Let's talk about cauliflower

[Jenise]

What are the ways you prepare cauliflower?

In talking about roasting cauliflower in another thread with Mary Rocca, I got to thinking about what I'm going to do with the head I've got in the fridge right now. And when I started considering the possibilities, my head went to just four places. That is, I guess I'm in a bit of a rut because there are four ways I love to prepare cauliflower, and I almost never do anything else. Those four are: pureed cauliflower soup with hazelnut butter, roasted as described to Mary, paired with potatoes in the Indian dish aloo gobi, or sliced thinly and marinated with olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic and salt which then gets tossed with a romaine lettuce as a dinner salad or croutons for a winter panzanella. In the last, oh, ten years, I can only recall one exception to that quartet, a pureed cauliflower sauce with faintly Indian seasoning for baked halibut (now there's a diet idea for Mr. 1K).

I'd love to hear what the rest of you do.

I don't do much with microwave besides reheating, and this dish:

Cauliflower With Tomatoes and Pimentón

T
1 medium head cauliflower, trimmed

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 mild dried chile, optional

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon slivered garlic

2 plum tomatoes, fresh or canned, diced

1 tablespoon sweet or hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish, optional.


1. Put cauliflower and 1 tablespoon water in a covered glass bowl and microwave on high power until quite soft (a thin-bladed knife will penetrate with almost no effort), about 7 minutes. Uncover and let cool. Meanwhile, put oil in a large skillet or casserole over medium heat and add chile, if using, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, tomato and about 1/4 cup of water, raise heat a bit, and cook until mixture is saucy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, crumble cauliflower (if it’s still hot, mash it with a potato masher or use a couple of knives to chop it up in the bowl) and stir it into sauce, along with pimentón, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is coated with sauce and hot. Taste and adjust seasoning, then garnish and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 or more servings.

Cauliflower stir-fries very well. Some ginger and scallions for seasoning, and then a bit of rice wine mixed with cornstarch just to add a nice glaze at the end of the cooking. Perhaps just a dash of soy sauce--too much would spoil the nice white color.

-Paul W.

I just tried this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a tasty and interesting presentation.

Trim the root end of the cauliflower and stand it up vertically on the cutting board. Slice top to bottom into slices about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. You'll lose the outer small rounded pieces to other uses. Make sure the slices are dry then season with salt and pepper. Maybe some finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy skillet, cast iron or otherwise, to medium heat and simply sear/cook the slices until golden brown on both sides and serve.

Adjust thickness, temperature and time for preferred doneness. Great with a browned butter and herb sauce or...

aloo gobi

Mark Lipton

What are the ways you prepare cauliflower?

In talking about roasting cauliflower in another thread with Mary Rocca, I got to thinking about what I'm going to do with the head I've got in the fridge right now. And when I started considering the possibilities, my head went to just four places. That is, I guess I'm in a bit of a rut because there are four ways I love to prepare cauliflower, and I almost never do anything else. Those four are: pureed cauliflower soup with hazelnut butter, roasted as described to Mary, paired with potatoes in the Indian dish aloo gobi, or sliced thinly and marinated with olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic and salt which then gets tossed with a romaine lettuce as a dinner salad or croutons for a winter panzanella. In the last, oh, ten years, I can only recall one exception to that quartet, a pureed cauliflower sauce with faintly Indian seasoning for baked halibut (now there's a diet idea for Mr. 1K).

I'd love to hear what the rest of you do.

Halibut? Nope, ain't gonna happen...

Take one fresh head of cauliflower, cut out root core on the bottom, leave as many fresh leaves as you can. Put the whole head on a microwave safe plate, cover with paper towels and nuke for about seven minutes or just until a knife pierces the head all the way through. Have ready a cheese sauce, whatever your fave is at the moment, infused with herbs of your choosing. Pour the cheese sauce over the head of cauliflower, and surround the head with fresh grape tomatoes, sliced in half. Salt and pepper to taste. Pretty presentation. We like all sorts of cheese sauces with this. Jack cheese with dry mustard, a blue cheese sauce, Gouda, and a Havarti are nice. You want the flavor of the cauliflower to be the star.

Robin has a recipe for a wonderful soup made from Cauliflower and Stilton cheese. I've made it twice in the last three months, with praise from guests. Added a touch of brandy the last time and it gave it a little more depth.

I like to saute shallots, 2-3 anchovies, add cauliflowerettes and cook until beginning to brown. Cover for about 5-8 minutes (until just crisp tender). Add capers, golden raisins, juice from 1 lemon, salt and freshly grated pepper.

I like to saute shallots, 2-3 anchovies, add cauliflowerettes and cook until beginning to brown. Cover for about 5-8 minutes (until just crisp tender). Add capers, golden raisins, juice from 1 lemon, salt and freshly grated pepper.

Oh my! That one made my mouth water just reading it!

I like to keep approximately three feet between me and the odious thing at all times.

As a pasta sauce for orichietti: sauteed to softness in olive oil with hot pepper flakes and minced garlic added toward the end so it doesn't burn. w/wo a few smashed anchovies. Sprinkled with parsley, lots of black pepper and grated ricotta salata or pecorino.
As a salad: steamed and dressed with olive oil/rice vinegar with minced red peppers for color and sweetness and chopped rosemary. w/wo a few hot pepper flakes

The only way I ever do it anymore is roasted. I break it into florets, toss with EVOO, sea salt and pepper, then roast for about 45 minutes at 375. The florets get sort of soft, but crispy and light brown on the outside. Just delicious and addictive.

Cauliflower gratin:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina- ... index.html

Or the following steps:
cook cauliflower in water 5-6 minutes
make a bechamel, add gruyere or comte cheese.
put drained cauliflower in baking dish, add cheese sauce, cover with bread crumbs
bake 25 minutes at 400

Of course, my favorite is battered cauliflower, deep fried, served with a splash of lemon, but I don't want my kitchen to smell like a grease for the evening.

Of course, my favorite is battered cauliflower, deep fried, served with a splash of lemon, but I don't want my kitchen to smell like a grease for the evening.

My Dad likes to deep fry it without batter. He just takes it out of the oil and tosses with salt. Really, really good, but I find I can get almost the same effect by roasting it -- and it's probably a little healthier.

Love it in many ways. Personal favourite preparation methods are a saute/light stir fry with turmeric, cumin and a little green chilli, or either a dry or gravy-based aloo gobi (sometimes with peas or occasionally even a bit of paneer thrown in).
There are a few other Indian preparations I'm very fond of (though I don't do them as often) - marinated cauliflower (in yoghurt/lemon juice/ginger/garlic/cumin/coriander/chilli powder/garam masala bound with a little gram flour) baked in the oven, or a cauliflower-tamarind lentil gravy with onions and fenugreek seed.

I've also played around with stir-frying with Chinese spices (particularly some scallions, ginger and Szechuan pepper or fermented Guilin chili) and sometimes throwing in some babycorn as well.

[Jenise]

Of course, my favorite is battered cauliflower, deep fried, served with a splash of lemon, but I don't want my kitchen to smell like a grease for the evening.

Jacques, you've jogged a memory. A British friend once served, at a party, a whole bowl of NOT-battered but yes deep fried cauliflower--it shrank into something quite beautifully and spectacularly lacy--I remember that I didn't immediately recognize what it was--and was absolutely delicious. But I'm like you--I don't deep fry at home.

Supper tonight was sweet potatoes steamed in the new rice cooker / steamer we bought at Target last weekend. When the sweet taters were almost done, I added 2 cups or so of cauliflower, broccoli and sliced carrots to the steamer basket. the cauliflower was ok, but kind of bland, as I didn't add anything to it but sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. It's one of those veggies that I can take it or leave it.

[Jenise]

Wow, so many good ideas! I bought a rack of lamb yesterday to serve with Dale's cauliflower dish tonight. And I'm going to try Christina's orrechietti and and half inch thick pieces pan fried soon too. Karen and Jacques, I may have to give cheese sauce another try, though that was something I had once in childhood and just despised--probably because the cauliflower was waterlogged.

[Jenise]

I don't do much with microwave besides reheating, and this dish:

Cauliflower With Tomatoes and Pimentón

T
1 medium head cauliflower, trimmed

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 mild dried chile, optional

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon slivered garlic

2 plum tomatoes, fresh or canned, diced

1 tablespoon sweet or hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish, optional.


1. Put cauliflower and 1 tablespoon water in a covered glass bowl and microwave on high power until quite soft (a thin-bladed knife will penetrate with almost no effort), about 7 minutes. Uncover and let cool. Meanwhile, put oil in a large skillet or casserole over medium heat and add chile, if using, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, tomato and about 1/4 cup of water, raise heat a bit, and cook until mixture is saucy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, crumble cauliflower (if it’s still hot, mash it with a potato masher or use a couple of knives to chop it up in the bowl) and stir it into sauce, along with pimentón, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is coated with sauce and hot. Taste and adjust seasoning, then garnish and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 or more servings.

Dale, I made this last night. (I even took pictures to show you, but out of 13 shots not one was acceptable--I absolutely must get a new camera, one that takes good closeups.) With the addition of the pimenton, I got to thinking Spanish so I added some finely minced green olives to the bread crumb mixture I slathered on the accompanying rack of lamb, and served the dish with a 1998 La Louviere. OOH. LA. LA. A real keeper, so thanks.

I like to steam a whole cauliflower but not to a mush stage as I want just a little bit of crunch when I bite it. While the vegetable is cooking I take a stick of butter (or even margarine) and brown that to a dark but not burnt color. When the cauliflower is done I take it out and let it cool just to where I can handle it to pull the florets from the stalk. I then pour a half cup or more of italian seasoned bread crumbs over the veggie, then the browned butter over it all, and serve immediately. YUM!

Wow, so many good ideas! I bought a rack of lamb yesterday to serve with Dale's cauliflower dish tonight. And I'm going to try Christina's orrechietti and and half inch thick pieces pan fried soon too. Karen and Jacques, I may have to give cheese sauce another try, though that was something I had once in childhood and just despised--probably because the cauliflower was waterlogged.

Jenise, I make a white sauce first, then add cheese of my choice, a touch of dry mustard gives it a bit of complexity. Sometimes a few dashes of hot sauce. Looks great on a nice dish, and people who say they don't like cauliflower, usually like this. The grape tomatoes this time of year are all right. In the summer, I use cherry toms in all sorts of colors.

[Jenise]

Wow, so many good ideas! I bought a rack of lamb yesterday to serve with Dale's cauliflower dish tonight. And I'm going to try Christina's orrechietti and and half inch thick pieces pan fried soon too. Karen and Jacques, I may have to give cheese sauce another try, though that was something I had once in childhood and just despised--probably because the cauliflower was waterlogged.

Jenise, I make a white sauce first, then add cheese of my choice, a touch of dry mustard gives it a bit of complexity. Sometimes a few dashes of hot sauce. Looks great on a nice dish, and people who say they don't like cauliflower, usually like this. The grape tomatoes this time of year are all right. In the summer, I use cherry toms in all sorts of colors.

It does sound good, Karen. The one I had in childhood was probably sauced with just a jar of Cheez Whiz (the family who served it to me, that's kind of the way they cooked).