Cesar salad

I am not really a vegetarian, I just eat mostly veg, with occasional fish. It is what works for me now, after 10 full years fully vegetarian. Anyway, if you are offended by fish recipes pass this over.

My Man loves Chicken Cesar salad, so it just makes sense that I would some kind of Cesar salad, without chicken. This time, I'm using a Boca Burger for protein, and a dressing very close to the original, so it contains anchovies.

Cesar Salad - Leaves and Dressing for Two

Take 1 head of romaine, slice of the stubby end off, and discard; then proceed to slice across the head into 1/2 inch width slices. Drop sliced lettuce into a sink filled with 2 inches with very cold soapy (veggie wash) water. Swish around and remove the lettuce to the spinny insert of a lettuce spinner, rinse the lettuce again with cold water. Dry the lettuce in the spinner a couple of times until completely dry. Take a little block of Parmesan and use a microplane to shave the Parmesan into the lettuce, make 10 passes over the microplane, then toss the lettuce and repeat another 10 passes. Crack a little black pepper on that, too, to taste.

Dressing
Juice from one half of a lemon
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (I used honey Dijon)
1 egg
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 anchovies
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
15 twists of cracked pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Add the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, egg, garlic, anchovies and cracked pepper to a blender. Blend on low until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. While still blending on low, slowly add the olive oil, blending until it is Incorporated and silky. Done.

Pour on leaves and toss! I covered with a Boca burger sliced in strips and a little diced avocado, I didn't add any croutons, but I didn't have any and was being lazy.

hand made tostadas with black beans and queso fresca

The Food Genius Awoke this morning dreaming of corn tortillas- fresh, soft, hand pressed tortillas cooked on the griddle. Oh yes.
Well, since your humble Food Genius is leaving for Australia in a little more than a week, this was a perfect chance for me to make things from scratch- and use up some items already here in the house.
Since I already had instant masa and dried black beans in the pantry, I decided to go ahead and make a from scratch Mexican meal. I didn't have cheese, but I did have milk and lemons, so I made some farmers cheese.
This was not so difficult as it sounds. Really! Try it, there is nothing like fresh corn tortillas.

Tostadas with Refried Black Beans and Queso Fresca

Refried black beans

2 cups dried black beans (soaked over night)
1 bay leaf
8 cups water
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. baking soda

Put all ingredients together in a heavy bottomed pot and heat on medium high until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are soft. The baking soda helps the beans cook quicker and is also said to reduce gas (so far I find this true).

To refry the black beans- drain your beans and add to a pot heating over medium high heat. Add 1 or 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic and 1 tsp. cumin, plus 1 tsp. hot sauce. Let simmer until thickened.


Tortillas

I had some Quaker instant masa and used the directions on the package to make 12 tortillas. Mix about 2 cups instant masa with 1 1/3 cup warm water and 1/2 tsp. salt. I like to take the dough and roll into a large ball, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. Once the dough is rested, separate into 12 balls about 1 inch thick, keeping covered. Press in tortilla press and cook on a well heated griddle for about 1 minute on each side. Keep warm on a plate covered with a towel.

Queso Fresca

Take about 1/3 gallon low fat milk and 2 cups buttermilk- heat over medium high in a heavy bottomed pot until boiling. Add juice of one lemon to curdle the milk. Line a colander over the sink with cheesecloth and pour your curdled milk into the colander; drain. Stir the curdled milk a bit to let the whey drain. Take all corners of the cheesecloth and pull together and lift up, allowing further draining. Tie with a string and hang for about 30 minutes over the pot, to let all the whey drain out. Unwrap and Viola, a small ball of cheese!

I toasted a couple tortillas in the toaster oven until crispy, and then slathered them with the refried black beans. I then crumbled the queso and sprinkled that on top. I added some thinly sliced romaine and extra hot sauce.

My house smells GOOD right now. Make this!!

The art of brunch

Brunch is a break-from-the-ordinary type of meal. It feels festive especially when sipping on a mimosa. In keeping with our occasional feature on Raleigh eats, we wanted to explore the brunch at the NC Museum of Art. 

The Blue Ridge, the museum restaurant, provides the perfect setting for a leisurely Sunday brunch. The menu is a good mix of breakfast favorites and lunch specials from omelets to salads. The restaurant uses good local ingredients and puts a modern twist on Southern cooking. You know that's what we're all about. 

Coffee or tea and a glass of orange juice are included with meal. Treat yourself to your choice of desserts, too. 

Pictured are the Belgian Waffles made with lemon semolina flour and served with blueberry compote, maple syrup and whipped butter. They were awesome just like everything else I've eaten there. 

Friday January 23 was National Pie Day, to honor the history of pie as part of our American heritage. We at the Modern Southern Kitchen celebrate all things food, and who doesn't love pie? So we rose to the occasion, and created a special Shepard's Pie for your enjoyment.

We created a delectable but crustless Shepard's pie, but we make up for the calorie savings from the missing crust by smothering the veggies in a luscious mushroom gravy. The recipe makes some extra gravy for serving on the side, in case you need a little something to assuage the tingle of the spicy sweet potato topping on your tongue.


Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie
This dish requires several steps, first, boil to potatoes while you chop the vegetables and make the gravy. Sauté the veggies, toss in gravy, assemble and bake.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish.

Sweet potato topping
8 small sweet potatoes
1 tsp. blackening seasoning
1 tsp. herbes de Provence
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp Hot Hungarian paprika (or smoked if you do not like spicy food)
1 Tbsp. butter
12 cracks of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. Garlic Herb Mrs. Dash
1 Tbsp. milk
Boil sweet potatoes in skin until fork tender. Drain and let sit in the colander to cool. Remove skins, discard. Whip sweet potatoes with seasonings and butter and milk until fluffy. Set aside. If you do not like spicy food, replace the hot Hungarian paprika with smoked paprika.

Veggie filling
½ head of cabbage
1 or 2 carrots
6 small turnips
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 once of dried mushrooms, broken into bite size pieces and reconstituted with 2 cups hot water (reserve the water for gravy)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
Chop all veggies into small bite sized pieces. Heat oil in medium sized pot over medium high heat. Drain mushrooms and strain water into a bowl to use later in gravy. Sauté all veggies in oil and Worcestershire sauce for about 10 minutes until becoming soft and wilted. Set veggie filling to the side until you have made the gravy.
Gravy
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup flour
1 cup of reserved mushroom water
1 ½ cups milk
½ tsp. thyme
½ tsp. Hot Hungarian paprika
½ tsp. Herbes de Provence
½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. Mrs. Dash garlic and herb
Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour, let cook for two minutes . Whisk in milk and mushroom water. Add seasonings, bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Toss veggies with half of the gravy. Reserve other half gravy to serve later with the finished dish. Pour veggies into lightly greased casserole dish and top with whipped sweet potatoes. Dot with additional butter if you feel like it. Bake for 45 minutes until top is browned. If top doesn’t brown in 45 minutes and pie is set, broil from the middle rack on high for 2-3 minutes until top is brown and crusty.
Let cool for 10 minutes, serve, with the rest of the gravy on the side.