TODAY tonight: Cauliflower Steak

If you're unfamiliar with my "TODAY tonight" series, it's when Carson won't stop talking about something he ate at work, so I make it at home to shut him up.  However, this time around, I didn't even have to wait to hear him rave.  I was watching Aarti Sequeira on the show and I instantly wanted everything she cooked.  She made cauliflower three ways, and I could practically taste the vibrant, Indian flavors through my TV screen.  

It was the "cauliflower steak" with a lime yogurt sauce that made me run to the store for the vegetable.  I cook cauliflower a lot, but something as simple as cutting it differently and marinating it with different spices completely transformed it for me.  I am obsessed.  Even my son loved it!  I will make this again, and again, and again.  Recipe here.

And speaking of Today Food and vegetables, I will be there tomorrow trying to get Carson to eat a particular one he doesn't like... wish me luck!

We served it with a version of this salad because we just can't get enough.

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TODAY tonight: Salmon + Mashed Peas

Now that it is spring - and I write that while manically laughing because I just looked outside and A WINTRY MIX IS FALLING FROM THE SKY - but now that it is spring (I said SPRING, PEOPLE IN THE HEAVENS CONTROLLING THE WEATHER!) I have been looking forward to cooking with seasonal vegetables like artichokes and radishes and leeks and peas.  So when Carson came home from work the other day and said, you have to make this salmon with mashed peas I ate this morning I said, yes!  Yes, I have to!  Billy Dec cooked it up on the Today Show last week, and so I re-watched this video and gave it a go.  Errrmygosh...

It was so good.  We felt like we were dining in a fancy restaurant, when in realty we were eating at our kitchen island while the kids watched HOP (did you know James Marsden is the first ever human Easter Bunny?).  Carson cooked the salmon and did so PERFECTLY.  The key is a hot, hot pan.  He achieved the most deliciously crispy exterior with a tender, flaky inside.  I handled the garlicky mashed peas.  Um, yum.  My 7 month-old ate them up!  A garlic lover she shall be!  We skipped the salad and served them alongside roasted vegetables.  This dinner is a springtime MUST, especially if wet, white stuff is raining down on your land.  

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TODAY tonight: Perfect Roast Chicken

I feel empty.  I have finished the Serial podcast, and now what.  NOW WHAT?!  Now I think I'll drive to Baltimore and stalk Woodlawn High School and the Best Buy and Leakin Park because I'm crazy obsessed with figuring this all out.  If you feel the same way, let's discuss in the comments below, ok?  Thanks.  Now we can talk about food...

Earlier in the month, in fact on the first day of the year, Carson made this on the Today Show with Chef Ed Brown.  The recipe intrigued us, because the chicken sits smothered in soy sauce in the fridge for two days prior to cooking.  It's basically a brine of sorts, and the result is a perfectly moist and juicy chicken.  I think from this point on, I will always do this to my chickens, no matter how I roast them!  Recipe here. 

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TODAY tonight: Jerk Chicken

Carson has never been a huge fan of the sweet and savory combo, unlike me who has been dreaming of a McGriddle sandwich from McDonald's almost every morning of this pregnancy.  But he absolutely loved making this Jerk Chicken recipe on The Today Show last week, which is why it's next up in my "TODAY tonight" series!  The sweet and spicy flavors in this marinade were a hit with the entire family, actually, as everything tasted very balanced.  The recipe called for 3 jalapeños but mine were giant so I only used 2, and I removed the ribs and seeds from one so that it wouldn't be too hot for the kids.

Jack loved helping me throw all the ingredients in a blender, although he was sickened by the smell of ground allspice.  I said I thought it smells like Christmas, and he said I was a crazy mother person.  But my point being, the marinade was very easy to assemble and that was about all I had to do with this dish!  Carson took over the grilling, something he thoroughly enjoys doing.  

Just look at that joy...

We marinated our chicken for roughly ten hours, although the recipe only calls for a minimum of two.  I say the longer the better.  Also, our butcher helped us butterfly this chicken.  It's worth asking the butcher to do that step for you because, guess what, that's their job!  

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.  It's perfect for end-of-summer BBQ's.

Wait, summer is ending soon?!?

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Today Tonight: Ramen-crusted Chicken Wings

Next up in my "TODAY tonight" series are these Ramen-crusted Chicken Wings (recipe here).  Carson and PopSugar's Brandi Milloy made these on the show back in March, and he hasn't stopped talking about them since.  Not kidding.  The poor man has been waiting and WAITING for me to make them... he even bought four packets of Ramen Noodles and printed the recipe, leaving it on the counter, multiple times.  Well, four months later, I finally made them!  With his help, thank god, because recipes that require frying tend to overwhelm me.  It's all the steps and the hot, splattering oil... oy.  However, I am so glad we tackled these because they, were, UNREAL.

You end up frying these bad boys twice, which at first concerned me.  I thought the ratio of batter to chicken would be way off.  Yet as you crunch into these (and they are so wonderfully crunchy), you immediately encounter a bite of juicy chicken as well as the perfectly seasoned Ramen-crust.  Served with a spicy dipping sauce (although Carson and I agree that ranch would be great too, because when isn't it), these are a crowd pleaser, no doubt.  Bookmark them for your next gathering, or for the upcoming football season, or for next Tuesday.              

Also, remember the Ramen Burger?

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TODAY tonight: Lemon Pesto Shrimp Rolls

When Carson started working on The Today Show, he acquired a job perk that I'm totally not jealous of at all (nope).  Which is, EATING INCREDIBLE FOOD MADE BY INCREDIBLE CHEFS.  Not jealous!  He comes home, almost daily, and tells me he had "the best" this and "the best" that.  However, instead of pouting over this perk, I've decided to take advantage of the inspiration he offers me with these new ideas by creating a series I'm going to call "TODAY tonight."  When he raves and raves about what he ate at work, I'm going to recreate it, and I started last night with Giada De Laurentiis' Lemon Pesto Shrimp Rolls. 

As a regular contributor to the show, Giada has made many things Carson has loved, but this was a particular favorite.  This is shrimp, poached in a flavorful broth, tossed in a vibrantly fresh pesto sauce, accompanied by crunchy celery and smooth cannellini beans, served on delicious bread.  A perfect summer lunch or dinner, in our case.  She made two other meals that day (click on link above), all based on these five basic ingredients:      

  

Look at that color below!  My favorite.  The lemon and Italian parsley in this pesto made it so bright and delicious, and it came together in minutes...

Have you ever poached shrimp in a bowl on the counter?  I hadn't!  Just pour a hot poaching liquid consisting of wine, broth, oil and herbs over the fish, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit...

This is homemade bread too, by the way, that I made from store-bought pizza dough.  

I'll talk about that tomorrow : )  

Thank you Giada, thank you Carson, thank you Today Show! 

(I sound like an Alanis Morissette song).  

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