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August 30, 2007
Roasted Cauliflower with Spanish Smoked Paprika and Cumin
Mr. Spaceling and I were at a family gathering recently, and Mr. Spaceling remarked to a cousin of mine (who knows a thing or two about cooking herself) that although I've gotten him to eat any number of vegetables that he'd never previously have looked twice at, broccoli and cauliflower remain the final frontier.
My cousin very sensibly suggested that I try roasting the stuff.
I decided to stack the deck even further by adding some Spanish smoked paprika. The result? Cauliflower cheerfully consumed by Mr. Spaceling. (I decided to try cauliflower first because it is not green and therefore is less scary.)
I didn't measure anything in this recipe, so take the quantities given as highly approximate.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized chunks of approximately equal size.
- ~1 tsp. Spanish smoked paprika (sweet, not hot, though if you wanted to throw in a bit of a hot chile powder, I bet that would be nice.)
- ~1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- olive oil, salt, and pepper
Steps
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Toss the cauliflower in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat. Add the spices and salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat.
- Roast in a baking pan in the oven until tender and lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes or so. (My cauliflower took about 25 to 30 minutes).
Posted by spaceling at 11:01 AM
Lamb Burgers
A few weeks back, I was listening to cookbook author Claudia Roden talk about kibbeh on one of the food podcasts I listen to. (I think it was The Splendid Table, but it may have been another one.) Kibbeh is a dish that is prepared all over the Middle East in an infinite number of regional variations. It's one constant ingredient is ground or minced lamb. Sometimes the lamb is mixed with bulgur and eaten raw, sometimes it is made into meatballs and cooked, and sometimes it is made into patties and grilled.
Roden described one of her favorite recipes for kibbeh, in which ground lamb is mixed with grated onion and grilled. I thought the grated onion sounded like a great touch for adding flavor and moistness. I tried out the idea in some lamb burgers I made last night, and they were great. (I'm also going to try this the next time I make turkey burgers, which are very difficult to keep moist.)
Recipe for lamb burgers follows:
Ingredients
- About 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1/2 medium onion, grated (You could use a food processor, but since it's a fairly small quantity, I just did it by hand with a box grater.)
- small handful Italian parsley, minced
- A few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- Gently mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until combined.
- Shape into patties (I made 3 fairly thick patties), and cook in a skillet on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side, or to desired doneness.
I served these with roasted cauliflower (recipe to follow), homemade tzatziki, and store-bought baba ganoush.
Posted by spaceling at 10:47 AM