I am a part of the experiment:)

So I finally am part of the recipe experiment.  I cooked for the first time with tomatillos.  I am excited to try new ingredients.  The mock Cafe Rio dressing I made turned out great.  It was a little runny (any ideas how to thicken the dressing without changing the flavor?)  Scott thought it was a little spicier than Cafe Rios. I only put one jalapeno when it called for 2.  I thought tamatillos were sticky and seemed like a weird, not ripe tomato!  I look forward to the next challenge.

pureed cauliflower?

Quick note - last night Ryan and I made a cauliflower puree that was DELICIOUS! I realized we have all had cauliflower before, but the only reason why I bring it up now is because I figured out that the familiar flavor of the rutabaga was cauliflower. try it and tell me if you agree:)

We also tried the tomatillo in a salad dressing that was supposed to be the Cafe Rio dressing. It was good - but since we tried it before the tomatillo was announced I am choosing to try another recipe feature the tomatillo instead of just a side note.

I loves me some La Victoria Green Sauce

We made fish tacos for dinner tonight. I made a nice avocado lime sauce for the fish tacos, but picked up a pound of tomatillo as well.

I roasted the tomatillo whole with 1 onion and 3/4 of a pablano pepper. All of that went into the blender with the remaining fresh pablano, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 cloves garlic, and 1/2 cup unchopped cilantro. It is great!!!!!

It went great with the tacos, as well as the black beans. It is sweet and tart. Sara says 'it seems to balance everything she ate that had some.'

I was in a rush, so no pictures in process, but here is the finished product. It is not as bright as fresh, but turned out great. Also, you can see the seeds, but you don't notice them while you eat.

How are tomatillos like cookies?

Once upon a time, I was making cookies (by my choice or mom's, I don't remember). I misread the recipe and instead of 1.5 teaspoons of salt, I added 1.5 tablespoons. It gets better. I was making a triple recipe. So I actually put in 4.5 tablespoons of salt. That means 9x the original recipe. And yes, the big metal bowl for the bosch can handle it, but barely.

It wasn't as bad with my first go at a Tomatillo sauce. But I didn't realize I had too much salt until the very end. I added tomato and put in a peeled potato to absorb salt. The next day I added more tomatillo after a trip to the store. Ultimately, it was a good sauce, and made for great enchiladas (with corn tortilla, they were almost more like a tamale pie).


Holding to tradition, Sara and I tried some raw tomatillo. It was very tart. We roasted one and it got much sweeter, but still tart. The rest of that bunch stayed raw in the salsa. I will post the recipe if someone asks, but it was pretty generic, and we never quite got it made. This picture shows the roasted Anaheim peppers with the roasted tomatillo.

After I added the tomato, I threw in the roasted red pepper as well. I was anxious to try it that night so I layered some corn tortillas with cheddar and heated it in a skillet with the salsa. I topped it with some 'Baltic Farmers Cheese' which I was hoping would be like Queso Fresca. It is nice and mild, but very dry and crumbly. We've liked it as a topper, but it is a bit pricey and does not melt.

You can see both the sauce finished but too salty and then after I added the pepper and tomato and made an enchilada.

one rutabaga two ways

After trying mom's rutabaga cake, I wanted to experience rutabaga in it's raw natural flavor. But because of Brian & Sara's entry, I decided raw was not a good idea. But I would follow their example of roasting. I also wanted to see if the flavor of rutabaga could stand out if mixed with potatoes.

Rutabaga fries---DELICIOUS. After slicing into fry's I coated with olive oil and S&P I roasted at 450 for 20-25 minutes.

Rutabage mash---could be improved. The rutabaga takes much longer to soften then potatoes so it was a little chunky. I could easily pick out the rutabaga.

I have not been able to pin point the flavor of rutabaga, but think there is a slight hint of pepper.

Introducing the February Ingredient

I've seen countless shows that used it, and I have eaten it in sauces at restaurants, but have never purchased it-- until today. I debated between eggplant and tomatillo, and settled on the tomatillo---

The tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica) is a plant of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, related to tomatoes, bearing small, spherical and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos, referred to as green tomato (Spanish: tomate verde) in Mexico, are a staple in Mexican cuisine. Tomatillos are grown througout the Western Hemisphere.

I hope everyone is able to find these. It seems like I've seen them regularly across the country.

We'll remember to take pictures as we use them.

February Ingredient

So, I am trying to figure out what the ingredient for February should be, since Andrea disqualified (appropriately) Quinoa. I thought about duck, but decided I am not really that interested in it. I was going to do Cornish Game Hen, but then found out they are really just small chickens. I will make a trip to the store this weekend, make a purchase and announce on Saturday what the new ingredient will be.

Rutabaga ala Mode

Okay so there is no ice cream, but there is a lemon butter icing. Since Mom is not set up to blog herself, I have posted for her. Mom selected cake as her vehicle to try rutabaga. Mom felt it tasted like a mild spice cake without much flavor. She felt the frosting was to strong and would have liked to taste the cake without the frosting.





Ontario Rutabaga Spice Cake
1/2 C shortening
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 C cooked mashed rutabaga
2 1/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda
1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 tsp baking powder

Cream shortening. Add sugar gradually and cream well. Add eggs, beating well. Add rutabaga and mix well. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix well.

Bake in a tall 5 to 6 jelly mold at 350 degrees for 70 to 75 minutes. Let cake cool in mold for 10 minutes on cake rake. Invert to unmold. Serve with lemon butter icing.


Lemon Butter Icing
1/3 C soft butter
3 C confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Blend butter and sugar; stir in lemon juice and peel. Beat until smooth and spreadable. Mom add more lemon juice to make it spreadable.

Ohio Rutabaga

We did not think about pictures, but we will try to remember that for next time.

Sara picked up a Rutabaga at Kroger. Our local produce only store did not have them. This one was imported from Canada and cost us .69/lb. It was the size of a softball and weighed about 2lbs. This one had a very thick coating of wax. Coloration is yellow-- like Edam Cheese.

Sara had a roast in the crock pot, so put together a tray of vegetables to dry roast (this has become one of our favorite ways to do veggies). The potatoes were cut into large wedges, the carrots into strips, and the 1/4 of a rutabaga (1/2 lb) was peeled and diced into 1.5 in squares. Everything roasted for an hour at 425degrees. The rutabaga was perfect and the orange was more pronounced. The carrots and taters were good too.

Everyone tried it. James really liked it, and thought it tasted like Sweet Potatoes. Scot didn't like it as much, but ate his bite. Sara thought it was good, and thinks that roasting helped to sweeten it. I think it is earthy, and liked it, but couldn't quite place the flavor. I think it would be a nice contrast to sweet potato because it was a little more bitter (to my tongue.)

We sliced off a piece and cut it into strips that would be good for a veggie tray. The kids did not like that. It was very firm, so nice and crunchy, but more like eating raw russet- not alot of flavor.

I think we would try it again to bring variety in, and we'll consider it as a fall harvest crop for the garden- though the wax coating makes me think it may not last too long on its own.