inch pieces
1 tbsp red miso (the original calls for 2 tbsp white miso which I didn't have)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
2-4 tsp grated ginger (this is optional, I left it out for the potluck and it was still wonderful)
1 c roasted, salted cashews, chopped coarsely
1/4 c toasted sesame seeds
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts only, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the broccoli in salted water for about 6 minutes and then drain well. While the broccoli is cooking, add miso, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger to a small jar. Shake well to mix.

When the broccoli is drained, add it to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and mix well with hands or salad tongs. Add cashews, sesame seeds and spring onions and mix again. Serve warm or cold.

Asian broccoli served with bento pork - a great combination

back in the swing

Erm - we were having a few technical difficulties over here, as in our hard drive packed up and left on holidays and we had to get a replacement. Still, we had a lovely, sunny summer with picnics at the beach and lots of fruit galettes. And crepes. Have you read Molly's ode to crepes? I love the way she makes everything she writes about seem so doable. So I have - made crepes several times this summer. Usually of a weekend morning, if fact, one morning, after hearing me putter around in the kitchen, my husband was most put out when it turned out, on that particular morning, that I hadn't been making crepes. So the crepe recipe is a hit. Also a hit has been Deb's burst tomato, corn and zucchini galette. We've had it most weeks since she posted the recipe, sometimes more than once. Hopefully, I'll remember this recipe next summer.

And one night, I had the galette filling and a stack of crepes in the fridge, so I combined the two. It was a lovely idea and made a delicious patio dinner outside, with the wasps. We didn't let them join in with us, though.

Molly's Crepes from remedial eating
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour, unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat
1 1/4 cup milk, ideally 2% or higher
3 tablespoons salted butter

Add the eggs to a mixing bowl, along with the salt and sugar. Whisk well, for about 30 seconds. Add half of the flour and half of the milk and whisk until no lumps remain. Then add the rest of the flour and milk and whisk again until no lumps remain. Melt the butter in your crepe pan. Pour 2 tbsp into your crepe batter and reserve the rest to grease your crepe pan. Use a 1/3 or 1/4 c measure to bring the crepe batter to the pan, swirl the batter until the bottom of the pan is covered and cook until the edges start to curl and brown. Flip and cook until slightly brown. Transfer to a plate and continue cooking until all the batter is gone. The crepes keep in the fridge for a few days, layered between sheets of wax paper and well wrapped in plastic wrap.You can also freeze them.

Filling - burst tomato, zucchini and corn from smitten kitchen
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher
3 cups grape tomatoes
1 ear corn, cut from the cob (about 1 cup)
1 small zucchini, diced (or substitute 1 medium eggplant, diced and roasted)
1/2 bundle green onions, thinly sliced
10 basil leaves, sliced thinly
1/2 cup grated parmesan

In a saute pan, heat the oil. Add the tomatoes and salt and heat over medium high heat until the tomatoes have burst. Add the zucchini and cook for about 2 minutes, lowering the heat slightly. Add the corn and cook for another minute. Take the mixture off the heat and add the onions and basil.

To assemble the crepes, sprinkle a couple of pinches of parmesan over 1/4 of the crepe (triangle), add a couple of tablespoons of filling and then fold the crepe over the filling (in half, then in quarters). Continue until all the crepes or filling are used up. Place the filled crepes on a baking sheet and heat in a 350 deg F oven for about 10 minutes until the crepes are warmed through and the cheese is melted. Serve with a thin bechamel if desired.

bento pork from molly

I’ve been meaning to write about this recipe for ages. It comes from the wonderful Molly at remedial eating and it regularly appears on our dinner table. It is quick to make and delicious to eat. I’ve changed up Molly’s original recipe a bit by reducing the sugar but otherwise it is the same. I buy 1 lb packages of ground pork when it is on sale, so I usually have 2 or 3 stashed away in my freezer at any given time so when I stumped as to what to make for dinner, this is a great go to. The hardest part of this recipe was finding the mirin (Whole Foods) – now I just keep everything on hand and this is a breeze.

Bento Pork (from remedial eating)
1 lb ground pork (not sausage meat)
6 tbsp soy sauce (use the dark version here, the light version doesn’t have enough flavour or heft)
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sake

Pour the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar into a saucepan and heat over a medium high heat to blend. Add in the pork and break it up with a wooden spoon. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes. When most of the liquid has been absorbed and is dark and rich looking, it is ready to serve. Molly makes rice bowls with this which I usually do with leftovers (it is delicious with peanut sauce) but on dinner nights I usually serve this as bento pork tacos. Our go to toppings include broccoli cole slaw mix, avocado slices and a smear of mayonnaise mixed with seafood sauce. Every time I make it I thank Molly for posting the recipe.

Cheers to Molly.

stuffed peppers

A few weeks ago, I was super organized one night and managed to cook up a big batch of farro, one of black beans and one of white beans to hide in my freezer for future use. I was inspired by a lovely post by Molly over at Remedial Eating about stuffed zucchini. My garden had closed for the summer and I had no zucchini bats so I bought some red peppers to stuff. I thought I had some ground turkey to use in the recipe but a cursory dig through my perennially stuffed freezer just yielded a load of mango popsicles and pots of pesto. A rumage through my vegetable drawer yielded some carrots, celery and some small purple turnips. So with this recipe from Ottolenghi in my mind, I made a pepper stuffing using farro, carrots, celery, a bit of chopped ham and diced turnip. With some gruyere cheese grated over the top, it was a lovely supper and my husband loved the leftovers.

Farro, Ham and Turnip Stuffed Peppers (inspired by Molly at remedial eating and this recipe from Ottolenghi)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 small turnips, diced
1 small zucchini, halved and diced
1 handful corn kernels
1 tsp tomato paste
1 large slice cooked ham, diced
1 c cooked farro
3 medium red pepper, halved and deseeded
salt and pepper
1 c grated gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes until tender. Add the carrots, celery and turnips and continue cooking until the vegetables are slightly tender. Add the zucchini, corn, tomato paste and ham and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the farro, stir to mix and cook together for a few minutes to meld everything together and season with salt and pepper. Lay the pepper halves in a greased baking dish that will hold them all in a single layer. Scoop the filling into the peppers, mounding if necessary. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the top of the peppers. Bake the peppers for 45-60 minutes.