Recipes

I think I will start with some food talk. First off, I have had several requests for the recipe for Ham Tacos. It really wasn't a recipe, just a way to use leftovers! The ham was those ham steaks you can buy in the meat section, warmed up in a skillet, and sliced. I added some Bone-suckin' Sauce to 2 of them for the Girl and I. Then, in the rice tortilla (which are actually very yummy, surprisingly), I put the ham, some sliced toms, some lettuce and avocado, all leftovers from E's birthday dinner of tacos the other night. If you weren't using barbeque sauce, you could add a little salsa, and I like mine with a bit of Karam's Garlic Sauce in lieu of sour creme! Leftovers are good! Better than beer. And yes, when you are allergic to as many things as we are in this house, you get creative with sauces and such!

Okay, next, I promised Crissy I would give her my best recipe for cauliflower. Papa first had this in a little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in the Sumner area over 20 years ago. We have since taken it over.

Sausage and cauliflower
In the largest skillet you have (mine is 13 inches across), cook your favorite Italian sausages (hot and spice, or chicken apple,or ?), about 1 per person, more if a hearty eater or growing teens are involved.

When they are halfway done, add a bit of olive oil, (or I use 3 to 4 homemade chicken-broth-frozen-in-ice-cube-tray cubes that Papa makes for me), half an onion sliced thin, and a couple of whole garlic cloves.
After about 5 minutes, add a head of cauliflower (depends on size, in some cases you might want a half or 3/4), cut into medium sized pieces (2 inches, approx). Brown the cauliflower on all sides, then cook till the veggies are just tender when pierced with a fork. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes on med to med-low, depending on your stove. You can cover it to speed the cooking of the cauliflower, but it won't get as crispy brown. When the sausages are done, you can either take them out, or move them to the edges of the pan. The cauliflower browns nicely, and the onions get all carmelized. Season with a little salt and pepper, and oregano if desired. Serve with pasta, rice, or our fave, spaghetti squash and homemade pesto, or the aforementioned Garlic Sauce.

This is the basic recipe, but we modify it to use whatever we have. It is very good with kalamata or regular olives, sun-dried tomatoes added near the end, zucchini or chayotte squash, etc. We also have made it with about 2 whole heads of garlic and some shallots. Yum!

What could be better than a one skillet meal?! You can also do this w/out the sausage if you don't do them, and you can also use chicken breast cut into pieces, but I like it the best with sausages.

Hmmm, seems like there was another recipe I was supposed to post for someone. Well, that will do for now.
LB