Spiced Saute

This is from my second community kitchen, which is actually a weekly after-school program at the Miller Community Center for kids attending the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center. It's so much fun!

Near-Broccoli Naked Casserole (V)

You'll be cooking with broccoflower (above) and broccoli rabe, but not broccoli.


Cooking skills focus: Knife skills, sauteeing, roasting, baking, balancing flavors

Ingredients:
2 T cooking oil
1 onion, julienned
1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled & sliced
salt & pepper TT

1 1/2 # roma tomatoes, cored & diced large (3/4" on a side)
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper TT

2 T cooking oil
2/3 # chanterelle mushrooms, quickly rinsed & dried, then diced small (1/4" on a side)
salt & pepper TT

1 head broccoflower, diced medium (1/2" on a side)
1 bunch broccoli rabe, 1/2" inch trimmed off the end and sliced 1/2" thick
3 T olive oil
salt & pepper TT
1 T Adobo spice blend, ground
1 lemon, juiced

2 C couscous
1 C water
salt & pepper TT

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed well

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the 2 T cooking oil. Add the onion and saute on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic. Drop the heat to medium and saute for another 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Set the onons and garlic aside. Keep the saute pan out.
3. Toss the tomatoes with the 2 T olive oil in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and transfer to a sheet pan. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Keep the bowl out.
4. Meanwhile, heat the saute pan again over high heat and add the next 2 T cooking oil. Add the mushrooms and saute for 6-8 minutes, or until browned and slightly crispy. Remove and set aside.
5. In the large bowl, combine the broccoflower, broccoli rabe, roasted tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, the 3 T olive oil, lemon juice, additional salt and pepper and Adobo spice blend.
6. Put the couscous in the bottom of a baking dish and add the water. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garbanzo beans, then put the vegetable layer on top of the beans.
7. Bake covered in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the couscous is fully cooked.
8. Top with the sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and serve.

Dinosaur Pasta Stir-Fry!

Harness the power of the mighty dinosaurs to calm your roaring belly!

Ingredients:
2 T cooking oil
1 onion, julienned
1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled & sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3 T butter, separated into three 1 T portions
2 C mushrooms, washed & sliced
1 bu lacinato ("DINO") kale, cut chiffonade
1 red bell pepper, julienned
2 T soy sauce
1 lemon, juiced

1/2 lb dry pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Instructions:
1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the first 2 T cooking oil, then the onion and garlic, and some salt and pepper.
2. After 7-8 minutes of sauteeing, add the first 1 T butter and the mushrooms, and saute for 5 more minutes.
3. Add the next 1 T butter, the kale and the bell pepper and saute for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
4. Stir in the soy sauce, lemon juice, and the last 1 T butter and then toss with freshly cooked pasta for a ferociously delicious meal!

The Mixer Salad

I made this for a mixer at a friend's house recently. I think the mixer may have evolved into a shindig at some point.

[In condensed recipe format]

2 T cooking oil
1 bu collard greens, ribs removed and cut into strips
1/2 C water
2 t soy sauce
black pepper TT

[heat a large saute pan, add the oil and saute the greens on medium-high heat for 10 minutes. then, add the soy sauce, water and pepper, stir, increase heat to a boil and boil off the water.]

2 T cooking oil
1 red onion, quartered and sliced
1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled & sliced
1/3 C water
1 t soy sauce
black pepper TT

[heat the saute pan again. add the oil and saute the onion and garlic on medium-high heat for 6 minutes. then, add the soy sauce, water and pepper, stir, increase heat to a boil and boil off the water.]

1 head cauliflower, cut bite-sized
3 carrots, cut about 1/2" on a side
1 bell pepper, cut 1/2" on a side
2 cans beans, drained
3 T olive oil
1 T truffle oil
1/2 t black pepper
1 T soy sauce

[combine all ingredients. serve now or later, hot or cold.]

8. saute/sweat

(Part of The Cookbook)

You've got a saute pan, which is a shallow, wide pan with a handle. You've got the pan hot. You put a bit of oil in the pan, and the oil can withstand a lot of heat because you very wisely chose vegetable, canola, grapeseed or peanut oil. And because the oil can withstand a lot of heat, it's getting really hot without smoking yet, and that's good for the flavor of your finished dish and for your health. You've got some food items all prepped and beautifully ready in little bowls next to the hot, oiled pan.

It's an exciting time, baby. You're about to saute.

Sauteeing is a dry heat cooking method. If you don't know what that means, stop and read this first. So, you'll be browning the food items you're sauteeing. You're cooking with a lot of heat and a little fat in a container that will allow steam to evaporate, rather than accumulating to create a steaming effect, which is a wet cooking method. Properly done, sauteeing cooks vegetables while preserving some of their natural crispness. It browns and cooks meat while preserving some natural juiciness. Improperly done, it makes a soggy mess; one of the main reasons this happens is either that the pan is overcrowded or the heat is too low, usually the former.

Flipping the items in the pan every four seconds is not sauteeing. Flip or stir the food every once in a while to make sure it's cooking evenly, but you need the food in contact with the pan for most of the time in order for it to cook properly.

Here are some great recipes for practicing sauteeing:

Chorizo, Apple & Kale Sandwich

Summer Afternoon Sandwich (V)

Pav Bhaji (V)

Caramelized Spring Onion Fried Eggs (v)

Cucumber & Sausage Green Salad

Roast Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches with Fresh Apple-Corn Relish

Lamb Heart Salad

Teresa's Delicious Wraps

Sauteed Asparagus with Walnuts & Lemons (V)

Sauteed Duck Breast with Pomegranate Seeds & Walnuts

Tuna & Broccoli Salad

Fall Lamb Salad

Apple & Kale Bread Salad (V)

Corn & Spiced Pork Tacos

Sweating is not sauteeing, but I included it here because it's a very similar process. Sweating is more of a wet cooking method than dry: it's basically low-heat sauteeing where it's OK to overcrowd the pan, since you want to encourage the steam from the food items to cook the other items around them. It's useful if you don't want to brown your food, or if you want to cook it gently.

Stir-frying is the opposite.. it's very high heat sauteeing, where you have to move the food around in the wok or pan quickly so it doesn't burn. It's fun! And healthy, because generally, the longer you cook something, the less nutritious it becomes (especially vegetables).

Teresa's Delicious Wraps

Teresa's food is so freaking good. Using whatever she sees around, she always creates these beautifully layered flavors. Cooking with her is fun because she grew up cooking from scratch in Georgia, and I grew up eating mostly processed foods in California, to learn intensively about cooking later. The ways we approach cooking are different and similar at the same time. Oh yeah, we eat well in my house. Mmmm.

Ingredients:
1 T oil
1 lg sweet onion, sliced 1" thick
1 bell pepper, diced 3/4" on a side
7 medium mushrooms, diced
3" piece of turkey kielbasa, diced small
6 slices turkey bacon, diced small
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t grated ginger
1/2 bu red chard, sliced 1/2" thick
6 basil leaves, sliced thinly
1 spring mint, leaves sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste
tortillas
shredded jack cheese (another cheese would do)
pesto to taste

Instructions:
1. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat and add the oil. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, kielbasa and bacon. Season with salt, pepper & ginger.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Cook over high heat around 4 minutes. Add chard, basil & mint, turn heat to low and cook 3 minutes.
4. Warm tortillas in oven for about 10 minutes. Fill with turkey & vegetable mix, garnish with cheese and pesto, and serve.