Day: October 13, 2008

Arañitas

/ Ren

Arañitas (little spiders) are fritters made from shredded plantains.  Use a mostly green plantain or, like mine, your little spiders won’t have any legs.  Still delicious, though!

Grate the peeled plantain into long strips. This one is over-ripe for this recipe, so its more mushy than it should be.  So, do as I say, not as I did.

Form the shreds into a little patty, roughly the size and shape of a silver dollar.  Carefully drop them into hot oil (I’m using peanut oil, taking care to keep it below the smoking point), turning them once with a slotted spoon.

Transfer to a paper napkin-lined plate to drain.  Immediately season with lots of s&p and serve hot as an accompaniment to your favorite Cuban dish.

These can be made a day or 2 ahead and reheated in a 350 degree oven if needed, but they are best eaten shortly after frying.

See How to Select a Plantain for a quick description of what to do with plantains at varying stages of ripeness

Roasted Orange Cauliflower Soup

/ Ren

Orange cauliflower, garlic, carrots, cardamom pods, nutritional yeast flakes*, milk, onion, s&p and broth

Trim away the leaves, then split the head of cauliflower into 8 wedges, leaving the core intact. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, mist with olive oil and season with s&p. Put pan on lowest rack of a 475 degree oven.  Roast 10 minutes, turn wedges over and roast another 10 minutes.

Toast the cardamom pods until brown and fragrant.  When cool, pulverize in a spice blender, mortar & pestle or whatever you have handy.

Saute the carrots, onion and garlic until colored & tender.

Remove the califlower from the oven and transfer to the pot, breaking away the florets from the core as you go. Add enough broth to just cover the vegetables. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to a gentle boil and cook until vegetables are very soft, about 20-30 minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Carefully puree hot soup with an immersion blender. Add milk, cardamom to taste, s&p and yeast flakes. Simmer 5 minutes longer.

Garnish with whatever you find appealing.  I’m using a chopped floret, slivers of radish and some of yesterday’s fennel feathers.  Serve hot with a section of toasted baguette.

*The nutritional yeast is what makes this recipe stand out. It tastes something like parmesan or white cheddar cheese, with a slight nutiness.  Great on popcorn!

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