Creative
Cooking
Cooking has been creative from time
immemorial. The first woman who dropped a wild onion or some wild garlic in her
stew pot over the campfire at the mouth of a cave was discovering creative
cooking. Similarly, the first guy who discovered that the mammoth slab roasted
over a smoky hickory fire tasted better than a fire built from pine branches was
onto creative cooking. So, everyone who combines good things in a pot or a
skillet with the aim of something delicious performs a creative act.
While it is easy to be creative in
your kitchen in the summer when local produce abounds from the garden or
markets, late winter can be a challenge. It has been particularly so this year,
since spring seems to have neglected noticing the passage of March and April,
for its annual appointment with Maine. Fresh local asparagus and fiddleheads
are still only a dream. While I did start some lettuce seeds in the house close
to a month ago, the pot of them on the warmest spot on our patio currently
would not even tempt a hungry rabbit. Utterly disappointing!
Fortunately there still seems to be
plenty of broccoli in the stores so it is possible to creatively expand some of
the old recipes for these as salads and side dishes. I was recently asked about how I come up with
new recipes? The simple answer is I look in the refrigerator and the pantry and
think of possible flavors that would complement what is on hand and then
proceed to combine the ingredients with methods consistent with what I have
tried in previous recipes. Fortunately this method has worked most of the time
with additional taste tests incorporated in the process. And failures also
teach you - never do that again!
The bright green hue of broccoli is
easily contrasted by the intensity of color of Mandarin oranges and the
combined fresh flavor gives a salad a spring like lift.
Oriental
broccoli – orange salad.
Toast 2-3 Tblsp. sesame seeds in a
pan over medium heat with stirring for a few minutes and set aside. In a large
bowl mix the dressing: 2 Tblsp. honey, 2 Tblsp. flavored rice vinegar, 2 Tblp.
Soy sauce, 2 Tblsp. sesame oil, ½ tsp. powdered ginger (optional). Separate and
steam the flowerets from 3 large heads of broccoli stalks for 3 minutes (or
blanch as described for the gratin recipe and separate the flowerets after),
cool slightly and toss with ½ of the sesame seeds and the dressing in a large
bowl. Let stand for 1-2 hours at room temperature and stir in ¾ cups of drained
Mandarin orange slices. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the rest
of sesame seeds and some slivered almonds (optional).
Broccoli-Cauliflower
Gratin
Rinse and trim 6 stalks of broccoli leaving an inch of stem
with the crowns. Place the broccoli stems down in an inch of boiling salted
water for 2-3 minutes. Remove to cool. Repeat the process for 3 minutes using
about ¼ of a medium head of cauliflower. Sauté ½ of a red pepper cut in thin
strips in 2 tsp. butter for 5 minutes. Fry or microwave 4 strips of bacon to
near crisp. Assemble the dish in a 13x9x2 inch dish sprayed with baking spray.
Start with overlapping slices of the cooked cauliflower down the long center of
the dish. Flank the space on both sides with 1 inch size of broccoli florets,
packing them fairly tightly. Insert the pepper strips along the sides and the
center. Distribute slivers from 4 Tblsp. butter on the top , sprinkle with 1
cup freshly grated Pecorino/Romano cheese and coarsely crumbled bacon. Bake in
a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes until the broccoli and the cheese start to
brown very slightly.
Let us fervently hope those April showers do actually bring May flowers!
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in
Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00
a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
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