Saturday, December 27, 2008

Trying New Things


To everyone who recently celebrated Christmas or Hanukkah, I hope you had a wonderful celebration. I hosted Christmas dinner at my house for a large group of my in laws, and it was a wonderful day. I wanted to incorporate more local foods into my feast, but I did not plan enough in advance to make it happen. I did, however, try a few new recipes and make everything from scratch.
One of the main dishes was Swiss Chard and Italian Sausage Lasagna. I had never cooked with swiss chard before, and only tested it once before. I thought it looked rather Christmas-y all red and and green as it was. I was able to buy local italian sausage for the dish, which was the only really local component of the meal. It did turn out to be quite tasty. I made it on Christmas Eve and reheated it before the actual feast. It was my first successful attempt at making bechamel sauce (there were several previous disasters years ago that left me with a fear of making it--turns out all you really need is patience and a good whisk).
The second dish that was a bit of successful experimentation was Curried Cauliflower.
Here is the recipe, my own invention:
Curried Cauliflower
Serves 6
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces roughly equal in size--about 1 inch
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil.
2. Cut the cauliflower as directed and put it in a gallon size plastic bag.
3. Drizzle the oil and shake the curry powder over the cauliflower.
4. Seal the bag and shake it so the curry powder and oil cover each floret.
5. Spread the cauliflower in one layer on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
It's very fragrant, and even people who usually don't like cauliflower (including me!) will love it.
I also got a pasta maker for Christmas, so you can expect to see some fresh pasta recipes over the next few months. If you have any suggestions, they would be most welcome.

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