News and stuff like that

Well, I’ve been MIA over the last few posting days, and I really apologize about that. I was all gung-ho about posting last week and then hit a creative-cooking block on Friday. I am going to blame it on my exciting news! I’ve been waiting to post about it until I had a chance to chat with my first internship host, Dave at The Tyee. They were wonderful all summer and were particularly wonderful when I had to bail at the end of August to be with my family. The project I was working on is on its way to being wrapped up, so I am going to pop around from time-to-time to help out, move things along, etc. Anyway, chatted with Dave today and so now I can announce that I’ve taken on a second internship with…. (drum roll sound effects here) Appetite by Random House!

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Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Alternative pizza crust time! Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a yeasted dough, probably more than most things in life. But trying new things isn’t a bad thing and this was certainly worth the adventure! I was looking into alternative crusts and came across the “meatza” which is a ground beef crust… delicious, I’m sure, but also terrifying. Gen suggested a cauliflower crust and after some searching around online I read enough to decide that this was worth doing. The crust honestly doesn’t taste like cauliflower. It tastes almost like a fluffy, soft biscuit. The way I went about making this created a fairly stable crust (though we did have to eat it with a fork), and it crisped up nicely on the edges. It certainly wont replace a yeasted crust in my heart, but it was a good experiment that Gen LOVED, so we will certainly be eating it again.

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Spicy Almonds and Buffalo-style Almonds- awww yes, snacking goodness

These are a great snack when you want something a little spicy, totally convenient, and easy to make! They both whip up in about 20 minutes, and you could cook the two batches together to save time. I tossed the two flavours in a bowl together for a bit more excitement! We only had almonds on hand, but this would work great for mixed nuts, so go wild. The red almonds are the buffalo ones and the other are the general spice mix. I am going to try a few more combos for a future post.

Buffalo-style Almonds

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups raw almonds
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp Frank’s Hot Sauce
  • 1 to 2 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1/3 tsp onion powder
  • 1/3 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 small pinch of cinnamon (for a little sweetness to add to the spicy)
  • 1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Whisk your egg white in a medium bowl until foamy. Add the almonds and stir to coat, allow to sit while you prepare your spice mixture.
  3. In a small saucepan, melt your butter. Stir in your spices, salt, and Frank’s.
  4. Drain your almonds in a colander, return to the medium bowl and coat in the Frank’s mixture. Stir well to evenly coat.
  5. Spread your almonds in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Raise the oven temperature to 375°F and roast for an addition 8 minutes, or until browned lightly.
  7. Allow the nuts to cool before storing.

Buffalo wings… wait no, almonds! Tasty.

Spicy Almonds

Recipe adapted slightly from here.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 cups raw almonds
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Whisk your egg white in a medium bowl until foamy. Add the almonds and stir to coat, allow to sit while you prepare your spice mixture.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together your spices.
  4. Drain your almonds in a colander, add your almonds to the spice bowl and stir well to evenly coat.
  5. Spread your almonds in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Raise the oven temperature to 375°F and roast for an addition 8 minutes, or until browned lightly.
  7. Allow the nuts to cool before storing.

In case you aren’t sure about whisked egg whites…

Eating time!

Fluffy & creamy Cauliflower Mash! May replace potatoes in your stomach’s heart!

Well, potatoes are awesome and mashed potatoes are one of my faves, but this dish could possibly ruin mashed potatoes for me forever. These are sooooooo good. This cauliflower mash is not runny, which can be an issue with these types of mashes. There is no overly skunky cauliflower flavour, just creamy, dreamy goodness. You can mix up the cheese and be sure to add spices you love (nix the garlic, add curry?). I was eating this with a spoon right from the pot, ate it from the plate with my pork, ate it while taking the pictures… notice the finger scoop mark on the right… Even cold, these are amazing.

Cauliflower Mash

Adapted from I Breathe… I’m Hungry’s Cauliflower Puree. 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large head of cauliflower
  • 2 tbsp whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup ricotta
  • 1/2 cup jalapeño havarti (it’s what I had on had, use any other sharp cheese, though this was gooooooood), shredded
  • salt and pepper to taste

*shred a little extra cheese to top

DIRECTIONS

  1. Remove leaves and the bottom of the stalk. Roughly chop the cauliflower into medium-sized chunks (evenly sized for even steaming).
  2. Steam the cauliflower in a large pot until very tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes. (If you don’t have a steamer, buy one… but also, check out IBIH’s instructions for microwaving)
  3. Drain the cauliflower and leave in the strainer for 5 minutes to remove as much water as possible.
  4. Back in your large pot, now dry, combine the rest of the ingredients with the cauliflower, allowing the cheese to melt a bit. Use a handblender, regular blender, or a food processor, to thoroughly puree the mixture. The result should be fluffy, creamy goodness. If you find it a bit wet, pop the pot back on the stove and let it cook over medium-low heat for a 5-10 minutes.
  5. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese.

Florets, steaming away. It is a smallish large pot and they barely fit!

Ahhh flash! So creamy and dreamy.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Dry-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Yikes, this is delicious. The dry rub is powerful and I will be using it many times in the future, on chicken, beef, pork, etc. Like I said use the rub sparingly, you don’t want to overwhelm your meat. I bought a big pack of pork tenderloins at Costco and dry rubbed each of them before freezing them, just a spoon and a half each did the trick.

The prosciutto kept the pork from drying out (Heidi, I do a service to you every time I want to write moist, I work really hard to find other language!) and it added a saltiness that I didn’t want too much of in the rub, to prevent the rub from over-salting a meal that I would rather salt while cooking. I served this with fluffy and creamy mashed cauliflower that I will be posting tomorrow, yes it is good enough for its own post! I also sautéed some baby bok choy with butter and garlic for some greens. Get on this meal!

Prosciutto-Wrapped Dry-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tbsp crushed red chili peppers
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 1 pork loin (2 1/2 lbs)
  • 6-8 slices of prosciutto

DIRECTIONS

  1. Whisk together your spices and store in an air-tight container. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsps of the rub on your pork tenderloin and rub it in really well. At this point you can let the rub rest on the meat overnight or for an hour, you can also cook it up right away.
  2. Heat oven to 375°F. Grab a broiling pan, or if you don’t have that, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Lay your prosciutto slices out on the pan you are using, overlapping slightly to ensure a seal of sorts. You want a rectangle, the length of the tenderloin.
  4. Lay your pork onto the rectangle and pull the prosciutto strips up to wrap the tenderloin. Lay a final piece of prosciutto over the wrapped ends.
  5. Cook for 35-45 minutes, until the pork is cooked and the prosciutto has crisped up.

This is the least phallic of the photos I took.

Wrapped and ready to roast!