It’s at all times an ideal day after I can say that there’s a new Smitten Kitchen cookbook out on the planet…
I don’t suppose there may be anybody left on the planet who doesn’t know and love Deb Perelman, one of many unique meals bloggers (she began SK in 2006!) and who nails the sorts of recipes that individuals need to each cook dinner and eat. (It’s more durable than it seems!) Her recipes are that uncommon discover: inventive with out being gimmicky. (Bear in mind her Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats?) From reminiscence, I might proper now run by means of a catalog of Smitten Kitchen recipes I’ve trusted for a decade and a half — each candy and savory — and her third cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers, revealed final week, is dedicated to “recipes in your ceaselessly file,” the whole lot from breakfast salads to snacking nuts to family-style desserts to a spaghetti-and-meatballs dinner she suggests because the centerpiece for a Friday night time rituals with pals. Take a peek at what I’m speaking about.
Slumped Parmesan Frittata made fully within the oven (as a substitute of beginning on the stovetop)…
Caramelized Cinnamon French Toast made with “custard-soaked, cinnamon-sugar-dipped baguettes” (good grief!)…
“Turkey Meatloaf for Skeptics” (take a look at that glaze)…
Gluten-free Chocolate Dulce Puddle Cake…
And cocktails and mocktails like Salt and Pepper Limeades. Proper? Don’t you need to make the whole lot you see? Fortunate us, we will begin with this Cauliflower Cheese Baked Potato. I’ll let Deb let you know all about it.
Cauliflower Cheese Baked Potatoes
From Deb: “I feel it’s prison that cauliflower cheese — cauliflower florets draped with a pointy cheddar cheese sauce spiked with a little bit of cayenne, then baked within the oven till bronzed and bubbly — shouldn’t be as a lot of a factor, or actually a factor in any respect, in the USA. I first encountered this delicacy within the U.Okay. a few years in the past and have been doing my finest PR for it since then — with solely reasonable success, judging from restaurant menus. (I even tried to make the argument that it was low-carb mac-and-cheese, however few have been enchanted.) Whereas we’re at it, can we begin calling baked potatoes “jacket potatoes”? It sounds way more dapper, doesn’t it? Right here we cosy these two very hearty and comfortable issues tightly in a baking dish for the form of dead-of-winter consolation meals some days require. Don’t even take a look at this recipe in July — so wealthy, so monochrome — however it makes absolute sense the primary day the puddles freeze. Serves 4 as a principal dish, 8 as a facet.” Excerpted from Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics for Your Perpetually Recordsdata by Deb Perelman.
4 baking potatoes, russet or Idaho (every about 8 ounces)
Olive oil
1 giant (2½-to-3-pound) head cauliflower, minimize into medium florets
Kosher salt, and freshly floor pepper or floor cayenne
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
1 medium leek, white and light-green elements, halved lengthwise, cleaned, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons (1 ounce) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons mustard powder, or ¾ teaspoon easy Dijon mustard
Floor cayenne pepper (non-compulsory)
2 cups milk, entire or low-fat
1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons (about 5½ ounces, whole) grated sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons minced recent chives, for garnish (non-compulsory)
Bitter cream
Bake the potatoes: Warmth the oven to 450°F. Pierce the potatoes throughout with a fork, and rub them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place the potatoes on the oven rack, and bake for 1 hour, or till tender within the middle when pierced with a skewer.
Whereas the potatoes bake, put together the cauliflower: Coat a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the cauliflower florets, and toss to coat. Season nicely with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 to half-hour whole, tossing as soon as, till properly browned on the edges. Let the cauliflower cool whereas the potatoes end.
In the meantime, make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, soften the butter over medium warmth. Add the sliced leek, and cook dinner till softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the flour, and whisk to mix; cook dinner for 1 minute to make sure you do away with the floury style. Add the mustard powder and a pinch of cayenne or few grinds of black pepper, and stir to mix. Drizzle within the milk in a skinny, regular stream, whisking the entire time in order that no lumps type. Season with salt, and convey the combination to a simmer, stirring with a spoon; the sauce ought to start to thicken. Take away from the warmth, and stir in 1¼ cups grated cheddar, a handful at a time, letting every handful soften earlier than including the subsequent. Style the sauce, and regulate seasonings if wanted. Add the roasted cauliflower, and stir till it’s coated with sauce.
Assemble potatoes: As soon as the potatoes are prepared, slice them in half lengthwise, and, utilizing a pot holder, organize them snugly, minimize facet up, in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Season the minimize sides with salt and pepper, and use the tip of a knife to attain them in a grid, slicing ½ to 1 inch into the potato. Spoon the cauliflower cheese sauce over every potato. Sprinkle them with the remaining cheddar, and return them to the oven to cook dinner till the cauliflower topping is browned, 5 to 10 minutes.
To serve: Scatter with chives, if desired. Serve with bitter cream.
P.S. A creamy cauliflower onion gratin and Deb’s magnificence uniform.
