What an amazing season it’s been for cookbooks. Stacks have formed in every corner of the house, on the kitchen counter and threatened to tumble off the coffee table. I’m currently working on gathering a list of my favorites for those who are looking to add to their own collection or who have friends who love to find cookbooks under the tree. In the meantime let’s talk about Molly Yeh and her tacos.

Her book, Molly on the Range, is a fanciful glimpse into her farm kitchen. Her story takes you from Juilliard to a sugar beet farm (seriously it’s amazing) and weaves into that food often laced with tahini and always intriguing enough to get me bounding into the kitchen.

These tacos are just such a recipe. I questioned their ease and doubted the ability for cauliflower to be worthy of a tortilla. I love it when a recipe proves me wrong and settles my fears with a hearty and flavorsome bite. It’s just the sort of meal that makes sense on a Tuesday or welcome at the table when guests fill the seats. When a braise feels like too much and you need an evening off from cream and cheese these tacos are your answer.

I’ve included the recipes for all three of the components for Molly suggests for these tacos but for ease or lack of a stocked pantry I’d imagine that a simple yogurt sauce and pickled jalapeños on top of the roasted cauliflower would also do nicely.

Molly’s Cauliflower Shawarma Tacos

From Molly on the Range

Makes 8 tacos

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon fish sauce*

1 1/2 pounds cauliflower florets

1 medium onion

2 tablespoons flavorless oil

8 flour tortillas (6-inch)

Tahini Sauce, to taste

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Preheat the oven 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, salt, garam masala, curry powder, and fish sauce. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat. Spread the cauliflower out on the the baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy, 30 to 40 minutes.

Thinly slice three-quarters of the onion. Dice the remaining one-quarter and set aside for topping. In a skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes.

Warm the tortillas on the stove or in the microwave. To assemble, fill them with cauliflower, fried onion, tahini sauce, raw chopped onion, cilantro and zhoug (if using).

*Molly’s recipe uses 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable or chicken broth base but I didn’t have any so I swapped in fish sauce. I think soy sauce would also add a nice umami punch.

Tahini Sauce

Makes 1/2 cup

1/4 cup tahini

3 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Kosher salt and black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the tahini, water, and lemon juice until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Zhoug

Makes 1 1/2 cups

5 jalapeños, seeded and coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor, combine the jalapeños, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, a few turns of peppers, and the olive oil and blend until it’s the consistency of pesto, adding more olive oil if desired. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or spoon into ice cube trays, freeze, and thaw as needed.

*I cut down on the number of jalapeños and left out the cayenne so I wouldn’t hear my kids complain about the level of heat and also added lemon juice for more zing.

• 18 Comments /
• Share /
  • Tweet
  • 
  • 
• Permalink

*This post was created in partnership with Marriott Hotels. As always the words and images are mine, this time though, the recipe was a collaboration with Chef Chris Coleman from Stoke restaurant in the Marriott hotel.

When I travel my greatest desire is to get a sense of place. I want, no matter how long the trip may be, to feel like a local in a place that is not my home. To see how others live, to experience another place that is unfamiliar, to step out of my comfort for the sake of growing.

So much of the process is awkward. Or is that just me? I don’t like taking off my shoes in the security line, especially if I forgot to wear socks. I feel so weird asking people to get out of their seats for me so I can go to the bathroom. So much so I’ll not drink as much water as I should and then I just feel gross. Trying to fiddle around with the few words I know in a foreign language to ask for the simplest of things is enough to make my chest tighten and my heart pound. But when you travel to have all of these opportunities to gently nudge out of your comfort. It’s all so humbling and I love that. Because in the humility there is growth.

I walk through my day to day in comfort. It’s familiar, routine – I got this! becomes my mantra but when I travel I come face to face with my insecurities and my vulnerabilities. Then you overcome them and realize – that wasn’t so bad and all of those silly things I once worried about fall aside.

It’s also an opportunity – and this is the main reason why we’re instilling the importance of traveling in our children – to step outside your own world and see a new one. To learn from others and take those lessons back to our everyday.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Mark Twain

Last week I had the opportunity to check out a new Marriott Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. While the hard things lessen in traveling within your own country I still seek out the opportunity to learn more about the place and the people who call it home. It’s incredibly difficult to do that in a day, which was how much time I was there but even within the hotel they made it part of their mission to bring Charlotte in. I savored coffee roasted just a few miles from the hotel at Coco and the Director and at Stoke, the restaurant on the property, I was met with towering black boards which proudly displayed the names of the local farms which supply much of the food highlighted on the menu. I sampled local beers from many of Charlotte’s booming breweries and fell in love with pickled Okra all the while enjoying my dinner on plates that are handmade by a local ceramic artist.

It’s stunning to see the farm to table movement reach all new heights and for so many who now value the importance of supporting local farms and enjoying the delicious food that comes from that.

I asked the Chef from Stoke at the Marriott if he’d be willing to share a recipe with us and I’m so thrilled he agreed. I was enamored with the recipe the moment I read “char the oranges”. Now I did make a few changes, hopefully Chef Chris won’t mind, but I found it difficult to source a few of the ingredients and wanted this recipe to be easily adapted for us, the home cook. It may now not be as native to North Carolina as it once was but it can boast a bit of a Pacific Northwest flair. And isn’t that also the beauty of traveling? When a sense of one place finds its way into another and we bring a bit of their beauty into our own and share some of ours as well.

Sticky Braised Pork

I did make a few changes to the recipe but wanted to leave it as written for those who live in another part of the country or who wish to make the original dish. I put my changes in parenthesis next to the original ingredient. Also, I served this over a bed of sharp cheddar polenta and I’d highly recommend you do the same. Roughly the recipe is 1 cup polenta to 5 to 6 cups liquid (I used 4 cups stock and water for the rest). Salt along the way then finish with about 2 cups grated sharp cheddar.

4-6 Pork Shanks, osso bucco cut, 14-16 oz each (I used a 3 to 4 pound bone in pork shoulder)

As needed, canola oil

1 orange, cut in half

1 onion, rough chopped

2 carrots, rough chopped

4 stalks celery, rough chopped

2 jalapenos, split lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, smashed

¼ c sorghum molasses (I used regular blackstrap molasses)

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 T black peppercorns

As needed, pork/chicken stock

1/8 c benne seeds (toasted sesame seeds)

1/8 c crushed peanuts (toasted)

1/8 c soft herbs (parsley, chervil, chives) chiffonade cut

Preheat oven to 300. Heat a little oil in a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold all shanks standing upright. Liberally salt shanks all over. Working in batches, sear shanks on all sides until browned, removing to a plate or platter after browned (if you’re using a pork shoulder just sear it on all sides). After finished browning all shanks, place oranges cut side down to char. Once oranges have been burnt, remove to platter with pork shanks. Sauté the rest of vegetables, including jalapeños and garlic, until they have softened slightly. Add sorghum to pan and stir to coat veggies. Place all shanks back in pot, standing upright. Place burnt orange halves, thyme, rosemary, and peppercorns in and around shanks. Cover meat with stock, and bring to a simmer. Cover pot with a lid or wrap foil over tightly, and place in oven to braise for 3.5-4 hours, or until tender. When done, the meat should be pulling away from the bone, but not falling off. Remove meat to a clean platter. Strain braising jus to remove all veg/aromatics. Skim fat from the surface. Return jus to a clean pot, and boil until liquid is reduced by 2/3 and is syrupy. (Recipe can be made to this point 2-3 days ahead)

Pour the reduced glaze over the pork to coat. Sprinkle benne, peanuts, and herbs all over and serve.

• 25 Comments /
• Share /
  • Tweet
  • 
  • 
• Permalink