From the Nest

Curious Cookbooks

Two not really vegan but nonetheless interesting cookbooks popped up on our radar this week. The first is Double Take, from Harvard Common Press, and it tackles a unique task for a cookbook but one that many families may have experienced first hand: Make traditionally meaty dishes two ways—vegetarian and all meated up. As they put it:

"If you’re ever faced with cooking a meal for both vegetarians and meat-eaters, you’ll want this unique cookbook on hand. Coauthors and friends A.J. Rathbun (a vegetarian) and Jeremy Holt (a meat-eater) combine their culinary talents to create meals that satisfy vegetarians and omnivores alike. Preparing the 100 recipes is easy: Each starts by using ingredients that both meat-eaters and vegetarians would eat, and continues on like any normal recipe, until it gets to the part where a meat ingredient is added. At that point, the recipe splits into two parts—one half is finished with meat and the other with unique vegetarian flair."

They take stabs at soufflés, minestrones, a shrimp and grits meal, and, one of the more missed meat dishes for us, southern style barbecue sandwiches. Damn you, upbringing! They also evidently have a recipe for Osso Bucco—literally, "hole bone," an italian recipe involving *shudder* veal shank. The vegetarian version employs one of our favorite meat substitutes, Feild Roast's smoked apple sage grain sausage. So crazy, right? Not sure if we really want to look at a bunch of meaty photography, but otherwise, it seems pretty nice for bridging the vegetarian/meat-eater gap that might exist in some households.

Then that beardy red-haired dude who's always cooking on TV, Mario Batali, has a new cookbook—Molto Gusto—that focuses on easy-to-make traditional italian dishes that, get this, are largely vegetarian. Partly by chance, we assume, but we did catch Mario on WNYC yesterday talking about how he's eating less meat lately and thinks that, as a civilized society, we'll need to rely on meat less in our collective menus. Then again, his food photographer is named Quentin Bacon, so...

You can actually get a complimentary copy of the cookbook if you donate $180 to New York's public radio station, WNYC, during their winter membership drive, which is going on now. We poached (hah) a recipe for Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu from the WNYC Web site, omitting that pesky parmesan from the list of ingredients. It's below. And, if you like, you can hear the whole interview right here.

Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu

1 medium cauliflower (about 2 pounds)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, cut into ¼-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1½ to 2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
6 tablespoons unsalted vegan margarine, cut into 6 pieces
Kosher salt
1 pound pennette pasta
½ cup coarse fresh bread crumbs, fried in olive oil until golden brown
1½ teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Halve the cauliflower. Cut off the leaves and reserve them. Cut out the core and reserve it. Cut the cauliflower into small bite-sized florets, reserving the stalks. Chop the core, stalks, and leaves.

Combine the oil, onion, garlic, and cauliflower leaves, stalks, and core in a large pot, season with salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the leaves are just beginning to wilt, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower leaves are just tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

Add the cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is very soft and almost falling apart, 22 to 25 minutes. Add the margarine, stirring gently until it melts, then season well with salt and remove from the heat. (The cauliflower ragu can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate; reheat in a large pot over medium-low heat before adding the pasta.)