Apron Strings to Diamond Rings: potatoes

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Mashed Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Mashed Cauliflower is a great substitute for mashed potatoes. It has a similar flavor, if you can believe that, and texture! Fewer calories, by about half! The only difference is that the cauliflower has more liquid than a potato, but they're still fairly good. I've read a few recipes that steam the cauliflower then smash them with a bit of milk, but I wanted to give it a bit more flavor so I roasted the cauliflower with garlic and olive oil, then mashed them in a MagicBullet with some low fat butter milk and a dash of salt.

1/2 head of cauliflower, or about 2 cups
dash of EVOO (olive oil)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/8 cup buttermilk
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400˙. Mix the cauliflower with olive oil and garlic, put into a casserole dish and roast for about 30 minutes, turning them once or twice so they brown evenly. Then using a food processor or MagicBullet, mash the potatoes with a pinch of salt and about 1/8 c of low fat buttermilk or 1% milk. If you want them smoother, add more milk until it's at the consistency you'd like. Serve immediately! Happy Cooking, and Enjoy!

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Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Sunday Brunch

Easter Sunday was always a time when the family would get together, dress in our 'Sunday Best', attend church and come home for a delicious home-cooked brunch. Filled with potatoes, veggies, and of course an Easter ham, we gathered around the table for a hour of stories, laughs and sometimes a few tears. This year, being in Chicago, I was unable to be with family, so my surrogate family welcomed me with open arms to join them from Sunday Easter brunch.

Others' family traditions are always fun to learn about and experience, and this one, although different from my own, resembled much of how my family comes together to celebrate this holiday. It was the next best thing to being home. Here is a sampling of the food we had.

Fresh Fruit Salad,

I helped chop up the apples and cantaloupe, my friend added the grapes, blackberries and mango!

How I Started Cooking

I am no professional chef, nor have I even taken professional cooking or baking classes. I create my dishes from the heart, reading and researching a combination of recipes, putting that knowledge to use and either developing my own recipe or amending one I have read. My love for working in the kitchen began when I was very little, watching my mom bake and cook. In high school I received the opportunity to take two semesters of cooking classes with a wonderful teacher. She is the woman who taught me how to make chicken broth from scratch, properly measure flour and most importantly, read every recipe at least once through before beginning. This is not to say that my mother didn't have a substantial role in my quest to conquer the kitchen. My mother is the one who let me go wild in the kitchen, throwing random ingredients from the pantry into a bowl just to call it 'peanut butter cookies' because they contained peanut butter. That was when I learned that if it contains flour, it most likely has to be baked. Thanks Mom!