I love cauliflower as well. One of my favorite preaprations is the Indian way where the cauliflower is Gobi Sabzi - Where the cauliflower is steamed in tomato masala, spiced with garam masala then served sprinkled with lemon and coriander. Deliscious!
I agree. Sometimes Alton makes me angry though, like when he was talking about using ketchup in Bolognaise sauce. LOL. I do love his show though!
I think that the new direction of FN is about opening up cans and boxes. LOL.
Having Celiac Disease, I’m stuck with quinoa, small amount of white rice or better yet, brown rice. Barley I can’t have. It would be nice in your recipes to offer more than one ingredient that would work. (Even the almond flour that works so well for some people–I can’t eat tree nuts, so use a lot of buckwheat flour, etc.) I know it would be a lot of extra trouble to list more than one ingredient for the recipes since you’d have to write out how they would differ in cooking, but Celiac is so common with diabetics that it would be useful to us.
Oka cheese sounds delicious.
I use a lot of sauces also & many with wine, too. My husband teases–what’s tonight’s sauce? Your cheese steak sounds fabulous!
Have you ever made fried whole spinach leaves? They’re the most beautiful emerald green & melt in your mouth. Had them years ago at Nobu & took me a lot of experimenting to get them right. Food should look beautiful.
I make cauliflower similar to yours & adore Indian food. Wish spices didn’t have so many carbs.
Good ideas! I actually tried quinoa a couple times when it first started being talked about in California, because I felt I should like it, and I can’t stand the taste of it. But I will definitely take up your suggestion of organic barley for risotto; I pass the risotto recipes in my cookbooks and sigh. Berkeley Bowl has rows of barrels of grains, beans, lentils, etc. It’s a culinary adventure just to shop there.
I think what you are saying about people buying premade because they don’t have knowledge of how to make real foods is especially true for vegetarians. I’ve cooked all my life and when I realized I needed to cut carbs I was at a loss as to what to eat without pasta and rice dishes. I know your focus isn’t vegetarian (most young chefs aren’t these days), but if you would like a vegetarian section or a few recipes I’d be glad to share my doctored recipes with carb counts, etc.
@Trudy - So noted. When I was studying in school, Celiac was a big concern. I can see how that can be incorporated. I think the celiac diet can benefit a diabetic, because the grains that they can have (aside from rice) are better for low carb.
Oh yah, I used to do a Malabar shrimp dish where the garnish was deep fried spinach leaves. A VERY popular dish.
When you are speaking of carbs for spices, I find that whole spices are fine, as long as you grind them yourselves. I never trust those that are pre-ground. I could be wring though.
@Sunny - I hear you there. I am not sure what is available at the Local Walmart (because the Walmarts around us here in Canada only have canned food, dingdongs and other really bad food.)
I know all about the Hubby situation. My wife is exactly the same way!
The worst food I’ve ever tasted are low carb mixes. Nasty stuff!
What oil did you use for fried spinach leaves?
Except for nutmeg, I don’t grind spices. Buy organic herbs & spices in small quantities from bulk at the local health food store. They don’t have many in whole form. I live in a small town. I look up the carb counts for spices, so it shouldn’t make a difference if they’re if they’re freshly ground or not. The first time I added up the carbs in spices I was using, I was stunned. Herbs don’t have many, of course.
Cool, WDC! It is a challenge, especially combined with diabetes. I’m so lucky I have the time to devote to exploring and trying recipes, and the access to varied ingredients. Lots of people think of vegetarian as either just the side dishes to meat meals, or the old-school ideas of tofu and soy products. There is so much more to it. I had a friend who said “vegetarian can’t be gourmet food” and I gave him Greens cookbooks to start with.
What’s exotic? Anything I can’t get at my local grocery store (Safeway) or club store (Costco).
I live in Hawaii, so pretty much everything has to be shipped in except for salad greens, tomatoes and Thai melon.
You’re welcome. Am surprised more people don’t seem to know about it.
Yes, I agree. Snacks and deserts are particular pitfalls.
Take a look at what Mark Bittman (NYT - The Minimalist) has done with his How to Cook series of books. He draws on a (large) database of recipes but repeats a lot of information on technique and ingredients. He’s repackaged this info as a generic all-around cookbook, a vegetarian cookbook, and a basics cookbook.
I agree with “Most of us aren’t willing to spend $30 or more on a book with only 2-3 recipes we’d use.” That’s why I borrow a lot of cookbooks from the library and why I search online.
Are you thinking of a traditional printed cookbook? or an online one?
Jim, I keep up with Good Eats when ever I get the chance. Its cooking with an engineer. I love it. Thanks for the tip about him and low carb. I had no idea that was why he lost the weight he did. Hopefully we will see something out from him in regards.
Youtube links to his diet show “Live and let Diet” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2gaQ0IoIfU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5Wrbl89YA&feature=related