Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower, florets cut into 1 inch thick slices
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2) In a medium bowl, toss cauliflower with oil, marjoram, salt and pepper until coated. Spoon onto a large rimmed baking sheet lined with non-stick foil. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cauliflower starts to soften and brown.
3) Remove from oven. Toss cauliflower with vinegar and cheese. Return to oven; roast 5 to 10 more minutes or until cheese melts and any moisture has evaporated.

I got this recipe from the Food section in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday. It was very good for only 88 calories a serving (makes 6 servings)!

I originally posted this recipe on July 25 on my old blog.

CEiMB - Sweet-and-Sour Brisket

It was my choice of recipe this week for the challenge. I was excited and had a hard time choosing between lots of tasty sounding recipes. My husband thought that this one sounded good and I agreed. All said and done...We thoroughly enjoyed it and will be making it again soon.

Sweet-and-Sour Brisket
(Source - The Food You Crave -Author, Ellie Krieger - Page 186)

Ingredients:
One 3-pound beef brisket, first-cut or flat-half cut, trimmed of any excess fat
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, cut in half, then thinly sliced into half-moons
3 cloves garlic, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
One 15-ounce can tomato sauce, perferably no-salt-added
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins
5 black peppercorns
1 allspice berry

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pat the brisket dry and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or braising pot. Sear the brisket until it is browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer the brisket to a plate.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and cook the onion, stirring a few times, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, broth, brown sugar, 1/3 cup of the vinegar, the raisins, peppercorns and allspice and stir to combine well. Bring the mixture to a boil, return the brisket and any accumulated juices to the pot, spoon some of the tomato-vinegar mixture over the brisket, cover tightly, and transfer to the oven. Cook until the brisket is fork-tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove the brisket from the oven, transfer the meat to a cutting board, and let rest for 10 to 20 minutes or, if serving later, cover and refrigerate the meat and sauce for several hours or overnight. When you are ready to serve, cut the meat against the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar into the warm sauce. Return the slice brisket to the sauce until heated through, then serve.

Salt and peppered beef brisket.


The medium sized onion was cut into half-moons.

I love fresh garlic and even used an extra clove!

Unfortunately, I don't have a Dutch Oven pan. I opted to use a big boiling pot that I use to boil pasta noodles in. It worked great both on the stove for sauteing up the onions and garlic and in the oven for roasting the brisket.

I added tomato sauce (I couldn't find any without salt), chicken broth, cider vinegar, brown sugar, allspice, raisins and peppercorns.

Then I added the brisket after searing it in 1 tablespoon of canola oil in the "dutch oven".

After cooking it for 3 hours in the oven, I took it out and let it rest on the cutting board for 15 minutes.

After the meat was sliced, I returned it to the sauce mixture and added another tablespoon of the cider vinegar.I served this meal with french cut green beans and Parmesan mashed potatoes (yes...Ellie's recipe on page 262, which I may have dressed up using some extra butter and Parmesan cheese for).

The entire meal was nothing short of spectacular. My husband raved about the brisket and I have to agree. I couldn't even tell that it was supposed to be "healthy" for you. DELICIOUS.

It was fun hosting this week's assignment. I am going to have to wait a very long time before I host for Dorie's group. I am #2hundred something. I can't wait to see what everyone else thought about the brisket.

Stayed tuned for NEXT WEEK: Turkey Roulade.

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup grated zucchini


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the grated zucchini. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

We have been eating a lot of zucchini from our garden lately. I got this recipe from All Recipes. The cookies are very cake-like and good. It is supposed to make 48 cookies. However, my batch only made 36 (probably because I made them too big). I should have read the reviews and not have bought the butter flavored Crisco shortening and just used butter instead. I also should have baked the cookies longer because they were bigger. The ones that I did leave in longer turned out puffier and looked nicer. However, the boys didn’t complain and gobbled them up quickly.

I originally posted this recipe in July, 2008, on my old blog.

Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes - TWD

This week's assignment was cupcakes. Clara chose the recipe and suggested decorating the cupcakes for Halloween. She has 2 great blogs and one is dedicated to cupcakes. You have to check them both out. She is very creative, has left me numerous nice comments and has two adorable bunnies. The recipe for these "cuppycakes" are posted on her blog or if you have Dorie's cookbook... you can find it on page 215-217.

My family is so totally cake and candied out from my son's b-day and trick or treating for Halloween this past week. But I didn't want to miss these. So, I decided to halve the recipe and forge ahead. I am very glad that I chose not to skip.

After reading some of the comments from others who made them earlier in the week, I feared that they were going to be dry and not very tasty. Not mine. DELICIOUS. I will say that they were not super moist, but they had a good chocolate flavor and were not dry by any means. Maybe that is because I added an entire egg? Whatever the case, we certainly enjoyed them.

On a separate note, I decided to switch my cooking blog from wordpress to blogger. After using wordpress for several months, I decided that I really don't like it and think that blogger is much easier to use (at least for me). I will slowly be moving my recipes from there to here.