Well, dear readers, it has certainly been a minute. If you haven’t noticed my absence, I’ll take that as a sign that you’re having a fabulously entertaining summer. If you have, please accept my apologies and know that I am fully rested and full steam ahead, and I plan to keep this space up to date.
It’s Valentine’s Day, which means the internet is saturated with romantic stories and pink food. I was chiding myself for not saving my red velvet cake until today, when I realized that I actually had the perfect festive dish in my archives- a Valentine’s Day borscht!
I’ve found myself thinking a lot about stew, and this one in particular, this week. I can think of few things more wintry or cozy than a Dutch oven filled with stew cooking for hours on the stovetop, filling the apartment with the scent of allspice and cinnamon instead of whatever it is that it usually smells like. (Actually, I do know the smell- lately it’s been a not-so-faint whiff of vinegar after I seasoned a terracotta pot on the stove with vinegary water for about 5 hours a few weeks ago). Anyway, if you’re going to let something bubble away on the stovetop for most of the day, let that thing be stew.
The oft-maligned cauliflower – pushed to the side of children’s plates with its cousin, broccoli, and historically viewed by us grown-ups as a bit wan and tasteless – has really found itself in the spotlight of late. Turns out, steaming a bowl of the stuff is always going to smell kind of funny and taste pretty bland, but roasting it until it’s a shade somewhere between very golden and burnt or smothering it in breadcrumbs and butter is a whole other story. Cauliflower might be subtle, but that makes it a fantastic vessel for any number of other flavors.
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