Spiced Apple Cauliflower Soup

Tonight was one of those nights—time to cook all of the vegetables that are about to turn. I was already going to have to hack up the cauliflower since it had those little black moldy spots that you can even find on cauliflower from Whole Foods and Central Market these days...

Soup seemed a great option. I've really gotten into cauliflower soup since a lunch at Chez Nous, and even though it was nearly 90 º today, I was feeling a little fall in my heart and went for it. I had an apple, so I Googled "spicy apple cauliflower soup," which led me to Anja's Food 4 Thought, a healthy eating blog. Well, my recipe in the end was quite different, so I felt it was bloggable, but Anja's getting some credit for inspiration and ingredients.

Spiced Apple Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
1/2 of a medium onion, diced coarsely
2 cups of chicken stock
1 apple, diced into chunks (I left the skin on)
1 Tbsp. oil or butter
2 tsp. Dalmatia Quince Spread (An odd treat that MikeDub got in a gift bag from Whole Foods)
Garam Masala (2 tsp. or to taste)
Chili Powder (1 tsp. or to taste)
Nutmeg (1/2 tsp.)
Salt & Pepper



How it's done: Cook the onion over low heat in the oil or butter. Do not let it brown; just cook until translucent. Add the cauliflower and chicken stock (I had some homemade chicken stock in the freezer, so that was extra yummy). Add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, I stirred in the quince spread, covered tightly, and boiled for 20 minutes. Quince, as I just learned from Wikipedia, is the plant below, and the spread tasted a lot like an apple jelly (any jam or jelly would be a good replacement). Click on the image below to visit the Wikipedia page and learn all about quince yourself! :)

Once the cauliflower is soft, blend the mixture. Be careful handling the blender—it can be really hot. (Anja recommended putting all of the spices and apple in straight away, but I waited until after the blending.) Once smooth, return to the pot, add the rest of the spices and apple, and cook until the apple is just beginning to get soft. This was my winning modification; the apple chunks added some texture, which is often my complaint with cauliflower soup (adding the small dark pumpkin seeds on top of cauliflower soup helps with this as well). 

I posted a picture, but there's really nothing attractive about cauliflower soup. I garnished with (spicy) Hungarian paprika, and a snippet of parsley to dress up the dish a little bit. The soup was delicious, but it was just slightly sweet for my taste—not too sweet, just missing a little spice. Next time, I think I'll add more chili powder, or maybe 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. 

Bacon-Fried Avocado Tacos

I’ve long thought of the fried avocado taco as “the vegetarian option” when dining out at local taquerias, but I’ve since ruined that idea into perfection. The inspiration for this dish came to me the other evening after running into a friend at my local HEB. I really didn’t know what to cook for dinner, but the cartful of groceries made me insist that she come over to eat. We started with two crab legs in the steamer; which is always a nice treat you and buys some time.

We started discussing tacos, but I wasn’t really inspired by any of the meat I had in the house. I mentioned the avocado, and the chopping began. When I started, my plan was to sauté onions and peppers, make some pico, and try desperately not to demolish the avocado while frying it. I guess I was still in a meaty mood, and so I ended up frying up some bacon bits to top the taco as well. Here’s the story, in recipe form:

FRY four strips of bacon in a pan. 

In a separate pan, sauté onion slices, red pepper slices, and green pepper slices in a little bit of oil. 

SLICE a firm, but not hard, avocado into about 6 pieces.

BEAT an egg, and MIX some about ½ cup of flour with 3 tbsp. breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper to taste.

COAT the avocado first with the egg, and then with the flour mixture. REPEAT the coating process.

FRY a large, firm avocado in the bacon grease.

OK, this part warrants some explanation. Right after dropping the avocado in on the long side, shake the pan slightly to make sure the avocado doesn’t stick. Fry to a golden-brown color, then insert a fork diagonally into the avocado to lift and flip to the other long side. The avocado softens during cooking, so use care to flip without tearing it apart. Fry on the other long side, and then the round edge if the pieces are thick enough.

WRAP it up in a tortilla and TOP with bacon bits, cilantro, sautéed peppers and onions, sour cream, and pico de gallo. 

Potato Crusted Lemon–Pistacio Fish

After a long hiatus, I have been inspired to begin blogging again by the hunt for the best potato crusted fish I can make in my kitchen. My first two tries have led me to the conclusion that potato crusted fish is pretty delicious and easy to pull off, so I’ll share both recipes. From what I’ve seen online, potato flakes are the way to go. Admittedly, it is easier, but I pulled off a baked dish using a real live potato ☺

First Try: Baked Potato Crusted Fish

After a few minutes of perusing the internet, I realized I was missing what seemed a key ingredient: potato flakes. Bound and determined, I boiled up and mashed a potato. After putting it back on the burner for a bit to dry it out, I added about a third cup of breadcrumbs. This made the base for amazingness. Mix together:

Potato mixture and 1/3 c breadcrumbs (as described above)
Half a lemon peel of finely chopped zest
Finely chopped pistachios to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 ºF. Place 3 thick filets of white fish in a small baking dish and squeeze the lemon juice from the zested side of the lemon over the fish. Slice the other side up for garnish. Using your hand, top the fish with the potato mixture; thicker is better. Immediately before baking, brush the top of the fish with olive oil. Bake 20 min, or until fish flakes.

Second Try: Pan Fried Potato Crusted Fish

1 packet of potato flakes
Half a lemon peel of finely chopped zest
Finely chopped pistachios to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Beat an egg with the juice from the zested side of the lemon. Toss the fish in the egg/lemon mixture, and then coat on all sides with the potato mixture. Repeat if desired. Cook fish until browned on one side in the skillet, add a little more oil, flip, and brown on the other side.

Simple and delicious.

Stuffed Chicken Thighs

After watching documentaries like "Food, Inc." we've gravitated toward "happy," more natural meat—but with happy meat comes higher cost. Organic chicken breast is sometimes prohibitive, so MikeDub and I have switched to eating a great deal of dark meat. (Hence, the stuffed thighs.)


These were super-simple, but incredibly delicious. I pounded the thickest part of the thighs with a meat mallet to thin them out and give a bit more room for the stuffing. The only real consideration is not stuffing them so full that you can't tie them closed. 


MikeDub naturally fell in love with the bacon stuffed thighs, and I was more of a fan of the ones filled with greens. Either way, the simplicity of this dish was hidden by well-balanced flavors, and there's much room for experimentation!


Bacon-Stuffing


Bacon: I cooked this briefly on paper towels in the microwave (2 minutes for 5 strips); the bacon will continue to cook in the oven, but this method helps to remove a bit of the fat first. 
Thinly-sliced mushroom
Coarsely chopped green onion
Feta cheese


Sunflower Sprout Stuffing


Sunflower sprouts
Thinly-sliced mushroom
Coarsely chopped green onion
Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350 º. Place the toppings on the flattened chicken, being careful not to overfill. To wrap: place the string under the piece of chicken, roll up the edges, and tie the chicken. (MikeDub has had success holding rolled chicken together with toothpicks if you don't have cooking string.) Place the chicken in a baking pan and cook for about an hour. 

I like to baste every twenty minutes, and drain some of the excess fat from the bacon when I baste. 

2004 Albino Armani Amarone

First, it's fair to say that I love this vineyard. I've tasted and carried a couple of their wines at my winebar, including one bottle of a grape called Casetta, that is almost extinct, with Albino Armani cultivating one of the only acreages on the planet. Needless to say, they are a dedicated vineyard, with tons of great info up at their websiteHere.
I was excited to taste this great vino, and was not to be disappointed. When I first opened the bottle, I was surprised at how smooth and unassuming this Amarone is. Most are burly and tannic, with a lot of acidity and astringency. This is concentrated and smooth, with an easygoing finish. Definitely ready to drink.
After an hour in the decanter, this opens up a huge amount of complexity, with nice toffee and fruit leather aromas. It's really a pleasure just to smell this stuff.
On the palate, not quite as many fireworks, but, as I said, this is a not-so-tannic Amarone, and it really shines with food. It's got a huge character without having an overpowering one, and it complemented every dish on my plate. Great stuff. 92pts, in my book.
I picked this up at Wink, undoubtably one of my favorite wine spots in Austin (and food spots, too!) and was happily surprised to find that they offer 40% take-home bottle discount, which puts it right at retail price. So much to love at that place. Still, $70, so special occasion, definitely.

Cellar Can Blau Montsant 2008

KP and I were intrigued by this lovely bottle, which, though one cannot tell by the photo, has a nice metallic/faux holographic sparkle to it in the white diamonds on the label.

This comes from Montsant, a region of Spain with a reputation for being a "poor man's Priorat". Unlike the wines of Priorat, which usually consist mainly of Grenache, this wine is a blend of Carignan (40%), Syrah(40%), and Grenache(20%). Naturally, the label states that it is Mazuelo, Garnacha and Syrah, but that's the Spanish for you, they like to rename everything to suit their own purposes. The Portuguese are even worse.

Con Blau takes its wine seriously, though. The three varietals are grown in seperate vineyards with different soil characteristics. The Carignan is planted in sandy clay, the Grenache in slate, and the Syrah in chalky soils. This site-specificity creates a highly complex wine in the final blend, with excellent depth and lasting power.

Like any decent Rhone-style blend, this has a lot of nice, round red fruit and integrated, subtle aromas that hint at a deeper complexity. There's definitely a richness and fullness that is often lacking in the more rigid and traditional Rhone blends of France. On the palate there's a ton of lush blueberry and fig, and just a hint of oak and earth to keep things interesting. Nicely structured too, this wine peaks about 10 seconds after you swallow, and keeps going for a very respectable amount of time. Our wine lady used the word "delicious", and I wouldn't shy away from that. Not too shabby for $20, I would definitely pick this up again. I'm gonna say 88-90 points. This is one big, bold, Euro wine that doesn't need a big fatty steak to cut through it's acid. I'm enjoying it all by itself.

The only complain that I have with this bottle is more a complaint of style and philosophy than with the wine itself. This just doesn't taste like Spanish wine to me, and reminds me very much of the Rhone blends I've tasted from California. I prefer a wine (especially an old-world wine) to taste like the place it comes from, to have a sense of place and self. There is very little terroir to speak of in this wine, and I can't help but wander what this vineyard's Old Vine Garnacha tastes like. Overall, though, a very nice effort.

Cheers!

Wine Time: East End Wines

It's time I raved about my favorite new wine store in Austin, East End Wines. Recently opened on East 11th st, this place is stocked full of killer juice at a really reasonable price point.

I've been three times, and have been completely satisfied with everything I bought there. In the words of Matt and Sam, "Everything here rocks."

I gotta agree. Not only do they carry a TON of wines that I've encountered in the past that I loved, with very little emphasis on well-known labels, but almost everything in the store is between $12 and $50, with very very little super-high end. The labels I do recognize from my own dalliances in the wine industry strike me as having been wines that always over-deliver, a sentiment that the proprietors both echoed when discussing their wine buying philosophies.

So here's a few of the wines I picked up while I was in today.

2007 Laurenz and Sophia "Singing" Grüner Veltliner, Austria - $16

I wanted to get something with a little character, and something different, so I grabbed a varietal I rarely drink. This is a still white wine from Austria, and is native to this country. I was impressed by the intense aromatics, with focused tropical fruit (pineapple in particular) and hints of warm baking spices and steely minerals rounding it out. This wine has layers, for sure. On the palate, I get a lot of mild fruit, with soft acids. This is a decidedly dry wine, but there is a lot of fruit here as well. More of a peachy, stonefruit character, though. This really does last, and finishes quite mineralic and stony. I'd give this wine a solid 88-90 points, and definitely recommend for someone who likes Califronia Sauv Blancs or Viogniers as a nice stepping off point into the obscure European varieties.

2007 Edge Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California - $22


This just screams Napa when you put your nose in the glass. It's got a little heat to it, but not too terribly bad (14.5% alcohol). Deep blueberries and raspberries on the nose, a little spice and a nice, mild oak element. There's concentration, but restraint as well. This cab is surprisingly well balanced, with great structure and just enough tannic grip to keep the flavors on your tongue after the sip is gone. Kinda finishes a little spicy too. Great juice, 91 points.

Flour Tortillas

DAY 1 (Sunday)
Making flour tortillas was an enormous feat for me, due to an extreme aversion I have to my rolling pin, which I did not even buy, and is most likely an artifact from la cocina de mi madre.

I used this recipe, which also comes in a higher fat version that uses lard. I would have liked to have used lard, or even vegetable shortening as I think this is the more traditional method; however, again due to my baking aversion there is a lack this type of ingredient in Kapes' kitchen.

This endeavor was a moderate success. Note that the recipe indicates to add the water slowly. I recommend using a spoon or something to add it in. Pouring directly from a measuring cup, I immediately added too much water, and had to add some flour back in and made a sticky mess of my hands. Eventually, the mixture felt right, and I was able to roll it out. They were a bit thick and slightly drier than I like, but my homemade beans and ground turkey picadillo moistened it up nicely.

For those of you who hate your rolling pin as much as I and live in Austin, Texas, there is a a time- and mess-saving solution: Gurrero's tortillas, available in the bread aisle at most HEBs. These flour tortillas feel raw, and when you put them on the skillet they rise up just like a fresh tortilla. Since they taste better than mine at this point, I think I'll keep a bag or two on hand...

DAY 2 (Monday) 

Success! We had greenbelt guests today, and the leftovers were critical. Of course, there were still no Gurreros... So.... Flour tortilla attempt two came to be.

Adding the water slowly was key. I scooped a bit of water with my hand, and worked the dough manually. Slow addition of water also prevents the dough from becoming sticky, which also makes it more amenable to being handled. I also rolled the tortillas out a bit thinner, and worked them into a rounder shape with my fingers. 

As I blog this, I am still receiving praise from my dinner guests and MikeDub. They still are thicker than Gurrerro's, which have been my standard until now. My guests are assuring me this heartier tortilla is how it should be. I'm beginning to agree.. :)

The Thai Temple in Berkeley, CA

Just before my recent visit to Berkeley, I was informed that Sunday brunch at the Thai Temple is unmissable. Not wanting to miss the unmissable, Esther and I headed out the door at a ripe 10 AM on Sunday. And thank goodness we got up on time! Apparently, they begin to run out of food as the day goes on, and that was no surprise to me when I saw the line that had formed by the time we had finished eating our brunch.

The thai temple is... literally... a thai temple. Wat Mongkolratanaram is the name (thank you yelp!) and from what I've gathered, the monks at the temple cook a weekly Sunday brunch. 


They're not allowed to collect money for the food, so you immediately go over to a side tent where you can trade in your money for tokens, which you "donate" for food. You may then join a line for vegetarian cuisine or the separate carnivore cue.


The pineapple and chicken curry brought out the predator in me and I joined the line of meat eaters. Esther mozied to a side line, where she donated her coins for a big bowl of soup.


For five tokens, you receive a big pile of rice and a choice of one dish. For six tokens, you can have two main dish choices, and seven tokens gets you three. I was mostly interested in the pineapple curry, but felt the need to try a beef dish as well. 


As I've left a bit of time between my actual visit to the temple and this blog, I can't remember which beef dish I had, but I recall it being delightfully spicy and tender. The sweet and spicy of the pineapple and chicken curry was well balanced. Esther took a sticky rice dessert to go, which I regret not trying before my journey back to the ATX. She absolutely raves about this treat. 

The seating at the thai temple is long picnic tables, and Esther and I were fortunate to find two adjacent seats at 10:30 AM. Certainly worth getting up on Sunday for, but make sure you do indeed rise early! The thai temple was a charming, unique experience, and will be on the agenda for the next and all subsequent California trips. 

Chilean Sea Bass

First of all, I'd like to let everyone know that the original name for Chilean Sea Bass is Chilean Toothfish. The powers that be decided that name was not appetizing enough for the american palate, so now we eat sea bass, despite the fact that this fish is completely unrelated to the bass fish that you may be familiar with from fishing trips on the river, or whatever.

But what's important is that this fish is freakin' amazing, especially if you give it a nice marinade and a quick sear. So put any ideas of what a "toothfish" might look like out of your head and get ready for some tasty eating.
YOU WILL NEED
1 cup of soy sauce or tamari
1 cup of fresh-squeezed orange juice
4 thick sea bass steaks

In terms of ingredients, I gotta recommend that you start buying better soy sauce. I really dig the unpasteurized soy sauce that is actually full of living bacteria and yeast that is left over from the fermentation process.
Also, don't skimp on your fish. We're going to give this only a really light sear, so quality is essential.

Lay the steaks in a dish and cover with the soy sauce and orange juice. Marinate the fish, covered, on the counter-top for at least an hour, making sure that the mixture has reached room temperature, assuring even cooking. Make sure to flip halfway through if you don't quite cover the fish.

Heat up an oiled cast iron skillet or a stainless steel pan until it's really, really, really hot. It should literally be smoking, regardless of the kind of oil you use. Olive oil smokes at lower temps, so use something a little more stable. A lot of folks swear by animal fats like lard, which have very high smoking points, but I generally just use veggie oil. Peanut and grapeseed oil works very nicely, I'm told.

Remove your fish from the marinade and pat it dry with a paper towel.

Throw the sea bass onto the skillet, searing each side for 2-3 minutes for people who like sushi and 4-5 minutes for people who like canned tuna. But this can vary, based on thickness, so just use your judgement, and DON'T OVERCOOK IT.

Your sea bass should look like mine does up top, namely, freakin' delicious. I did a simple penne pasta and veggie saute and a salad with this.

This fish does best with a nice, dry white wine with some acidity and focused fruit. I recommend an unoaked chardonnay, or a nice viognier or gruner-veltliner.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese – New Additions to an Old Classic

I hope that with the approaching summer, these blogs will become more frequent again. Lord knows, we haven't been eating less... :D

Mueller's Macaroni and Cheese

This has been a favorite for me since my days as a wee Kapes. Growing up, baked macaroni and cheese was my absolute favorite. I remember calling my mother for the recipe during my first year away, and was shocked that such an amazing family recipe was taken from a box of elbow macaroni! A quick visit to Google, and I was on a decadent trip down memory lane... The recipe from the box can be found here, and I won't reproduce it fully, but I do want to write about some of the modifications my mother and I have introduced over the years that have made this dish feel new to me all over again...

Bacon Bits
Immediately after stirring the pasta into the milk mixture I add chopped bacon to the mix. I precook it in the microwave (as I have one of those microwavable bacon dishes that makes the bacon come out crispy every time). MikeDub really likes this addition, as it reminds him of carbonara (effectively taking him on his own memory trip to his poppa's kitchen).

Tomato Slices
I think the bacon bits are optional, but I will never make this dish without the tomatoes again. Just before pouring the mac and cheese mixture into the greased pan, I stir in diced tomatoes. Pour into the pan, and then add some tomato slices to the top. Don't forget to remove the liquid and seeds from the tomato before adding it in.

Crumb Topping
This addition comes straight from Kapes' Momma's Kitchen, and I feel it's just not Mac and Cheese without it! Melt 1 tbsp. of butter or margarine. Add breadcrumbs slowly, so that they soak up the butter evenly. Once the crumb mixture starts to look more free flowing and less clumpy, it is ready. Top the casserole and do the final bake. As a child I called this part the "crunchies" and made every effort to skim off just the top of the mac and cheese for my portion. Delicious!

Miracle Berry Tasting Tomorrow!

There will be a miracle berry tasting tomorrow night at Cork and Co. wine bar (3rd and Congress) at 7 PM. It's $20, which includes the berries, sour foods, and drink.

Woooaaaah.... Flavor Trippin'

Miracle fruit is an evergreen plant. It produces berries that effect one's taste receptors... making sour foods taste sweet! The active protein in the plant is called miraculin (obviously named by an adorable biologist) and it is believed to interact with the taste receptors causing this change in flavor perception.

Meet David Nguyen; he will host your unique culinary experience for this evening. Naturalist and miracle berry purveyor, David organizes these flavor tripping tastings and promotes a natural soap—a fruit that IS soap... I think. David will explain to you how the berry works, and then issues a warning: although the food tastes different, it will effect you the same. I mean, if you suck a whole lemon and drink a shot of tabasco...

To get the maximum effect, swish the skin and juice of the berry around your mouth for about two minutes. Be sure not to bite the pit, as it is bitter and disgusting. Spit the pit out, and for the next 30–60 minutes, you will experience sour foods like never before. 

The best part of my experience was the lemons—sucking lemon and lime slices tasted like candy! Guinness was a close second; although I read it tasted like a chocolate shake on the Interwebs prior to the tasting, I didn't quite get that sensation. It was exceedingly delicious, but difficult for me to put into words. Salt and vinegar chips—one of my favorite snacks—was horrid. A sweet and salty potato chip was not quite my cup of tea.

The tab was $20, which included the miracle berry, some wine and Guinness, and an assortment of sour treats. It was a great experience, and friends and I really enjoyed doing a little something out of the ordinary. A highly recommended unique experience!

Lamb Chops with Red Wine Reduction and Red Kale

Kapes and I recently had the treat of shopping at Newflower Market, a new, independent organic-ish grocer in Austin.

We walked away with lamb chops and kale, two things we had never cooked before, but I was determined to make them amazing. I really think we succeeded.

Lamb Chops with Red Wine Reduction

1 large glass of red wine

2 large shallots

3 large rosemary sprigs, chopped finely.

2 midsize (6-8oz.) lamb chops

2 tablespoons of butter

salt and pepper

Marinate the lamb chops in the red wine with some salt and pepper for a few hours in the fridge. When you remove the chops, save the wine.

Preheat your over to 300.

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Chop the shallots finely and add them to the pan, cooking them until they are translucent. Add the red wine and bring to a simmer. Reduce the red wine slowly.

Rub the lamb chops with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Heat a pan to a very high temperature, preferably a cast-iron skillet. Sear the chops for 2 minutes on both sides, creating a slight char on the surface. Transfer the chops to a oven dish and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the chops are pink and tender throughout.

By now your sauce should be thick and dark. Pour over the chops and serve immediately.

Serves 2

Red Kale

Cut the long, stemmy ends off of the kale. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and drop in the kale. Boil for ten minutes, or longer. You pretty much can't overdo this.

Drain the kale, and pat it as dry as possible. Heat some oil in a pan and add a touch of garlic, frying it until it is aromatic. Drop in the kale, and saute for a few minutes. Serve immediately.

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I also made green beans with almond slivers. I just cooked them both in butter until the almonds toasted up. They were unbelievably delicious.

I've found that pan searing and baking is a good option for making steaks and chops at home, as it tends to produce a more tender final product that is pink throughout. It is my understanding that many top steakhouses cook their steaks this way, as well. So far, I have had nothing but success with this technique, and it's great for people who live in apartments or can't grill outside for whatever reason.

Bon appetit!

Bleu Cheese Encrusted Baked Chicken

Tonight, MikeDub said to me "I love parmesan crusted chicken. I wish we could do the same with bleu cheese," at which point a culinary experiment began... The result was a fantastic, yet simple baked chicken dish. Enjoy!

Bleu Cheese Encrusted Baked Chicken

The Crust

1 c. flour
Bleu cheese crumbles (just less than 1/4 cup)
Chopped almond slivers
Salt and Pepper

Encrusting
• Remove most of the skin from about eight chicken drumsticks using a kitchen knife. Although the skin is "nature's oven bag" for keeping the moisture in baked chicken, this dish doesn't need it at all.
• Beat two eggs
• Dip the chicken in the egg, and then quickly into the Crust mixture
• Coat with egg and Crust again, if desired.
• Bake on a lightly greased pan at 375 ºF for 30 minutes
• Flip the chicken. You may need to free the drumsticks from the bottom of the pan using a spatula, so that the Crust doesn't peel clean off!
• Bake about 20–30 minutes more (cooked chicken internal temperature=165 ºF)
• Serve and enjoy!