Cauliflower "Carbonara style" Pasta

After root to stem cooking I had to use some of the cooked cauliflower florets. 

A pasta dish with a creamy cheese and eggs sauce was a good idea. The pasta type was Malfadine, the long wide curly sides pasta.

While the pasta was cooking, I started with the green onions and after 3 min added the cooked cauliflower. On my balcony there was the last beet plant sitting in the pot. The leaves grew plentiful, but no beets in sight. 

The chopped leaves went in with the rest as additional color.

I grated Pecorino Romano and mixed it with 2 egg yolks. To get that a bit smooth, I hold the bowl over the boiling pasta water. Then added 3 tbsp pasta water to it.

When the malfadine were ready they went directly from the pot to the pan, a bit of water was great.

I took the pan off the heat and added the cheese egg mixture. Stirred in and then ready to serve with some fresh grated Pecorino on top.

Ingredients:

120 g Malfadine pasta

300 g cooked cauliflower florets

70 g Pecorino romano

2 egg yolks

25 g butter

2 green onions

1 bunch beef leaves

Salt, pepper, smoked paprika

Root to Stem Cauliflower

This is an Indian recipe I can't pronounce. I saw it on YT "Beryl Shereshewsky"

Today I bought a cauliflower. The head was no longer good covered in leaves, but I worked with what I had.

Root to Stem was new to me. Nose to Tail is something I use myself. But only with chicken.

Cutting the cauliflower in halve and seeing the huge stem was eye opening. Usually you first take the cauliflower out of its green cover, then you cut off the florets. Greens and stem are waste.

But not this time. The center stem was cut in matchsticks, the leaves and thicker parts were just run through with a big knife. I washed both parts seperately.

Recipe for 2 to 4:

1 cauliflower - leaves and stem

1 large potato

Ghee or Indian mustard oil

1 tbsp brown mustard seeds

2 tbsp garlic- ginger paste

2 red dried chilis

Salt and pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp garam masala

125 ml cauliflower cooking water

While I was still chopping all the parts, I cooked the florets first and scooped them out to cool down to be packed away for other dishes.

In the boiling water now went all the stem and leave parts. They cooked until nearly done. Keep a good mug of cauliflower cooking water.

The potato was washed and cut in matchsticks. The wide pan with hot Ghee, mustard seeds, ginger garlic paste and chilis was cooking 2 min and then the potato went in. Since they are raw, they need time.

After 5 min add a bit of cauliflower cooking water and put a lid on to steam the potatoes for 5 min. 

Now in the the stems and leaves. Put in all the spice powders now. Add more water. Stir well and cook until everything is done. That can take a little while.

To bulk it out, people in India eat that with rice.

Braised Pork Cutlet with Onions

Served with Air fryer potato wedges.

I had a couple of mixed onions that needed to be eaten and a thick slab of pork neck cutlet. I wasn't looking for the usual breaded kind of pork, but an other way to prepare it.

First I sliced the onions in half rings and some garlic cloves in slices. I cut up some cherry tomatoes. On the side I cooked the potato wedges for 7 min.

The pork was cutlet was beaten a bit, then seasoned with salt and pepper and smeared with Dijon mustard.

In a pan with a lid, heat up some oil and sear the cutlet on both sides 3 min each. Take it out.

A bit more oil and the onions go in the pan. After 5 min I added the cherry tomatoes and seasoned with salt and pepper. The chicken stock was next and the cutlet went back in.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 6 min, turn the cutlet and cook for 5.

Put the seasoned and oiled wedges in the air fryer for 16 min at 180 C.

Bring both together and enjoy. 

Ingredients:

250 g pork neck cutlet

Oil

Salt, pepper Dijon mustard.

200 ml chicken stock

1 red onion, 3 shallots, 1 Roscoff onion

3 garlic cloves

7 cherry tomatoes

Malfatti with Sage Butter

This is a recipe from the Italian regions of Lombardy and Tuscany. Malfatti means: made badly or failed.

These dumplings are the filling of some Ravioli. Either someone had a problem with his pasta dough or was just too lazy to make some. The solution was a pot of salted boiling water and 2 tablespoon. Drop the chunks of Ricotta Spinach Cheese dumplings in and let them cook.

In Italy they are either served in a tomato sauce or in sage butter. Since the sage pot on my balcony is on its last leg before the winter, I picked a couple of sage leaves to use.

Recipe for 18 to 20 dumplings:

200 g ricotta

100 g hot water soaked, squeezed out and chopped spinach

75 g parmesan

2 eggs

55 g melted browned butter

180 g flour

Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Sauce:

12 sage leaves

35 g butter

Pepper

Start with melting and browning the butter.

Add ricotta, eggs, chopped spinach, parmesan to a bowl. Stir well. Add seasoning, flour and butter and make sure all the flour is incorporated. Let it sit 15 min.

A big pot of salted boiling water, dip 2 tablespoons in and get dough the size of golfballs in the water. On medium heat let them simmer for 12 to 15 min.

Put a large pan on an melt the butter. Add the sage leaves and fry them a bit. With a slotted spoon get the dumplings in. Coat them in the sage butter and serve.

 

 

Halloween Camembert

For my homemade bread I needed some topping.

Since it is Halloween today I upgraded a good and ripe chunk of Le President Camembert from Normandy.

The upgrade was a blackberry jam and a cookie cutter with a ghost theme.

Leftover Puff Pastry Halloween Edition

When you cut a round piece out of a rectangular puff pastry, there are leftover pastry chunks on the table. 

Most people would throw them out. I rolled them up and placed them in their packaging again.

Tomorrow is Halloween. I took out the rolled up pastry bits and pieces and used some chicken wieners as filling. 

Not having enough large dough in one piece, I improvised and it was fun.

Some ghosts, some fingers, an octopus, some eyes and some mummies. Not too good to look at, but tasty.

 

Chestnut Flour Bread

My friend developped a gluten intolerance this year. For her birthday in Summer I ordered some flours and bake mixes from a gluten free bake shop: Hammermühle

Last night I thought about the bake mix and decided to give it a try in the morning.

If it is a failure, we have organic waste trash day tomorrow.

The ingredients to add were simple, just a sachet of dry yeast, some oil and water.

I decided to prepare the dough in my Thermomix. After 2 minutes the dough was ready and I placed it in a loaftin. It needed 45 minutes to rest under a cover.

The oven was preheated to 210 C.  

I brushed the bread with olive oil and cut it open on top. It baked for 53 minutes.

The crust is firm, the bread itself is a bit dense. But it is tasty and has a chestnut undertone.