This soup is simply divine. I love everything about it. From the simplicity of making it, to the rich flavor that is achieved through the cooking process. The sweet flavor of the red bell pepper is intensified when they’re roasted. I have a gas stovetop and begin the cooking process with the bell pepper directly on the burner with the flame on medium. What you’re looking for is a really good char. This can also be achieved on the grill, or under your broiler.

INGREDIENTS
5 Red Peppers, roasted
4 cups Vegetable Broth
½ cup Heavy Cream
3 Tbsp Olive oil
Pinch of Salt
Sour Cream, garnish (optional)
Sprig of Fresh Parsley, garnish (optional)

METHOD
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash and roast the red peppers over an open flame.
Place in a baking dish and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until soft.
Remove from oven and allow to cool, before handling.
Once the peppers are cool, remove skin, stem and seeds, and discard. (I actually like to leave the skin on mine, but it’s up to you.)
Place peppers in the food processor or blender, adding broth if needed for processing.
Process until you get the desired consistency (I like mine with a little texture).
Place peppers in a medium size saucepan, add in the broth and heavy cream.
Heat on medium until hot.
Stir in olive oil.
Add salt to taste.
Enjoy!

It’s fun to bake using Fillo Dough! If you’ve never tried it, now’s your chance. You can find it in the freezer section near puff pastry dough and frozen breads.

Fillo is paper thin pastry sheets, and when layered with butter (or olive oil) and baked, you end up with flaky, crispy deliciousness. The most important part of baking with fillo dough is keeping it moist while preparing your recipe, because it’s so thin, it can easily dry out and you end up with flakes. That’s why, in the recipe below, we place all the fillo dough into one stack while preparing the Spanakopita. You can even take a clean, lightly damp kitchen towel to place on the fillo sheets to keep them moist.

You can use fillo by filling the fillo with a mixture of apples, cinnamon and sugar! They also sell fillo pastry cups, which is great for party appetizers. Fill them with a little brie cheese, a few dried cranberries and a pecan, pop them in the oven to melt the cheese and you’ve got a great holiday crowd pleaser… and super easy!

I hope you’ll give my Spanakopita recipe a try. We enjoyed it as a main course, paired with a Greek salad, but you can make these half the size for a perfect party appetizer.

This recipe makes about 11 ~

INGREDIENTS
1/2 small Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 Tbsp fresh Dill, chopped
10 oz frozen chopped Spinach
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese, room temperature
1 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
8 oz Fillo dough
6 Tbsp Butter, melted

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl mix together the onion, garlic, nutmeg, dill, spinach, ricotta and feta cheese – set aside.
Unroll half the package of a 16 oz box of fillo dough.
Cut the 9” x 14” rectangle in half, lengthwise, so you end up with fillo sheets 4 1/2” x 14”.
Place the cut sheets on top of each other making one stack of fillo dough.
Take 2 of the sheets of fill dough and brush lightly with the melted butter.
Lay another 2 sheets of fill dough on top and again brush lightly with butter.
Place about 2 tablespoons of the filling at one end of the fillo dough, and carefully fold the fillo over, into a triangular shape, you will fold a total of about 3 times, and then brush more butter to seal edges.
Place the triangular shaped fillo on a baking sheet (lined with foil or use a silpat).
Continue until you’ve used all the filling and all of the fillo.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Enjoy while warm and crispy!
To take a recreational cooking class in Murfreesboro visit www.TheCuriousKitchen.net and also check out their holiday menu… you can order your complete Holiday Meal, all made from scratch, including your appetizers & pie! Call (615) 956-6077 to place your order.

Quiche is perfect for any meal! I made this for brunch, served with a side salad. Soup is also a great accompaniment, since colder weather is on the way.

Truth be known, quiche is great for using up those few veggies you have in the bin, or leftover cheese. I used Gruyere and Manchego cheese in this quiche because I happened to have some leftover pieces. Any cheese will work. This would be great with cheddar and jack, or Swiss would be delicious! It’s basically an egg pie. So once you get the base of eggs and cream, it’s ready for whatever veggies and cheese you like.

INGREDIENTS
1 Pie Crust (homemade or store-bought)
5 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream (or Half and Half)
2 Scallions, thinly sliced
1 cob of Corn (corn cut from cob)
1 small Red Bell Pepper, diced
2 cups Cheese, shredded (I used Gruyere and Manchego)
1 tsp Granulated Garlic
½ tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp Salt
Ground Black Pepper, to taste

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Get your pie crust ready in the pie pan, and set aside.
In a large bowl beat together 5 eggs and 1 cup of cream (or Half and Half).
Stir in the scallions, corn, red bell pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to incorporate.
Stir in the cheese of your choice and carefully pour into the pie crust, being sure to distribute the filling evenly.
Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until top is firm and feels set when you gently touch it.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Note: if top starts to brown before it is fully cooked, you can place a sheet of tin foil loosely over the pie to keep it from getting too brown.

I love vegetables and these cauliflower steaks are absolutely delicious. Served with jasmine rice and a side of sautéed mushrooms, it’s a hearty meal. Plus, it’s a unique way to serve cauliflower – making it the star!

This recipes serves 2

INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Butter
1/4 cup freshly cracked Peppercorns, crushed
2 slices of Cauliflower, cut 1″ thick
2 Tbsp Brandy or Cognac
3/4 cup Vegetable Broth
Pinch of Salt

METHOD
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place oil, butter and peppercorns in cast iron skillet over medium heat, stirring until butter melts and the peppercorns are toasty and releasing their flavor.
Place sliced cauliflower in skillet and cook on one side about 2 minutes.
Place skillet in the oven and cook 10 minutes, turn cauliflower over and cook another 10 minutes.
Remove skillet from oven, gently take cauliflower out and set aside on serving plates.
Return the skillet to the stovetop over medium heat.
Carefully add brandy to pan (caution: it will flame up, also do not pour directly from bottle).
Once flames are gone, stir in broth and season with a pinch of salt.
Allow to simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes.
Top the cauliflower with the peppercorn sauce and enjoy right away!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
Udon Noodles (enough for 2)
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 cups Broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
2 cups Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup Carrots, julienned
3 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp fresh Ginger, grated
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar

METHOD
Cook Udon Noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

In a medium saucepan add the sesame and vegetable oils, over medium heat.
Add the broccoli, red cabbage, carrots and garlic.
Saute veggies for about 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the scallions, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl, and set aside.
Once the veggies are done, turn the heat to medium-low and add the Udon Noodles to the pot.
Pour the soy sauce mixture on top of noodles and gently toss together until everything is coated with the sauce.
Allow to warm up for a few minutes before serving.

Options: Add cooked chicken, shrimp, scallops or beef… or the veggies of your choice.

I’m super excited to share some news… My daughter and I are opening a recreational cooking school here in Murfreesboro, TN called “The Curious Kitchen”. That’s why I haven’t posted in a little while. I’ve been super busy getting some of the new business things in line, like signing the lease, designing the space, website, creating the calendar of classes, business licenses, tax licenses, resale numbers, etc. Looking forward to choosing the color theme, picking out the tables & chairs, selecting dishes, and so on. We’ve already started a Facebook page for The Curious Kitchen and would love for you to stop by and give us a “like” if you haven’t already. We’ll be posting progress updates on the page as we go along and hope to be open soon!

Even more exciting (to me) than the cooking school, is that my daughter, Rachel, is moving from Los Angeles to Nashville! We will be working together and she’ll be living just a half an hour away!! I’ve missed her so much since I moved to Tennessee 3 years ago. The move was hard, but the most difficult part was leaving my daughter in California. At that time, she was attending Cal State Northridge, plus being a California native, she had no desire to move to Tennessee. Since that time, she has graduated from college, and fallen in love with a Georgia man. So, although I’m not the total reason for her move to Tennessee, I’m extremely happy that she will be here. And she and her boyfriend are only a 2 hour drive apart.  

I’m sharing these corn muffins with you because not only do I love these muffins, they’re one of my favorite recipes to make. Super easy & super delicious! They’re basically cornbread, in muffin form. If you’d like, you can bake them in a baking pan or cast iron skillet, just butter the pan before you put the batter in.

These go perfectly with salad, soup, and or course… BBQ!

To make them even more special you can add some diced jalapeno into the batter… or top them with shredded cheddar & jack cheeses a minute or two before you take them out of the oven. Yum!

Makes 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Sugar
2 sticks Butter, room temperature
2 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup fresh Corn
3 cups Flour
1 cup Cornmeal
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Parsley or Cilantro, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp Salt

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of your electric mixer beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs.
Mix in the milk and the corn.
Stop the mixer and add in the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, herbs and salt.
With the mixer on low combine just until they are blended.
Spoon the batter into the baking cups.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and remove from the pan.
Enjoy ~ I love mine with butter!

I got my inspiration for this dish from a roasted cauliflower appetizer at Etch Restaurant in Nashville. It was so amazingly delicious! I paid careful attention to every detail, texture and flavor as my daughter and I enjoyed the appetizer… because I knew that soon enough I’d be craving it and want to make it at home.

Here is my rendition of the roasted cauliflower appetizer. The one real difference is that I used a yellow bell pepper instead of a red bell pepper to make the coulis that I put the roasted cauliflower on. The only reason I used a yellow bell is that’s all I had at the time, but it was perfect.

This recipe has several components, but please don’t let that stop you from creating this dish. Each step is super easy and so worth it. That’s what makes this dish so remarkable, the way all these flavors come together and combine! I hope you’ll give it a try!!

INGREDIENTS
1 head of Cauliflower, washed and trimmed into nice size flowerettes
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
dash of Sea Salt

For Bell Pepper Coulis:
1 Yellow or Red Bell Pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
dash of Sea Salt

For the Truffled Pea Dip:
1 cup frozen Peas, thawed and drained
2 drops Natural Liquid Smoke
1 to 2 Tbsp Truffle Oil (depending how strong of a Truffle flavor you like)
dash of Salt

For the Feta Cream:
1/2 cup Feta Cheese
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
1 to 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp Lemon Juice
Pinch of Salt

Garnish with Marcona Almonds

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place flowerettes in roasting pan and toss in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, coating the cauliflower with the oil.
Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Roast the cauliflower in the hot oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tips begin to get a light golden color.

Meanwhile, you can roast the yellow bell pepper over the gas flame of your oven, on the grill, or you can roast the pepper in the oven on broil, turning it as it gets charred and blacked.
Once the pepper is completely charred, cover and allow it to steam for about 15 minutes.

Now let’s get started on the Truffled Pea Dip.
Place the peas, liquid smoke, truffle oil, and salt in the food processor and process until smooth.
Taste, adjust smoke, truffle oil and/or salt if desired.
Place mixture in the refrigerator until ready to plate.

At this point you’re pepper should be steamed enough, so remove the cover and allow it to cool while you make the Feta Cream.

Place the Feta cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, lemon juice and salt in a small bowl.
Mash together with a fork until it gets creamy, but still has some feta cheese chunks.
Place mixture in the refrigerator until ready to plate.

Back to that bell pepper… it should be cool enough to handle.
You can easily peel the charred skin off, and discard (I actually like the flavor the skin adds, to I always leave some in).
Carefully remove the stem and seeds.
Put the pepper into the food processor, along with any juice from the pepper.
Pulse until mostly smooth.
Place pepper in a small bowl and mix in the olive oil and salt.

To Assemble:
A nice long or oblong plate is best.
Place the bell pepper coulis in the center of the plate, this will serve as a bed for the roasted cauliflower.
Decoratively place the cauliflower on the bell pepper coulis.
Place an equal portion of the Truffled Pea Dip and the Feta Cream on each side of the cauliflower.
Garnish with Marcona Almonds.
Enjoy!