Steamed vegetables with chive-cardamom butter

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 Head cauliflower
1 small Rutabaga; peeled & diced
12 New potatoes; w/a strip of skin removed around the
½ pounds Clarified butter
¼ teaspoon Ground cardamom middle
2 cups Frozen peas
12 smalls Carrots; peeled
6 smalls Scallions; with their tops
¼ cup Chopped fresh chives

Directions

CHIVE-CARDAMOM BUTTER

Each of the vegetables should be steamed separately. Remove the outer leaves from the cauliflower and steam the whole head for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just crisp-tender. The potatoes will need 15 to 18 minutes; the rutabaga 12 to 15 minutes; the peas 2 minutes; the carrots 10 to 12 minutes; and the scallions 8 to 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are steaming, melt the butter and stir in the cardamom and chives.

To serve, place the cauliflower in the middle of a round platter and arrange the remaining vegetables around it. Spoon the herb butter over the vegetables just before serving.

Note: Cauliflower and root vegetables are popular with Scandinavians because they can be easily stored for use during the cold northern winters.

The authors write: "Twelve years ago Martha Geffen, who had found herself becoming more and more interested in cooking, finally decided to trade in her career in social work for a catering business. When the opportunity to work in one of the first wave of women-owned restaurants came along, Martha leapt at the chance to enlarge her knowledge of cooking, because the chef-owner was serving a menu filled with culinary innovations.

"Now Martha and her partners, Samantha Peterson and Anne Buchanan, run the restaurants at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker Art Center. 'We try to serve very good food at reasonable prices,' she says, 'so we even make all our breads and desserts.' In addition, the trio caters private and corporate parties and special openings at the museums. 'People here want basic food with a creative touch,' she notes. Herbs often provide that extra distinction. 'Ten years ago, when pesto first struck my fancy I had to grow the basil myself,' says Martha. These days fresh herbs are available at the local farmer's market.

"Like many Minnesotans, Martha has a Swedish heritage, but she seldom serves traditional Swedish dishes to clients. 'They tend to be very basic,' she says, 'very brown and white looking. Although we might offer a casserole of Swedish brown beans among many other dishes in a smorgasbord, we generally adapt the traditional recipes to make them lighter, and to give them more color and flavor to appeal to American tastes.'"

From Martha Geffen/Minneapolis, MN in "Cooking with Herbs" by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1989.

Pg. 119. Posted by Cathy Harned.

Submitted By CATHY HARNED On 10-08-94

Related recipes