Baked Beetroot Wedges, Vinaigrette-infused Beetroot Slices, Purple Cauliflower Puree, and Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki.
If a rainbow was made up of only purple, this plate would include the deepest and brightest shades of it.
This is the first time I’m sending in a valid entry for Steemit Culinary Challenge after making a Fail Entry for SCC #38. This time, I was sure to read the rules twice! Hope I missed nothing out!
This week’s SCC judge chose a unique theme — Monochrome.
DISH NAME
Deep & Bright Shades of a Purple Rainbow
There are four main components to this dish, and each one showcases a naturally purple ingredient. No artificial colouring was used.
Component #1: Baked Beetroot Wedges
Who knew that baked beetroot wedges would turn out this awesome? I just know I'm going to make this one again. Somehow the essence of the flavour attained is similar to its baked sweet potato counterparts, but accompanied by a juicy, cleaner texture.
Ingredients Used in Baked Beetroot Wedges
2 Beetroots, peeled and cut into thin, uniform wedges (wear a glove to prevent staining your fingers!!)
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (to enhance the beetroot flavour)
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme Leaves
1/4 tsp Dried Red Chili Flakes
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
Sea Salt (to taste)
How to Make the Baked Beetroot Wedges
Preheat the oven to 200° C. Mix all ingredients except beetroot together in a bowl.
On a baking paper, place beet wedges in a single layer. Coat the wedges evenly with the mixture.
Bake till beets are done and slightly browning (25 min).
Component #2: Vinaigrette-infused Beetroot Slices
A strong red wine vinaigrette pairs well with the natural sweetness of beetroot. I made this recipe to the taste of my sister-in-law, who loves all things sour, and she must have said 'Yummy' 5 times while eating it. LOL!! Personally, I found the vinaigrette a tad strong, but not so much that it overpowered the beetroot.
Ingredients Used in Vinaigrette-infused Beetroot Slices
2 Beetroots, washed
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp Maple syrup
1/2 tsp Fig Mustard
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
1/8 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
Sea Salt (to taste)
How to Make the Vinaigrette-infused Beetroot Slices
Bring a pot of water with a little salt to a boil. Add beetroots and boil till cooked (45 min). Drain and set aside till cool. When cool, peel beetroot by rubbing skin off gently with a paper towel. Thinly slice beetroots.
Combine all other ingredients together to make a vinaigrette. Immerse beetroot slices in the vinaigrette and chill for an hour.
Component #3: Purple Cauliflower Puree
I had originally wanted to do a mash using purple potatoes. Since I couldn’t find that in the supermarkets, and since I recalled that cauliflower is a great substitute for a lot of starches (including potatoes), I decided to make a purple cauliflower puree instead!
This ended up quite a flop, since I must have over-cooked the cauliflower florets (they ended up with a bluish tinge!!! =O). Trying to salvage the situation, I added boiled beetroot to my puree, but somehow the end result was not satisfying enough. Though the Puree became a supernumerary rather than a main actor of my dish, I decided to add it into my Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki (Component #4). So, not everything was lost! =D
Ingredients Used in Purple Cauliflower Puree
Purple Cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
5 Roasted Garlic Cloves
60 ml Heavy Cream
1/8 tsp Smoked Paprika Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
Sea Salt (to taste)
Color salvaging ingredient: Boiled Beetroot
How to Make the Purple Cauliflower Puree
Bring a large pot of water and salt to boil. Add cauliflower and cook until tender (8-10 min). In the meantime, combine butter, salt, pepper, garlic, and heavy cream in a bowl. Drain cauliflower and add it into the bowl. Add roasted garlic cloves. Mash the contents with a fork till crumbly, then transfer to blender to make a puree.
Component #4: Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese-style pancake that is brimming with cabbage. After being pan-fried to perfection on a hot stone plate, It is typically heaped with mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, and bonito (fish) flakes. In keeping with my purple theme, I decided to make mine sauce-less. Since the other components on the plate are so juicy, this was not a problem at all. =)
Ingredients Used in the Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki
Red Cabbage Leaves, finely sliced
1/2 Red Onion, minced
1 tbsp Purple Cauliflower Puree (Component #3)
2 tsp Rice Flour
1 tsp Plain White Flour
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Chicken Egg
1/8 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt (to taste)
Sunflower Oil (for pan-frying)
How to Make the Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki
Combine all ingredients and mix well with a spoon. Pan-fry on high heat.
ASSEMBLE THE PLATE
Gather up all the components in a semi-circle around your plate.
Line up Baked Beetroot Wedges in a neat row. Quarter the Sauce-less Red Cabbage Okonomiyaki and place below the wedges. Arrange Vinaigrette-infused Beetroot Slices in a circular fashion, each slice overlapping the next. Add a small blob of Purple Cauliflower Puree in the centre of the Beetroot Slices and top with a purple cauliflower floret.
Place tiny purple cauliflower florets randomly throughout the dish. Wedge two purple cabbage strips between the Okonomiyaki quarters. There!
A poet could not be but gay (this is a William Wordsworth reference) while eating this dish. =P
A big thank you goes to @woman-onthe-wing. Without her, this contest would be naught.
Of course, in it’s 41st round, there must be a lot of support ensuring the longevity of this weekly challenge series. Current sponsors @gringalicious and @sirwinchester and recent sponsor @englishtchrivy, as well as all the contestants and upvoters/resteemers/word-spreaders past and present are instrumental in this role. Many thanks to every individual Steemian. You all rock!! =D
Oh my goodness I LOVE your monochrome entry @foodie.warrior! I think you're right - this is a plate of purple rainbow shades... it looks fantastic! I didn't know the word Okonomiyaki so I looked it up, and find it really interesting that it means 'grilled as you like it'... Such a versatile pancake-type food that you can literally make any way you like! Groovy :-) Actually, your purple okonomiyaki is groovy... and looks very tasty indeed. I love your arrangement of the different components on the plate - it's very striking, especially with the finishing touches of cauliflower florets. Beautiful. I would eat this dish happily!
I have to apologise.... until now I wasn't aware of your 'fail' entry for #38... somehow I completely missed that one! I think it was because someone requested you remove the SCC tag, but actually I personally would have been happy for you to keep the tag. It was a very interesting post, and amusing, and also useful for others who may not be aware of the rules! Thank you for writing it, I enjoyed it, and I'm happy now to have seen it!
Thank you for giving me such groovy words of praise, @woman-onthe-wing! =P
I'm glad you are now aware of the Okonomiyaki.. You're right..it has a really general definition (which is why I didn't try to explain the meaning of it in my post..hehe).
No apology necessary! I'm just glad you enjoyed the 'fail' post when you got around to seeing it eventually..That was a bunch of fails in so many areas, I doubt others would err on that many levels =D
Thanks again for your heart-warming appraisal. Have a lovely weekend!
Oh wow, talking about bringing out the best in beets! I've never tried the red wine vinegar, but maybe I should. You know, as a kid I always thought I hated beetroot, as the first one I tried came out of a glass had this weird taste. So it took me years to find out that it was actually one of my favorite veggies... raw. Still, I've become curious to try.
As for the cauliflower, I always thought I knew this great secret about it that you could mash it up, beating mashed taters any day. But seems like you're in on that secret! :-) I especially like that you chose the purple variety. Awesome stuff!
I'm not surprised, @stortebeker! We often end up liking foods we used to loathe as kids..coriander is one of those for me. Hated as a little girl, enjoy it now! =)
I've not tried beetroot raw yet. I just might soon, given that it's one of your favourite veggies!
Hehe looks like someone with a loose mouth came in on that mashed cauliflower replacement secret..and now, I've gone and told the whole world! =P
A :-) a 8-) and a LOL = an upvote!
Wow ! This is a great entry, i like it so much,it looks so yummy 😋,and beautiful and well presented, good luck my friend.
hehe thanks so much for your sweet compliments, @creativewoman! =D Have a lovely weekend with dear Rheem and hubby @progressivechef!
Looks so good and you've put real effort into your post too. Upvoted :)
Thanks @charlotteblacker! I'll make sure to keep up the effort! =)
Congratulations on winning 3rd prize @foodie.warrior! A beautiful entry deserving of its prize :-)
Whoopee thank you so much! I like this winner tags very much..Makes the sense of accomplishment more tangible..hehe..Would be nice if other contest holders came out with this and added it in the comments section like you do =)
I'm glad to hear you like the winner's trophies @foodie.warrior... I want people to feel special when they win! :-)
Consider it 'Mission accomplished' then! =D
Congrats on third place in the challenge!
Woots @gringalicious =D Thanks for being such a reliable sponsor for this contest!
Another wonderful entry! Love red beets and the purple cauliflower puree sounds great! Never heard of Okonomiyaki.... looks great. Will try to make them one day! Good luck in the challenge.
hehe thanks, @amy-goodrich! I hope you enjoy it when you do! Have a lovely weekend!