Fresh Tart

Perhaps it's cliche that I read MFK Fisher's The Gastronomical Me and wanted to immerse myself in the world of food, but that's OK. Who wouldn't want to do exactly that after reading that sexy, scrumptious book? My goodness that woman could write, my mouth waters (and my heart swoons) just thinking about it.

There's one passage in particular that has had me making simple cauliflower gratins for years. I purposely don't look back at the specifics, I just count on how incredible she made cauliflower roasted with cream and Gruyere sound, swiped through with crusty bread and enjoyed with cold wine.

Lord.

So here's my version, so simple, so completely gluten-free, so much better than the pasta dish I served to Nathan and John tonight (in my opinion). I threw in some arugula leaves this evening because I had them, but you wouldn't need to include them.

Cauliflower Gratin
Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a main course

1 head cauliflower, cored, separated into 1-inch florets
1 Tbsp. soft butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. heavy cream
fresh whole nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Smear soft butter into a tart pan. Sprinkle minced garlic across the bottom of the pan.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the cauliflower and boil for 3-5 minutes, until cauliflower is tender-crisp. Drain thoroughly in a colander, then transfer cauliflower to tart pan, distributing evenly.

Pour cream over cauliflower. Grate a bit of fresh nutmeg over the cauliflower, then sprinkle lightly with salt and several grinds of black pepper. Top with cheese.

Bake gratin for 40-45 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

So I had fried cheese for both breakfast and dinner today.

I am ridiculously obsessed with the stuff right now, to such a degree that I kind of embarrassed myself a couple of weeks ago raving about the gluten-free fried cheese curds at Red Stag in NE Minneapolis to Ryan Petz of Fulton Beer. When we ended our conversation with plans for a group brunch, he wryly suggested that maybe we'd best head to Red Stag to assuage my fried cheese craving.

So that's exactly what we did! And the crispy, salty little treats were so good that I ordered a few more rounds while at Red Stag again this past week with a group of the girls.

Apparently my years at the University of Wisconsin taught me well that There is Never Enough Fried Cheese. And that Beer is Food, although that's a different post.

But since I can't very well go running off to Red Stag every time I have a craving for fried cheese, and because tasty cheese curds aren't completely easy to obtain, I created the version pictured with slices of fresh mozzarella coated with egg and almond flour. The trick for cheese contained within - not exploding out of - a golden crust is to freeze it for a bit before frying.

Serve the melty, golden loveliness with marinara sauce and lots of basil for an almost-summer treat.

Fried Cheese with Almond Meal Crust (Gluten-Free)
Makes 4-6 slices

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into 4-6 slices, a bit less than 1/2-inch thick
2 c. almond meal
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten in a flat bowl
olive oil for frying
warm marinara sauce & fresh basil for serving

Line a large plate with parchment paper.

Combine almond meal and salt on a large plate. Dip one slice of cheese in the beaten egg, then dredge the cheese slice in the almond meal mixture. Lay the cheese slice on the parchment paper. Do the same with the remaining cheese slices.

Put the uncovered plate of cheese in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Add 1/4-inch deep olive oil to a medium skillet and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cold cheese slices a couple at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer slices to a paper towel-lined plate and fry the rest of the cheese. Serve cheese hot with warm marinara sauce & fresh basil.

A potato galette is simply thin slices of potatoes, fat, and seasoning layered into a shallow pan and roasted until crusty and browned. It's traditional to serve alongside a roast of some sort, and definitely do that, because you can imagine crusty, buttery potatoes do a fine job of soaking up meaty juices of almost any type.

But a potato galette also makes a killer meal all on its own, particularly alongside (or underneath!) a tart arugula salad. In fact, invite people over if you make one, otherwise...you will eat the whole thing by yourself. As healthful as a tart arugula salad is, it will not offset the regret of eating an entire galette on your own; I know this from experience.

I make galettes two ways and I'll leave it to you to decide which you prefer: Just potatoes and butter, or potatoes and butter with cream. Both yield a crispy top and bottom, but the cream version is creamier vs. crispy. The boys in my house prefer the all-butter version, I prefer the cream. It was not a bad weekend enjoying both!

Buttery potatoes make me badly want a glass of wine, so I checked in with my friend Jason Kallsen, social media marketing for The Wine Company and author of The Grilling Man blog, for the perfect wine pairing. He suggests a richer wine but with acid, perhaps a fine-tuned California Chardonnay such as LIOCO Russian River Valley or Chateau Montelena.

I suggest you take his advice and enjoy together al fresco. This is Minnesota's most perfect outside dining weather, right now. Enjoy!

Recipe for Potato Galette at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

These butterflied shrimp are more of a technique than a recipe, a simple way to grill truly shrimpy shrimp.

Shrimp shells are where the flavor is at - even if you're preparing shelled shrimp for a salad or pasta, keep the shells! Either freeze them in an airtight plastic bag or make quick batches of stock as you go and freeze the stock. Use the stock to make risotto, soup, a simple pan sauce...wherever you add it, it's an incredible punch of flavor for very little effort.

Or especially during grilling season, just cook the shrimp in their shells. To not have to fuss with skewers, or with peeling hot shrimp (which is a bit of a pain), remove the legs from large shrimp (U15), then with a small, sharp knife, split them lengthwise down the middle without cutting all the way through the shells. Remove the vein that runs down the middle (running them under cold water makes the process go quickly) and press gently on the shrimp to flatten them. I set them on a baking sheet as I go, dry them all with paper towels when I'm done, then drizzle them with olive oil on both sides. I then sprinkle them very lightly with salt and grill over medium high heat until the shells are pink and the flesh is completely opaque, usually about 3 minutes per side.

Serving suggestions at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

It's a little bit ridiculous that I haven't posted about sopes before - I make and devour them several times a week. In fact, I'm a maniacal cornmeal cake fan in general. Chef Thomas Boemer had an insane version on Corner Table's menu a couple of weeks ago, with a bit of lard kneaded in, fried in butter, and topped with pork confit. Oh my word it was so good that I ordered another one to go to have for breakfast the next day.

You can do some pretty serious sope damage at Midtown Global Market as well. Taqueria Los Ocampo's version is a fabulously hot mess, loaded with tender chicken, melted cheese, lettuce, radishes, and sour cream. Add one of their fantastic salsas, alongside a large stack of napkins, and dig it like a day off.

The version I eat most often is the one I make at home. Nothing more than masa harina, a pinch of salt, and water kneaded together before being shaped and fried, they're the perfect delivery vehicle for pretty much whatever you have on hand: Guacamole, eggs any style, salad, cheese, beans, chorizo, tomatoes, pickled things, fried potatoes, on and deliciously on...

Recipe for Sopes at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I made the original saltcod version of these fritters via Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures and watched my friends and family devour them. I love fritters! I love anything fried! So I created two versions - both glutenful and gluten-free - and was delighted when taste testers couldn't tell the difference between the two.

If fritters - sweet or savory - aren't in your rotation, they should be. They come together dangerously quickly, as in you'll find yourself from craving to stuffing your face with crispy fried goodness in about 15 minutes. I have visions of frying up a batch for my girlfriends post-cocktails. In fact, that should happen tomorrow. Hmm...

I worked out a ham variation for those of you who will soon have slabs of it leftover post-Easter dinner. Definitely make ham soup, but save a spot for these as well. Fritters make a lovely nibble with bubbles or a light dinner alongide salad or a perfect accompaniment to...soup! It might be a bit over-the-top to serve ham fritters with ham soup but maybe not. They would for sure be delicious alongside a tomato version.

Recipe for Ham Fritters at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I saw this recipe this week for Sri Lankan rice flour-coconut milk pancakes. With yeast! I couldn't wait to make them.

They are ridiculously delicious, no surprise. Is anything made with coconut milk not amazing? The stuff blows my mind and palate, over and over and over again. Love.

Make sure to try the onion sambol as well. It's a breeze to whip together and packs a seriously killer flavor punch. I fried my egg separately which worked nicely.

If you're in a rush, don't forget about a different twist on rice flour-coconut milk pancakes, Vietnamese banh xeo. I made them tonight for a quick roll in the pork, as it were, given the six pounds of pork shoulder I braised in coconut milk yesterday. Oh my gosh...good.

Recipe for Sri Lankan Hoppers at Saveur Magazine.

I am obsessed with food writer MFK Fisher (1908-1992).

No one writes about food more sensually, with as much humor, and common sense, all together, and I can't get enough. I took her book With Bold Knife and Fork, published in 1969, with me on vacation last week and was highlighting so many passages on the plane that my husband suggested I perhaps highlight the parts I wasn't interested in.

One whole page I highlighted includes the recipe below and the following introduction to it: "For fun, here is another way to serve a more impressive buffet, either stand up or with small tables where people can sit with their plates and/or mugs. A good white wine is fine with it, and a fruit compote afterward - cookies with that, and coffee, and of course crusty bread or crisp buttered toast with the soup.

This is a fairly easy and entertaining meal to assemble. It tastes fresh and tempting, and seems to please people. It can be developed, up or down, but for myself I like it to remain simple, with things hot and well seasoned, or chilled, according to their natures."

I made a double-batch of chicken stock on Sunday, then served the soup on Monday night to my dear and marvelously food-loving friends Ana Scofield, Rudy Maxa, Debbie Williams, and Stuart Williams. A couple of years ago I spent three days making cassoulet for them and I think they enjoyed this meal just as much if not more than the cassoulet (which was good). It might have been the ridiculous number of bottles of wine we opened, but I don't think so.

Don't skip the "flavored lightly with curry if wished." I actually added a particularly nutmeg-y garam masala to Cedar Summit Cream and it basically made the whole dish (nutmeg, cream, and chicken are delicious together). And no surprise here, but the chicken broth needs to be the real deal, rich and salty, without too much of its fat skimmed away. Make a double batch, like I did, then use some of it to cook the rice. Freeze any extra for a future quick dinner.

MFK Fisher's recipe for A Chicken Soup Supper at Twin Cities Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I made this colorful dish for Christmas dinner and am just getting around to sharing it with you now. I'd like to say that I sat down and thought about everyone's favorite vegetables and what would be pretty with the rest of the meal but honestly...I got rushed, and behind, and realized awfully late that I'd said I would bring a vegetable dish out to my Aunt Mary's farm. I was grateful to find a kabocha squash, a head of red cabbage, and a spot of Parmesan cheese in the cooler.

Merry Christmas to me! Seriously.

When I bring a dish to someone else's home, my goal is for it to be at least partially prepared ahead of time to minimize freaking the hostess out with the need for a cutting board, pans, and precious space on a crowded cooktop. I also knew that our meal was going to be awfully rich - standing rib roast, creamy potatoes, all the goodness of a holiday meal. This gratin exists in the realm of a pan of sauteed vegetables, with just a bit of cheese to tie it all together.

If you haven't roasted a kabocha squash before, you're in for such a treat! The rind is quite soft - edible even, although I confess I have yet to eat it myself - and the flesh is flavorful, smooth, and just-sweet. I predict it will be your favorite new squash. The play of smooth, sweet squash with still-crunchy cabbage is lovely with a roast. Or atop polenta for a meatless dinner.

Recipe for Red Cabbage & Squash Gratin at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Tender chicken and shrimp wrapped around sugar cane, grilled, then topped with spicy peanut sauce. Wrap in lettuce leaves and devour, preferably less maniacally than I did, I could not get enough of these.

Recipe for Golden Coin Chicken-n-Shrimp Skewers with Peanut Sauce at Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures/Food & Wine Magazine.