I was wandering the farmer’s market this weekend and I decided that one day this week I would make a vegetarian meal for Jan and Eilene. I had made some pesto to preserve some of the basil that was burgeoning in our garden. I decided that pesto-something would be the main dish.
Karl’s Pesto Cauliflower
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian MD
The farmer’s market last weekend had these huge Brussels sprouts. The small ones were an inch and a half and the largest were easily two inches. Normally I like to buy the smallest I can find, but these were like cabbages. I decided that I would cut them in half and cover them in onion and garlic so that the juices would flow down between the leaves as they roasted.
Karl’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts
with Onion and Garlic
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
Jan likes caprese salad, which is tomatoes, mozzarella, onion, olives and basil in a light vinaigrette. Usually I go to La Villa, a very good Italian deli in Willow Glen and pay through the nose for a very small portion. While La Villa makes a good salad I could make it cheaper and fresher. Today I noticed that we had a lot of tomatoes in our garden that were just ripe, and I thought, “Gee, why don’t I make my own?”
Karl’s Caprese Salad
I saw some pears in the market today. Although I usually do not make desserts, I thought about my mother, Claudia, and her baked apple crumbles. She would slice apples and spread a oatmeal mixture on top and then bake it to sweet, gooey/crunchy delight. I decided to adapt her recipe to pears.
Karl’s Baked Pear Crumble
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Treats
I am making Jamaican Chicken salad tonight. For a Chinese chicken salad I would have crunch noodles as the starch. That doesn’t sound very Caribbean, so I decided on broiled plantains instead.
Karl’s Broiled Plantains
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan, Vegetables
I am making barbequed Jamaican chicken this weekend and, with fewer restrictions to my cooking than normal, I can pack my dishes with fruit. Parboiling is a way to speed up the cooking process. Warm half-cooked potatoes absorb more of the marinade and roast in less time. Potatoes burnt on the outside and raw on the inside is not the dining experience that you are looking for.
Note: Unless that is how your mother made them. I had a friend in college and his mother cooked just that way. Of course, he also thought that a frozen submarine sandwich was haute cuisine.
Karl’s Jamaican Lime Potatoes with Green Mango
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
Simplified and adapted from FxCuisine
I needed a rice dish for my Persian feast, for the starch eaters not on Ketogenic diets. I wanted to do something more than plain rice, so I used my trick of looking up “Persian rice” on Google image to see if anything struck my fancy. I found a Persian Jeweled rice recipe that looked good, but produced way too much for my meal. I reduced the quantities and simplified some of the techniques to adapt it to my needs.
Karl’s Persian Jeweled Rice (Javaher Polow)
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
This is a side dish that I made to go with my Persian feast. I do not know if any Persian would come up with this dish. I am simply using Persian ingredients in a way that pleases me.
Karl’s Persian Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
From my research on the web I understand that the difference between Palak and Saag Paneer is that if you only use only spinach it is a Palak and if you use a mixture of greens it is a Saag. When people come to Silicon Valley, they bring their food with them. As Californians we often feel it necessary to mash these recipes up with other cuisines. Today, I am doing an Indian shepherd’s pie, a mash up of Indian and English cuisines. I am thinking of making my palak a bit more French by adding wine.
Karl’s Palak Paneer
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegetables
I am making Indian Shepherd’s Pie today but the top and bottom halves of this recipe can be standalone dishes. I am posting them separately for anyone who would like to make them as a dish in their own right.
Karl’s Mashed Gobi Aloo (Indian Mashed Cauliflower and Potatoes
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegetables
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 