Roasted Caprese Salad in March

Caprese salad isn’t a dish I normally crave in the middle of winter. Although caprese-quality tomatoes are usually scarce this time of year, it can be done with Romas. Yes, I said Romas—those tomatoes that are usually tasteless, gritty and unremarkable. The trick is to slow roast the tomatoes until they are sweet and concentrated.

I used Ina Garten’s recipe for Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad and was happy to taste summertime in March.

Mmmmm...bacon

A long, long time ago I was a quasi-vegetarian for about 8 years or so. Then I remembered bacon.

Heather and I got Ryan and Eric a delicious holiday gift…two nights of cooking school at In Good Taste. The class, Charcuterie 101, taught the basics of curing, smoking, salting and devouring various meats—from duck to pork belly to trout. Chef Ben Bettinger of Clyde Common (and of the future Beaker and Flask…we hope) helped his pork disciples deliver some of the best bacon I’ve ever tasted. It was think, smoky, and salty…and almost too good for words before it was devoured.

This dish reminds me off something my mom would make on a Sunday evening. It has down home chicken, noodles and broth but is updated with mushrooms, Riesling and leeks. I used Nigella Lawson’s recipe but added a dollop of beurre manié at the end to thicken the sauce. Use a California, cheaper Riesling to cook with and a nice bottle of German or Alsace Riesling to savor with the meal. Be sure to use skinless chicken thighs, not breasts (I don’t know why everyone loves breasts…but that’s another topic).

This is a perfect winter dish to enjoy on a Sunday evening or any day of the week.

Nigella’s Coq au Riesling

Even though the Food Network has a talent for taking decent TV cooks and turning them into dancing, babbling puppets à la Rachel Ray, they seem to keep their hands off Ina Garten. Ina, aka Barefoot Contessa, still seems grounded and makes simple yet elegant fare. Plus, who can resist her cute husband Jeffrey who comes home just as the cookies are coming out of the oven?

Ina’s line of baking mixes at skyrocket prices makes me cringe, however I still enjoy her staple recipes like this one for the Perfect Roast Chicken. Add any kind of vegetable to the roasting pan and they will caramelize and suck up the chicken juices.

Marinara Sauce

Just because it’s easy to open a jar of Bertolli marinara sauce doesn’t mean you should. Sauce in a jar tends to have that metallic, stale taste that ruins a bowl of spaghetti. It’s just as easy to make a pot of fresh marinara and freeze it in 2-cup increments. Then you have fresh-tasting marinara that you can add just about anything to like meatballs, olives, tuna, spinach, eggplant, etc.

Even though she has become a giggling pawn of The Food Network and NBC, Giada DeLaurentiis has a decent recipe for marinara that I tend to use. It’s easy to make and freezes well. It makes a thick sauce, so just throw a little in the blender if you prefer a smoother consistency.

Overall, the recipe takes about 20 minutes to prep and then an hour to simmer. Mangia!

Yes, the fishing encampment looks sketchy, but the fish is fresh and cheap. I’ve even made steelhead trout sashimi from a catch of the day. Just check that the fish’s eyeballs are clear and look alive and that it smells like water, not like fish.

Roast the fish hole at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes with some lemons, thyme and salt & pepper stuffed in the cavity.

Cauliflower and Romanesca

I used to loathe cauliflower—the rubbery kind that restaurants throw in salads to take up volume. It never really tasted like anything and is usually accompanied by the phrase, “Roughage is good for you.”

But hold on fellow cauliflower haters out there: Cauliflower can be delicious! I tried a recipe from The Oregonian’s Mix Magazine and was surprised at how much I liked cauliflower. All it took was some lemon, capers, parsley and a hot oven to help the misunderstood vegetable shine. Check out the recipe here or below.

And if you’re feeling adventurous, add or substitute romanesca (the broccoli/cauliflower alien veggie) to the mix.

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemons, Capers & Parsley

From “Dirt Divas,” by Leslie Cole, Aug./Sept. 2008

Makes 4 servings

2 small to medium heads cauliflower
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or lemon thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons drained capers, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the cauliflower into florets, mostly the same size, but a few smaller ones are OK (they will create extra-crispy bits). Cut any large florets in half lengthwise. In a large bowl toss cauliflower with the olive oil and thyme; season generously with salt and pepper and toss again until everything’s evenly distributed.

Spread the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet (you may need two) and roast until florets are tender, collapsed and golden brown on their cut faces and around the edges, at least 20 minutes, possibly longer. Meanwhile, stir together the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and capers. When the cauliflower is ready to serve, toss it with the lemon mixture and the fresh parsley and serve right away.

Huckleberry Pancakes

Why people use Bisquick…I will never understand. All you need for good pancake batter is ingredients that are most likely already in your pantry and refrigerator. Like most baking mixes, all Biquick is a box of flour, baking powder, salt, etc. And by the etc. I mean that there’s probably some sort of strange filler ingredients and/or preservatives.

So do yourself a favor and make pancakes from scratch. I found what I deem the best pancake recipe ever online—they’re called simply Good Old Fashioned Pancakes. You can add blueberries, huckleberries, nuts, and other accoutrements to the batter while it’s in the pan (just drop the ingredients on the pancake, push them down a bit, and then flip).

The pancakes turn out light and fluffy just like they should be.

Roast Chicken Vermentino

I often like to take a recipe that I find and add a bunch of ingredients to it. In this case, I took a New York Times Magazine recipe for Roast Chicken Vermentino and added haricots verts, fennel and some grape tomatoes at the end. The recipe is simple but calls for lots of dried porcini mushrooms, which can be quite expensive. So I used 1 oz of dried porcinis and morels and then made up the difference with fresh cremini mushrooms.

If you can’t find Vermentino, you can substitute Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, or even opt to the dry side with a Sauvignon Blanc.