Backlogging: The Ultimate Meal
I made this a long time ago but it is pretty emblematic of all the things I like to eat. It is also pretty damn JP-Italian.
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks rubbed with a paprika-cumin-oregano-lemon-hickory blend and topped with a Roasted Red Pepper-Apricot Chutney~Fried baby globe artichokes smothered in parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon and EVOO~ Wild Black Rice and Quinoa~a Raw Golden Beet and Arugula Salad with a Orange-Mint-Balsamic Dressing (optionally topped with SoyFeta).
Cauliflower steaks were really in when I made this meal. Cut the cauliflower into huge, full pieces with the florets attached and rub them with your own spice mixture. I added a little sweetener, lemon juice, liquid smoke and oil to the mix so that when I roasted the steaks on parchment paper they would caramelize a little. The chutney was meant to be raw but then I got lazy and roasted the peppers using the broiler method. Then I cooked them down with dried, soaked, and chopped apricots, some rice vinegar, onion, a chile pepper, thyme, and some other things to make a nice thick chutney.
Beets can be eaten raw, deliciously, when sliced very thinly and marinated in a vinegar mixture for a while. I marinated these in an orange champagne vinegar with sprigs of thyme, sea salt and agave. A couple of hours later, they are softer and ready to eat! It is mostly thanks to the salt which has a macerating effect on veggies like this.
The Orange-Mint-Balsamic dressing is bomb. All you need is one orange, one lemon, a small handful of chopped mint, one minced clove of garlic, olive or grapeseed oil, salt, pepper and a couple of tablespoon of really rich, syrupy balsamic vinegar. Yum factor.
BTW to peel baby artichokes, you have to get rid of more than you use. It's a sad state of affairs, but it's worth it to pop a whole one in your mouth without worrying about the tough fibrous outer leaves that are on this wonder veggie. Peel off all the green outer leaves by snapping them back. Once you get to the soft yellow leaves, stop and trim off the top green part a little. Then take a peeler and peel the very outer layer of the stem off and take off the very bottom of it too. The stem is delicious so don't get rid of the whole thing! Then slice each naked baby artichoke in half lengthwise and do what you will! In this case, I fried them in a half inch of olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper for a minute then stuck the cast iron in a preheated oven to finish the cooking process by fry-roasting them for less than 10 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, lemon, parsley afterwards and serve on a platter after you have drained the fry-roast oil. Mine just went straight onto the plates.
That's the story morning glory. Reporting from JP's kitschen, where the food's served real late and always in excessive abundance. More backlogging to come. Anyways! Over and out!
Love always,
jp
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks rubbed with a paprika-cumin-oregano-lemon-hickory blend and topped with a Roasted Red Pepper-Apricot Chutney~Fried baby globe artichokes smothered in parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon and EVOO~ Wild Black Rice and Quinoa~a Raw Golden Beet and Arugula Salad with a Orange-Mint-Balsamic Dressing (optionally topped with SoyFeta).
Cauliflower steaks were really in when I made this meal. Cut the cauliflower into huge, full pieces with the florets attached and rub them with your own spice mixture. I added a little sweetener, lemon juice, liquid smoke and oil to the mix so that when I roasted the steaks on parchment paper they would caramelize a little. The chutney was meant to be raw but then I got lazy and roasted the peppers using the broiler method. Then I cooked them down with dried, soaked, and chopped apricots, some rice vinegar, onion, a chile pepper, thyme, and some other things to make a nice thick chutney.
Beets can be eaten raw, deliciously, when sliced very thinly and marinated in a vinegar mixture for a while. I marinated these in an orange champagne vinegar with sprigs of thyme, sea salt and agave. A couple of hours later, they are softer and ready to eat! It is mostly thanks to the salt which has a macerating effect on veggies like this.
The Orange-Mint-Balsamic dressing is bomb. All you need is one orange, one lemon, a small handful of chopped mint, one minced clove of garlic, olive or grapeseed oil, salt, pepper and a couple of tablespoon of really rich, syrupy balsamic vinegar. Yum factor.
BTW to peel baby artichokes, you have to get rid of more than you use. It's a sad state of affairs, but it's worth it to pop a whole one in your mouth without worrying about the tough fibrous outer leaves that are on this wonder veggie. Peel off all the green outer leaves by snapping them back. Once you get to the soft yellow leaves, stop and trim off the top green part a little. Then take a peeler and peel the very outer layer of the stem off and take off the very bottom of it too. The stem is delicious so don't get rid of the whole thing! Then slice each naked baby artichoke in half lengthwise and do what you will! In this case, I fried them in a half inch of olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper for a minute then stuck the cast iron in a preheated oven to finish the cooking process by fry-roasting them for less than 10 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, lemon, parsley afterwards and serve on a platter after you have drained the fry-roast oil. Mine just went straight onto the plates.
That's the story morning glory. Reporting from JP's kitschen, where the food's served real late and always in excessive abundance. More backlogging to come. Anyways! Over and out!
Love always,
jp
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