Yogurt Flatbreads with Barley and Mushrooms

Yotam says that this serves six as a starter, which I can see being accurate. It certainly fed two as a main course with quite a bit of the barley and mushroom mixture left over. The flatbreads are not difficult to make, so you can double or even triple the recipe for those if you wanted to. Just be aware that the dough needs to chill in the fridge for an hour and plan accordingly.

Yogurt Flatbreads with Barley and Mushrooms

(p. 236, Plenty)

Serves 6 as a starter

Flatbreads

1 cup plus 2 tsp whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

3 tbsp fresh cilantro

4 tbsp clarified butter (or a mixture of melted butter and oil)

Mushroom Ragout

1/2 cup pearl barley

3/4 oz dried porcini mushrooms

3/4 cup lukewarm water

4 cups mixed shiitake and button mushrooms, halved

2 tbsp olive oil

5 tbsp butter

2 thyme sprigs

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 cup white wine

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish

1/2 tbsp finely chopped preserved lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

6 tbsp Greek yogurt

Start with making the flatbreads, as they will need to chill in the fridge for a while before they are ready to be cooked. Assemble the ingredients:

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the butter and mix them together into a dry dough. I found using my hands to be the most effective way of doing this. If you dislike cilantro, pretty much any green herb is going to taste good here. I'd recommend flat leaf parsley, basil (Thai basil if you've got it), or even mint.

Once the dough has come together in the bowl, knead it on the counter for a moment or two until it is smooth and uniform. Then wrap it in plastic wrap (or put it in a large enough container with a lid) and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

 While the dough is chilling, start in on the mushroom ragout. Assemble the ingredients:

A few alterations for this part of the recipe: I had no white wine, so I substituted 1/4 cup apple cider and 1/4 cup water. Given the choice again, I'd go for the wine. I also could not open my jar of preserved lemon, so that was omitted.

To begin, rinse the barley with cold water and then place in a medium saucepan. Cover with plenty of fresh water and then simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, or until al dente. I found I needed a medium heat to really get things going here. When the barley is finished cooking, drain in a colander and let cool a bit.

While the barley is cooking, start preparing the mushrooms. Measure the dried porcini into a small bowl. I had only ~half an ounce of dried porcini, so I topped up the measurement with a mixture of dried oyster and shiitake mushrooms, figuring more variety was better than running short measure.

Cover the dried mushrooms with lukewarm water and set aside. You'll end up using the steeping water later in the recipe, so it's best to just cover the mushrooms at this stage - a lot of extra liquid here will add cooking time later as you try to evaporate it off while reducing the sauce.

While the dried mushrooms soak, dice the fresh mushrooms into halves or quarters, depending on how big they are. If the stems aren't too woody, include them. When the fresh mushrooms are cut, place them in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan with the olive oil and heat to medium-high heat.

Add half the butter and the thyme (you can pick the leaves and add them or throw the whole sprig in and just fish out the woody stem after, it's up to you). Saute for ~4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the fresh mushrooms have softened, add the garlic (mine was finely diced rather than crushed), and the wine, and "allow to bubble away for about 5 minutes". I love Yotam's phrasing sometimes. ^_^

Add the remaining mushrooms and their soaking liquid, leaving behind any grit in the bottom of the soaking bowl. Season with salt and pepper and simmer on low heat for  ~10 minutes. Stir in the remaining butter with the parsley, preserved lemon, lemon juice, and cooked barley. You should now have a well-flavoured mushroom stew. Add more water if you need to thin the sauce at all, and then taste for seasoning. Set aside, and reheat briefly before serving.

Pre-barley: the butter wasn't quite done melting when I shot this.

To finish up the flatbreads, retrieve the dough from the fridge. Unwrap it and portion it into six balls. From here Yotam says to flatten them with a rolling pin into round disks about 1 inch thick. However, that made no visual sense to me after I'd portioned the dough into the balls, because the balls were roughly 1 inch thick. So I decided to flatten them with my hands into rounds roughly 1/2 inch thick and roughly 4 inches across.

It's a dense dough, and you aren't going to get a tremendous amount of rise from it, so the shape you put into the pan is pretty much what you are going to take out of the pan. Heat some clarified butter in a nonstick pan and fry the flatbreads on medium heat for about 2 minutes each side. I used straight olive oil as I had no clarified butter, and I cooked three of them at a time.

 Flip them at the two minute mark and you should have golden goodness on the just-fried side.

Keep the early flatbreads warm as you cook the remainder.

To serve, top each flatbread with some of the ragout, a spoonful of Greek yogurt, and a sprinkle of parsley.

I found that I didn't get the thick sauce that Yotam was talking about, and that my flatbread dimensions were really far off of what he was outlining. I have reviewed the recipe a number of times and can't see where things might have gone "wrong" - I am putting that in air quotes because this was still really delicious, despite the discrepancies. I'd definitely make this again. Don't omit the thyme (and fresh really is best) or the lemon juice, or the dish will seem quite flat. I look forward to making this again with the wine to see what kind of difference it would make, and I am also considering using my mushroom and sage oil as the initial olive oil in the pan when the fresh mushrooms start cooking. Could be fun.

Chickpea Saute with Greek Yogurt

This is tasty and incredibly quick to make if using canned chickpeas. It might become one of my go-to "I'm too tired to cook real food" meals. As usual, the ingredients are direct from the book and the written description includes my alterations and observations.


Chickpea Saute with Greek Yogurt
(p. 211, Plenty)

Serves 4

8 cups Swiss chard or spinach
1/3 cup olive oil, plus extra to finish
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3/8-inch dice
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 1/2 cups fresh cooked chickpeas (canned are fine too)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tbsp olive oil

If you are using the chard, separate the leaves from the stalks and blanch the stalks in plenty of boiling, salted water for ~3 minutes. Add the leaves and continue cooking for ~2 minutes. Drain everything in a colander, and then refresh under cold running water. Squeeze dry and then chop roughly. If you are using the spinach, you will not need to blanch it.

Prepare the carrots and herbs:

I chopped my garlic into larger pieces rather than crushing it.

In a large, heavy saucepan heat up the oil over medium heat. I know 1/3 of a cup of oil looks like a lot, but it worked out in the end so don't short things here. Add the carrots and the caraway seeds and saute for ~5 minutes.

If you are using canned chickpeas, I find it beneficial to drain them into a colander and then give them a thorough rinse under the tap. Add them to the carrots and stir to combine. Add the chard or spinach to the pan at this point, and allow to cook for another ~6 minutes. If you are using spinach, you'll need to stir a bit to help it hit the heat and wilt down.

While that mixture cooks, find a small mixing bowl. In that mixing bowl combine the Greek yogurt with the last tablespoon of the olive oil, and then season with salt and generous grinds of fresh black pepper.

 Stir to combine and set aside.

Once the spinach has successfully combined into the chickpeas and carrots, add the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. I found the addition of the lemon juice changed the aroma profile of this dish dramatically, so try not to skip it. If you don't have lemon juice, try lime juice or orange juice in its place. Stir everything together well. Remove from heat and let cool at bit; taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

To serve, pile the vegetables onto serving dishes and garnish with the yogurt on top. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and a few more grinds of black pepper if desired, and enjoy.

Fast, simple, and very fresh. I am a fan.

Burnt Eggplant with Tahini

I've been absent from here for a while - a combination of factors, including travelling back to my home province to deliver my first paper outside of my own university. It went fairly well and was bound up in a whirlwind trip all over Alberta. I drove more than 3,100 kilometres in 10 days, more than I think I have driven in the last three or four years combined. Last night when I got home I slept for 11 hours. I'll be content to be a pedestrian again for a while. ^_^

Travelling is fun and something I get a lot out of. Two of my favourite parts are the photography and the food. I was spoiled rotten staying with extended family while at the conference - my Uncle made me some traditional Indonesian dishes learned while he lived over there, and my Aunt sent me off with an enormous portion of homemade honey and spice baklava. And then I got to eat at a few of my favourite places in my home city, noshing on things that aren't readily available (or just aren't the same) in Regina. I came home with most of my culinary cravings satisfied, and feeling ready to cook again. Doesn't hurt that when I left we had just lost our last bit of snow, and when I return it looks like full-on summer with green grass and trees coming into leaf. The farmer's market even starts here tomorrow - bring on the fresh food!

In a fairly celebratory mood, I decided to make a larger dinner tonight. Everything was kind of ad hoc, as I got home yesterday evening and picked up some random groceries without really having my food plan drafted. All in all, I am fairly lucky that there were a few recipes that worked with what I had on hand. The first is Burnt Eggplant with Tahini, which I served with a rye bread, and the second was a Chickpea Saute with Greek Yogurt. They made a great meal in combination. I also started putting together a strawberry sorbetto, but it was too hot in my flat to churn it properly tonight, so I'll have to re-freeze my mixer bowl and churn it again tomorrow night. It's going to be good though...

Give this recipe a chance - I know the title sounds strange and perhaps a little off-putting, but it's actually really fantastic. As usual, the ingredients are straight from the book, and the description includes my alterations and additions.

Burnt Eggplant with Tahini
(p. 122, Plenty)

Serves 2-4

1 large eggplant
1/3 cup tahini paste
1/4 cup water
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and black pepper
3 mini cucumbers (6 to 7 oz in total, optional)
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)
seeds from half a large pomegranate
a little olive oil to finish

First, a few slight changes: I didn't have pomegranate molasses, and so substituted a pomegranate balsamic vinegar that I had. I think if I were to make this again, it would be worth tracking down the pomegranate molasses - the online reviews I read on it sounded quite favourable. Second, I didn't have any parsley, so I subsituted cilantro - for such a small amount it wasn't a problem. I also used a standard English cucumber instead of the mini's because it was cheaper, and sadly had to omit the pomegranate seeds as they weren't to be had at the grocer due to seasonality. I think they'd be a fun addition though.

To begin, you want to burn your eggplant. To do this with an electric range, wrap an oven safe baking pan in foil and set it aside. Take your eggplant (use two medium if you can't find a really huge one) and stab it multiple times with a sharp knife. The objective is to create vents for steam to release as the eggplant roasts. I imagine this is to help prevent it from exploding, although Yotam doesn't really say why it's necessary. Place the pierced eggplant in the dish, and place the dish in the oven.

Set the oven to "Broil" and let it roast for roughly an hour, turning once or twice. You want the eggplant to collapse in on itself (completely deflate, like a spent balloon) and the skin to char in places. Kind of like this:

If you have a gas range, Yotam says that you can char it using metal tongs over one of your burners, turning it until blackened all over and collapsed.

Once the eggplant is thoroughly roasted, remove from oven and set aside to cool. I split mine open with a knife to help it cool faster, but I was being impatient.

Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh away from the skin and set it into a colander to drain well. Yotam suggested leaving it to drain for 30 minutes, but I found mine was ready after about 10, as most of the eggplant juice had seeped out of the eggplant while it was still in the foil wrapped pan.

While the eggplant is draining, find a medium mixing bowl. Into that bowl measure the tahini paste, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper.

When the flesh has sufficiently cooled, add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk to combine. This resulting smooth paste can be used as a dip for vegetables or pita as is, or you can add the optional cucumber and/or tomato and turn it into something more robust. If you are adding the cucumber and/or tomato, you want them chopped fairly fine. For the cucumber, if using mini cucumbers, cut them lengthwise into quarters and then cut each quarter into 3/8-inch long pieces. If using a larger cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise and cut each half into quarters lengthwise as well. Dice into 3/8-inch pieces from there.

If adding cherry tomatoes, cutting them in half will be adequate. If you are using larger tomatoes like I did, cut them into slightly smaller-than-bite-sized pieces. Include the tomato guts for fullest flavour.

Once all of the ingredients are in place, give everything a thorough stir and adjust the seasoning as necessary to achieve a robust sour/slightly sweet flavour. To serve, spoon out into a shallow dish and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. If you have pomegranate seeds, sprinkle them on top and then serve.

This was really, really good. I advocate the use of the largest eggplant you can find - mine was just slightly more than a medium-sized one, and I felt the tahini was a little too present for my tastes, which could have easily been due to too little eggplant. I also very much recommend the inclusion of the cucumber and tomatoes as they seemed to liven up the dish and help it to taste very fresh. I think it would make an excellent dip for fresh veggies, and also a great filling for a wrap or sandwich, along the lines of an egg salad-type offering.

Saskatoon Muffins with Blood Orange and Lime

It's been a while. Luckily, the lapse in updating is due to happy progress in my world - employment and thesis productivity. I have even successfully presented my first paper without dying of nerves. Go me. ^_~

So this post starts a small flurry of updates, as I have been cooking and taking photos, even if I am not posting the write-ups immediately. Except for tonight's post, as I made these muffins without taking any photos. Still very, very worth making though, which is why I am putting the recipe out there.

This muffin recipe has evolved out of visits from Alberta friends that have occurred over the last month or so. The first visit involved my friends Patti and Sylvia coming to visit me over the March long weekend. They brought chocolate, beer, and excellent company, all three of which I had been missing. I was house sitting for my Aunt and her family while they were away, which meant I also had kittens gambolling around, which is always fun. We upheld the Hobbit tradition of second breakfast that Sunday, and for Elevensies I decided to make muffins. Rifling through the freezer produced saskatoons, a type of berry that I adore, and I decided to substitute them for the blueberries in this Fine Cooking recipe, which is one of my default base muffin recipes because I find it so adaptable. Between the saskatoons and the decadent streusel topping, I was pretty sure these muffins couldn't get any better...

...but they did, when I made them again a few weeks later for my Mighty Kim who was up to share a few days with me. The second iteration used some of the blood orange infused olive oil that she had brought out for me, and some of the lime infused sugar that I've had kicking around. And I have to say, the second version really blew me away, even without the streusel topping. Give it a shot, if you feel up for something different. Feel free to sub out any fruit-infused olive oil for the blood orange if you have some kicking around (I'm debating trying it with rosemary oil and saskatoons... for some reason that seems like it could be fun), and swap up the berries for raspberries or blueberries if saskatoons aren't available or aren't your thing.

Saskatoon Muffins with Blood Orange and Lime

Makes 12

6-3/4 oz. (1-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour (whole wheat flour also works here)
2 oz. (1/2 cup) cake flour (or all purpose if you don't have cake flour)
1 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1/2 tsp. salt 
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 
1/2 tsp. grated or ground nutmeg (or cardamom, if you'd rather)
4 oz. (1/2 cup) blood orange infused olive oil
1 cup granulated sugar (previously infused with lime zest; if you don't have lime zest, add ~2 tsp lime juice in with the wet ingredients)
2 large eggs 
1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh or frozen saskatoons; if frozen, do not defrost 

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin pan your favourite way - grease the cups, use paper liners, or use silicone muffin cups if you have them.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and stir until combined. In a separate large measuring cup or medium bowl, beat the eggs gently and then add the remaining wet ingredients to the eggs and stir to combine. Once the wet ingredients are well mixed, add them to the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated, but don't continue to mix after well combined or the batter will collapse and you'll get dense muffins. Add the saskatoons or other berries to the batter and stir to distribute evenly.

Portion the batter into the prepared muffin cups, and bake for roughly 20 minutes, or until golden and a skewer poked into a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool ~10 minutes before serving. I actually found I preferred these at room temperature rather than warm, although they certainly aren't bad warm.

These can be stored in a tin at room temperature for a few days, or frozen and reheated as needed.

Food Bucket List: Meyer Lemons

This is going to be a rambling post. Just a heads up.

Lemon Curd: It's delicious and I needed something bright and sweet. The fact that I had a bag of Meyer lemons in the fridge giving me the hairy eyeball before they went to waste also didn't hurt.

I've been reading about Meyer lemons for a long time. They have been described a bit like a semi-mythical beast: a lemon that has bright colour, very little tart flavour, a bit of a floral scent and sweetness to them... but still certainly a citrus, and not at all an orange. They sounded about as close to perfection as my idealized citrus was likely to get, and I am someone who loves lemons. However, they have exceptionally thin skins and as a result do not travel well at all. I've had a few years worth of chronic envy of those lucky people who live where the Meyer lemons grow. They are an item on my Food Bucket List.

And then they showed up at Costco.

Yes, I know I shouldn't be munching things from too far away for environmental reasons. And most of the time, I am exceptionally good at monitoring my food footprint and making sure things are as local as I can get them. However, I am sometimes foiled by two things - 1) my student budget, which sometimes, perversely makes the local, more expensive stuff a no-go for me, and 2) my taste-buds, which occasionally demand treats like pomegranates and papayas that in no way grow where I am from. I do my best to make sure when I have to have the far flung luxuries that they are at least in season where they come from. And then I walk or take the bus everywhere, my version of an off-set system.

So when these quasi-mythic lemons showed up at Costco, I couldn't resist. I picked up the bag and resolved to enjoy the smithereens out of them.

Then life happened. And the bag sat in my fridge, front and centre, reminding me that they were there and needed to be used. And life kept happening. I found myself packing my fridge and heading to my Aunt's to cat-companion while the family is away. And they end up in another fridge. But this one is better... because it comes in a house that has a rasp grater. Which can only mean one thing: it's time for curd. I went hunting a recipe for curd online that specifically mentioned Meyer lemons, figuring a more standard lemon curd recipe would probably come out too sweet if the milder Meyers were substituted straight across. I was also hoping to find one that didn't call for 8 egg yolks or two cups of butter, because although those versions are undoubtably lush, I find the lemon flavour to be muted and that was not the goal. After following links and reviewing about a half dozen recipes, I ended up at Fine Cooking and found the one I wanted to try. And it was awesome.

Lemon Curd
(yields ~2 cups)

3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 

1 cup sugar 
2 large eggs 
2 large egg yolks 
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from roughly 6 Meyer lemons)
1 tsp. grated lemon zest 

Start with your lemons - wash and dry them.

I ended up juicing one without zesting it to see how it went. They definitely have a much thinner skin than the lemons I am used to. So juicy!

I zested all of my lemons, figuring that I would use the zest required in the recipe and then spread the rest out to dry so I could make some lemon sugar, or perhaps some lemon finishing salt. After zesting the lemons, I cut each one in half, and juiced them by jabbing them repeatedly with a fork and mushing all the juice out. Not particularly elegant, but effective, and I couldn't locate another juicing tool in this less familiar kitchen.

Then I grabbed a large bowl and added the butter and sugar.

I creamed the butter by hand until it was smooth, although the original recipe advocates an electric mixer. Really, it's whatever you have on hand. Once the butter and sugar are well-creamed, add the eggs and egg yolks (reserve the whites for another use) and cream again until fairly smooth.

Add the lemon juice and stir well to combine. If it looks a little curdled at this stage, don't fret, it will smooth out as soon as it heats up in the next step. Mine was fairly smooth.

Choose an appropriately sized sauce pan (remember that you have to be able to stir this emulsion), and pour the mixture into it. Warm under low heat until the butter in the mixture has completely melted and everything is very smooth - this took about 5 minutes for me.

Hard to see, perhaps, but everything is silky.

Once the butter has melted, turn the heat up to medium, and heat for ~15 minutes, stirring constantly. The constant stirring and medium heat will prevent the eggs from scrambling in the pan. Because that would not be cool. You'll notice things really starting to thicken up around the 10 minute mark, but don't shy on the time or it won't be as thick as it should be once it cools.

Hard to see, perhaps, but much thicker.

Once the curd is thick enough that you leave a trail when you drag your finger across the back of the stirring spoon (the original recipe has an excellent photo of this if you want the visual reference; I forgot to take a shot to illustrate this myself), remove it from the heat and pour it into an appropriately sized bowl. Add the lemon zest.

I ended up adding 2 teaspoons zest, because one wasn't quite giving me the punch I wanted. Stir the zest into the curd. Ta-da! All done.

To cool, place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Wrap the bowl well, and place in the fridge to cool.

The curd will thicken, and its flavour will strengthen as it cools. Once it has fully cooled, it is ready - you can use it to fill tarts,  have it on toast, use it as a filling for sandwich cookies (mmm... macarons), or just eat it with a spoon. I read somewhere that someone whips some into their buttercream icing... That could be fun...

I hope all of my Food Bucket List experiences are this delicious. ^_^

Shakshuka

I made this close to a week ago, but life has conspired to prevent me from getting this posted. Apologies! Also, I have a job interview on Thursday, which is a very good thing. I am hopeful it results in work, as that would simplify my life an amazing amount.

So... Shakshuka... Yotam says that this dish is North African in origin, and that there are many variations, which can include preserved lemon, feta, and a variety of herbs and spices. So if you like it but feel like tweaking it, you aren't likely to be breaking any firm culinary traditions. As usual, the ingredients are as listed in the book and the written description includes my observations and any adaptations.

Shakshuka
(p. 87, Plenty)

Serves 4 generously (<--- definitely not kidding about that)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 cup light olive oil, or vegetable oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch strips
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch strips
4 tsp muscovado sugar
2 bay leaves
6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped cilantro, plus extra to garnish
6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp saffron threads
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper
up to 1 1/8 cups water
8 eggs

Assemble ingredients!

As you can probably tell from the picture, I halved the recipe as I was just feeding myself. I also substituted light brown sugar for the muscovado, as I didn't have any - the best substitute is as dark a brown sugar as you can find if you can't get the real thing. Muscovado sugar has a definite molasses presence. And I can see how that would contribute another nuance to the dish. But plain brown sugar worked well enough. ^_^ Do not substitute dried parsley for fresh, it will be stale and gross. You could probably get away with dried thyme (probably 1/4 tsp?) if you had to, but the fresh is preferable. If you don't have cumin seeds, you can get away with substituting the same amount ground cumin.

To start, in a *very* large pan dry-roast the cumin seeds on high heat for two minutes. Add the oil and the onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, the sugar and herbs, and continue to cook on high heat for another 5-10 minutes or until everything starts to take on some colour.

Add the tomatoes, saffron, cayenne and some salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. If the pan starts to dry out, add some water. You are attempting to create something that had a pasta sauce consistency. I found I did not need any water.

Taste and adjust the seasoning (I did find a little salt to be a good thing here, to balance the sweetness a bit). Everything should be potent and flavourful.

I got to this stage in the recipe and realized I'd forgotten the eggs that were called for in the recipe, and what was more, I didn't have any in the fridge. So I decided to enjoy it as it was - and enjoy it I did!

To finish the recipe properly, remove the bay leaves from the pan, and divide the saucy vegetables among four smaller pans or individual baking dishes, if you want to go with an individual serving. Create two gaps in each serving of vegetables, and carefully break an egg into each of the gaps. Cook on very gentle heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are just set. Remove from the oven, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

That said, it's pretty fantastic without the eggs... and I think it would be fine if I scrambled them in another pan and added them to the dish at the end (My personal avoidance of the soft egg yolks shows itself again...). I found that there was a lot of oil in this dish, and that the total amount could probably be reduced safely to 1/2 cup estimating by the amount of oil that remained behind in the pan and the storage container as I had it for subsequent meals.

...I also think it would be really good on a pizza. Not even kidding. Perhaps that isn't so surprising though, as Yotam says it is best served with a lot of chunky white bread as a side dish.

Smoky Frittata

This is delicious. Unexpectedly so, actually, given that I don't particularly care for smoked foods (something that drives my chipotle-loving Aunt to give me weird looks from time to time). For me, smoked food only makes sense if I am in an environment where there is, in fact, smoke - like a campfire, or a barbecue. Otherwise, it often comes across as overwhelming and so I avoid it. I know this is not true for everyone - my ex loves all things smoky, from scotch, to tea, to cheese. There were so many things about preparing this recipe tonight made me think of him and how he'd probably like this dish. I hope to get to a point where it's easier to send him things like this; right now it seems to complicate things further, and neither of us need that. But those ruminations are for another time and place. On to the food!

Yotam opens this recipe with " 'Scamorza affumicata' is an Italian cheese that melts fantastically. Often labelled 'smoked mozzarella,' it is highly effective in adding depth and pungency to vegetarian dishes." He's right. And it turns out I quite enjoy it's softly smoky, creamy goodness when it is melted. The cauliflower is an excellent canvas for the other flavours of this dish - a mildly sweet foundation for the dairy notes, the slight heat and brine of the mustard, the sharpness of the salt. It comes together very quickly and then leaves you free to throw together a brief salad or other side dish. I recommend some arugula dressed in a vinaigrette made with some grainy mustard and grated parmesan... As usual, the ingredients are as listed in the book, but the commentary includes my observations and alterations.

Smoky Frittata
(p. 96, Plenty)

Serves 4-6

1 small cauliflower, cut into medium florets
6 eggs
4 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
3 tbsp finely chopped chives
5 oz smoked scamorza, grated (include the skin for extra flavour)
2 oz mature Cheddar, grated
salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Assemble ingredients!

A few substitutions and alterations to start: I only had 5 eggs, so I touched up the liquids a bit with some almond milk to approximate the volume. I had 6 oz of scamorza, so I reduced the second cheese by an ounce to compensate as I didn't want an ounce of smoky cheese floating around in the fridge. I substituted Parmesan for the cheddar, as that was what I had on hand. I substituted a non-fat Greek yogurt that I know I can eat for the creme fraiche. I also was shy on chives, and so substituted an equal amount of finely diced yellow onion. I prefer a particular whole grain mustard to Dijon, and so made that substitution as well.

To start, simmer the bite-size pieces of cauliflower in a large pan of boiling salted water for only 4-5 minutes or until semi-cooked.

 Drain in a colander, and let dry.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Break the eggs into a large bowl. Add the creme fraiche, mustard, and paprika to the bowl.

Whisk them together well, making sure the creme fraiche and eggs become a smooth mixture. Add the chives/onion, three-quarters of the cheeses, and some salt and pepper.

Stir everything together and set aside for a moment.

Heat up the olive oil in a large, ovenproof frying pan - this is important, so I am going to say it twice - ovenproof. Fry the drained cauliflower for roughly 5 minutes, or until one side is a golden brown. I ended up using a rosemary-infused olive oil for this step, and it smelled amazing. My thanks to Ivano, who gifted me with the oil - it's delightful!

Stir the cauliflower so no pieces are sticking to the bottom of the pan, and then pour the egg and cheese mixture over the cauliflower pieces. Smooth things out so that everything is fairly level across the entire base of the pan.

Cook on medium heat, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. The edges will start to set up a bit during this time. Scatter the remaining cheese over the surface of the egg mixture, and then carefully put the pan in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the frittata is fully set.

Carefully pull the pan out of the oven and let rest for 2 or 3 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve. If you have a poor memory like mine, you might want to leave a tea-towel or oven mitt over the pan handle to remind yourself that it's hot. ^_^

Then enjoy!

This was fantastic, as I said earlier. I also think that I'd keep the rosemary oil as part of my working recipe in future versions - there was something highly complimentary about the resinous quality of the rosemary and the smoky presence of the scamorza. I think that if I didn't have any of the rosemary oil, it would be worth adding up to a half-tablespoon of fresh rosemary to impart the flavour. So good.  Most definitely making this again, and I think it would be good "company food" - really straightforward to put together, quick to get on the table, and tastes far more complex than you'd think from the short ingredient list.  *nom nom nom*