Cauliflower

Cauliflower was the last thing I developed a love for. I always thought of it as a washed out, sub par version of broccoli. But the beauty of cauliflower is its versatility.

I had to buy a very very large head of cauliflower. This was a big commitment. This means I'm going to eat many different cauliflower containing dishes. First up was a pretty classic Indian stir fry with cauliflower- I sauteed onions, garlic and diced carrots, and stirred in some spices. I added cauliflower in florets, stirred, and cooked covered for a surprisingly long time, somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. Then, stirred in frozen peas and garam masala.

Next, I wanted to try a pasta dish from Fine Cooking- the recipe called for orrichette, roasted cauliflower and cherry tomatoes, and arugula. I really love doing this with pasta- adding tons of a really sturdy kinda vegetable so that the bulk of the dish comes from veggies, not pasta. Artichokes and zucchini are good for this. This dish was really good- I used spinach, because arugula seems to be illegal in southern Virginia, I used bacon instead of prosciutto because, come on, and I halved the cherry tomatoes even though they said to leave them whole. It was a good choice.

Tonight I made an Indian vegetable curry stew (I just love Indian when it's cold outside, and the high has been in the 30's). I basically just put in everything in my fridge- onions, celery, garlic, carrots in round slices, cauliflower, canned tomatoes, a diced potato, chickpeas, some leftover cooked collard greens and frozen peas. I might have gotten a little carried away, but with a little bit of chicken broth and lots of hot curry and cumin, it made a really amazing warm, happy winter stew.

With the rest, I'll either try a cauliflower gratin with tomatoes and parmasean and pine nuts, or I'll just roast it. Roasted cauliflower is amazing.

"Your face is depressing."

Over break, I cooked dinner for a some family friends. We started with smoked trout and champagne cocktails, then a salad of shaved fennel, arugula and oranges, then braised short ribs over mashed potatoes with roasted broccoli. For dessert we had poached pears with whipped cream and amaretto cookies. It was a menu I was pleased with- a rich appetizer that had some good protien to it, a crisp light salad, a meat-potato-vegetable combo (good in theory, the broccoli needed help) and a fruit dessert that was more elevated than a fruit cup, more seasonal than a sorbet. With a few adjustments, I'd make almost the same meno again.

A friend of mine from high school was there. "Do you cook, at school?" she asked. "Oh yeah, of course". Why would I not? What kind of a question is that? Do you eat at school?

"Do you have dinner parties??" Umm. No. What? For whom? I launched into my speech about my teeny tiny kitchen, and how I'll make soup Saturday afternoon for the week, and often roast chickens Sunday night, saving most of it for the 4 other dishes I'll get out of it...

"It's kind of depressing, to cook for just yourself."

You know how sometimes, you have no idea what to say at the time and you keep thinking of the things you wish you'd said?

I think it's depressing to think that cooking is just a party trick, and not the way that you feed yourself. I think it's depressing to think that you can only cook if there are four other people involved, that you alone aren't worth the effort. I think it's depressing if the only time you eat very good food is when it's immediately followed by a bill being dropped at your table. I think it's depressing to eat mass produced, prepared, pre packaged food that you know nothing about. I think it's depressing to always be either trying to tell someone how you want your meal prepared or resigning yourself to whatever they churn out. I think it's depressing to pay $20 for a mediocre meal that cost the restaurant $5 to make.

I'm back to my little apartment at school, and before I left I did a very good job of using up everything in my fridge. I came home to plenty of space to fill with groceries. Last night I made an Indian- style lentil soup, with green lentils (that I brought back from France) a piece of local Virginia bacon, regular mirepoix, lots and lots of Indian spices (cumin, corriander, cinnamon, cayenne, a little ginger..), half beef broth/ half water, and yogurt and cilantro on top. I've made lentil soup a lot. This one wins. I had that with stir fried cauliflower and green peas with garam masala. For dessert, I broiled some slices of grapefruit with vanilla, sugar and caramom and ate them hot out of the oven with yogurt.

I wouldn't have made that for dinner at home- for one thing, my mom doesn't like Indian food. Also, that's an appetizer and a side dish. Cooking alone is amazing. I love that I could eat two vegetable dishes and cheese. I could eat brushetta, hummus and olives. I could eat soup 10 days in a row.

I know it's sad, I don't have dinner parties. I have food.

Chicken Parts

I've been anticipating learning to cut a whole chicken into pieces for a long time. For one thing, I love playing with large pieces of meat. I would be pretty happy being a butcher. I find the idea of buying an entire animal and cutting it into pieces to use much more appealing than buying a package of boneless skinless breasts one day, a package of thighs the next week, and a big carton of chicken broth every time I go to the store. I love making my own stock. Everything is better.

This weekend, I'm having people over for dinner and as I was looking through recipes for inspiration, the one that involved taking apart a chicken was the most appealing. Chicken is an obvious choice, and while I love eating a one-in, skin on thigh, I know that a lot of people don't. A whole chicken gives you a natural mix so everyone gets what they want. I've also heard that cutting up a chicken yourself yields better chicken than buying the same pieces.

I was nervous about taking this on, since I'd committed to the meal, bought these two chickens, and had arranged to serve it to people (people I've never cooked for) and I was attempting something I'd never done and been warned was difficult. But at the very least, I would still have chicken, and even if it was hacked up and weird, it's going into a stew.

Cutting up the birds went perfectly. The cuts all went along natural delineations, bones popped out of joints effortlessly. Taking out the breastbone was a challenge, but once that was done, even de-boning and splitting the breast was easy. Now I have a big pile of neatly cut up chicken parts and a big pot of stock simmering on the stove.