Roasted Whole Cauliflower with Romesco

​By now, most cooks I know are over the whole cauliflower craze and that includes the one where you roast the cauliflower whole. I am not over it. I fucking love cauliflower in any shape or form, but by far the best shape and form is beautiful, perfectly bronzed, tender, majestic and roasted whole. This delicious vegetable may be gilded further by placing it in a generous pool of Romesco, another trendy sauce that I have not tired of yet. Both are super easy, particularly if you have a good blender or food processor to make the Romesco. I am also going to take this opportunity to pitch one of my favorite knives to you. It is perfect for getting the core out of the cauliflower, plus a million other tasks in the kitchen. It is cheap and easy to get (here on Amazon), and I know you will fall in love with it too: the bird’s beak paring knife!

There are a million recipes for both of these dishes and I am still going to share mine with you. What I will tell you is that the last time I made this combo, I used a jar of piquillo peppers that I had hanging around and it elevated the Romesco to new heights. I loved this brand and it was perfect-not too spicy, deep pepper flavor and the most beauteous dark red color. I highly recommend subbing them in for regular roasted red peppers. If you get your cauliflower in the oven and make the sauce while it is cooking, this is a pretty hands-free situation. It is also gluten free, vegan and absolutely impressive to serve your friends and family. Cauliflower is perfection at this very moment, so run to the farmer’s market, get some and make this today!

Roasted Whole Cauliflower with Romesco

Serves a few hungry people as a side dish or two as a main course

Ingredients

1 large, perfect, beautiful cauliflower

Some decent cooking EVOO

Salt and pepper

2 cloves of garlic

3/4 cup of almonds, toasted

A large handful of parsley

1 14 ounce jar of Piquillo peppers, drained (I like this one)

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 tablespoons of GOOD sherry vinegar (I like this one)

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

1/2 cup good EVOO

*cayenne-if you like spicy, add a 1/2 teaspoon, otherwise not necessary

Salt and pepper

Another handful of flat parsley leaves, casually torn

Method

Heat your oven to 400°. Carefully cut the core of your cauliflower out from the bottom (using your fabulous new bird’s beak knife) trying not to separate any florets from the stalk. Don’t overly worry if you do-you will get the hang of it in time. Place your cauliflower on a baking tray and drizzle olive oil over it-maybe 1/4-1/2 of a cup, depending on the size. Rub it all over so it is thoroughly greased up. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or so and then remove the foil, turn the heat down to 375 and continue to bake for about another hour or hour and a half. You are looking for burnished brown and tender throughout (use a cake tester, skewer, or toothpick to check).

While your beauty is in the oven, get out your blender, processor, or super sharp knife and bowl if you have neither (I am actually more of a processor fan for this task). Toss the first three ingredients into the machine and blitz till pasty. Add the peppers, tomato paste, vinegar, and paprika and blitz again till puréed. Slowly pour in the EVOO with the machine running and taste. Add salt, pepper, and (maybe) cayenne to your liking. If doing by hand, basically chop the hell out of everything and mix in the EVOO at the end. Or use a mortar and pestle and mash everything similarly. It will all taste delicious any way you do it.

When your cauliflower is finished, cut it into big meaty slices, and place it on a platter, which you have previously smeared great quantities of your gorgeous Romesco. Toss a great handful of the torn parsley leaves on top and proudly serve to your loved ones.

Dressing Salad

​I dress leafy greens, vegetables, and a variety of beans, meats and fishes every single day. There is no greater delight for me than a trip to the farm stand and the resulting beauty of a composed (or totally messy) salad with its accompanying acidic/oily/salty/spicy counterpart. I possess and arsinal of incredible oils, vinegars, spices...even a cutting garden with fresh herbs. All of these elements are essential for making a great dressing or sauce and so make sure you have at least one good bottle of olive oil and two or three great vinegars in your pantry. Kosher salt and a pepper mill with fresh peppercorns are also critical for success. If you have the space to keep garlic, onions, and a lemon or two on the counter, please do this too. The secret weapon that I find most cooks leave out of their homemade dressings is a sweet element, which serves to balance the acid. My go-to is raw unfiltered honey, but I’ve been known to use white/brown/coconut/date sugar, agave...You know, whatever is handy. You may also be like me in that you tend to collect fancy mustards (you know who you are!). If you don’t, buy one small jar of good Dijon and keep it just for this purpose.

I think everyone should have a few great salad dressings in their repertoire, ones that you don’t need to measure or look at a recipe to make. I am going to give you a gift and tell you the one my grandmother taught me. But first I will digress about kitchen tools (one of my favorite topics) and the state of my right hand (not good).

That beautiful creamy dressing was made with a machine! Yesss!

As a seasonal private chef, my days are spent reading, planning, shopping, running around, prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. Much of each day is spent on my feet, using my hand in repetitive motion. This year I was diagnosed with Dupuytren’s Disease, a progressive condition affecting the hand (read all about it here). In response (after freaking the f$#k out), I have been trying some dietary and “alternative” treatments (acupuncture and massage have been very effective), and have also adapted some of my kitchen practices to lessen the load on my hand. Instead of using my beloved knife for every single task, I now pick the jobs where beautiful knifework is imperative and use a machine for the rest.

Working in the kitchen of a beautiful home often requires form over function, one of the challenges of my job. This might require keeping unsightly appliances off of the counters. Because I make so many dressings and sauces, I invested in a small, lightweight food processor (this one, from Amazon). It is stored under my counter, and I have trained myself to use it on a daily basis. It gives my hand a break and emulsifies beautifully. While I love a bowl and a whisk, I have grown very fond of this little powerhouse and encourage those who are infirm or short on time (or who just love cute little appliances), to give one a whirl (sorry, couldn’t resist). Okay, onward to the recipe!

Best Simple Salad Dressing to Memorize Forever

Makes around a cup or so, and will keep for days in your fridge in a covered jar

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of shallot, finely minced

1 very small clove of garlic, finely minced

1/3 cup of vinegar (red wine, white wine, or champagne)

2 teaspoon of mustard

1 teaspoon of honey (or sugar, or agave...)

1/2 cup of good EVOO (or more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

A few good grindings of pepper

A handful of fresh herbs (I typically go for chives, parsley, tarragon, and/or basil)

Method(s)

In a small-medium sized bowl, soak the shallot and garlic in vinegar for about 10-15 minutes (prep your greens while this happens). Whisk in the rest of the ingredients until the mixture is a little thick and emulsified. Or toss the shallot and garlic into your machine to mince, add the vinegar and wait. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blitz till emulsified. Or use a jar and shake, shake, shake.

When you dress a salad, start out conservatively. Overdressing is a sad state of affairs and easily prevented. Also, don’t forget to dress the protein, if you’ve included one. Whenever there are greens and veggies to toss, I recommend you use your freshly washed hands for the job. Do this out of the eyesight of your family, guests, or clients. It is the absolute best method, but for some reason also tends to alarm people. Anyhow, HANDS. So important, so take good care of yours!

Nostalgia Alert! Flounder stuffed with Crabmeat

When I was a kid, we went out once or twice a summer with my grandparents. Usually to Captain Tobey’s Chowder House or Cy’s Green Coffee Pot, two Nantucket fixtures. Both had early bird specials and featured local dishes (think: Clam Chowder, Shrimp Scampi, Littlenecks on the Half Shell, Brown Bread (baked in a coffee can), and Indian Pudding-a story in itself for another day). We always ordered one precious Shirley Temple, which was HUGE, as we were basically never allowed processed food or shitty, sugary, chemically drinks, like soda. My favorite food to order was any seafood with stuffing. Shrimp and flounder were the two most popular-super savory and usually a little greasy and over-cooked, but somehow they hit the sweet spot for me. Salty, starchy, and filling, I would seriously about this treat all summer. 

Those nights out were pretty rare and unusual, but I think what was more unusual is the way we ate at home with my grandparents during the summer. Looking back now, I know my grandmother’s take on food was out of the ordinary. The way she revered vegetables, growing them organically and making them the center attraction on a plate in the early 1970’s; her love of a great single piece of cheese; the maniacal cutting of recipes from the NYT food section each week; the excitement she shared when her first tomatoes ripened; the smells and sounds of coffee being ground and french-pressed every morning; I could keep writing for days...

I guess my point is that those couple of nights out had a glamour and appeal because they were foreign and rare. But the grounded, real and important eating in my life, the eating that has stuck with and inspired me the most, all happened right at home at her kitchen table. 

We never did eat any “fancy” stuffed seafood at home, but last summer while eating a beautiful meal at Nantucket's beloved Ventuno Restaurant, the chef sent me and my husband a dish from the kitchen. A gorgeous piece of fresh flounder, stuffed with crabmeat and topped with roasted red pepper crema and fresh herbs. A total throwback and also a revelation! I immediately went to work figuring out the technique and cooking it for my client. It has become part of my repertoire now, easy and quick to prep and finished in a hot oven in 10-20 minutes. And it still totally hits that perfect savory spot, all these years later. 

Crabmeat Stuffed Flounder with Red Pepper Crema
(Thank you for the inspiration, Ventuno!)

Makes 4 Stuffed Filets (two hungry people for dinner or four for lunch with salad and some good bread)

Ingredients

Stuffing

1/4 cup of very finely diced onion, scallion, or leek

1/4 cup of very finely diced bell pepper (any color)

1/4 cup of very finely diced celery

1 tablespoon of butter

1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme

1/4 cup of dry white wine

2 tablespoons of minced chives

1 tablespoon of minced parsley

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

8 ounces of the best crabmeat you can afford (I like this brand)

1/3 cup of GF or regular panko breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon of Mayonnaise

a generous pinch of salt and grinding of black pepper

4 filets of flounder, skin off (around 1/2 to 3/4 lb)

1 tablespoon of EVOO

Crema

1 large roasted red pepper (DIY or high quality from a jar)

1 small garlic clove, smashed with a little kosher salt

1/2 cup of EVOO

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

salt and pepper

Method
Stuff the fish!

Oven to 400 degrees. Line a small baking tray with foil and grease it with some kind of oil or cooking spray.

Sauté the first three ingredients in butter over a medium low heat in a frying pan until they are soft-around 3-4 minutes. Add the thyme, stir, crank the heat to high and pour in the wine. The moment the liquid is evaporated, remove from the heat and stir in the chives, parsley and Worcestershire. In a large bowl, gently mix the crabmeat with the sautéed ingredients and panko. Beat the egg, mustard, mayo, salt and pepper and fold into the crabmeat mixture, trying not to break up the crabmeat too much. Gentle hands! (I actually use my hands to do this, as you may find a stray bit of cartilage and it really keeps from over-mixing). 

Lay the filet flat with the skinned side up. Divide the filling and place a quarter of it on the bottom edge of each fish and carefully roll it up, not too tightly. Place on your prepared tray and drizzle with a bit of EVOO. Bake in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, until the stuffing feels firm and a little springy when you poke it. The fish will cook faster than the stuffing, but it will stay moist (and you will cover it with delicious sauce!). 

Make the crema!

Sorry, but you need some sort of blender or food processor to do this. Puree the pepper with the garlic and slowly drizzle the oil in until the whole mess is emulsified. Add the vinegar and then taste for salt and pepper. Spoon over the fish to serve. Keep it super classy and chiffonade fresh basil to sprinkle on top. 

Beautiful and Delicious Gazpacho

Okay, I gave you a green Gazpacho a few weeks ago. Now, I hand you the red. This is the thing though, I make this exclusively with a Vitamix and really believe the results have something to do with the power of that machine. I have not tried this in a regular blender, but I think you should and just cut everything up a little smaller and maybe give it a little more time to blend for the best consistency. It is important to have a couple of key ingredients for this mostly flexible recipe.Good Sherry Vinegar and smoked Paprika are what I believe set it apart from mediocre to fabulous. Those two pantry items will not sit idle in your kitchen-you will get plenty of other use for them (to begin with, substituting them for other vinegars and regular paprika in your own recipes). Don’t go cheap here, please!

I like Gazpacho in all shapes and forms. The rustic stuff with big chunks of vegetables and lots of garlic is great. So is a more refined version I’ve had that was satiny smooth with no veggie pieces at all and just some jagged and delicious croutons for crunch. I am falling right into the middle with this super quick and easy recipe. First, you are going to blend the hell out of a few ingredients to get a creamy base, and then you are going to spend a few quality minutes with your very sharp knife and cutting board, finely dicing some veggies for texture. You can scatter these on top (like I did for the fancy photo), or mix them in and pour into a to-go cup for a quick and refreshing lunch. Croutons are up to you. I don’t tend to go for them here, but you can make something crispy and garlicky if you desire. I love drizzling a homemade herb oil on top (see below).

The best part of this whole cooking experience is NOT TURNING ON THE STOVE! Yay! Oh yeah, and it’s also beautiful and delicious!

Plain and Simple Delicious Gazpacho

Ingredients

1 small red onion, cut into 2 halves

1/4 cup of good sherry vinegar

2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed with a few pinches of salt, under the blade of your knife

1 large slice of white bread (gluten free or with gluten-no matter)

Around 5-6large farm tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped (don’t worry about blemishes)

1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded and cut into 2 halves

1 medium pepper (green or any other color will do if you can’t stand green), seeded and cored and cut into 2 halves

1 teaspoon of Kosher salt (or whatever salt you love)

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

1/2 -3/4cup of EVOO

Optional, Basil or Parsley or Chives-Or no herbs at all! (I almost never use them), Croutons, any homemade herb oil for serving (blend a few handfuls of a fresh herb with 1/2 cup of EVOO and strain)

Method

Take one of the halves of the red onion and dice finely as you are able. Put in a small bowl and cover with the vinegar and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Get out the jug of your blender or Vitamix and toss in the garlic, bread, tomatoes, one of the halves of the of the cucumber and pepper (only roughly chop if using a regular blender), salt and paprika. When the onion has soaked, strain the vinegar into the blender, reserving the diced onion. Place the lid on and let her rip! I go to about medium speed on the Vitamix and that’s plenty. After a minute or two, pour in the olive oil through the top hole in the lid. Blend another 30 seconds and refrigerate immediately.

Take the other two veggie halves (cucumber and pepper) and dice as finely as the reserved red onion. Throw them in the same bowl and refrigerate too. You can eat this as soon as you like, really, but it’s best chilled for at least an hour and as long as overnight. Serve with a good handful of the diced veggies and a drizzle of your herb oil (if you have it). Serve it in cups, bowls, jelly jars, to-go mugs…

A Simple Summer Squash Soup

Well I guess if you complain enough, the hot weather eventually will become cold and grey, with a bitey north wind and spit-in-your-face precipitation. Lovely Nantucket!

On a positive note, the cool day gave me a chance to cook food and actually serve it hot. Yay! Best rainy day menu? Soup and a sandwich (okay, there was also a salad, because August-you know?). I looked around at Moor’s End Farm, took stock, and decided the soup would be summer squash and carrot, embellished with arugula pesto. The accompanying sandwich had to be Ruth Reichl’s infamous grilled cheese (don’t ask questions, just click on that link and make it as fast as you are able).

This technique is pretty standard. I could have used any allium or squash varieties for the soup. And the pesto variations are endless! (I’ll tell you all about pesto another day). The idea here again, is to not get wound up about having the exact variety of something. Try to roll with a growth type mindset as opposed to the fixed variety (that’s an education thing, kids).

In the meantime, try this soup on for size and let me know how it works for you.

Any Squash, Flexible-Mindset Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 T ghee (or butter, or EVOO, or canola...)

1 leek (white to palest green part only), minced super finely (look on YouTube if you haven’t minced a leek before). Or use any other kind of onion you have on hand!

2 cloves of garlic, smashed, pressed, minced or grated

2 teaspoons of dried thyme (or 2 tablespoons fresh if you like)

3 medium carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped (peel if you feel a desperate need)

1/2 a russet potato, peeled and chopped

3 cups of stock-I used chicken, but any kind will do. Or water!

1 bay leaf

3 small summer squash (or zucchini or patty pan...), roughly chopped (about 2+ cups)

1 cup of some sort of milk-dairy, soy, nut, coconut (I actually used cream, because I had some that needed to be finished)

Salt and pepper to taste

A few pinches of nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

Arugula Pesto (to finish)

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon of nuts (I used toasted slivered almonds)

1/2-1 cup of arugula

1/2 cup EVOO

Salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)

Method

Heat the fat at medium-low in a large skillet that has a lid (if no lid, a large sheet pan will suffice). Sauté the leeks for a few minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the garlic next, stirring still for just a minute, and then the thyme for another few seconds. Throw in the  carrots, potato, bay leaf and stock, and crank the heat till it boils. Cover, turn down to lowish heat so the moisture simmers enthusiastically, and cook until the root vegetables are tender. Add the squash, cover again and leave till cooked through. Probably another 10-15 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, quickly whip up the pesto, either by using your fabulous knife skills and muscle, a mortar and pestle, or a food processor. The idea is to first chop/mash/pulverize the garlic and nuts together into a paste. Then stir/mash/add in the very finely minced arugula and salt. Pour in the oil last, stir to mix, and salt to taste. Set aside.

After the squash is tender but not mushy, remove the bay leaf, add the milk and carefully purée the mixture, either using an immersion blender, Vitamix, or regular blender. Taste for salt and give a grind of pepper. If it’s still hot, serve right away. If not, transfer it to a saucepan and keep warm over a very low heat. Serve with the arugula pesto, dolloped on top prettily.