Get Back to your Roots

Think about root vegetables – the ones you actually dig up from the ground.  Earthy and chock full of vitamins and minerals, these are your potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, turnips and rutabagas.  We’ve been adding them to soups and stews forever precisely because they contain a vast array of flavors.  Roasting them develops the sugars they contain so that they become sweet and caramelized. 

I love roasted root vegetables because they are so easy to prepare, inexpensive and versatile, but especially because they are so good.  Who would turn down garlic roasted potatoes?    They make a great side dish to any meat and served cold with oil and vinegar atop salad greens make a great next day use of your leftovers. 

Roasted Root Vegetables

2 - 4                       large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick rounds

1                            large parsnip, peeled and sliced into thick rounds

2                            medium onions, quartered

1                            large red bell pepper, cored and diced into 2’’ squares

2                            sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2” cubes

1/4 cup                 fresh parsley, chopped

1 tblsp                  balsamic or other flavorful vinegar (I like pear infused white balsamic)

4                            garlic cloves, coarsely minced

1 tblsp                  kosher or other coarse salt

1 teasp                 freshly ground pepper

1 tblsp                  dried rosemary

1/3 cup                olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°.  Mix together salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic and olive oil in a small bowl or dish.  Place a sheet of foil, shiny side down on the bottom of a large, heavy roasting pan (for ease of cleanup).  Arrange the carrots, parsnips and onions* in the pan and pour entire oil mixture over it, gently stirring to coat all sides of the vegetables.  Roast in oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until vegetables start to brown.  Remove pan from oven and add the sweet potatoes, peppers and chopped parsley, gently stirring in and coating the entire mixture with oil.  Place back in oven and roast again for another 10 – 12 minutes.  Vegetables should be browned but not burnt.  Take out of oven and sprinkle vinegar over vegetables, turning gently.  Serve immediately.

*The carrots, parsnips and onions take longer to roast, so they go in first.  If you were to add any other potato, aside from sweet potato, they should be added at the beginning as well.  The softer vegetables, such as sweet potato and bell peppers would end up too mushy if they were to cook for the entire time. 

Roasted Root Vegetables

Alive, Alive, Oh!

Something about a morning on the beach that tells me I must have seafood……So, on my way home I stopped at my favorite local market and picked up fresh mussels.  If you haven’t tried them, mussels are a member of the clam family and my favorite way to serve them is with pasta.  They can be combined with other seafood, such as shrimp, clams or scallops.   Make sure to buy only the freshest mussels from a good fish market and remember that they are still alive (or should be!).  They do have to breath, so don’t close them up in a bag with no air.  When you get them home rinse them off and put them on a plate or pan and refrigerate until you’re ready to use them.  Live  mussels should be closed.

One of my favorite recipes for mussels is so simple and quick to make, yet it’s also inexpensive and the outcome is worthy of any fine Italian restaurant.  Serve with a long pasta and warm crusty bread for a complete comfort food experience.

Mussels and Chorizo with Tomato and Garlic

2               cloves of garlic, minced

¼ lb.          spanish chorizo, unwrapped and broken up (cubed into quarter inch cubes if the harder version of the sausage)

2 tblsp       olive oil

1                14 oz. cans stewed tomatoes

1 lb.           mussels

Start preparing pasta, boil water in large pot.  Meanwhile, prepare the mussels.  Cook garlic and chorizo in oil in a 4 – 6 qt. heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 1 – 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer, breaking up any large pieces.  Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.  Stir in mussels and cook covered, over medium-high heat, stirring once, until mussels open, 6 - 10 minutes.  (Discard any that have not opened after 10 minutes).  Do not overcook.  Serve immediately with long pasta, such as angel hair, and hard crusty bread for soaking up juices.

I always enjoy my days off, going to the seaside and then coming home to my kitchen and cooking up some nice comfort food.  As I relax and get into my element, I love listening to some wonderful jazz.  It just sets the mood and makes me smile to myself that life is good.  Today I was listening to a great classic, “New Bottle, Old Wine” (how great a title is that?) by the fabulous Gil Evans Orchestra.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Evans_Orchestra  Talk about mood music!  Let me know what your think!

Good Friends, Good Food

Recently my friend Lisa came to visit, and like me, she also enjoys going with the flow to create new recipes.  After a day at the beach, we stopped at the grocery and picked up the ingredients for our dinner that night - marinated shrimp and mushrooms on skewers and a fresh seasonal salad.   Collaboration can sometimes result in a synchronistic result - the creation being better than the sum of its parts!  That's what we thought when we came up with this fantastically delicious summer salad! 

Strawberry & Arugula Salad

fresh arugula (rocquette)
crumbled goat cheese
chopped, toasted walnuts
fresh seasonal strawberries, sliced
raspberry pomegranate dressing (prepared)

For each individual salad:
Arrange about 1 cup of arugula on each salad plate.  Sprinkle with about 2 tblsp of goat cheese.  Arrange 4 - 6 sliced strawberries on salad and top with chopped, toasted walnuts.  We used Ken's prepared Raspberry Pomegranate Dressing, it went very well with the salad.  Magnifique!

While we were preparing the meal, music in the background was working its inspirational magic.  Give a listen to the soundtrack of "No Reservations" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5RJTf0-Jk. with music by Michael Buble, Paolo Conte, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Tebaldi and more.  If you are interested in expanding you musical horizons and exploring the joys of appreciating some operatic music, I highly recommend it.  The movie itself, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart is one of my favorite cooking movies, as is the foreign film it was based on, "Mostly Martha" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZlIYJ9njxc.

Welcome to Karen's Improv Kitchen

What is an improv kitchen?  It's a place where culinary creativity entwines with inspired ingredients - or whatever you happen to have in your pantry at any given time.  Its a place where cooking is a fun and even sensual experience.  Its a place where recipes are guidelines, not mandates.  And of course, its a place filled with love and music!  When I'm in the kitchen cooking, there must be music if the experience is to be complete.  Music is as essential to living as food is, and it also can inspire one to be even more creative. 

As jazz music is improvisational, where musicians inspire one another to create music in the moment, so it can be in the kitchen.  Becoming one with the food, with the act of creating the dish and with the entire experience of preparing something delicious is the essence of an improv kitchen.