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.
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
- Heat oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- 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.
- In a small saucepan, melt your butter. Stir in your spices, salt, and Frank’s.
- Drain your almonds in a colander, return to the medium bowl and coat in the Frank’s mixture. Stir well to evenly coat.
- Spread your almonds in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Raise the oven temperature to 375°F and roast for an addition 8 minutes, or until browned lightly.
- 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
- Heat oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- 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.
- In another bowl, whisk together your spices.
- Drain your almonds in a colander, add your almonds to the spice bowl and stir well to evenly coat.
- Spread your almonds in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Raise the oven temperature to 375°F and roast for an addition 8 minutes, or until browned lightly.
- 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
- 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!
Saskatoon and Fruit Pies… an experiment of sorts. A wonderful experiment.
Living in berry country is great. Our friends, the Taylors have Saskatoon bushes out at their house on the lake and a couple weeks ago Natalie, their daughter, called to let us know that she had picked a batch of berries for us. Huzzah! Pies were to be made! We made these pies for Dad’s party, as they were another favourite of his. They were supposed to be straight Saskatoon berry pies but we realized that we didn’t have enough Saskatoons. So they were going to be Saskatoon and blueberry pies… but when Kellie and I got to baking we realized we didn’t even have enough of those two combined… so we frantically looked around the kitchen and assessed the fruit situation. We had oranges, bananas, five measly plums, and two apples. Huzzah! We quickly dismissed the bananas and oranges (whew) and started cutting up the rest of the fruit. We ended up with enough Saskatoon and blueberry filling to fill the first pie, I scooped out four scoop of that filling to round out the Saskatoon Blueberry Plum and Apple Pie. Both were huge successes and Mom really couldn’t tell the difference in them, the Saskatoons really took over the flavour profile perfectly. Enjoy!
Saskatoon Pie with variations
INGREDIENTS
Klondike Pastry (makes enough for the crust and tops of two pies)
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 lb (2 cups) shortening
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 3/4 cup cold water
Saskatoon and Blueberry Pie (makes one 9-inch pie)
- 7 cups fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries
- 1 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Saskatoon, Blueberry, Apple, and Plum Pie (yes, it is many things) (makes one 9-inch pie)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 apples, sliced and chopped
- 4-5 small plums, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
- Heat oven to 425°F.
- Prepare your Klondike Pastry:
• In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking powder, and brown sugar. Cut in your shortening until you have pea-sized bits throughout.
• In a small bowl, whisk together your egg, vinegar, and cold water.
• Pour your egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix only until a dough forms, don’t over mix. Split dough in half, roll out each half to desired thickness, lay into your pie plate, press lightly to fill and cut around the edges. Re-roll left over dough to form the top. Cut a shape out of the top layer before laying it onto the fruit mixture. - Onto the fruit! In a large saucepan, simmer berries (and apple and plums, if doing that version) with the water for 15 minutes.
- Stir the lemon juice into the fruit mixture, allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar, stir into the berry mixture.
- Pour the filling into your pie crusts. Place the top layer over the pie, pinch to seal the edges. If desired, use a pastry brush to brush the top with some milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
Delicious berry filling (pre-realization that we needed WAY MORE FILLING)
The first pie, gloriously filled.
The second pie, the four-fruit filling pie.
This Saskatoon berry shape is old and well used.
Pre-baking.
Post-baking.