anise seeds

Foodie Film Festival: Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Anise Seeds

08 Nov 2010
Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fennel Seeds

The Foodie Film Festival continues! We were given extra time this week in the FoodBuzz Project Food Blog contest to get our videos ready for their close-up. But since I already posted mine before I was given that information (which you can see here), I decided to keep with the video theme for all my posts this week. So I am bringing back a few oldies but goodies, and calling it a Foodie Film Festival! Today I have a horror film. The nemesis in this little flick is Brussels sprouts.

While I had a lot of fun making them the "bad guy" in this video. I have a disclosure to make, I actually love Brussels sprouts. Still, many people despise them. So it seemed funny to present them as everyone’s worst nightmare. People are afraid of them because they are often prepared in a horrible manner…boiled.

Boiling is the wrong way to go when in comes to this vegetable. This is because they are technically a cruciferous vegetable. Which is a fancy way of saying cabbage. As we all know, boiled cabbage can be stinky and mushy. So too, Brussels sprouts. In fact, in French they are called les choux de Bruxelles, which means cabbages of Brussels. So all the mistakes people make cooking cabbage can be amplified in these “little cabbages”!

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Market Matters- Roasted Carrot Salad, Something From Everyone

07 Feb 2010
Fresh colorful carrots

Carrots are a year 'round item at the Hollywood Farmers Market. But this time of year particularly beautiful carrots can be found in an array of colors, sizes and shapes. I love the little round French carrots; so sweet and carroty. They are the perfect size to pop in your mouth like a little carrot bon-bon, and that’s exactly what I do with them.

So this week I chose carrots for my Market Matters post. Not just any carrot however, I chose a variety of the most unusually colored carrots I could find. Because once you get out of the PigglyWiggly you will discover that there is way more to a carrot than orange. There are red carrots, purple ones, even yellow, white, and two-toned varieties.

You needn’t be frightened of these carrots. They are not some mutinized hybrid with a lot of genetic hanky-panky going on. Nope, most of these carrots are heirlooms.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Spicy Roasted Carrot, Goat Cheese & Avocado Salad

Spicy Roasted Carrot, Goat Cheese & Avocado Salad
By jgreghenry Published February 6, 2010
Prep time: 45
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 0.5 t cumin seeds
  • 1 t anise seeds
  • 1 t black sesame seeds
  • 0.5 t crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • 2 clv garlic, minced
  • 1 orange, zested and then cut in half
  • 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 T taragon flavored vinegar
  • 0 raw mustard greens (or other bitter green)
  • 0.5 t kosher salt, plus 1 tablespoon for the boiling water
  • 4 oz goat cheese, softened and crumbled
  • 1 small bunch of watercress, washed and trimmed of thick stems
  • 2 thick slices of toasted rustic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 T milk or cream (optional)
  • 0.5 lb carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthwise
  • 1 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small pan set over medium heat toast the seeds until fragrant, 1 or 2 minutes. Divide the seeds in half and set aside separately. Using a mortar and pestle crush 1/2 of the toasted seeds, red pepper flakes, and salt until the seeds are well pulverized. Add the minced garlic, orange zest and the olive oil. Continue to work the mixture into a well incorporated, but slightly chunky, paste. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add about 1-tablespoon salt and the halved carrots. Boil the carrots until barely cooked about 7 minutes. Drain them in a colander and transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread the spice paste on top of the carrots while still hot; tossing to get the carrots well coated. Place the zested orange halves onto the baking sheet cut side up. Roast them all in the oven until the carrots are browned and fully cooked, about 25 minutes. In the mean time, peel and slice the avocados; tossing them in the vinegar until ready to serve the salad. Blend the goat cheese and milk or cream in a small bowl until creamy, thick and well blended. Set aside until ready to serve. This step is optional; you may choose to simply crumble the cheese on top. To serve, spread the greens across a serving platter. Top them with the hot carrots and cool avocado slices, mounding (or sprinkling) the goat cheese and the watercress on top. Followed by the toasted bread cubes. Squeeze the juice of the roasted oranges over the salad, discarding the rinds. Sprinkle the remaining toasted seeds on top and serve warm.

Notes:

serves 2 Source: Inspired by Jamie Oliver and Smitten Kitchen

Market Matters: Bake A Rutabaga

31 Jan 2010
rutabagas from Sippity Sup

It happened again. I ripped off KCRW’s Good Food. This time my victim was Jean Francois Meteigner the chef at La Cachette Bistro in Santa Monica.

When I left the house this morning for the Hollywood Farmers Market I had an open mind about what I would find for my weekly Market Matters post. I was determined to pick something this week that I was unfamiliar with– something new to me, something that would necessitate putting my brain in gear. Stretch myself. Grow a little. Try something new!

I saw English shelling peas in the pod, they super tempted me. Not that they are all that original. I cook with peas almost every week of my life. Still when they are fresh from the market, it’s easy to throw all your other plans out the window. But I decided that the peas were not really peaking yet, and I’d rather wait a few more weeks and be rewarded with perfect peas. Besides there was that promise I made: Stretch myself. Grow a little. Try something new!

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Baked Rutabaga with Moroccan Spiced Onion Confit

baked rutabaga with onion confit
By jgreghenry Published January 31, 2010
Prep time: 150
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 6 onions, peeled and sliced
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 t kosher salt
  • 8 pieces of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes cut into 1/4” dice
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 t anise seeds
  • 1 T ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 two-inch wide strip of orange peel
  • 2 clv garlic, peeled and minced
  • 0.5 t cumin, or more to taste
  • 0.5 c fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 3 T honey
  • 0.5 t cayenne pepper (or to taste)
  • 0 salt and white pepper to taste
  • 1 ds red wine vinegar (optional)
  • 2 T chives, minced (for garnish)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large heavy saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt, then turn the heat down to medium. Stir to get the onions well coated in the oil. Sweat onions, covered for 10 minutes. Stirring from time to time to prevent sticking. They should be well-softened and translucent. Add the sun-dried tomato pieces and stir to incorporate. Cook another 1 or 2 minutes to combine the flavors. Turn the heat to low. Add the cinnamon sticks, anise seeds, ginger, orange peel, garlic, ground cumin, orange juice, honey and cayenne. Simmer the mixture, stirring often for about 1 hour. You may need to add a bit of water from time to time to keep the pan from drying out. When finished taste for seasoning. It may need more salt and some white pepper or a dash of red wine vinegar. Remove the confit from the heat and let come to room temperature. It may be stored in the refrigerator up to 5 days and brought back to room temperature before serving as well. Wrap each of the rutabagas separately in foil. Place them on the center rack of a preheated oven. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hr 45 minutes or until a knife is easily inserted all the way to the rutabagas with very little resistance. To serve split each rutabaga, baked potato style; using a fork to fluff up the meat of the vegetable. Give each one a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and white pepper and top them with some of the onion confit. Garnish with chives and serve warm.

Notes:

serves 4