Are you one of those people that constantly ranks things, High Fidelity style? (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then please watch the movie immediately).

I am. I could sit here right now and list off my top 5 vacation spots, races I’ve run, meals we ate while traveling in Asia, and outfits currently in my closet, but I’ll spare you. I could also tell you my top 5 vegetables to eat, and cauliflower would be nowhere near that list. But Mike loves it, particularly in Aloo Gobi, which I have to admit is pretty good (and it has potatoes, which are in my top 5). It’s another one of those Indian dishes that tastes more complicated than it actually is, and is such a beautiful yellow color that it makes up for the fact that cauliflower normally is, in my opinion, a blah, anemic-looking vegetable.

So regardless of your feelings on cauliflower, this is definitely worth a try.

Recipe:
(adapted from Manjula’s Kitchen)

3 cups of cut cauliflower (cut into small florets)
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (cubed into bite sized pieces)
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 tablespoons water + additional water while cooking
3 tablespoons oil
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

Combine the ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and cumin seeds in a small bowl and stir in 3 tbsp water.

Heat the oil in a dutch oven until hot, then add the paste and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes (it may splatter – be careful!)

Add the bay leaves, cauliflower, and potatoes, and stir well. Add 1/4 cup water and the salt, turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. If things start sticking or beginning to burn on the bottom of the pan, add a little water and keep stirring.

When the vegetables are tender, taste and add salt if necessary, then garnish with chopped cilantro to serve.

It just so happens that yesterday was my 26th birthday. Judge all you want to, but I’m one of those people that still gets excited about my birthday, probably in part because my family has a knack for picking out the absolute best birthday presents ever. My parents sent me a new lens for my camera (50 mm f/1.8 yippee!) and my aunt, who always picks out the perfect cookbook for me, sent this:

I know Irish food isn’t the most vegetarian-friendly, but there are some great recipes in here, and the photography is beautiful. I also love the little stories profiling various people and places. Since Ireland is one of my favorite places on Earth, I’m really excited about adding this to my growing collection of cookbooks.

Colcannon combines two of my favorite vegetables, kale and potatoes, and it’s nice and simple comfort food. I have to argue that the pat of butter on top is a crucial component, because it melts into the potatoes and gives them an alluring, velvety texture.

Recipe:
(adapted from The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews)

serves 8

5 or 6 russet potatoes
2 tbsp butter, plus additional pats for serving
3 cups chopped kale (leaves only)
1 1/3 cups whole milk
4 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper

Put the potatoes in a large pan and cover about halfway with water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Pour out the water but keep the potatoes in the pan and let stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in a wide skillet and add the kale. Cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.

Bring the milk and green onions to a simmer in a saucepan and add a few pinches of salt and pepper. Stir in the kale, turn off the heat, and keep covered.

Peel the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the milk and kale, and mash until nearly smooth, seasoning with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Divide among bowls and top each serving with a pat of butter.

If you’re a procrastinator like I tend to be, and you still haven’t finalized your St. Patricks Day menu, consider putting these on it. They’re great topped with jam or as a side dish for stew, and they’re not too complex to make. Apparently there are all sorts of rhymes about boxty, including this little gem (found in the cookbook this recipe came from):
Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you don’t eat boxty, you’ll never get a man.
Uh huh.

Anyway, Happy St. Patricks Day!. Here are some other Irish-inspired recipes to help you celebrate:

Guinness Beef or Tempeh Stew
Irish Soda Bread
Guinness Chocolate Cake

Recipe:
(adapted from Celtic Folklore Cooking by Joanne Asala)

1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and grated
1 cup cooked mashed potatoes
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper

Squeeze the grated potatoes in a clean dish towel to remove excess water.
Put them in a large bowl and stir in the mashed potatoes, flour, baking soda, and milk (you may need more or less depending on the moistness of your mashed potatoes…it should have a similar consistency to pancake batter). Add a few pinches of salt and pepper.
Lightly grease a griddle and cook the boxty pancakes over medium-high heat until golden brown on each side.

I love how so many things in life just seem to work out. I have to admit, when I signed up for Adopt-A-Blogger #4 I was a little skeptical. After all, how do I qualify as a mentor? Yeah, I’ve been doing this for over a year, but I’d hardly call myself a blogging pro. What would I have to contribute? What if the adoptee thought I was lame?

But of course, I worried excessively for absolutely NO reason, because I was matched with Wizzy of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Punch. Not only are her pictures gorgeous and her writing witty and eloquent, but her recipes are unique and she lives in Trinidad! Since I’ve never been to or eaten food from the Caribbean (except for a Cuban restaurant years ago), it was pretty much a perfect match. Of course, I feel like I’m learning far more from her than I am offering in return, but I’ve been loving our emails back and forth.

I will undoubtedly make quite a few recipes off her site, but this one caught my eye immediately because Mike has been dying to go to Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago since before I knew him. You should probably take a look at her pictures because they are much better than mine, but trust me, this soup is fantastic. The yellow split peas make it thick and hearty, and how can anyone turn down dumplings and sweet corn?

Recipe:
(adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Punch)

Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup chives, chopped
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh thyme, chopped
3/4 cup yellow split peas
8 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, left whole
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, diced
6 ears corn, cut into 2inch pieces
8 dumplings
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
black pepper

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
whole milk

Heat the oil in a large, heavy soup pot. Add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes, until soft. Add the celery, thyme and chives and cook an additional five minutes.

Stir in the stock and split peas. Add salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the coconut milk. Simmer partially covered for about 55 minutes, or until the split peas are very tender. Puree with an immersion blender. Add the habanero, potatoes, carrots, and corn and simmer for another 20 minutes, until potato is soft. Stir in the cilantro. If the soup is too thick, stir in a little water until it has a desired consistency.

While the soup is simmering, make the dumplings: Toss the flour, salt, and
cayenne together, then gradually stir in enough milk to make a stiff dough. Knead until smooth, then roll into a thin log and cut in 1″ lengths. Drop them into the soup after the potatoes are cooked through, and wait until they rise to the surface.

Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

It’s a tradition in my husband’s family to have an appetizer party a few days before Christmas. I always love finding new recipes to try, and this year, this and my favorite appetizer (salad rolls/fresh spring rolls – whatever you call them, I love them!) were my contributions.

The inspiration for this recipe came from the goat cheese my sister in law just gave us because she wasn’t going to be able to use it up before she goes on vacation, and the GIANT bag of potatoes we bought on our first shopping trip for our new apartment. With a little guidance from White on Rice Couple, these appetizers were really easy to put together, and disappeared within a few minutes!

Of course you could use a mandoline to slice the potatoes evenly, but I think it’s a whole lot more fun to practice your knife skills (and believe me, mine need practice) and slice them by hand!

Recipe:
adapted from White on Rice Couple

4 small Russet potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
a few big pinches of sea salt
about 5 ounces goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 F and line several baking sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment or Silpats.
Scrub the potaotes well, then slice about 1/8″ thick using a mandoline or sharp knife.
Toss with the olive oil, rosemary, and salt.
Spread in a single layer on the prepared pans, then put into the oven. The baking time will depend on how thin your slices are, so bake for 10 minutes then flip each slice over. Check every few minutes after the initial 10, and remove the chips that are golden brown.
Once all the chips are no longer hot, use a butter knife to dab a little goat cheese on each one.

I was mentally writing this blog post as I pureed this soup. I considered writing about how this is perfect for those chilly winter nights when it’s hard to warm up after shoveling snow all day, or how an icy breeze cuts through all the layers you pile on and a bowl of hot soup in front of the fire is so necessary at the end of a long, cold day.

Then I snapped out of it and realized that winter here means temperatures that just might dip below freezing a few times in the dead of night while daytime temperatures still climb up into the seventies. (Yes, people in Maine and Nebraska and North Dakota and everywhere else that has REAL winter, I realize I can’t even consider this winter at all).

But anyway, whether you live in the tropics or above the Arctic Circle, clear a night on your weekly meal plan for this soup. It might not be the most photogenic dish you could make, but it’s unbelievably creamy (but healthy!) with a nice dose of fiber and protein. It’s even vegan, if you forego the sprinkle of Parmesan at the end (but that cheese is awfully nice, if you choose to eat it). In short, whether it’s wintry where you are or not, there’s just no reason not to give this soup a try!

I left the skins on the potatoes and they still pureed nicely, but if you’re opposed to little brown specks in your soup (which is understandable), you can definitely peel the potatoes before you put them in. I used pinto beans that I cooked myself, but I’m sure canned beans (either pinto or navy or cannellini) would be nice.

Recipe:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 small Russet potatoes, diced (peeled or not, it’s up to you)
4 cups water, divided
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup pinto beans with their liquid
1/2 head cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
grated parmesan, for garnish (omit if vegan)

Heat the oil in a soup pot or large Dutch oven. Add the onion and saute for 3 or 4 minutes, until onions are soft.
Add the garlic, potato, and 2 cups of water. Add a few pinches of salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil over medium-high, then cover the pan for 30 minutes (until potatoes are very tender).
Stir in the other 2 cups of water and the beans, then puree with an immersion blender until very smooth.
Stir in the cabbage, turn heat down slightly, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Taste and adjust seasonings, then ladle into bowls and sprinkle on a little parmesan and parsley to serve.

I’m not a picky eater at all. Off the top of my head, the only thing I really don’t like is raw mushrooms, and you encounter those so infrequently I don’t really think it counts. I’m also starting to be much less inclined to eat meat, but that’s another topic for another day.

So, raw mushrooms. Something about the flavor and texture just makes my stomach turn. I seem to recall a contestant (or judge?) on Top Chef recently declaring that if you don’t cook mushrooms long enough, they just aren’t worth eating, and I completely agree. Because while raw mushrooms are the last thing I want gracing my dinner plate, I could eat cooked mushrooms by the pound.

Shortly after making my favorite vegetable soup, I realized a nice adaptation of the recipe would be this simple mushroom chowder. I’m not sure why I’m calling it a chowder and not cream of mushroom soup, but in any case, it’s full of COOKED mushrooms (which I like so much more than raw) and is nice and creamy and comforting, like a perfect Fall soup should be.

Recipe:
2 tsp butter
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups sliced assorted mushrooms
1 large or 2 small waxy potatoes, cut into 1 cm cubes
3 cups 2% or whole milk
salt and pepper
chopped fresh parsley

Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium. Add the onion and cook until translucent (3-5 minutes).
Add the garlic and mushrooms, turn the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. This is when you concentrate all the flavor in the mushrooms, so it’s a crucial step!
Add the potato (up to you whether you leave the peel on or not – I like to leave it on), then the milk, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, then garnish with parsley.

I have a knack for timing cooking endeavors very poorly. I distinctly remember a weeknight my senior year of high school, sobbing over some uncooked hijiki sea vegetables that were supposed to be included in a rice dish to accompany some steamed fish.

I hadn’t read the recipe carefully and neglected to notice the little note about needing to rehydrate them, which, at that well-past-usual-dinnertime hour, was not going to happen. My dreams of whipping up an artfully prepared and wildly healthy Japanese dinner for my parents in time to write a paper on Toni Morrison, talk to my boyfriend on the phone, and be in bed at a reasonable hour, were crushed.

Tonight there was a moment, as I watched my misshapen chive-flecked gnocchi bobbing in a pot of boiling water, that I feared I had once again chosen a project far too ambitious for a Wednesday night. I should have waited for a care-free, leisurely Sunday afternoon to attempt gnocchi for the first time. But, no, common sense seems to have escaped me once again.

Twenty minutes later, however, as I dug into a plate of these (well before my bedtime!), I said a silent prayer of thanks to the kitchen gods for letting this little culinary experiment of mine come together in a timely fashion.

This is not your typical Italian gnocchi. Although I started with a recipe titled “How to Make Gnocchi Like an Italian Grandmother,” I quickly ended up making gnocchi like a 25-year-old With Too Many Asian Ingredients at Her Disposal . I added chopped garlic and Chinese Chives to the potatoes as I mashed them, then sauteed the boiled gnocchi in a mixture of sesame oil and soy sauce. Not the usual flavors for a plate of potato dumplings, but sometimes it’s nice to shake things up a little!

Recipe:
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

1 recipe Gnocchi
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped Chinese chives
2 tbps sesame oil, divided
2 tbsp soy sauce, divided

Follow the recipe instructions, adding the garlic and chives when you mash the potatoes.
After you pull the boiled gnocchi out of the water, set aside.
When all the gnocchi have been cooked, heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium (sesame oil burns easily).
Add half the gnocchi and cook, shaking the pan, for about 1 minute. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce and cook one additional minute or two.
Transfer to a serving dish and repeat with the remaining gnocchi.

Yesterday was a huge day for me: I purchased cheese for the first time in 6 months. The Costco (yes, there’s really Costco here!) we went to had a decent selection of cheese, but a lot of it was really expensive and only came in gargantuan packages. I would have loved to get some gorgonzola, but 2 pounds seemed like a little much.

So I sensibly opted for a large block of medium cheddar. I knew I could use it in all sorts of recipes and could easily snack on way too much of it (which I’ve already done). I’m definitely planning on making a nice big pot of my favorite Macaroni and Cheese, but first I decided to whip up some of these twice-baked potatoes.

I debated whether or not I should cook the broccoli before I used it in the filling, and I’m glad I didn’t. It softens just enough when it’s baked, and I think if I had cooked it first, it would have gotten too mushy. I might try doing it that way next time, though, just to compare.

Recipe:
4 medium-sized baking potatoes
1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets
1/2 cup (loosely packed) shredded cheddar cheese
2-4 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 400 F.
Bake the potatoes for about 50 minutes, or until soft.
Carefully slice each potato in half lengthwise, and scoop the potato flesh into a bowl, leaving the skins intact.
Put the skins on a baking sheet.
Mash the flesh until smooth, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Add enough milk so that the mixture is soft and smooth.
Scoop the filling into the potato skins and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Note: I’m currently in Seoul, waiting for my flight to Bangkok! I will post updates soon, but in the meantime… Moussaka!

I looked at dozens of Moussaka recipes, trying to get a feel for the basic components.  I discovered that it consists of slices of eggplant layered with meat and tomato sauce, baked with a bechamel sauce on top.  That is all fine and good but I wanted to make a vegetarian variety, and I wanted something a little lighter than bechamel sauce (which is full of butter and eggs, two things I frankly don’t need any more of right now).  

Put a layer of slightly-overlapping eggplant slices over the bread crumbs, then top with a few ladle-fulls of tomato sauce (spread evenly).

 Continue patting the eggplant slices dry as you use them.

Lay the potato slices in a single layer over the sauce, then top with some more sauce.