Creamy Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

I hate instant mashed potatoes.  Some people will hear that and scream, "Blasphemy!"  To me they always tasted dry and paste-like.  More often than not I'd run into clumps of unmixed potato flakes that would make the whole thing even less appetizing.  You may say, "Well they weren't fixed right, that's why you didn't like them!"  No, even when fixed right they still had an off taste and texture to me.  I grew up eating the real deal, and I always missed that when I had to eat instant.

Mr. Monkey, on the other hand, loves instant mashed potatoes.  Why?  Because homemade ones either were lumpy or runny and tasteless in his experience.  I thought this was a shame that he had never experienced wonderfully made mashed potatoes.

Of course mashed potatoes aren't considered to be the most healthy things on the planet no matter how many warm fuzzies they give you.  A friend of mine swore up and down that you could make a dish with cauliflower that was just as good as mashed potatoes.  I thought this was humorous.  Cauliflower always seemed to be the bland and weirdly textured friend of broccoli.  When I found this recipe I figured I'd finally give it a shot.  The problem was getting Mr. Monkey on board.  That's when I decided to load them up with a garlicy good taste which I knew he would love.  My friend was right; the taste and texture were very similar to mashed potatoes!  This is a great substitute if you're looking to eat healthier.

Creamy Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bag of frozen cauliflower
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup (or less) of milk - I used buttermilk
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder to taste
• Garlic Herb Blend - optional

Directions:

1. Add the cauliflower to a large pot of water.  Bring the water to a boil, and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Cauliflower is done when you can easily mash it with a fork.
3. Place the cauliflower, butter, and milk in either a blender or a food processor.  Puree until smooth.  I recommend trying about half the milk at first, and then increase it if you want to thin out the mash.
4. Add salt and pepper to your tastes.  With the garlic powder I ended up using approximately a tablespoon, but not everyone wants that much.  Start with a teaspoon and work your way up.  Blend the seasonings in with the food processor (or blender) after adding so they are well incorporated.
5. At this point they are technically done, but you can also put them in the oven for a little bit to help them set and warm them up more if they cooled off while pureeing.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Put the mashed cauliflower into a small casserole dish and top with a garlic herb blend (either Kitchen Secrets or Mrs. Dash is what I use). 
8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the mash is slightly bubbly.

Serves 3 to 4

Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza

Pizza is great for getting rid of leftovers.  I've started buying whole chickens, and the leftover meat lasts for days.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a huge pork butt.  It was over 8 pounds!  I popped it into the oven early in the morning, and I cooked it on low heat until supper time.  It was quite good and very tender, and I still have a bag of meat in the freezer.  I decided to use some of that meat to make a pizza, and I did not regret this decision!

The BBQ pizza uses the sauce I posted yesterday as a base and the crust I posted before that.  You'll want to have some leftover pulled pork for this, but you can also use leftover grilled or roasted chicken in a pinch.  I also mixed some crushed red pepper into the crust to add a bit of spice.  This recipe will make two pizzas, so if you only want one be sure to save the extra sauce and dough in the refrigerator.

Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza:


 Homemade Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 
• 3 1/2 cups flour (bread flour or all purpose flour)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) 

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup (I prefer the non-HFCS kind)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard 
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Sriacha (rooster sauce)

Pizza Toppings

Ingredients:

• Approximately 2 cups of pulled pork - cooked and cut/pulled into smaller pieces
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 stalks celery - chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic - sliced
• 2 green onions - sliced (green and white parts)

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and warm water in a large bowl.  Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.  Stir the remaining yeast if not fully dissolved after 5 minutes.
2. Stir together the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar until the dough is smooth and elastic.  If the dough seems too wet, then add flour.  If you're going to use the crushed red pepper, then make sure to add it with the other ingredients.
3. Coat a bowl lightly with olive oil and place the ball of dough in the bowl.  Roll it around to get covered in the oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.  Allowing it to sit longer will improve the taste.
5. While the dough is rising, lightly dust a large cookie sheet (round or rectangular) with flour or corn meal.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  It should be allowed to heat up for at least 30 minutes to an hour before you bake the pizza.
6. Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl, and punch the dough down to deflate it.  Remove it from the bowl and divide in half. 
7. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a lightly floured workspace.  Starting from the center, press the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.  Turn and stretch the dough until will not stretch any further.  Let the dough rest about 5 minutes.
8. Repeat step 7 until the dough is the desired size.  If you are worried about the dough tearing, then you can press it out once, and then place it in the pan to further press and stretch it.
9. Move the dough from the workspace to the pan.  Brush the top with a little bit of olive oil before you add your sauce and toppings.
10. Mix the sauce ingredients together and carefully spoon over the dough once combined.  You may have a little more than what you need for both pizzas.
11. Add the celery, garlic, and green onions.  Cover these with the pork.  If you have a bit of extra sauce, then drizzle a bit of it over the meat.  Spread the cheese over both pizzas.
12. After adding your toppings, bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the crust is browned.

Makes 2 12" pizzas

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Job hunting seems a lot different now than it was more than a decade ago.  Most of this week was me job hunting and having an interview which didn't pan out into anything.  It was pretty tiring, which is why I didn't get to post any recipes. :(  I have a backlog of things, and I'm going to get them posted to get caught up!

First on our list is a simple item that will tie the previous post and the next post together.  Homemade barbeque sauce!  This is a very simple recipe that you can make as you need it, or keep handy in case you don't use mass quantities of it.  You can adjust a few things here and there if you prefer a specific taste.  Simmering this with bourbon in place of the honey or vinegar might be an idea!

I've had this on sandwiches, roasted chicken, and pizza.  Tomorrow I'll post the Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza recipe!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup (I prefer the non-HFCS kind)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard 
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Sriacha (rooster sauce)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together until blended smooth and well incorporated. 
2. Store refrigerated in a lidded jar if not using immediately. 

Makes a little over 1 cup of sauce

Homemade Pizza Crust

Mr. Monkey thinks I'm crazy that I love cold pizza.  He wants his pizza leftovers warmed up and doesn't get the hype.  Maybe it's a throwback to when I was a teenager or even when I was in college, but I think a good pizza should taste great hot and cold.  Some pizza tastes fine hot, but as soon as it gets cold it's nasty.  Cold pizza makes a great breakfast, and if Mr. Monkey doesn't finish off his portion of the leftovers, then I'm going to have them for breakfast tomorrow! Hah!

You may wonder with all of this pizza talk why I'm including the recipe for the crust, but not the pizza itself.  Mainly it's because I was just giving this a trial run and didn't really pay any mind to quantities.  I also plan on making this again, so when I do I'll pay attention and post the recipe for the pizza as a whole.  I've got some ideas including redoing the roasted chicken pizza that you see above, a BBQ pork pizza, and maybe a cajun seafood pizza.  If you want a full recipe right away, then click here.

Homemade Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 
• 3 1/2 cups flour (bread flour or all purpose flour)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp dried rosemary (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and warm water in a large bowl.  Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.  Stir the remaining yeast if not fully dissolved after 5 minutes.
2. Stir together the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar until the dough is smooth and elastic.  If the dough seems too wet, then add flour.  If you're going to use the rosemary for extra flavor, then make sure to add it with the other ingredients.
3. Coat a bowl lightly with olive oil and place the ball of dough in the bowl.  Roll it around to get covered in the oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.  Allowing it to sit longer will improve the taste.
5. While the dough is rising, lightly dust a large cookie sheet (round or rectangular) with flour or corn meal.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  It should be allowed to heat up for at least 30 minutes to an hour before you bake the pizza.
6. Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl, and punch the dough down to deflate it.  Remove it from the bowl and divide in half. 
7. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a lightly floured workspace.  Starting from the center, press the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.  Turn and stretch the dough until will not stretch any further.  Let the dough rest about 5 minutes.
8. Repeat step 7 until the dough is the desired size.  If you are worried about the dough tearing, then you can press it out once, and then place it in the pan to further press and stretch it.
9. Move the dough from the workspace to the pan.  Brush the top with a little bit of olive oil before you add your sauce and toppings.
10. After adding your toppings, bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese (if you added it) is golden and the crust is browned.

Makes 2 12 inch pizzas.

Inner Warmth Peanut Stew

Goons With Spoons poster EVG posted this recipe last week, and as soon as I saw it I wanted to try it.  It is a dish served at the Great Dan Pub in Madison, WI.  They posted the recipe here which is where EVG got it prior to sharing it with us.  This is an excellent fall stew, and because it has peanut butter you may find that kids will give it a shot out of curiosity.  The stew is delicious!

The squash doesn't have an overbearing flavor here, which is good if you aren't a big fan of squash or are sharing a meal with someone that doesn't normally eat it.  You can use ground ginger in place of ginger root, but the flavor won't be as potent.  Be sure not to use 1/2 a cup though!  The original calls for white rice, but brown rice has a really nice flavor that goes well with this stew.  I would also recommend trying wild rice or forbidden (black) rice.  I've mostly kept the recipe intact aside from my usual subbing green onion for onion (Mr. Monkey isn't a fan of onion) and using less diced tomato (Mr. Monkey likes the flavor, hates the texture).

You will need either an immersion blender (which I did not have) or a food processor.  If you have an immersion blender, then you will be able to get the stew to a much smoother consistency than pictures above.  Otherwise, use the food processor to get the squash cut up as finely as possible without pureeing it.

Inner Warmth Peanut Stew

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 to 4 green onions - chopped
• 1/2 cup garlic - minced
• 1/2 cup ginger - peeled and minced OR 2 Tbsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 2 to 3 pounds winter squash (butternut or acorn) - peeled and cubed
• 1 quart tomato juice
• 1 15 oz can diced tomato
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 medium bunch fresh cilantro - stems removed, chopped
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I recommend using natural for the taste and less sugar)
• Cooked brown rice

1. If you do not have an immersion blender, then use a food processor to cut the squash up as finely as possible.
2. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, pepper, and squash.  Cook until the ingredients start to soften, about 10 minutes.
3. Add tomato juice, tomatoes, and salt.
4. Simmer until squash is tender (a knife easily slips out when you stab one of the cubes).  If you used the food processor in step 1, then this won't take very long.  The recipe says 5 minutes, but I recommend about 15.
5. Add cilantro and peanut butter.  Stir well and allow to simmer longer to thicken.
6. If you have the immersion blender, then use it to get the consistency smoother, otherwise you are done.
7. Serve over the cooked brown rice.

Serves 5 to 6

Sausage & Lentil Soup

I love soups and stews when the weather is cold and gloomy.  This fall here in Kentucky has been gloomy on and off, and nicely cool most every day.  I'm still getting my feel for lentils, and I ran into this recipe that promised it was a healthy soup.  I ended up tweaking it a bit which moves it a bit from the soup family to the stew family, but it's still nice all the same.  It's a very filling meal, and you'll end up with leftovers if you're making it for two.

I highly recommend using your own homemade chicken stock to pump up the health factor as well as the deliciousness.  Using your own broth also means you'll save money on the recipe.  You can potentially use less cook time here, but I like a longer simmer to get the flavors really married well to the other ingredients.

Sausage & Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 green onions - chopped
• 2 celery ribs - diced
• 1 pound lean smoked sausage (I used turkey)
• 2 medium carrots - chopped
• 3 garlic cloves - minced
• 24 to 28 oz of chicken broth - reduced sodium
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup lentils - rinsed
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 cup frozen cut spinach

Directions:

1. Lightly spray a large pot with cooking oil (you can also add a touch of rendered bacon fat if you want to up the flavor and aren't worried as much about the health side of things).  Add the green onions, celery, garlic, and sausage to the pot.  Cook on medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add the carrots and cook about 3 minutes longer until the celery is tender and the garlic golden.
3. Stir in the broth, water, lentils, and dry seasonings.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Allow to cook 30 to 35 minutes, or until carrots and lentils are tender.
4. Stir in tomatoes, spinach, and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6

No Knead Bread - Easy to Make!

I love bread.  I don't think I could go on one of those diets where you give up all pastas, breads, and the like.  My grandpa would bake bread, and I remember how it smelled in the house.  I always wanted to bake my own bread, but had convinced myself it was difficult and therefore I had to either settle for a bread machine or just buy some from the store.  I did have a bread machine for a while, and it was neat... but HUGE.  I didn't even have the largest one you could get, and it took up so much space!  I opted to not keep it a few years back when I needed to move.  I was stuck buying bread from the store, convinced that making a nice crusty loaf of bread was far too difficult for a mere mortal.

And then I heard word of a no knead bread via this recipe.  "There has to be a catch," I speculated.  There is a slight catch, and that is time.  Since you're not kneading the dough you let it rise for several hours.  We're talking around 18 hours here.  At least 20 if you include the 2 hour rest before baking.  This may seem overwhelming, but it's not.  Simply mix everything up, cover it, and leave it alone.  Do whatever you would normally do during the day.

This bread has a nice crusty outside with a soft inside.  The outside part will lose some of that crustiness as it sits, but you can pop it back in the oven to crisp it up.  I also highly recommend mixing rosemary and/or whole garlic cloves into the dough, as it makes a wonderful side to any Italian dish.

No Knead Bread - Basic Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (bread flour or unbleached all purpose flour)
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp fine table salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water 

You will also need:

• A pot or dutch oven with lid that is oven safe to 450 degrees
• Parchment paper or silicone mat (oven safe to 450 degrees required) if not using a well seasoned cast iron pot 
• Plastic wrap
• Large bowl 

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, and warm water together in a large bowl until combined.  The dough will be very shaggy looking.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest for at least 18 hours.  Make sure that it is in a warm (but not hot) location!
3. When you come back to the dough it will have increased in size and be all bubbly and sticky.  Lightly flour a small sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat, and turn the dough out of the bowl onto it using either a wet spatula or wet hands.  If you're using a well seasoned cast iron pan, then simply lightly flour your counter top.
4. Fold the dough end to end a few times and form a ball.  Place this ball, still on the paper or mat, back into the bowl it rose in, and cover the bowl loosely with a towel.  Allow to rest for at least 2 hours.
5. An hour into the rest period, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Place the covered pot you will be using into the oven while it is preheating.
6. Once the 2 hours is up, carefully remove the pot and add the dough being careful to make sure the paper or mat goes into the pot first so it rests on the bottom.
7. Bake covered for 30 minutes.  Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is nicely golden.  The bread will make a low, hollow type sound if you tap it.

Makes great open faced sandwiches and french toast too!