Winter Fancy Food Fest Kick- Off with Fancy Broccoli and Burmese Samusa Soup

Heading to San Francisco this weekend with the Bake This Day team to enjoy the Winter Fancy Food Fest. Don’t worry, I’m bringing a king cake as my boarding pass.

On the advent of this gargantuan Specialty Food Association extravaganza, I’ve been contemplating “What is fancy food?” Must it come from an exotic place? Must it be rare or precious or expensive? I’m not so sure that’s true. I marvel when cooks can make simple ingredients taste fancy. The perfect roasted vegetable. Let’s consider a broccoli. Humble little cruciferous, appetizing as a tree.

But roast it in some olive oil until the green edges turn to caramel fond? Now that is fancy. The broccoli is coming up in my bathtub garden, and I’m drooling at the thought of garlicked up like this:

Caramelized Broccoli with Garlic, Plain and Simple

Adapted from Food and Wine

3 tablespoons Colavita extra-virgin olive oil

2 heads of broccoli (1 1/4 pounds total), stems peeled and heads halved lengthwise

1/2 cup water 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Add the broccoli, cut side down, cover and cook over moderate heat until richly browned on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Add the water, cover and cook until the broccoli is just tender and the water has evaporated, about 7 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil along with the garlic and the crushed red pepper and cook uncovered until the garlic is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Season the broccoli with salt and black pepper, drizzle with the lemon juice and serve.

I like to serve this over rice, or with a juicy chicken main course. Or honestly, sometimes I just eat this broccoli for dinner all by itself because it is so delicious.

Another fancy treat is a spicy sweet potato soup in the winter time. This Burmese soup is fancy because it essentially requires every single spice on your rack to make an appearance in the soup pot. I dedicate this dish to Pereg who I can’t wait to meet at the Fancy Food Fest, I have been a longtime fan of their gluten-free flours and tasty spices.

Burmese Samusa Soup

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1/3 cup olive oil

3 to 4 small chiles de árbol or other dried chiles

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped garlic (about 12 garlic cloves)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Pereg paprika

1 teaspoon ground Pereg turmeric

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup toasted Pereg chickpea flour (besan)

2 quart vegetable broth (such as Zoup!)

1/2 cup tamarind water (basically just tamarind paste soaked in 1 cup hot water, then strained)

1/2 cup dried yellow lentils

1 medium russet potato, peeled and chopped

2 red Thai chiles or 1/2 jalapeño, chopped

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Chopped fresh mint, thinly sliced cabbage, fresh cilantro leaves, thinly sliced red Thai chiles, and lime wedges, for serving

Toast cumin and mustard seeds in a large, dry saucepan over medium, stirring often, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and grind into a coarse powder. Add oil to pan, and heat over medium-high. Add cumin mixture, chiles de árbol, and bay leaves, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 25 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, and stir in onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 15 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in salt, paprika, and turmeric.

Whisk together 1/2 cup water and chickpea flour in a small bowl until well combined. Add chickpea flour mixture, broth, tamarind water, lentils, and potato to pan. Stir to combine, and bring a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils and potato are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in Thai chiles and garam masala.

Garnish servings with chopped mint, sliced cabbage, cilantro leaves, sliced Thai chiles, and lime wedges.

In the airport now and enjoying these delicious and Omega-3 rich crackers by Partners. They couple well with a wedge of La Fromagerie Henri Hutin brie I managed to sneak into my carry-on.

In the next few weeks I’ll be recapping what I learned at the Fancy Food Fest, recommendations for new products coming out this year, food trends. Bake This Day was thrilled to be invited and have packed our tennis shoes for the several football-fields-expanse of food excitement we are sure to encounter at the Moscone Center!