The Eager Eater

It is April 14th...35 degrees...a steady drizzle of rain. My yard is a swamp, and my dogs are going stir crazy. Tomorrow it might snow! This is just not right. We deserve better.

So, we decided to defy the season and have a taste of the tropics inside. The initial inspiration was a post I was reading by the Homesick Texan about the perfect flour tortilla. It got me thinking about tacos (I know...again...I'm kind of obsessed).  I was craving something fresh and spicy.

I started by making those fresh tortillas, which turned out so delicious and chewy. I filled them with grilled shrimp marinated in a Caribbean marinade that I adapted from Dunstan Harris' book Island Barbecue: Spirited Recipes from the Caribbean (adapted means I didn't have some of the ingredients). The shrimp was roughly chopped and topped with a slaw of green cabbage, mango, red pepper and cilantro.  The final touch was a creamy "fish taco" style dressing that included some of the marinade. We dished it up with a side of black beans well fortified with smoky bacon.

I'm telling you what...this meal  brightened this dreary day.  It was one of the tastier things to come out of our kitchen in a while.

Oh...I almost forgot. You can't have a  Caribbean meal without a icy Mojito. I had to make a last minute run to the store for some mint to make that possible.

This will definitely make an appearance again. Hopefully next time I don't have to grill in the rain.

Jerked Shrimp Tacos with Mango Slaw
(serves 4)
8 Fresh Flour Tortillas (find the recipe here)
1 Pound of fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 Cup Jerk marinade
2 cups Mango slaw
1/2 cup dressing

Toss shrimp in 1/4 cup of Jerk marinade and store refrigerated for at least one hour.  Reserve some marinade for the dressing. Grill shrimp until done. Chop shrimp into large pieces.Distribute shrimp evenly between taco shells. Top with slaw and dressing. Serve with a slice of lime.

Jerk Marinade (adapted from Island Barbecue by Dunstan Harris)
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
3 Jalapeños  stems removed, cut in 1/2 retaining seeds
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup Soy sauce
2 Tbls vegetable oil
1 Tbls Salt
Pinch garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Mango Slaw
1 Cup cabbage,finely shredded
1  Mango, peeled and seed removed, julienned
1/4 Cup red pepper, julienned
1 Tbls cilantro finely chopped
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients  and set aside fro at least 1/2 hour.

Dressing
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/8 Cup Milk
1 clove garlic minced
2 Tbls Jerk Marinade
2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients

Cauliflower...Just Cauliflower

I have been reading too many great food blogs lately. And…I admit it. I have coastal envy.

Reading many of the most popular blogs, most of which are based in Seattle, San Francisco, LA, and New York, I can’t help but feel kind of pained when someone shares how they just returned from such-and-such market and picked up beautiful specimens of (enter desirable vegetable here) that they are going to pair with a wonderful loaf of bread purchased from the corner bakery and some perfectly ripe cheese grown in a cave by silicone valley dropouts. When I go to the local grocery store in Dayton, Ohio, I don’t find locally grown much of anything this time of year.

I did, the other day, find some cauliflower. Not from any farm that has a name (other than Dole). Not organic. Just cauliflower.

Living in the Midwest the most common use for cauliflower is often the cruelest: Crudité. At the end of any corporate function, a black plastic catering tray will stand, picked clean, bowl scraped of dill dip, with only cauliflower remaining. Even in this most humiliating of presentations, cauliflower is further disgraced.

Additionally, cauliflower has been done no service by Simplot or Birds Eye frozen "California" blends. This mushy mixture of broccoli, cauliflower and waffle-cut carrots has been forced upon far too many grade school children, invalids, and wedding guests. The name alone is troubling to me (I hope that my idyllic vision of Californians eating organic, heirloom vegetables procured from an appropriately scruffy Berkeley grad can remain intact for the time being).

However, as I have seen testament on many a post, cauliflower can be transformed. Simply roasted with olive oil, lemon and sea salt. Tonight we incorporated the addition of fennel and curry to create a more-than-satisfying side dish. Hey, I could have eaten just this!

Hmm…I wonder what people in San Francisco are eating tonight? I'm sure it is beautiful and unavailable at the local Kroger.

Eric

Roasted Cauliflower with Fennel and Curry

1 Head Cauliflower cut into ¼ inch slices
½ Bulb Fennel cut julienne
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
½ Teaspoon Curry Powder
½ Lemon, juiced
Sea or Kosher Salt to taste
Cracked Black Pepper to taste

 Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss all ingredients together and spread out in baking dish in a single layer to promote carmelization. Roast for approximately 15 minutes until cooked through and well browned. Drizzle with a good olive oil before serving.