Sasha's Kitchen On the Road: Foodie Tour Of Vermont

My husband and I spent last weekend in Vermont for a friends wedding at Shelburne Farms.  While in Vermont we had some fantastic local cheeses (especially the Shelburne Farms two year cheddar).  What's so great about Vermont cooking is the focus on using local, organic farm fresh ingredients from eggs to cheese and dairy to fruits and vegetables.  Everything we tasted was fresh and fabulous from the food at our friends' wedding to the local produce we ate at the restaurants we visited.  And of course we made time for some of vermont's finest Ben & Jerry's Ice cream, because a visit to Vermont without stopping by their factory in Waterbury just isn't a visit to Vermont.

Our first night in Vermont, we had an amazing meal at Hen of the Wood, in Waterbury, VT with friends who had just flown in from Germany. We started out meal with a sampling of four local Vermont cheeses, all of which were delicious.  We paired this with different beers and wines that were equally fantastic - Allagash White, a local white Belgian style wheat beer that has become one of my favorites - and a delicious summer Frog's Leap Rose - a great wine from one of my favorite Napa wineries (yes Napa is in California, not Vermont, but I couldn't resist).

For my appetizer, I had the most delicious salad I've had in some time.  The salad was a mixture of locally grown, farm fresh arugula, spinach, barley, pansies and walnuts with local goat cheese.  So pretty. My husband and our friends had the asparagus soup which was also delightful.

Four our main courses, I had braised beef short ribs prepared with gnocchi - of course locally raised organic beef which was delicious.  One of our friends had the scallops which were beautifully prepared.  My husband opted for a more unusual suggestion - the rabbit prepared with a fresh carrot puree - it was delicious as well.

For dessert, our friends had a chocolate torte that was decadent and delicious, while we had a panna cotta with fresh strawberries - also amazing.

We also had a lovely brunch at Shelburne Farms (see above) where I had an amazing frittata made with eggs that were locally raised on the farm (we got to meet the animals on the farm later that afternoon, including some adorable baby goats).  My husband had the cinnamon carrot pancakes with ricotta that were out of this world amazing.  Our table was outside, where we had a gorgeous view of Lake Champlain to the side.

And just a final note - the arugula salad from our friends' wedding was made with delicious Vermont blue cheese and Shelburne Farms' own farm-made honey - right in the honeycomb.  It was amazing, along with everything else served at the wedding.  They had some fantastic beer and food pairings at the cocktail hour as well, but the food was so good I forgot to take pictures of it.

Sasha's Kitchen On the Road: Foodie Tour Of Vermont

Sasha's Kitchen: Pasta with Lemon, Arugula and Golden Beets

Recently I was at the organic market and saw that they had fresh, seasonal golden beets.  Until recently, I had only had golden beets in restaurants and had only cooked with regular beets which turn everything they touch bright pink.  I love golden beets - they are easier to work with in the kitchen and have a pleasant sweet taste.  I can't really describe the difference but as a beet fan, I like them better than the typical magenta variety.

I decided to create a pasta dish that was light and refreshing and that would showcase the fresh summer beets.  This pasta dish is basically a salad, but for the pasta.  It can be served cold or warm and showcases the bitterness of the arugula with the sweetness of the beets.  I added goat cheese, but you could certainly use parmesan or pecorino. The lemon is the perfect accompaniment for this dish - it adds a pleasant refreshing quality to the light olive oil based sauce. This is the perfect healthy summer meal.

Sasha's Summer Pasta with Lemon, Arugula & Golden Beets
1 box of spiral pasta (fuselli)
2 golden beets, cooked and peeled
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz baby arugula
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (a lemon flavored olive oil would be a delightful substitute)
6 oz goat cheese crumble

To prepare this dish, make the pasta al dente. Prepare the beets by boiling them for about a half an hour.  Rinse them in cold water so they are cooler to the touch and peel off the skin with your hands.  Slice the beets and mix them in the pasta dish with the lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil.  When the pasta has cooled slightly, mix in the goat cheese crumble and the arugula.  This was delicious!

Pasta

Sasha's Kitchen: Pasta with Lemon, Arugula and Golden Beets

Sasha's Kitchen: Wild Salmon with Organic Baby Carrot-Ginger Puree

My original plans for this dish involved making a celery root puree, which is something I have often enjoyed at restaurants (recently inspired by a great dinner at Mas Farmhouse in Manhattan for my husband's birthday).  I had ordered a large celery root from Fresh Direct recently and what arrived was a large root vegetable that looked like a brain.  I didn't have time to figure out how to turn it into a puree during the week so I went for a simpler organic baby carrot puree this time with the salmon.  I'll do the celery root tomorrow night with scallops.

My plans for this dish were to showcase wild organic salmon with some fresh seasonal vegetables.  I decided to use organic baby carrot for the puree, which I prepared with ginger and a bit of cinnamon.  Then, I added local fresh golden beets from the organic market.  I am a huge beet fan, but I truly love golden beets because they're just as delicious and sweet but they don't turn everything in creation magenta so they are much easier to work with.  They are also perfectly in season this time of year.  If you prefer, I think this dish would also taste great with steamed asparagus.

Sasha's Salmon with Organic Baby Carrot - Ginger Puree
2 filets (7 oz each) or organic fresh salmon
16 oz (one bag) of organic baby carrots
3 tsp of minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 lemon
white wine to taste
2 golden beets
small amount of arugula

To prepare the puree, cook the carrots in your steamer until soft. Puree in a blender or food processor with the cream, chicken broth and ginger.  Stir in the cinnamon to taste and set aside.

To prepare the salmon, I simply cut up a lemon and baked the fish (at about 350F) with sliced lemon on top, and poured some white wine over the top of the fish.

To prepare the beets, I boiled them for about half an hour.  Then, I cooled them in some cold water and rubbed the skin off and sliced the golden beets.  If you are using asparagus instead, you can simply steam the asparagus and add a bit of lemon juice.  I plated the fish in the puree with the beets, and garnished with a bit of fresh arugula.

Salmon

Sasha's Kitchen: Wild Salmon with Organic Baby Carrot-Ginger Puree

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak

I will have to preface this recipe by saying that although it just looks like a slab of meat, it was a great marinade and a delicious thai inspired steak.  I was inspired by my old (but beloved) Caribbean and Pacific Rim cookbook, to create a lemongrass flavored marinade for steak.  My recipe is totally different from the one in the cookbook, but stays true to two things used to flavor the steak: soy sauce and lemongrass.  You can use either fresh or dried lemongrass for this recipe and I recommend fresh lemongrass if you can get your hands on it.  I used a nice organic cut of strip steak for the recipe, which was lean and absorbed the flavors well.

I marinaded the steaks overnight, which gave them a wonderful strong flavor from the marinade.  This wasn't intended as we wound up saving the steak for a day due to some last minute dinner plans.  I took the steak out of the marinade after about 10-12 hours though so not to over-marinate it.  I like how this worked out - the soy and pineapple juice made for a lovely marinade, with flavors of both lemongrass and cilantro.

Sasha's Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak
2 organic strip steaks
2/3 cup of soy sauce
2/3 cup pineapple juice
5 T lime juice
5 T minced lemongrass
1 T sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 T brown sugar

To prepare the steaks, it is very simple.  Just combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and marinate the steaks overnight (or for at least 5 hours).  Then, use a grill pan to grill the steaks to your liking.  I'd suggest serving with potatoes, fried rice or a salad.  I like this dish with a first course of a homemade Caesar salad.  My husband had his with an egg served sunny side up, which worked nicely, he said.

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak

Sasha's Kitchen: Maple Walnut Muffins for the Perfect Brunch

Muffins make for the perfect weekend breakfast.  If you make a good muffin recipe, it should be relatively quick and easy to make, and the muffins should disappear quickly.  For this recipe, I adapted the original recipe from my new Vermont cookbook to make it a bit healthier, using Canola Oil, rather than butter.  I also adapted the recipe to incorporate skim milk, rather than whole milk.  The end result was a delicious maple walnut muffin that was a scrumptious breakfast treat, and a healthy muffin that you can enjoy eating several of without too much guilt (not that there's any guilt here).

I recommend serving the muffins with a little bit of softened butter, or perhaps even a bit of whipped cream.  The maple adds a lovely (but not overpowering) sweetness to the muffins, while the walnuts are the perfect complement and add a nice element of texture.  This probably goes without saying, but the recipe is dependent on the quality of the maple syrup that you use for the flavor, so I recommend using the best local Vermont or Quebec maple syrup that you can get your hands on.

Maple Walnut Muffins (Loosely adapted from the cookbook, Dishing Up Vermont)
2 cups flour
2/3 cup high-quality Maple Syrup (I used Brad's Organic Maple Syrup, named after my husband!)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup skim milk
 7 T canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar (the original recipe called for maple sugar, which I didn't have access to)
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a silicon muffin tin.  I made a total of 13 muffins.  Mix the dry ingredients (including the sugar) in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, canola oil and maple syrup.  Combine the two mixtures, alternatively also adding the milk, until all of the ingredients are fully combined.  Chop the walnuts and fold in gently with a spatula.  Fill the muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes.  Allow to cool before removing from the muffin molds.

These really are perfect for brunch - despite the maple syrup, they are not overly sweet and have the perfect organic fresh New England flavor.  And, they are healthy too!

Sasha's Kitchen: Maple Walnut Muffins for the Perfect Brunch

Sasha's Kitchen: Vermont Goat Cheese-Cheddar Souffle (Cookbook Review Of Dishing Up Vermont)

I have written quite a bit of recipes where I discuss sustainable, farm fresh cooking.  Even though I don't live in the country, I prefer to cook with locally produced, farm fresh, organic produce and ingredients, raised using sustainable agricultural techniques.  Brooklyn's farmers markets are a wonderful place to purchase such produce and I have found numerous fantastic local farm-to-table restaurants here in Brooklyn.  Not surprisingly, I have long been a fan of Vermont  fresh foods, as Vermont is one of the birthplaces of the sustainable farm-to-table movement that has reshaped America's culinary landscape.  My husband and I are actually traveling to Vermont myself in June and hope to experience some local Vermont cooking firsthand, which of course, I will share in this blog.

With this background, I was excited to receive a courtesy copy of Tracy Medeiros's cookbook, Dishing Up Vermont from her publisher last week.  This cookbook is a compilation of authentic farm-to-table recipes from the green mountain state.  Tracy's cookbook provides a birds eye view into the local Vermont foodie culture that has taken the nation by storm in the sustainable agricultural movement.  The cookbook includes numerous fabulous recipes from businesses in Vermont that are part of the Vermont Fresh Network (VFN).  It focuses exclusively on recipes from the network of farmers, chefs, restaurants and growers that make up the Vermont sustainability movement.

Even though I don't live in Vermont, I am excited to test out many of these recipes here in Brooklyn since I share the same passion for sustainability and farm fresh produce in my own cooking as set forth in the pages of Dishing Up Vermont.  In addition, the author of the cookbook will be speaking on April 8 at Murray's Cheese House in Manhattan at 6:30 PM (by advance registration).

Vermont Goat-Cheddar Cheese Souffle (From Hemingway's Restaurant in Killington, VT, page 124 of Dishing Up Vermont)

1 T ground almonds
1.4 tsp ground fennel
3/4 cup plus 3 T whole milk
2 T unsalted butter
2 1/2 T flour
salt to taste
7 1/2 oz Vermont goat cheese
2 oz Vermont sharp cheddar cheese (i.e. Cabot), shredded
3 egg yolks
4 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 375.  Be sure the oven is fully preheated by the time you put the souffle(s) in the oven.  This recipe makes eight small souffles, or one large souffle.  I was making it as a dinner entree, so I prepared one large souffle.

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan and remove from heat.  Melt the butter and add the flour an cook for several minutes, whisking the entire time.  Increase the heat to medium, and add the milk.  Bring to a boil for a minute and remove from the heat.  Add a bit of salt and all of the cheeses.  Mix fully with a whisk until all of the cheese has melted and beat in the egg yolks, after you separate the eggs.  Save the whites, as this is a souffle, so you will surely need them.

To make a souffle, you will need either a handheld egg beater, or better yet, a Kitchenaid artisan stand mixer.  Beat the egg white on the highest speed with the mixer, with a bit of cream of tartar added.  Continue beating for about five minutes until foamy (but not too long that it is dry) and stiff peaks form.  This will take about three or four minutes of constant beating, just like in my other souffle recipes.  Then gently fold half of the egg white mixture into the batter.  Fold in the other half and place in the souffle dish or ramekins.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 375 in the preheated oven.  The souffle should rise significantly and turn golden brown.  Don't be tempted to take it out sooner just because the outside starts to look done.  Further, whatever you do, do not open the oven during the cooking process, or the souffle will collapse.  This was a fabulous recipe and a great way to showcase terrific local Vermont cheeses (Cabot and fresh Vermont goat).  My husband and I loved the way the souffle looked and tasted.

Sasha's Kitchen: Vermont Goat Cheese-Cheddar Souffle (Cookbook Review Of Dishing Up Vermont)

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Pasta & Vegetable Medley

When I was in college at Haverford College, once a month or so, the Haverford dining center has a dinner special called Pastabilities, that just about the entire student body looked forward to.  Pastabilities basically involved stir fry pans where students could pick their own ingrediants to be mixed in with the pasta of their choice, to create their own pasta dish.  This was by far and away the most popular night at the dining center (yes, even more so than chicken tender night).

My concept for dinner tonight reminded me a little of those days.  I decided that I wanted tonight's pasta to be as green as possible (which meant no juicy red tomatoes), so I basically took every vegetable I could find in the kitchen that was green, yellow or white.  I diced them all together and cooked in our saute pan with some olive oil and spices. 

All of the senses are pretty important when it comes to food.  Taste and smell are the obvious ones - you're not going to eat something that tastes or smells unappealing.  However, our sense of sight when it comes to food is underrated.  I wanted to create a visual appeal with this dish by the use of color, having a strong sense of fresh green, created by various vegetables from our local market (I can't wait to make this again when the farmer's market returns in the late spring).  For this reason, I felt the presentation would be better without the use of red tomatoes (though perhaps yellow tomatoes would have been a fine addition, had they been seasonally available).  Also, my husband sometimes finds tomatoes to be a bit harsh on his stomach.

4-5 T of olive oil (I used Napa's Round Pond Estate's Blood Orange Oilve Oil, my favorite olive oil)

 1 onion, diced

2 shallots, diced

1 head of broccoli, cut up into small pieces

1/2 cup sugar snap peas

About 15-18 smallish artichoke hearts

5 large sprigs of thyme

1/2 an anaheim chile (not spicy, just flavorful and pretty)

2 zucchini

1/2 tsp saffron
salt and pepper to taste
juice of half of a fresh lemon
box of penne

To prepare the dish, saute the onions, shallots and anaheim chile to the olive oil,  and cook on medium high, until soft.  Add the sugar snap peas, broccoli, artichoke hearts and zucchini, and cook for about 10 minutes, until all of the vegetables are cooked to your liking.  Mix in the saffron, thyme, salt and pepper towards the end.  Aftertaking off the heat, mix with the juice of half of a lemon, squeezed fresh, and stir in the penne.  Serve hot.

 The use of the spices here is key.  While a lot of other spices might be overpowering, saffron and thyme give a perfect, unique flavor to this dish, and the lemon provides an excellent pick-me-up freshness.  This dish is obviously a great kosher, vegetarian, or otherwise healthy meal, and I highly recommend it with farm to table ingredients from a local farmer's market sometime other than the dead of winter.  This was a pretty off-the cuff experiemental recipe for me, especially the choice to use saffron, but it was a huge success.  I plan on making this healthy vegetable medley again, very soon!

Coming soon from my kitchen to this site: how to make limoncello, honey-vanilla cupcakes, date spread with goat cheese, berry tarts and carrot-potato souffles.

organic

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Pasta & Vegetable Medley

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Another Squash Soup

Perhaps it's the season, or the fact that it hasn't been above 40 degrees in six weeks here in Sun Valley, or that squash from Idaho's Bounty is incredibly inexpensive, but I've made another squash soup.

I started with a small butternut squash (one that was almost acorn-squash-shaped rather than oblong), cut it in half, removed the seeds, and placed the halves in a baking dish. I added about a tablespoon of butter in pieces, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and heavy sprinklings of cinnamon and red pepper powder (still trying to use up the joint spice cabinet). I baked that at 350 for, oh, two hoursish? Until it smelled really good and was soft to a fork, anyway. When that was done baking, I removed the dish and let it cool.

While the squash was cooling, I sauteed about half a white onion, two or three shallots, and half a head of garlic (all chopped fairly fine) in about a tablespoon of olive oil and half a cup of white wine. Once the onions were half sauteed, I added more cinnamon and some smoked paprika (probably about a tablespoon or two of each). Once the whole mess was lightly browned, I put it in the Cuisinart. I added the flesh of the squash, and about three cups of the pureed potatoes that were such a failure in that last post (they had been in the freezer).

As the contents pureed, I added a bit of heavy cream. Probably less than a total of a cup, but I'm not sure, I just poured until it looked right. Out of the Cuisinart and into a medium-sized pan, I added a bit of vegetable broth to thin out the consistency. Again, probably a total of a cup or so, but I'm not sure. Also, a teaspoon or two of black truffle oil. As you can tell, I tend to cook by the seat of my pants, (today, the new jeans I won from Lee off Facebook!) which makes me a poor baker.

There was some toasting and buttering of San Francisco sourdough slices going on as I served up the soup. Thinking about visual and textural contrast, I diced up some cilantro left over from our elk fajitas last weekend. That went onto both bowls, and some grated reggiano onto my bowl (but not the fiance's). He said the cilantro could have been sliced finer, as it created too much of a textural inconsistency, but I liked it. Eh, to each his own.

For another soup recipe, check out Kelly's Carrot Soup, by clicking here.

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Another Squash Soup

Sasha's Kitchen: A Restaurant Review of New York's Blue Hill

Last night, for my birthday dinner, my husband took me out to the Restaurant Blue Hilll. It is worth mentioning that in ten years of living in New York, I had somehow never been to Blue Hill, despite having been to numerous and sundry Manhattan restaurants in all price ranges. After having the food and wine tasting menu at Blue Hill, I would rate it among the top 5 New York restaurants.

The Chef at Blue Hill incorporates my favorite type of cuisine and cooking techniques into his ingredients. He uses all fresh, organic, farm-grown ingredients. As noted on their website, Blue Hill takes the motto "great cooking starts with great ingredients" seriously, as the majority of the ingredients used in the dishes served at the restaurant come from Blue Hill's own farms, in Great Barrington, MA and just outside of NYC at Stone Barns. In fact, Blue Hill has a second restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico, New York, on the Stone Barns Property. Although quite expensive, I have heard stellar reviews from my foodie friends who have dined at Stone Barns. In addition, if you go in the spring, summer or fall, you can take a full tour of the property, including greenhouses, gardens and livestock. I have heard that it is a lovely day experience, which I hope to try in the spring.

Upon arrival at the Manhattan Blue Hill, we were quickly seated by a friendly server with a wonderful Australian accent. Shortly thereafter, we received two glasses of champagne to celebrate my birthday as a surprise gift from two very thoughtful, wonderful friends of mine from college. I am actually not sure which champagne it was off of the wine list, but it was very enjoyable and a great birthday surprise.

At this point, we decided to leave our experience in the Chef's hands and try both the food and wine tasting menus.

First, they brought out various artfully presented fresh vegetables - radishes and broccoli. They were crunch, organic and tasty (even though I have never loved radishes).

Next they brought two delicious creations that looked like mini-hamburgers. These were, in fact warm mini-burgers made with beets and goat cheese, one of my favorite food combinations of all time. Knowing that my husband would refuse to eat this if he knew it was beets (which he claims to hate even though he has no idea how much he would love them if they were prepared in an interesting way), I didn't tell him what it was and urged him to try it. He did, and of course, he loved it. We enjoyed it so much that our wonderful waitress actually brought us seconds, which were devoured instantly by myself and my new beet-fan husband.

Next, our waitress brought us our first glass of wine, a 2007 Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc from my favorite place in the United States (as you must know by now if you have been reading my posts regularly), Napa Valley, California. I love Napa Sauvignon Blancs – I personally prefer them to New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, which are generally much more acidic. The one that we were served was fantastic and paired nicely with the local big eye tuna course that was soon to follow.

Once the wine was poured, we were served a variety of homemade butters and spreads with bread, which we enjoyed, followed by a small meat course.

We enjoyed the rest of the wine with the local big eye tuna course that I mentioned before, which was prepared New England style with Maine shellfish (tasted like scallops). It was mouth watering delicious.

The next wine that arrived was the 2006 Emmanuel Giboulet Bourgogne Blanc, from France, which was another wonderful wine. This wine was paired with Blue Hill’s version of mushroom risotto. I enjoyed this, since we had just made our own mushroom risotto the night before. This risotto used various types of organic mushrooms (I think I tasted chanterelles and shitakes), creamy rice, braised cipollini onions and chicory root. Most wonderfully, the risotto was seasoned with star anise, one of my favorite spices, which made the flavor combination complete. Next time I make my own mushroom risotto, I will be sure to include star anise.

Our next course was a rare veal which was known at Blue Hill as “Rabbi Bob’s Veal.” Out of curiosity, I asked who Rabbi Bob, the dish’s namesake, was. Our waitress told us that Rabbi Bob is apparently a supplier of quality kosher meats to a variety of restaurants in New York, and that he is actually non a Rabbi at all, but is quite scholarly looking, complete with a white beard. His veal was delicious, although a bit on the rare side. However, we enjoyed the course, nicely served with chestnuts, cranberries and brussels sprouts, all of which added a very seasonal flavor to the dish. It was paired with a Malbec Wine from Napa Valley, called Pax Americana, which we enjoyed (I like the less tannic red wines like Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and Malbec, and tend to stay away from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon).

Our next course was a green apple sorbet which was served in a lemon thyme soup. I have long been a fan of green apple sorbet and this one was no exception. It was actually one of my favorites because it was made with Honeycrisp apples (which are actually a combination of green and red in color when I buy them at the local farmer’s market in Park Slope), my favorite type of apple. I have actually developed my own recipe for apple sorbet that I hope to test out this weekend, so stay tuned. Blue Hill’s sorbet was refreshing and delicious and the thyme-lemon soup that it was served in had a very apple cider kind of flavor to it that enhanced the sorbet.

Finally, it was time for dessert, which was a course of poached quince with caramelized white chocolate and lemon sponge cake with fromage blanc sorbet. This was amazing and might have been my husband’s favorite dish of the night. Who says you need to eat chocolate cake all the time? I love quince when prepared properly, and actually just found the perfect organic market here in Park Slope near our condo where I was able to buy some. It was delicious as part of the desert and paired nicely with the Albert Seltz Sylvander dessert wine from Alsace.

It is an expensive meal at a nice restaurant, but well worth it.

In addition, about halfway through dinner we noticed that the actor who plays the Sicilian in Rob Reiner's 1987 classic, The Princess Bride, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. This was actually a great birthday gift, since I have such wonderful memories associated with watching that movie growing up and especially in college. Thus, the experience was “inconceivable!”

This restaurant review is one of the first for this site, and will be an occasional (perhaps monthly) feature on http://www.akitcheninbrooklyn.com since a wonderful dining out experience can often serve as an inspiration for our own culinary adventures.

Sasha's Kitchen: A Restaurant Review of New York's Blue Hill

Sasha's Kitchen: Vegetarian Cauliflower Casserole

As I mentioned in a previous post, I ate at a wonderful organic vegetable and fruit centered restaurant last fall when my husband and I visited Napa Valley, Ubuntu. Since that delicious meal, I have been inspired by head Chef Jeremy Fox's Michelin-starred cuisine to create my own vegetarian dishes using the best organic fruits and vegetables that I can fine (which obviously pale in comparison to the fruits and vegetables he harvest from his organic garden in Napa).

Tonight, I was inspired to create my own casserole using cauliflower based on a cauliflower casserole that is one of the signature dishes on his menu. I did take a look at his recipe for the basic outline (the cauliflour, butter, curry and whole milk), but from that point on, created my own recipe. Below is the recipe I created and adapted. Tonight was a test-run on the dish for a vegetarian dinner I will be hosting for some vegetarian friends in early January and it was a success according to my taste buds.

Ingredients
2 heads of plain cauliflower
3 T extra virgin olive oil (I used Round Pond's Blood Orange Olive Oil, another treat form the Napa trip)
2 T curry powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 star anise
4 oz of butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup non-dairy almond milk
1/8 tsp almond extract
parsley for decoration
salt and pepper to taste
toasted french bread
small amount of colored cauliflower for decoration

First, cut up the white cauliflower into small pieces and mix well with the olive oil and a little salt. Roast at 350 F until slightly charred and tender.

Melt the butter on medium heat until foamy and then take off the heat and add all of the various spices (this was my improvised spice mix which was delicious, as the flavors mix nicely). Let sit for about 30 minutes so the flavors absorb into the butter. Add this mix to a pot with the cauliflower from the oven and add both the whole milk, the almond milk and the almond extract (sparingly). Cook on medium until completely soft.

Then, bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. The mixture should not change too much and should look almost kind of soup like when you take it out. It will have a beautiful texture. Before you bake, sprinkle some of the colored cauliflower on top.

I served in bowls because I only have large souffle/casserole dishes. Ideally you would want to bake in individual casserole dishes.

Put a little parsley and pepper on top and it should be delicious.

To learn more about cooking with cauliflower, click here for a dish from Amasea's kitchen in Sun Valley.

Sasha's Kitchen: Vegetarian Cauliflower Casserole