Vegan Oil Free Baked Cauliflower with Tahini & Turmeric Sauce/Posen Pechen Karfiol na Voda so Sos od Taan i Turmerik

We are midway the first week of the Paschal lent. I wanted to zhuzh up my baked cauliflower so considering oil is not permitted during the week days, I had a quick look on the net for some inspiration.

There are plenty of cauliflower recipes with tahini dressing. This here is my combination to suit my taste.

Ingredients:

• * 1 cauliflower 
• * 6 table spoons tahini paste (if the oil floats on top stir it and mix it until it becomes pasty again)

• * 1/2 lemon or lime (or more to taste)
• * 1 tea spoon garlic mince
• * 1 tea spoon salt
• * 1/2 tea spoon cracked pepper
• * 1 tea spoon turmeric
• * Boiling water 
• * Chopped parsley 
• * Smoked or Crushed paprika

Preparation:

• * Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• *Wash and drain the cauliflower, shake it to get rid of excess oil.
• * Break the cauliflower in large chunks, sprinkle with salt.
• * Bake in a preheated oven on medium until it blushes slightly.
• * Take it out and let it cool.

• Prepare the dressing:
• * Boil water and set aside.
• * Squeeze the citrus and strain it to get rid of the pips and flesh, place it in a mixing bowl.
• * Add the tahini paste, garlic paste, pepper, salt and turmeric.

• * Start mixing and adding boiling water until you get a smooth, running paste.

• * Break the baked cauliflower into smaller flowerlets and place them in a serving bowl/plate.
• * Drizzle with the dressing (if you wish to have more dressing for dipping, just increase the amounts).

• * Chop up some fresh parsley and sprinkle it over the top.
• * Finish it off with a generous sprinkle of crushed or smoked paprika.

This lovely little dish would be a fantastic entree or side dish for roasts and BBQs.

Baked rather than boiled cauliflower works much better because when baked the cauliflower gets a lovely nutty taste and the texture is soft but not watery.

 

Arroz Con Pollo/Rise and Chicken/Pilesko so Oriz

Last week the food tech assignment that my son had at school was something authentic from Australia; they prepared it at school with the help of the teacher: https://foodspiceandallthingsnice.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/lamingtons/

This week’s assignment is a choice of an ethnic dish; it has to be prepared at home with the help of an adult, documented, served to family members and feedback has to be gathered. They will be graded for preparation, documentation and presentation (bring it on I say, as the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, hehe). He chose a Latino dish that has two main ingredients that are his favorites: chicken and rise. Good choice I might add, as we all enjoyed it. Once again: a proud mum.

During research, he searched the net and found quite a few recipes and some very interesting facts. After reading a fair few of the recipes circulating the net, we put together our version and learned that this dish has its origins in Andalusia, Spain.Food historians say that it dates back to the eighth century when the Moors occupied Spain and influenced all aspects of their living, including their cuisine. The Moors had a particular focus on the southern region of Spain because from there they had access to the coast where they could exchange goods and to Northern Africa from where they imported their spices. From there onwards, Arroz con pollo became a well known Latino dish with particular popularity in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia spreading through to the Caribbean, Mexico and nowadays all over the world.

Ingredients:

2-3 table spoons olive oil
2 brown onions
4 garlic cloves
6 drumsticks with the sticking bone cut off
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
½ teaspoon saffron threads
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 x 400g can diced Italian Roma tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
200g fire-roasted peeled whole peppers
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh continental parsley
1 celery stalk with the leaves on
Salt to taste
Orange peel and olives for decoration

Preparation:

Firstly to make the chicken stock:

Place the drumsticks, 1 halved onion, the whole celery stick and 2 whole garlic cloves in a pot.
Cover them with 1 litre of water.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the drumsticks are soft when pricked with a fork.
Remove and discard the onion, garlic and the celery stick.

Take out the drumsticks and set them aside. Keep the chicken stock.

Rice:

Dice one onion and 2 garlic cloves; dice the grilled peppers; prepare all the spices. Set aside.

Fry the onion and the garlic in a bit of oil until the onion is translucent.

Add the chicken drumsticks and fry until they become golden.

Add all the spices at once and fry until they become fragrant.

Add the rice and stir to coat it well with the spices.

Add the diced tomatoes and fry for about 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups of chicken stock, stir and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes. (If the liquid evaporates and the rice is still not cooked, you can add a bit more chicken stock).

Add the diced peppers and continue to cook until the rice is cooked.

Add the chopped parsley and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Serve hot.