Vegggies to eat before you die: Cauliflower with Anchovies and Garlic

If you love anchovies, this is the dish for you. We've been searching for new ways to cook some of our favorite veggies. The winter is coming and veggies can tend to get boring when you can't just go to the farmers market and pick up the best tasting freshest stuff. We had some leftover salted anchovies from Collin's birthday dinner so I decided to give this recipe a go. It is fabulous, and super easy.

1/2 head of cauliflower
2 anchovies packed in salt rinsed and diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
2-4 tbsp olive oil

1. Cut the cauliflower into large-ish pieces (to prevent over cooking and falling apart) and steam for about 20 minutes or until al dente.

2. In the meantime, cook garlic and anchovies in olive oil until anchovies begin to break down. I think this took about five minutes.

3. When the cauliflower is done, toss in the anchovy/garlic mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. You won't need to much salt thanks to the anchovies.

Restaraunt Review: Anodyne Roasting Company

A couple of days ago we decided to check out one of the seemingly hundreds of local roasters in Milwaukee. Anodyne is conveniently located a block away from our house, so we decided to start there. We picked up a pound of Ethiopian Harar, and while we were waiting in line, couldn't help but notice their enticing menu. The menu is full of coffee house-esque light breakfast and lunch selections, and a large selection for vegetarians and homemade waffles. With a vegetarian mother(in-law) coming in to town at the end of the week and a waffle fanatic in the family, we decided to come back and check out the food then.

What we got-
The Heidi on Rye
Waffles with syrup
The Spinach Mushroom pie, Grits scallion cake and biscuit platter.

How was everything? Fantastic. The Heidi was a cold sandwich with lettuce, tomato, sprouts, swiss cheese, Anodyne's house made almond spread. It was served with tortilla chips from El
Rey, boasting the best tortilla chips in town. The sandwich was great, like a salad between two pieces of really good bread. The cheese comes from Glorioso's Italian grocery, down the street. The almond paste was fantastic and I have to figure out the recipe.

The waffle was fantastic. Collin got his plain, but you can get them with the works: walnuts, bananas, syrup and butter. The waffle was made with a hearty batter, but not dense at all. It was super flavorful with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was perfect, not greasy, or two thick. I generally have issues with calling a waffle a meal but this one was for sure.

The spinach mushroom pie and grit cake platter was a ton of food. The grit cake was made with white (hominy) grits. It has celery and scallions in it making it reminiscent of thanksgiving stuffing, drool. the spinach and mushroom pie was a creamy blend off spinach and cheese and the mushrooms added a nice texture and meaty appeal. The cheese biscuit was heavenly, seeing as how I don't think we've had a decent biscuit since we've been here, or any biscuit at all. And don't get me started on how difficult it is to find grits around here.

We had coffee and tea. Their coffee is really good, my favorite since we've been here. I got a glass of Rishi white tea rose melange that was beautiful, rose blooms and white tea spooned into individual tea bags to order, with a wonderful perfume and hint of mint. It was heavenly.

The whole meal ran us about 20 bucks, including tip which made it perfect for an affordable breakfast or lunch on the go. The atmosphere was very relaxed. It's a no smoking facility which is appreciated. As we were leaving it had begun to fill up but was still very low key, and quiet.

The service was friendly and fast. (I ordered off the lunch menu before they actually served lunch but they made me a sandwich anyway.)

We enjoyed it a ton. It got our mom's seal of approval too which was nice. Nice mix of people, good tea and coffee, quality affordable food and good dub reggae, what more can you ask for.

Anodyne Roasters
1208 E. Brady St
Milwaukee WI 53202
(414) 276-8081

Birthday Dinner: Clams in Tomato Broth and Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing

Well, here I am, making a conscious effort to post more often. (Really, I have just been scrubbing down this salvaged table and I am trying to find something else "productive" to get me away from that mess.) So Collin had a birthday, one of those pesky mid-week birthdays, that makes it kind of tricky to celebrate. So in order to lighten the blow of him having to work on the 30th anniversary of the day of his birth, I made him dinner. I have been craving clams for a while, and since I was cooking, that's what we went with.

Clams in Tomato Broth
2 lbs of Little Neck Clams
2 lbs of Italian plum tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped ( I cheated and used canned)
1 Tbsp Anchovies packed in salt, chopped
2 Tbsp Garlic chopped
2 Tbsp parsley chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp cream
2 Tbsp Olive Oil


1. Soak the clams in cold water for 15 minutes to help remove sand
2. Place clams in a skillet over medium high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open. Remove clams from skillet and reserve broth. (It's surprising how much liquid comes out of these clams)
3. Heat Olive oil, parsley, garlic, and anchovies in skillet over medium heat, stirring continuously for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, clams and broth and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in cream.
6. Serve with slices of crusty bread (or linguine, like we did)

Caesar Dressing
1 Anchovy Fillet Chopped
2 Eggs
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Clove Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1. Cut garlic in half, rub around the inside of salad bowl and discard.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Poke a small hole in the broad end of each egg. Drop into boiling water and let cook for 60-90 seconds. Remove immediately.
3. Crack eggs into garlic rubbed salad bowl,making sure to scrape out the whites on the inside of the shells. Beat eggs, slowly add in olive oil, anchovy, and lemon juice. Stir in Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of cracked pepper in the dressing.
4. Toss with lettuce and croutons if you like. Sprinkle more cheese over salad and serve immediately.

Personally, I think that Caesar dressing is to greasy, so I cut out quite a bit of the olive oil, just adding enough so that the dressing began to thicken up a bit and it was perfect.

The clams and dressing both turned out perfectly. It was one of the best meals that we have had in a long time and it got us super excited about cooking again. It's nice to have a decent selection of seafood at our finger tips here. It keeps that cooking morale high.