Cheesy Cauliflower Sauce

Posted on by
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 heaping cups small cauliflower florets
  • 1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon mellow white miso or soy-free chickpea miso or a little salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
  • 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
  1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the cauliflower, onion powder, garlic, paprika, mustard, and turmeric. Cover tightly and reduce the heat to very low. Simmer until the cauliflower is so tender that it easily comes apart when poked with a fork, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Carefully transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover and blend, starting on low and increasing the speed until you’re at the highest setting. (Be careful–hot foods can “erupt.”) Blend until you have a completely smooth sauce.
  3. Pour the sauce back into the saucepan, add salt to taste if you like, and heat until it begins to bubble, stirring occasionally. Allow it to cook and thicken for at least another 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Vodka Sauce

Posted on by
  • 3 cups marinara sauce
  • 1 cup vodka
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper

Simmer marinara sauce and vodka over low heat, stirring often, until the mixture reduces by one fourth, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cream and continue to simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parmesan, salt and pepper.

Quick Pickled Pearl Onions

Posted on by

16 white pearl onions (about 1 cup root ends trimmed and scored with X) ½ cup water ½ cup red wine vinegar ½ cup sugar 1 ½ tablespoons mustard seeds ½ teaspoon coriander seeds ½ teaspoon black peppercorns

In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the pearl onions until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. Transfer the onions to a glass bowl.

Meanwhile, in another medium saucepan, bring the water and vinegar to a boil with the sugar, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and peppercorns. Boil until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Pour the liquid over the onions and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Drain before serving.

Beet and Apple Salad

Posted on by
  • 4 large beets (2 1/2 pounds)
  • 5 thyme sprigs
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • ¼ cup apple-cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
  • 1/3 cup salted pistachios (chopped)
  • 1 green apple (thinly sliced)

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a baking dish, lightly drizzle the beets and thyme with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast until the beets are tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Let cool, then peel the beets and cut them into 3/4-inch dice.

In a large bowl, whisk the vinegar with the mustard. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup of oil until emulsified. Add the horseradish and season with salt and pepper; toss with the beets and pistachios. Transfer the beets to a platter, top with the apple and serve.

English Muffins

Posted on by
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cups milk
  • 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • In a medium bowl, add the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix briefly.
  • In a separate jug, add the milk, water, and butter. Pop it into the microwave for 15-30 seconds or until it’s lukewarm and the butter has melted. Take care not to let it get too hot.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you form a dough. The dough will be quite soft and a little sticky. (NOTE: See video about holding back liquid until you get the right consistency of dough).
  • Once the dough has come together, just scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover tightly with cling wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Now let it sit at room temperature for a minimum of 12-18 hours. (If you want to cook off your muffins at a later time then pop the dough in the fridge after 18 hours) 
  • The next morning, the dough will have doubled in size. Turn it out onto a floured surface.  Cover with cling wrap and a kitchen towel and let rest for just 10 minutes.
  • After resting, the gluten will have relaxed. You can now roll it out to about 2 cm or slightly over an inch in thickness. (In the video I said roll to 1 cm however I found this to be very thin later)
  • Using a 3-inch cookie cutter dusted in flour, cut out rounds and transfer them to another a baking tray lined with parchment. Any scraps can you re-rolled and made into another muffin. Note: At this point, you can place the muffins in the fridge to be cooked off later.
  • Cover the muffins with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let it rest for about 40-45 minutes. After 45 minutes, the dough circles will have puffed up a little. Proceed to cook!

Cooking the English Muffins:

  • Heat a large nonstick frying pan over a steady, medium to medium-low heat.
  • Using a flat spatula, carefully move over the English muffins onto to a non stick frying pan and cover with a lid.
  • Leave at least a 2 inches between each muffin. It makes 8-10 muffins so you will probably need to cook them off in two batches. Take extra care when moving your muffins to avoid compressing the dough and knocking out the bubbles.
  • Cook on this side for about 6-7 minutes. The steam created with the lid on will help the muffins rise and cook through fully.
  • Flip over and cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes. 
  • Set the muffins aside to cool down before eating them fresh. These muffins also toast up really well. 
  • Store for 4 days at room temperature or freeze for up to 8 weeks. 

Instant Pot Pickled Beets

Posted on by
  • 2 cups peeled and diced yellow beets
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 tbsp. maple syrup, optional
  1. Mix all the ingredients in your 3 quart Instant Pot (or double or triple for larger IPs).  
  2. Cook on manual/pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
  3. Release pressure manually. Store in fridge. 

French Chicken Casserole

Posted on by
  • 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
  • 3 large shallots, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pound baby gold potatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Season chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside. Add mushrooms, shallots and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and browned, about 5-7 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Stir in chicken stock, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and potatoes. Return chicken to the skillet. Place into oven and bake until potatoes are tender and chicken has completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 40-45 minutes. Stir in heavy cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.


Lemon and Ginger Curd

Posted on by
    null
  • 4 large lemons unwaxed or wash thoroughly first
  • 225 g caster sugar
  • 115 g unsalted butter
  • 1 lump of stem ginger and a teaspoon of the syrup from a jar
  • 4 medium eggs
  • Zest the lemons and squeeze out the juice. Put this into a bowl that sits on top of a pot of simmering water. Add the sugar, ginger (finely chopped) and ginger syrup and butter (also chopped). Stir to mix thoroughly and let everything melt together.
  • Take the pot and bowl combo off the heat once it has got to this stage. Whisk the eggs in a jug and pour this gently into the lemony mixture. Put it back on the heat and keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the curd sticks to the back of the spoon
  • Pour into a couple of sterilised jars, and store in the fridge, use within 2 weeks