Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower was a weird vegetable for me growing up. My mom boiled the h.. out of it, and like many overcooked vegetables it went on my "I don't like that" list. Please DO NOT overcook and especially over-boil your vegetables. 
You can prepare cauliflower so many ways, or just eat it raw, but by roasting it whole like this you get a great nutty flavor, with a crispy surface with a tender and almost creamy center. It might be time consuming but its well worth the wait. 

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower, the one I used was yellow to start with

• olive oil

• salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven with a cast-iron skillet inside to 375℉ (190℃).

Break off and discard the outer leaves from the cauliflower. Cut off the bottom of the stem, being careful not to cut off any of the florets. Using a small sharp knife to cut out the hard core of the cauliflower.  

Rinse the cauliflower, not drying it again. Place the cauliflower core-side up on the cutting board, and drizzle it with olive oil. Rub the oil all over the surface, and sprinkle with sea salt.

Place the cauliflower core-side down in the hot cast-iron skillet. Place an ovenproof pan filled with hot water, to create steam in the oven. Roast the cauliflower for 1½-2 hours, basting it 2-3 times with more olive oil. You want to end up with a nice brown color on the surface and a nice tender inside. You can roast the cauliflower under the boiler for a brief moment in the end to add some more color.

Serve the cauliflower to your favorite protein.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Soup

Mushroom soup.

With a bit of a chill in the weather, there is nothing like a bowl of hot soup. This is my take on a tasty cream of mushroom soup. And its way better than any canned soup you can buy in grocery stores. I got a bunch of mixed mushrooms to build a more complexed flavor. One of the best things about a blended soup is that you can sneak in different kinds of root vegetables for some added fiber, just keep in mind not to use vegetables with overpowering flavors and colors.

The addition of cream is optional, because most blended soups seems creamy without it.

Serves 4 as an entrée or 6 as an appetizer. 

Ingredients:

Soup:

• 1 red large onion, or 2 small, diced

• 1 large carrot, diced

• 500 g mixed mushrooms, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 small sprig rosemary, leaves only

• 3 sprigs thyme, leaves only

• 100 ml white wine

• 800 ml chicken stock

• 150 ml heavy whipping cream

• lemon juice, to taste

• salt & pepper, to taste

Topping:

• 150 g bacon, diced and crispy

• parsley oil (Italian parsley + olive oil blended and drained)

Directions:

Fry the diced bacon crispy in a large pot. Put the crispy bacon bits on some kitchen towel to drain any excess fat. 

Cook the onion and carrot in the leftover bacon fat. When the onions are translucent, add all the mushrooms, and let them cook and caramelize. Add thyme and rosemary. When the mushrooms has got some color and lost its liquid, deglaze the pot with the white wine.  Pour in the chicken stock, and let the soup simmer for about 25 minutes. Let the whipping cream simmer in the soup for the last 5-10 minutes. 

Blend the soup, with an immersion blender or in a regular blender.* 

Season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve the soup with the topping. 

Enjoy!

* Be careful when working with hot soup in a blender.  If you need a new blender, consider a Vitamix. They are expensive, but they are worth all the money. They can liquefy almost anything and makes soup and margaritas so smooth and creamy. But the best part, you can blend hot soups without having to clean the soup of all your kitchen cabinets afterwards. Just saying. ;)

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

I know the picture isn't perfect, but the taste is so so good. My brother was the one that told me about this mustard glazed salmon. In my mind this glaze is used to glaze a ham. And the caramelized pearl onions is a traditional side for roast beef. But as it turned out, the glaze worked perfect with the salmon. It added a mild smokey flavor to the juicy salmon. This dish will be on our meal plan in the near future again. Especially because I plan to add more fish to the table this year, and salmon being my husbands favorite fish. 

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces salmon, or 1 larger piece
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon grainy mustard (I used Maille Old style whole grain dijon mustard)
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 200 g (about half a bag) frozen pearl onions

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Brush an ovenproof dish with oil, and set aside.

Remove skin and bones from the salmon. Place it in the ovenproof dish, skin-side down. 

Mix mustards and sugar till you have a paste, this will be the glaze. Brush the salmon with the glaze. Place the pearl onions all around the salmon and pour the rest of the glaze over the onions. Bake the salmon for 20-30 minutes until its done, and the glaze is somewhat caramelized. Serve the salmon with boiled potatoes and creamed spinach.

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

French onion soup is a worldwide classic and a big favorite in my house. The deep, somewhat sweet and umami flavors with the saltiness from the gruyere is a party in my mouth. I like to serve  some extra crispy slices of cheesy bread slices, to add some extra texture. French onion soup is normally an appetizer, but somehow it always transforms itself to a main course, when I make it at home. Perfect for a meatless Monday or any other day. 

Serves 6 as an appetizer 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter, salted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 onions, thinly sliced
• 4-5 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leave
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cup (2½ dl) white wine
• 1 liter (4 cups) beef broth

Topping:

• 1 baguette, sliced
• ½ pound gruyere cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, and thyme, and cook until the onions are soft and caramelized, this will take about 25 minutes. You want to get a good caramelizing on the onions, this will make the flavors more deep and more complex. Add the wine, broth, garlic and bay leave. Bring the soup to simmer. Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes. Season to taste. Discard thyme sprigs, garlic and bay leave.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Spread the baguette slices on a baking sheet, sprinkle with some olive oil. Toast the bread for about 10 minutes until golden and crispy. 

Preheat the boiler.

Pour the soup into ovenproof cups or bowls. Place 1-2 bread slices on top, and sprinkle a good amount cheese on top. Place the soup under the boiler and heat until the cheese has melted and turned golden and bubbly. 

Serve the soup immediately.

Enjoy!

Elgmørbrad med Blomkålspure

Elgmørbrad med Blomkålspure

Endnu engang deltager jeg i MadbloggerUdfordingen, denne gang nr. 10 - NytårsLøjer.

Jeg havde gruet lidt for at få tildelt "kransekagen" til kl 12, men jeg var utrolig heldig at skulle lave en hovedret. Rent tilfældigt havde jeg lige købt et par elgmørbrader, ved min tyske slagter, så det hele gik op i en højere enhed.

Til 6 personer

Ingredienser:

Kødet:

• 2 elgmørbrad

• salt og peber

Blomkålspure:

• 1 blomkålshoved

• 1 tsk smør

• 20 g parmesan

• 2 spsk creme fraiche (en fed version)

• salt

Sauce:

• 400 ml portvin

• ½-1 tsk smør

• 1 håndfuld blåbær

Tilbehør:

• 6 mellem-store faste kartofler

• 6 gulerødder

• 3-6 svampe

• et par kviste frisk timian

• smør og olie til stegning

Fremgangsmåde:

Kog kartofler i ca 10-12 minutter, de skal ikke være helt møre. Lad dem køle af, og skær dem til, så du får en stor terning pr kartoffel.

Rens svampene med en pensel, der skal endelig ikke vand på. 

Skyl gulerødderne grundigt.

Alle tre ting skal ristes godt af i en pande med smør og lidt olie. Kartoflerne skal få en god stege flade og få lidt sprødhed. Jeg har lidt frisk timian i panden, når jeg rister kartoflerne. Salt grøntsagerne.

Saucen:

Kog portvinen ind til en sirup. Dette skal gøres ved ikke for høj varme. Lige før serveringen tages siruppen af varmen og smør piskes i, dette vil tykne saucen lidt. Kom blåbær ned i den varme sauce og lad den varme igennem.

Saucen passer perfekt til al slags rødt kød.

Blomkålspure:

Kog blomkålen i 15-20 minutter i let saltet vand, til blomkålen er mør og blød. Lad blomkålen dryppe godt af, så pureen ikke bliver for vandet. Kom blomkål, smør, creme fraiche og parmesan i en blender, og blend indtil du har en glat pure. Smag til med salt.  Dette kan gøre dagen før og så bare varme pureen op næste dag. 

Kødet:

Fjern sener fra kødet. Krydr med salt og peber. Brun kødet på en varm pande med olie. Sørg for at få en god stegeoverflade hele vejen rundt. Steg videre på god varme indtil kødet er medium rare (xx℉/xx℃). I det sidste minut, kom en spsk smør på panden og vend kødet i det.

Lad kødet trække på et skærebræt, mens de ønvrige ting komme på varme tallerkener.

Skær kødet tyndt og kom det og lidt sauce på tallerkenerne. Server straks.

Velbekomme!

Til det lækre kød serverede jeg en 2013 Ridge, Pagani Ranch Zinfandel.