Book of Yum

The other day I was reading my friend Kelly’s blog over at Spunky Coconut and I came across this tasty sounding Oven Omelet with Sweet Potato Crust recipe. I’ve seen savory pies with potato crusts before, but a sweet potato crust was new to me.

And then I was harvesting from our summer garden and found myself with a gorgeous pile of heirloom carrots, including the vibrant “Dragon” variety with a purple exterior and orange interior. Its skin is so beautiful I hate to peel it.
Here’s the DH surveying our garden beds while Toddler Yum contemplates watering the dirt with a hose. As I looked at that pile of vegetables, I was somehow reminded of Kelly’s recipe. When I was on an allergen-friendly diet, I found that carrots can be used in some applications as a substitute for both potatoes and sweet potatoes. I enjoyed carrot fries more times than I can count. But in this case, I thought I could use them instead of sweet potatoes as a kind of crust. I wasn’t in the mood for omelet, so I took a page from our life in Japan, where gratin is a very popular dish at family restaurants, and made a kind of carrot-crust gratin. I made one version that was dairy-rich for the DH, who never met a dairy product he didn’t like, and another version that was vegan for my dairy-sensitive mother. Both were delicious and I’d make either one again.

Roasted Carrot and Cauliflower Gratin (dairy-free, vegan) Main Course  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1/2 to 3/4 head of heirloom cauliflower (I like green), sliced into 1/4 inch slices as flat as you can make them (enough for one layer of cauliflower in your gratin pans or ramekins) 1 lb. of heirloom multicolored carrots, peeled and sliced on horizontal into 1/4 in. slices* olive oil salt, pepper 1 small onion, diced 1 tsp. toasted onion powder or garlic powder 2 tbsp. vegan margarine or olive oil 1 or 2 tbsp. sorghum flour 2 to 3 cups unsweetened plain almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk) 2 tbsp nutritional yeast Slivered raw almonds and almond meal for topping paprika salt pepper 4 to 6 gratin pans or medium ramekins (4 inch wide or larger) Directions Preheat oven to 425F. Lay carrots in a single layer on a dark baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, using fingers or basting brush to distribute the oil evenly over the surface of the cauliflower. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Put in the oven for 10-15 minutes and prepare the cauliflower, putting the cauliflower slices on a small baking sheet (that will fit in the oven with your other baking sheet), baste with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in the oven. Roast both veggies until crisp tender. You may wish to the veggies over halfway through the roasting time, or when they start to brown or turn color. Check on the veggies every 10-15 minutes and remove from oven when done to your taste. I believe the carrots took around 30 minutes and the cauliflower was more like 15-20 in my oven. While the veggies are roasting, heat a sauce pan on medium and melt your margarine or heat your olive oil. Throw in your diced onion and saute until translucent. Add you sorghum flour,nutritional yeast and onion or garlic powder and stir it into the butter. Whisk in non-dairy milk, one half cup at a time, letting the mixture thicken slightly before adding more non-dairy milk. When you have two cups of non-dairy milk thickened, evaluate. Do you think this will be enough sauce for your gratin pans? If not, add up to one more cup of non-dairy milk and thicken as before. Season with salt and pepper to taste. To prepare, turn oven down to 375F and get out your gratin pans or ramekins. You have two options. You can either create a carrot “crust” by placing a layer of roasted carrots on the bottom and around the sides, or you can simply create a carrot layer on the bottom. I tried both. The crust was a more attractive presentation, but the layer gave me the proportion of carrot flavor to cauliflower that I preferred. You will use more carrots with a crust and less with a layer. If you have any leftover roasted carrot slices (or cauliflower!), they make a delicious snack and pack well in lunches. Cover your carrot layer (or crust*) with a layer of your prepared dairy-free white sauce and pop in the oven to cook for 10 minutes or so. You want the flavors to blend and your carrots to cook a bit more. Remove gratin pans from the oven and add a layer of your roasted cauliflower. Spoon over your final layer of dairy-free white sauce, top with crumbled slivered raw almonds and almond meal if desired and season with paprika and pepper. Place in oven and bake until top is lightly golden brown, to your preference. Enjoy!

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1571 Added:  October 12, 2011 Last Modified:  October 12, 2011

Roasted Carrot and Cauliflower gratin (dairy) Main Course  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1/2 to 3/4 head of heirloom cauliflower (I like green), sliced into 1/4 inch slices as flat as you can make them (enough for one layer of cauliflower in your gratin pans or ramekins) 1 lb. of heirloom multicolored carrots, peeled and sliced on horizontal into 1/4 in. slices* olive oil salt, pepper 1 small onion, diced 2 tbsp. butter 1 or 2 tbsp. sorghum flour 2 to 3 cups milk 1/2 cup shredded asiago, or more to taste paprika pepper additional shredded asiago for topping 4 to 6 gratin pans or medium ramekins (4 inch wide or larger) Directions Preheat oven to 425F. Lay carrots in a single layer on a dark baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, using fingers or basting brush to distribute the oil evenly over the surface of the cauliflower. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Put in the oven for 10-15 minutes and prepare the cauliflower, putting the cauliflower slices on a small baking sheet (that will fit in the oven with your other baking sheet), baste with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in the oven. Roast both veggies until crisp tender. You may wish to the veggies over halfway through the roasting time, or when they start to brown or turn color. Check on the veggies every 10-15 minutes and remove from oven when done to your taste. I believe the carrots took around 30 minutes and the cauliflower was more like 15-20 in my oven. While the veggies are roasting, heat a sauce pan on medium and melt your butter. Throw in your diced onion and saute until translucent. Add you sorghum flour and stir it into the butter. Whisk in milk, one half cup at a time, letting the mixture thicken slightly before adding more milk. When you have two cups of milk thickened, evaluate. Do you think this will be enough sauce for your gratin pans? If not, add up to one more cup of milk and thicken as before. Add your shredded asiago cheese and turn off the heat, stirring in the cheese and letting it melt into the sauce. To prepare, turn oven down to 375F and get out your gratin pans or ramekins. You have two options. You can either create a carrot “crust” by placing a layer of roasted carrots on the bottom and around the sides, or you can simply create a carrot layer on the bottom. I tried both. The crust was a more attractive presentation, but the layer gave me the proportion of carrot flavor to cauliflower that I preferred. You will use more carrots with a crust and less with a layer. If you have any leftover roasted carrot slices (or cauliflower!), they make a delicious snack and pack well in lunches. Cover your carrot layer (or crust*) with a layer of your prepared white sauce and pop in the oven to cook for 10 minutes or so. You want the flavors to blend and your carrots to cook a bit more. Remove gratin pans from the oven and add a layer of your roasted cauliflower. Spoon over your final layer of white sauce, top with additional cheese if desired and season with paprika and pepper. Place in oven and bake until top is lightly golden brown, to your preference. Enjoy! Notes *If making carrot crust, only put white sauce over the bottom of the crust, leaving the sides of your crust bare.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1570 Added:  October 10, 2011 Last Modified:  October 12, 2011

The DH and I have always dreamed of having our own garden. It is a bit hard to do when you live in an apartment, and the only access you have to the great outdoors is on your balcony. Nevertheless, we managed to grow a few tomatoes and basil plants, and were happier because of it. When we bought a house we went a bit wild, and transformed a fourth of our back yard from a neglected underutilized corner to a bustling organic gardening paradise, complete with homemade redwood planters. Once we had the planters, we had to put something in them. We chose a wild assortment of the most exotic things we could think of- purple bush beans, dragon carrots, candy radishes, purple tomatillos, and a ton of squash and gorgeous heirloom potatoes. Ok, squash isn’t usually exotic, but it has a certain appeal to lifetime apartment dwellers because it is not generally something that you can grow on a balcony. (Amazing container gardening magic aside.) The plants were in, the DH put in a drip watering system, and then we waited for the bounty to come rolling in. And roll in it did, with pattypan squash seemingly bursting into existence on the vine right along with fourth of July fireworks.
This gave me pause. I had the basics of organic gardening thanks to reading and a class at Love Apple Farm, but one thing I hadn’t researched was when to harvest my beauties. When was I supposed to take the pattypan off the vine? I wasn’t really sure, but they rapidly grew to an impressive size that I’d never seen at farmer’s market harvest. Why did they pick them when they were so small? I felt rather proud of their size.

Then I went online to research the correct harvesting of pattypan. Whoops. Turns out if you let them get large, supposedly they get rather woody and coarse. I was disheartened but couldn’t believe they could really be that bad. People let zucchini get big, after all. Besides, looking at them gave me an idea. They were such nice, round shapes, and I was reminded of my old traditional eggplant parmesan recipe. They would be the perfect size for a personal pizza un-crust. So, I dipped them in a spiced oil and vinegar marinade and put them on the grill to soften them and add flavor. Then I topped them with a really good pizza sauce and cheese. For my dairy-free Mother, I made a few with Daiya cheese instead. The cheese melted and got all bubbly and delicious, and when I got a bite, I didn’t miss a grain crust at all! They were delicious, and the “hard” rind added structure and texture to the crust but the soft squash interior was still soft and delicious. I did notice that the larger they got, the larger their seeds were, and the center of the round was a bit softer than the rest. It could still hold up to a pizza topping, though, and was easy to eat with a fork, although I wouldn’t try to eat it with my hands just because it is a bit messier than a regular pizza.

I’ve been experimenting with my other giant pattypan and have found that they taste just as good as the littler ones. I like a sturdier squash anyway, and one of my biggest complaints over (bad) zucchini or yellow squash recipes is when they get mushy. It is hard to make these giant pattypan mushy, and they take on flavor and are just delicious sauteed in oil. I did prefer to peel them for sauteed applications as otherwise the rind is hard to eat. It reminds me of kabocha squash, actually.

So, if like me you have monster pattypan growing out of control in your garden- take heart! You can still enjoy them, in a fun way generally only possible when you have a home garden or belong to a garden co-op. You could also try mini pattypan pizzas with farmer market or supermarket babies. In that case, you would probably have to simply slice them in half and take care not to overcook them. They should be just as delicious either way!

Other Pattypan Recipes:
Fried Pattypan Squash Recipe
Pattypan Squash Recipe
Stuffed Pattypan Squash Recipe
Herbed Pattypan Squash Medley Recipe
Simple Pattypan Squash Recipe
Vegan Stuffed Pattypan Squash Recipe

Other innovative recipes using squash as a “crust”:
Butternut Squash Crust Quiche Recipe

Shared with Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Seasonal Sunday

Pattypan Crust-less Pizza Recipe Main Course  Vegetables  American

Ingredients Mutant, overgrown pattypan squash (5 or more inches diameter) Marinade: Olive oil dash of white balsamic vinegar (brown is fine but will discolor your “pizza” crust) your favorite multi-herb blend seasoning (italian or other) salt (if not included in above herb blend) Topping: High Quality Pizza Sauce such as Muir Glen Organic Grated mozzarella OR Daiya equivalent for dairy-free, vegan Fresh basil for garnish Directions Slice your monster Pattypan beasts into 1/2 inch thick slices appropriate for mini-pizzas. Whisk oil, vinegar, spices and salt together in a pie tin or other medium-sized dish with sides. Keep in mind that pattypan are like eggplant. They are greedy little sponges for oil. Make more than you think you need. Dip both sides pattypan slices in seasoned oil and reserve on a large plate. Heat your grill or grill pan to a high searing temperature. Lightly shake off any excess oil from your pattypan slices and place them on your grill. Sear and then lower temperature to medium. Let slices soften, and then turn to sear and cook the other side. You want your pattypan tender but not mushy. You have two options for the pizza preparation if you are using a grill. You can either place your topping on top of your seared pattypan crust in the grill, close the lid and allow the heat to melt the cheese, or you can reserve your slices and heat the topping in the broiler of your oven. The latter option will result in more browning, so I found I preferred to use the broiler. For broiler option, place pattypan slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler on high. Remove when cheese is melted and has browned. You can use Daiya cheese as a dairy-free alternative, but it will not brown in the same way so just remove when melted.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1564 Added:  July 26, 2011 Last Modified:  July 26, 2011