I know I’ve said it before, on this blog, but I’ll say it again, “My wife rocks!!!!” I woke up this morning to the smell of cinnamon rolls baking, and there is no better smell in the world! I love the fact that my wife can cook so well, which, in this day and age, is saying something. I am constantly amazed by the number of people I meet that “can’t cook.” I know I’ve said it here before, but it never ceases to amaze me. Luckily, I think we are starting to see that trend change. Just look at all the good food blogs out there today. It seems that people have finally awakened and have come to realize that cooking doesn’t have to be a chore, but something that we do out of love and passion. It is sad that so many of my generation have to learn this lesson later in life, but I am glad that they are learning it.

So this morning, my wife woke up really early and couldn’t get back to sleep so she decided to make cinnamon rolls (I’ve already established how much I think this rocks!). Being overwhelmed by my ever expanding cookbook collection she headed to the internet in search of a good recipe. Like me, she just can’t leave well enough alone. She found Paula Deen’s Cinnamon Roll, like the dough recipe, found the icing recipe from Todd Wilbur’s “More Top Secret Recipes,” and kind of just winged it with the filling. Whatever she did, they came out great. Try them out and surprise someone you love with a little cinnamon love in the morning!!!

Cinnamon Rolls
makes 12

1/4 oz package yeast
1/2 cup water, warm
1/2 cup milk, warm
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 1/2 – 4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon, ground
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup raisins

8 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, room temp.
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

In a bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit 5 minutes to activate. Add the milk, sugar, butter, salt and egg. Mix well and add 2 cups of flour. Mix and add another 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix and add the remaining flour only if needed. Knead for 7-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until double, about 1-1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough and roll out, on a lightly floured surface, to a rectangle approximately 9″x15″. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins, mixing well. Gently spread the softened butter over the dough then sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture, using it all. Starting on the long side, roll the dough up, pinwheel style, pinching the seam together. Cut into 12 slices. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan generously with butter then add the cinnamon rolls. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until double, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for approximately 30 minutes. While the rolls are baking prepare the icing by combining the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and beat until light and fluffy. When cinnamon rolls are done, remove from oven, allow to rest for 10 minutes then generously ice the tops. Serve warm!

Last Saturday I took my daughter out to the woods. Not only would I get a chance to spend some time with my 3 year old as we stomped through the woods, but it also gave my wife a little quite time without the 2 of us. Besides, though a little early, conditions seemed pretty good for hunting down some morels. The trip was both a success and a failure. No morels were found, but the land around the creek was bursting with ramps (wild leeks) of which I grabbed a few handfuls. I’m planning on heading back sometime this weekend to dig some more.

I also got to spend some time in woods with my daughter, which was a delight. She bounced along the paths, stopping at every other flower to point it out to me and to tell me how beautiful it was. Squirrels and birds of various sizes and colors captured her attention at every bend, though it’s surprising that anything ventured within 1/2 a mile of us as she babbled constantly and squealed and laughed with delight at every step. We spent 10 minutes following a toad I had scared up while hunting for morels and another 5 inspecting a dead fish that had washed up on the banks of the creek, though not too closely. She threw rocks at the water and chased after the occasional lone duck, finding fun and delight at every step. I found myself thinking about what a huge difference just a year makes in the life of one so young. Last year at this time, the woods, though wondrous to her, definitely did not hold the same allure that they do now. She explored, but never strayed to far. This time I had to race to keep up and constantly warn her about getting too far ahead. Oh, to be 3 again and once again view the world with awe and wonder, instead of the eyes of a jaded, relatively cynical 40 year old.

Crab Stuffed Shrimp with Linguine and Ramps
serves 4

6oz crabmeat
2 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 Tbsp. celery,minced
1 Tbsp. red bell pepper, minced
8 Club crackers, crushed (or 12 Ritz crackers)
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
salt
pepper
12 shrimp, large (U-10′s are best)
2 Tbsp. butter melted
12oz linguine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1-2 Tbsp. tarragon, minced
1 cup ramps, cleaned and chopped
1 1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Combine, crabmeat, onion, celery, pepper, crackers and mayo together in a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta, per the directions on the package making sure to cook it al dente. Peel and devein the shrimp, making sure you cut only deep enough to remove the vein. Flip the shrimp over and cut open the shrimp from the underside, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Divide the crabmeat mixture into 12 portions and form into a loose ball. Place crabmeat on butterflied shrimp and curl tail over to hold the crab in place.

Once pasta is done drain in a colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Place the shrimp on a cookie tray, drizzle with the butter and place in the oven cooking for 7-9 minutes or until the shrimp is done. Meanwhile, in a large, nonreactive skillet place the wine and the garlic. Reduce over high heat until the wine is reduced by 2/3′s. Add the cream and reduce by 1/2. Add the tarragon and ramps, cook for 1 minute then add the pasta. Heat through, add the parmesan cheese and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Divide the pasta among 4 plates mounding it in the center. Place three stuffed shrimp around the pasta and serve.

Maybe you have been following “Once a Chef” from the beginning, or maybe you have just stumbled upon this blog for the first time, either way, there are a number of ways that you can follow the goings on here. Of course, you can always sign up for the RSS feed, or you can choose to subscribe via email but there are also a couple of other ways to check out the newest posts or interact with me.

You can find the “Once a Chef” fan page here, on Facebook.

If Twitter is more you style then you can find my page here. “Once a Chef” was already taken, as a name, so you can find it under “Always a Chef.”

Finally, you can also find my personal page at Foodbuzz, under my real name, Pete Martin.

Each one of these sites links back here so that you won’t miss any posts. In addition, I try to add other touches and comments to each. Also, if you are one who doesn’t like to leave comments, each of these pages is a good way to interact with me. I encourage everyone to link up with “Once a Chef” on one or all of these other sites to let me know you are out there. And don’t forget to tell your friends!!!!!

One of the things I remember most about living in NYC were the pretzel carts that dotted the corners throughout Greenwich Village. Sure I remember the hot dog carts, but to be honest, I’m more of a fan of Chicago dogs than New York dogs (sorry NYC!). But I loved those pretzel carts, serving up hot, soft pretzels drizzled with American style, yellow mustard, none of that dijon or whole grain stuff!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about them. But my love of pretzels goes much farther back to when I was a little kid. In fact, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love pretzels, from the rock hard sourdough pretzels of the Pennsylvania dutch to those warm, soft festival treats.

As a kid, I had even attempted to make soft pretzels a time or two. They were good, but not great, and, at the time, they seemed to be an awful lot of work. It’s amazing how perception changes as you grow older. Yesterday, I thought I’d surprise my wife with a batch of freshly baked pretzels when she arrived home from work, and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make them. It is even a breeze to form them, something I remember as being so difficult as to be almost impossible!

Since I hadn’t made pretzels in many, many years (more than I want to remember!) I had to do a little research. While most recipes had a relatively consistent set of ingredients, I found large variances in the boiling stage (the most important stage of pretzel making) ranging from a quick dip of 5 seconds to 1 minute on each side. In the end, I did what I always do, taking what I believed to be the best ideas from many recipes and created my own. I opted not to brush the boiled pretzels with eggwash before baking, but if you want a shinier crust than I achieved you might want to add that step, brushing the pretzels before sprinkling with salt.

While you can, sometimes, find “pretzel” salt, don’t bother. Because it is a specialty salt you will pay a premium for it compared to kosher salt, which works quite well.

Finally, in commercial production of pretzels, they are often boiled in a lye solution. Lye is rather caustic stuff and can easily cause severe burns if you get some on you. Stay away from the stuff. Instead most people (me included) use baking soda to raise the ph of the boiling water to give a mildly alkaline solution. Purist say they can taste the difference, but it is very minor, and believe me, it is not worth the risk of an alkaline burn.

Soft Pretzels
makes 6

1 tsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 1/2-3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. iodized salt
1 cup milk, warmed to 100-110°F
kosher salt

1/4 cup baking soda
4 cups water

Mix together the yeast and the sugar. Add the warm milk and allow the yeast to activate. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and the iodized salt and mix. Knead for 5-7 minutes, adding more flour, if necessary, to form a soft, but not sticky dough. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425°F. Degas the dough, divide into 6 portions and roll into 6 strands.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then one by one stretch to 18″ and form into pretzels. To form: create a loop with the bottom closest to you and cross the ends.

Fold the ends back down over the loop, extending the ends just slightly.

For for a more professional look you can give the ends a half twist before bring them back down.

Press the ends down lightly to secure but don’t mash the pretzel. Meanwhile bring the water and baking soda to a boil in large pot. The water should be 2-3″ deep. If not, add more water and baking soda, keeping the ratio of 1/4 cup baking soda for every 4 cups of water. Let the water come to a gentle, not rolling boil. One at a time, place the pretzels in the water, cook for 20 seconds, flip and cook for 20 seconds longer. Remove from water, allow to drain, then place on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat with all the pretzels. Allow each pretzel to dry for about 1 minute then sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. The pretzel should be moist and tacky, but if it is too wet the salt will just melt. Bake the pretzels for approximately 10-13 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for a few minutes before tasting.

To rewarm pretzels, place in a brown paper bag. Sprinkle the bag generously with water and heat in a 350°F oven. Whatever you do, don’t rewarm them in the microwave, it will just make them tough and chewy!!!

I am often reminded how wonderful the simple things can be. This past Sunday was beautiful, with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the low 60s. The day begged for firing up the grill so that’s exactly what I did. It was nothing fancy or complicated, just bratwursts and a hobo pack filled with potatoes, bacon, onions and garlic. It was a simple affair for me, my wife, and my daughter, who ate some potatoes but has yet to develop a taste for any sausage type food beyond hot dogs and breakfast sausages. Yes, I know….it’s something I need to work on. Especially living here in Wisconsin. Most people up here are born with an instinctual love for the almighty brat!

Hobo packs are a camper’s and griller’s best friend; packets of aluminum foil filled with all sorts of goodies left to cook over an open fire. Add a good amount of oil and butter and the vegetables both steam and fry creating a great side dish to any grilled meat, or even taking the place of the meat all together. Hobo packs can be simple and straight forward, or they can be filled with exotic vegetables and spices. Most start with a base of some starchy vegetable, usually potato, yams, taro, turnips, carrots, or any other root vegetable. Other vegetables, aromatics, herbs and spices are added to taste and the whole thing is wrapped in a few layer of foil and allowed to cook over an open fire.

This recipe is for a very simple hobo pack, made with ingredients almost everyone has lying around the kitchen most of the time. This makes this a great recipe for last minute meals or an “on the fly” cookout. Feel free to add any touches and flourishes you wish.

A word about cooking hobo packs. First don’t make your packet too thick or it will take forever for it to cook through. I usually spread the ingredients out so that they aren’t more than 2 inches deep. It is best to use a covered grill as you can then cook by indirect heat (placing the coals on 1 side of the grill and placing the packet on the other side. This way you only need to flip the packet about every 10 minutes. If you don’t have a covered grill you will need to cook the packet over direct heat, which will require you to flip the packet every 4-5 minutes to ensure that nothing burns.

Potato Hobo Packs
serves 4

3 slices bacon, thick cut, chopped
4 medium potatoes, skin on
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. butter
Salt
Pepper

Light your charcoal and let it burn down until covered with white ash. Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp.

Remove from skillet and drain, reserving 1 Tbsp. of the rendered fat. Mix the butter, bacon fat, and garlic in a small pot and heat until the butter is melted. While the bacon is rendering slice the potatoes about 1/4″ thick. Slice the onions also.

Take 2 18″ pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil and lay them on the counter, one lengthwise the other one on top and perpendicular to the first one. Lay half the potatoes on top, along with half the onions. Season liberally with salt and pepper and drizzle with half of the butter, bacon fat mixture. Place the cooked bacon over this, then repeat with the remaining potatoes, onions, and butter mixture, again seasoning liberally. Tightly fold the top piece of foil then the bottom piece of foil to make a secure packet. Take another piece of foil and laying the packet seam side down, wrap the foil around it. This seems like a lot of foil, but I often use this much to make sure I have no blow outs, which can send potatoes pouring all over your grill. You can get away with just 2 sheets, but you need to be extra careful when flipping the packets. Spread the coals out on 1 side of the grill and place the hobo pack on the other side. Cover the grill and cook for 30-40 minutes, flipping the packet over every 10 minutes. Insert a knife into the packet to test the doneness of the potatoes. When they have just the slightest amount of resistance remove from grill and allow to finish cooking, off the heat for 8 minutes longer. Unwrap and serve.

Mint

Despite the near blizzard conditions I experienced in the early morning hours of April 8th, as I drove to work, Spring is starting to really make its presence known here in Wisconsin. And it’s about time!!!! Today, I took the first good look at my herb garden to see what was starting to sprout. Most of my perennial herbs have broken soil. The tarragon, always an early starter, is already a good 3-4″inches high, while the sage has just started to sprout out from the woody remains of last season. The mint, once a joy, and now a beast that needs constant taming less it take over everything, has popped up all over the herb and flower garden. While my lemon balm, my favorite herb for herbal iced tea has just barely peaked out of its winter rest below the soil, the rhubarb is already looking robust and I look forward to my first pie of the season. Rounding out the rest of the lineup is my thyme plant. It’s hit or miss whether it will come back. Some years it makes it through the winter while in others I need to replant, unlike it’s cousin, the creeping thyme. This herb is more of a ground cover and while it can be used culinarily, its flavor is not nearly as refined as that of other thymes. It is also much hardier than other thyme varieties and comes back year after year.

I haven’t decided what to add to the garden this year, but a basil plant or 2 usually make the cut as does cilantro, both of its leaves and for the seeds (coriander). This year I might add some lavender again, another plant that borders on being hardy in this area. It survives mild to normal winters here in Wisconsin, but won’t make it if the winter is harsher than usual. Ultimately though, the decision won’t be made until I get out to the nursery and see what strikes my fancy at that time.

No recipe today, but look for these herbs in the future as I’m sure they will play prominent roles in a number of recipes to come. Until then enjoy a few pictures of my freshly sprouted plants.

Lemon Balm

Tarragon

Sage

Rhubarb

In my effort to add some more vegetables to my diet, I’ve been going through my numerous cookbooks on the cuisines of the Mediterranean region and I’ve come across many wonderful recipes for vegetable “stews.” While many of these countries have numerous vegetarian dishes and stews I am most intrigued by the vegetable tagines of North Africa. I think it it because of the heavy use of spices in these dishes that I am so attracted to them. I have found that I, personally, am less apt to miss a meat component in a dish if it is heavily spiced.

To truly be called a tagine, the stew should be cooked in a dish of the same name, a large, shallow earthenware dish topped with a very distinct, conical lid. The food is placed in the bottom bowl and allowed to simmer slowly until all the ingredients are tender and flavorful. Well, I don’t have a tagine to make my tagine in, but other than that this dish stays pretty true to the flavors and ingredients of North Africa. Placed on a bed of couscous, this meal easily satisfies even a die hard meat eater like me.

Vegetable Tagine

1 cup garbanzo beans, dried (chickpeas)
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash (or other winter squash) peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 can (14.5oz) stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup prunes, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (more if you like the heat)
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt
pepper
olive oil

Soak the dried garbanzo beans in 3 cups of water for 8-10 hours. Drain, place in a pot with fresh water, to cover, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Drain. In another pot, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until onion turns translucent. Add carrots and squash. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, then add the cinnamon, cumin and red pepper flakes. Saute for 1 minute then add the tomatoes, prunes, water and garbanzo beans.

Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender and the squash is just starting to fall apart. Adjust seasoning, stir in the cilantro and serve.

Barbecue…barbeque…BBQ; no matter how you spell it, that word makes me giddy. I’m not talking when it is used, in the generic sense, meaning any type of cooking on a grill, or over an open fire, but real, god honest barbecue; the kind done slow and low that can turn some of the toughest cuts of meat into melt-in-your-mouth morsels, bursting with smoke flavor. Not that I’m against cooking out, in any of its forms. In fact, a rather large portion of the food I cook is done one a grill, but there is something special about making true barbecue, whether it is ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork or any number of other items that benefit from a long slow cook while being bathed in smoke.

Let’s set the record straight though, before we begin. Grilling and barbecuing are not the same thing. Yes, they can both be done on a grill, but grilling is done over a relatively high heat, directly over the heat source. It’s this high heat that sears and chars the meat providing plenty of flavor, and it works best for tender pieces of meat such as steaks, chops, chicken, etc. Barbecuing is done at much cooler temperatures, away from the heat source, and requires hours of cooking. It is used on tough cuts of meat such as brisket, ribs and shoulder cuts to transform them into a tender finished product. While most people use the the words interchangeably, they really are 2 different styles of cooking, and believe me, the easiest way to tick off a serious barbecue aficionado is to talk on and on about how you like to fire up the grill and barbecue some steaks and burgers.

I am no barbecue expert. That’s evidenced by the fact that I do not, yet, own any type of barbecue pit or rig. I do all my barbecuing on my Weber kettle grill. There are those in the barbecue community that will scoff and say that I can’t truly barbecue with a set up like that, but I think I do all right. Sure, there are some issues to overcome, and I certainly won’t win any major competitions with my set up but it works for me and I like to believe that I make some pretty good ‘cue. And I have a number of fans that would agree.

While I am not a snob about barbecue, like some that I know, I will say that unless you own a smoker, barbecue pit, or at the very least a kettle grill, you can stop reading here. Sorry but a gas grill is not going to cut it for the recipe I have, nor will a regular grill, even if it has a lid. It needs to be a kettle style grill to create a proper smoke chamber. A regular grill keeps the meat too close to the coals and doesn’t allow for the proper convection of heat.

As for charcoal, lump charcoal is always the preferred charcoal of choice for those serious about barbecue (unless they are using logs to fire their pit), but for some people, in some areas, lump charcoal can be hard to find. If you must use the standard briquettes it is imperative that you always burn them down before adding them to your grill. If you don’t, the chemicals and fillers used in these things will contribute nasty, off flavors to your final product. Always start them out in a chimney starter and don’t add them to the grill until they have burned down and are completely covered with white ash.

A few more things before I get into the recipe. The recipe as written is for making 1 pork butt. Most of the pictures will show 3 butts being made. I was doing this for my brother’s wedding reception and was feeding many people. 1 pork butt should easily feed 20 people with some to spare, unless they are big eaters. Also, plan on making a day out of it as this is going to take about 6-8 hours to cook. You don’t need to sit there and watch it all the time, but you will need to regularly replenish charcoal and do a few other things as the meat cooks. You can do other chores, or even run a few quick errands, but you need to stay close. Or you can do like I do…make a big production out of it, convince your wife that this delicate procedure takes constant vigilance then sit around all day drinking beer with a buddy or 2 and watch the grill…don’t tell! Finally, it just dawned on me that some people might be wondering why the hell I would want to cook pork butt. In culinary terms pork butt refers to a cut taken from the shoulder area of a pig. Don’t ask my why they call it “butt.” I have no clue. Anyone want to chime in?

Pulled Pork

1 pork butt, 7-9 pounds, bone in
2 Tbsp. paprika
4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. black pepper, ground
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup apple juice
2 cups wood chips (your choice-I often use hickory, apple, cherry, mesquite, or hickory nut hulls)

Four hours before you want to start barbecuing, remove the pork butt from the refrigerator. Combine the paprika, salt, mustard, cayenne, black pepper, and sugar. Rub all over the pork, using every last bit. Allow the pork to remain at room temperature. Soak wood chips in water. 20 minutes before starting to cook, fire up about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter. When ready, and covered in white ash, place charcoal coal in a ring along the outer edge of the grill. In the center place an aluminum pan or pie plate (don’t use one of your wife’s good ones or there will be hell to pay) filled with a couple cups of water. Place the cooking grate on the grill and allow to heat up briefly. Place pork in the center of the grate.

Place about 1/2 cup of the soaked chips directly on the charcoal and cover the grill with the lid.

Sweet Smoke

For proper heat control and air flow, if you have bottom vents make sure they are only open about 1/3 of the way. You want to allow oxygen in to keep the charcoal burning but you don’t want too much oxygen to allow the fire too get too hot. On the top vent you want it opened about 1/2 – 2/3 of the way open. This allows the smoke a relatively quick exit, which you want. You don’t want the smoke to become trapped in the chamber for too long or it will deposit many of the particles suspended in it onto the meat.

After about 35-40 minutes of cooking you want to start another batch of charcoal, in the starter chimney. This time use about 15-20. When ready add to the grill, again placing them in a ring around the meat, on top of the almost spent charcoal. Add another 1/2 cup of soaked wood chips. This process is much easier if you have a grill grate with hinged sides. If not you will need to remove the whole cooking grate, pork and all to accomplish this. Do this quickly to prevent the pork from cooling too much and adding considerable time to your cooking.

Meanwhile, combine the vinegar and apple juice. Once you hit the 3 hour mark, brush the meat every half hour with this mixture, making more if necessary. Continue adding charcoal, at the same intervals throughout the cooking process. We are looking to maintain an approximate temperature of about 225-230°F throughout the cooking process. Keep adding the wood chips when you add new charcoal. Once the wood chips are gone don’t worry abou them anymore, the pork has probably taken in all the smoke flavor it’s going to anyway.

After about 5 hours start checking the temperature each time you add new charcoal or mop the meat with vinegar mixture. You are looking to pull the meat at about 190°F. This may seem awfully high, especially if you are used to cooking steaks and eating them MR to medium, but this temperature is important for a nice and tender product and don’t worry, with the amount of fat and connective tissue in this cut of meat it will still be plenty moist. A quick warning though, at about 180°F you might run into a problem with what some people refer to as the “stall” or “plateau” were the temperature refuses to climb. It is a waiting game, but the temperature will eventually start to rise again. If you seem to have a problem with an exceptionally long stall (over an hour) try adding an extra 5-10 briquettes the next time your replenish your heat.

Once the meat hits 190°F remove from the grill, cover loosely in foil and allow to sit for 15 minutes, at least. Once the meat is just barely cool enough to handle start pulling and shredding the meat by hand. If cooked properly this task can be done almost completely by hand, though you may need to use a knife to chop a bit of the innermost meat.

Serve however you like and with whatever sauce you choose, but I’m partial to the way they serve it in North Carolina, on a big, soft, white bun drizzled with a North Carolina style barbecue sauce.

North Carolina BBQ Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Combine all ingredients. in a nonreactive saucepot, bring to a boil, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

This sauce may seem rather sour compared to the sauces that most people are used to, but it’s a great sauce for pulled pork as it cuts through the richness of the fat laden meat. Just remember, you don’t need to dump it on like regular barbecue sauce. It just takes a good drizzle over the meat.

So I decided to sit down and write this post while my 3 year old daughter is in the bathtub. Big mistake. My office is right across the hallway from the bathroom and I leave the doors open so that I can keep an eye on her while I work. Unfortunately, she is a lot more interesting than anything I can think of to say, so I sit listening to her, trying to come up with something…anything to say, but each time I come up with some great culinary insight to impart, my thoughts are scattered as my daughter comes up with another classic one liner. Right now it is an argument between Ariel (the Little Mermaid for those of you not in the know) and her father, King Triton, with Genevieve playing both parts. Earlier it was a soliloquy about how bad Daddy is for forcing her to take a bath before having a snack, with something muttered, in there about, calling the police on me. Yes, I am a mean, mean Daddy. But it looks like I’m not going to get much writing done tonight, so I might as well give up trying.

As part of my resolution to try and start eating a little healthier, I’ve started looking for ways to cook up vegetables that make them taste less “vegetably.” Yes, I know that’s not a word, call it creative license (again, hard to think when the kid is now singing at the top of her lungs, at least she can carry a tune half way decently, for a 3 year old). It’s not that I don’t like vegetables, they’re just not my favorite things in the world, in general, though I do have a few favorites.

This recipe combines 2 of my favorite vegetables, tomatoes and cauliflower, and seasons them with spices from one of my favorite cuisines-Indian. This flavorful dish makes a great accompaniment to most any main dish or would make a great addition to a vegetarian platter.

Tomato Braised Cauliflower Curry
3 each dried red chile peppers (I used Tien Tsin peppers)
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, whole
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, quartered lengthwise and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp. curry powder
2 cans (14.5oz. each) diced tomato
1 head cauliflower, cut into flowerettes

Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the chile peppers and cumin seeds. Saute, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute or until the seeds start to brown and release their aroma.

Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until onions have softened. Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add in the 2 cans of tomatoes, simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the cauliflower. Stir, cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 -20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure that the cauliflower is covered in the spicy liquid.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.