Fall has fell...

Yay!  I don't need to pretend any more!  Fall is here!  Living where I do (Tacoma/Seattle area) many years we need to pretend it is summer.  We gamely wear our shorts and shortsleeved shirts while secretly freezing and wishing we could put on a purple and gold Husky Sweatshirt (University of Washington, for the uninitiated).  We bear the rain and use the grill while someone holds up a golf unbrella.  But it is September now so I don't need to tell myself it is warm enough to wear my capri pants.  I can hide my flabby arms under long sleeves.  Yay!

And with fall comes my favorite time of year to cook.  The fall vegetables are in, like squashes of every kind and the end of the corn season.  Eggplants and tomatoes and zucchini and garlic... oh yes.  I can make soups and stews and cook them a long time in my slow cooker.  My idea of fall food is spicy and warm, filling and satisfying.

My first instinct is to serve a lot of these stews and fricasees and whatnot over rice.  I always like to have something to soak up all the good juices.  Bread is important, too, excellent for dipping and sopping up extra sauce.  So I am in a quandry.  I eat neither rice nor bread.  I took a bunch of different ideas and devised my own recipe for short ribs which develops an amazing sauce.  Do I serve it in a bowl or just let the juice spread out all over the plate?  Do I lift the plate and slurp it that way?  No, it would end up all down the front of me, not to mention, it would be a terrible example for my daughter.  What to do?

I was saved by my sister.  We were talking about that very thing last weekend.  She has gone on a Paleo type eating regimen that disallows most carbs and dairy so she is in the same boat.  She found a recipe for "cauliflower rice."  Basically, you chop up cauliflower really fine then saute it in a pan with a little olive oil.  It is a blank canvas.  You could add all kinds of flavors: sesame oil for Asian, curry powder, parmesan cheese.  It could be a foil for all your stew or braise type recipes.  My daughter sucked it up without any prompting (amazing) but my husband was freaked out by the texture.  That's okay though... more for us!

Short Ribs
Serves 4

2.5 lbs short ribs (not flanken cut)
Olive oil
Olive oil spray
1 large onion, chopped into 1" chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
3 TB red wine vinegar
1 cup dry, red wine
1 14oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
Cauliflower "Rice"

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a tsp or two of olive oil in a oven-proof dutch oven over medium high heat.  Sear all 3 meat sides of the short ribs until they are crusty and brown.  Remove the ribs to a plate.  Pour off all the fat from the dutch oven, leaving nothing but some brown bits in the bottom.  Spray some olive oil spray onto the bottom to grease it up just a little bit before dumping in the chopped onion.  Toss those around until they turn translucent.  Dump in the carrots, garlic and herbs.  Continue to toss them around until the carrots are just barely starting to soften and the brown bits have come up off the bottom of the pan.

Pour in the vinegar.  Toss around until all the vegetables are covered and the vinegar is almost evaporated.  Pour in the red wine.  Simmer for 5 minutes until the wine reduces a little  Pour in the tomatoes, incorporating all the ingredients.  Put the short ribs and accumulated juices back into the dutch oven.  Cover and place in the oven.  Check it after 2 hours.  The meat should be meltingly tender and falling off the bones.

This part is optional.  I made the short ribs early in the day.  After it was done in the oven I left it to cool.  After it got to almost room temperature, I lifted the meat and vegetables into a bowl, covered and refrigerated it.  I poured the sauce into a separate bowl and refrigerated that, too.  Before reheating, I was able to lift the fat from the top of the sauce, as short ribs are pretty fatty.  I find it hard to lift the fat off when it is still hot.  If you are worried about extra fat, you might consider this method.

Serve over cauliflower "rice."

Caufiflower Rice
Recipe from Paleo Plan
Serves 4 (I also used half the oil than in the original recipe)

1 head cauliflower
1 Tbs coconut or olive oil
Sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, garlic or freshly ground black pepper(optional seasonings)

Place the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until it has a grainy rice-like consistency. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Saute the cauliflower in a medium hot saute pan with oil and any additional seasonings desired (sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, or just freshly ground black pepper).

Couldn't be easier, more delicious or make a better base for my fall food!

I'm all about the flavor today...

You know, sometimes you just have to forget about any dietary restrictions and just think about the food. It just so happens that on this day I thought about the food, the flavor, the fullness factor and not the carbohydrates... and it just so happens that I came up with a very low carb meal. And it was damned delicious. So there.

Two days ago my husband (who trends towards the fatty, the salty, the processed) said he bought a carton of cioppino from a local gourmet grocery store. He was "jonesing seafood," he said. This is coming from the man who also made himself a "formed, pressed turkey roll" for dinner last night. I should trust his opinion?

Anyway, his comment about cioppino got me thinking... and jonesing. What is not to love about a good cioppino? It is made from a flavorful, spicy tomato broth enhanced with a variety of available seafood... clams, mussels, shrimp, crab, white fish, whatever looks good.

Supposedly, cioppino was invented by fishermen originally from Portugal, Italy, France and/or Spain who made their homes in San Francisco. Suffice it to say it is an American dish with Mediterranean accents. It has the herbs and the tomatoes and the seafood... it could fit in almost anywhere surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. I have always loved it and it is my gauge for restaurants around here (and I live in the Tacoma/Seattle area so I know my seafood). If their cioppino (or equivalent) is good... then they probably know their seafood. This is my recipe... inspiration taken from a bunch of recipes and my own tastes. The recipe is a LOT easier than it looks and after all, it is all about the flavor...

Cathy's Cioppino
Serve 4-6

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 fennel (or anise) bulb, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, according to taste
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried summer savory
(or 1 TB dried Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence for the rosemary, oregano and savory)
1 cup dry white wine
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1 6oz bottle clam juice
3 cups (or more) low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
Seafood of choice... here's where it gets weird. You can mix and match and add or subtract as you wish. Listed are my choices:
4 fillets of white fish, cod or tilapia or halibut, cut into bite sized chunks
1 lb. fresh manila clams, rinsed REALLY well
1 lbs shrimp; clean, deveined, tail left on
Small handful of fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large soup pot until a flick of water skitters across the surface. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and the chopped fennel. Saute until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Add the garlic, the red pepper flakes and the other dried herbs. Saute another 5 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.

Pour in the white wine. Scrape the bottom to release any delicious brown bits that might have formed on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine does not have any more alcohol smell and is almost evaporated. Add in the cans of tomatoes. Stir and bring back to a simmer. Add the clam juice and the chicken broth. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.

Taste for seasoning... add salt and pepper if necessary.

Add the seafood. Bring back to a low boil then cover and cook for 10 minutes. Check to see if the clam shells have opened and the shrimp shells are pink. Do NOT eat any unopened clams. That would be bad. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.

This is some good stuff. It is all about flavor and spice and local ingredients. I hope you are local to seafood, if you are, you are truly blessed. Mmmm. Good stuff.