Well, this is not as gorgeous as my 100th post, my soups never are particularly attractive, but gosh darn it is delicious. I love kale and I love sausage and I was just hurting to have them together. This soup is super easy and comes together quickly (about 20 mins), quickly enough to make it after a long day at work. Topped with a couple slices of mozzarella, this is comfort at its best. Again though, sorry for the terrible pictures, I was hungry so I ate and snapped a couple of quick pics.
Category Archives: Dinner
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.
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
- Remove leaves and the bottom of the stalk. Roughly chop the cauliflower into medium-sized chunks (evenly sized for even steaming).
- 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)
- Drain the cauliflower and leave in the strainer for 5 minutes to remove as much water as possible.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- Heat oven to 375°F. Grab a broiling pan, or if you don’t have that, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
Chorizo Tamale Pie
I love Maseca, the treated corn flour that is used to make corn tortillas, tamales, and all those delicious South American treats. I have had a bag of this flour in my pantry since I made pupusas (an El Salvadorian specialty… I will make them for NC soon) for Gen and am always looking for new things to make with it. I am not a huge fan of cornbread but the fine texture of Maseca made this twist on tortilla pie an extra treat.
In other exciting news, this is my 90th post, which means I am tantalizingly close to 100! I know, I know, I haven’t been around for a year, but I was pumping out posts like it was going out of style for the first few exhausting months of Not Crocker, so this means I am going to do some sort of giveaway for my 100th posts AND my one-year anniversary post in March! I am still sorting out a plan for both, but stay tuned so I can announce how to win whatever I am planning. In any case, get commenting, let me know if you’ve had Maseca before, or if you need some guidance on where to find it! It is awesome and totally worth a little search.
Chorizo Tamale Pie
Adapted from Scarletta Bakes.
INGREDIENTS
- 1- large (10-12″ ) flour tortilla
- six large pork chorizo sausages, casing removed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 jalapeños, diced (more or less to taste)
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic (3-5 cloves), minced
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 cups Maseca (masa harina)
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
DIRECTIONS
- Heat oven to 450°F.
- Grease a 9-inch pie plate and press the tortilla to the shape of the plate. Set aside.
- In a large skillet cook the chorizo, breaking it up with the back of a spoon to create an even texture.
- Meanwhile in a large bowl, use your hands to mash/mix together the Maseca, eggs, milk, cream, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and cheese until as smooth as possible. If it’s still dry, add a little water at a time until a dough forms.
- Once the chorizo is cooked set it aside.
- Add the onion and jalapeño to the skillet and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for just 1 minute more. Toss the onion mixture with the chorizo.
- Spread the chorizo mixture in the pie plate, over the tortilla.
- Cover the meat with the Maseca dough, smoothing as best as possible.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the Maseca top has browned and the meat mixture is bubbling.
- Serve immediately.
Maseca, so you know!
Chorizo mixture to the left, Maseca mixture to the top right, tortilla in a pie plate to the bottom right.
Pre-oven.