Contemplate this on the tree of woe. The mighty cauliflower. I paid over 11 dollars for nearly 4 pounds (about 2 heads worff). Don’t think we’ll be doing Organic Cauliflower again, this I assure you. Even so, it’s an interesting beast. Looks like white broccoli, it ain’t. The little trees (florets they say) are far more uniform and sturdy. I aint’ never cut one up, but after pulling the green fronds off it’s butt, nature took it’s course (along with my 10″ Cook’s knife) and it came to pieces readily. Why did I drag this thing to my abbatoire? Molly has been very helpful and kind in the wily ways of introducing the Biggles to a wider variety of vegetables. She offered up a Roasted Curry Cauliflower for me to try out. It looked easy enough for a Monday night. Off I went to El Cerrito Natural Grocery in a flash. Then to my local Indian grocery that opened up around the corner for fresher Coriander seeds (ours were old). I was READY. In the now famous words of Tommy Tang, Let’s Get Cooking!
Here’s the recipe:
12 cups cauliflower florets (from about 4 pounds cauliflower)
1 large onion, peeled, quartered
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon Hungarian hot paprika
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Preheat oven to 450°F. Place cauliflower florets in large roasting pan. Pull apart onion quarters into separate layers; add to cauliflower. Stir coriander seeds and cumin seeds in small skillet over medium heat until slightly darkened, about 5 minutes. Crush coarsely in mortar with pestle. Place seeds in medium bowl. Whisk in oil, vinegar, curry powder, paprika, and salt. Pour dressing over vegetables; toss to coat. Spread vegetables in single layer. Sprinkle with pepper.
Roast vegetables until tender, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 450°F oven 10 minutes, if desired.)
Mound vegetables in large bowl. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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The Meez went right together. I really liked the part where you put the Coriander seeds and Cumin seeds in a cast iron skillet to toast. Brings the kitchen alive and makes it feel like you’re doing something worth while. As the recipe reads, they have you put the florets & onions in the roasting pan, then pour the slurry over. Nah, I don’t think so. I used a really large salad bowl and used that to put the florets & onions in. Made the Curry Slurry and used my fangers to toss & coat.
As I put the mixture in to my roasting pan, I realized it was a virgin pan. No vegetable had ever been in it. Get over it Biggles, it’s a roasting pan for crissakes. Still pained me. I shook it off and continued. As I dumped the stuff in, I realized it would probably would have made sense to put a rack in the bottom to hold the veggies OFF the bottom of the roaster. I was right, even with stirring a bit during roasting, it would have really helped.
Writing recipes and following recipes certainly tend to be two distinct paths. When someone lays down what they think works, it takes someone like me to find holes or screw it up due to the way it was written. This time I noticed they asked for some olive oil, but don’t tell you what to do with it. I guessed it was for the slurry, but I don’t really know.
The little buggers coated right up. They were installed in to the 450 degree oven for 35 minutes. Stir once halfway through.
Considering I’ve never had roasted cauliflower before, I think it came fine. Mama didn’t want anything to do with the Cauliflower, but she admitted it was good and would eat it again. I will to. Thanks to Molly for the recipe and giving me enough inspiration to try it.
Things to change? Again, mixing everything in a large bowl first, not in the roaster. The addition of a fine wire rack to hold the veggies off the bottom of the roaster. Meat don’t like it, veggies don’t either. I would also like to see some marination time. Maybe 20 to 30 minutes to let the flavors meld. There also needs to be some better flavor delivery system. The Olive Oil is nice and all, but there needs to be a little fat of some kind to round out the flavors, it wasn’t very rich.
What intrigues me is the durability of the C. Flower. The stuff takes a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes! What this tells me is that I can marinate the florets in nearly any variation of oils, herbs, spices and sauces to make it any way I choose. Although something sugary would turn everything black at that temp, gotta be careful there.
All in all it was a really good experience and am glad I can add this to my weekly diet. As far as I know, this is a Gout Friendly Meal.
Xo xo
For more fatty richness, we could’ve used ghee instead of olive oil. …but I don’t know that ghee would help you in your quest for a gout-free live.
Anyway, I’m not a big fan of the cauliflower, but these roasted ones were dee-lish-us, ghee or no.
“life.”
Ghee? You mean the butter without the flavor? I was thinking of lard or real butter. Now there’s a flavor delivery system. YEAH !!!
Yep, I did the mix it all in a big bowl too, and I think they could probably sit in that marinade for a day and only get better. I usually add more olive oil and vinegar than most recipes call for so mine was probably a bit richer, and I cooked the hell out of it, I like that roasted yet creamy style cauliflower. Next time you make cauliflower, you should try braising it, that’s heck of good too.
Next stop beets!
Beeheets? You’re going to make me eat beets?
Whoa – even I’m not going as far as beets. But I do like roasted cauliflower. Particularly the mysterious way it is able to win over even cauliflower haters. I usually just toss with olive oil, sprinkle with whatever spices I feel like at the moment and roast. Tasty!
This looks lovely. I will be making this.
I do roasted Cauliflower a lot, but simpler. Just olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s great simple, too.
And I will also add this about beets…. I LOVE them. I used to hate them. Until about 2 years ago I bought a bunch at farmer’s market. Been eating them ever since.
Cut off the tops and sautee them like you would chard. that’s a bonus.
As for the actual beets, leave the skins on, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast at 400 for an hour or until tender. Let them cool to room tem and then just rub the skins off with a paper towel. They zip right off. cut the beets into wedges, add thin sliced red onion, balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Very simple and absolutely delicious. (Plus the way it makes your pee turn pink is downright shocking!)
I’m with Nic. We do this all the time with Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts. Just toss in olive oil, garlic, random spices/chilis and roast for a bit. You get none of the stink of over cooked veggies, and I love it when it is crispy around the edges.
I can eat TONS of veggies prepared this way, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Yarm.
we eat cauliflowers a lot in india, up north where i live it’s a winter vegetable. and every region in india has a different way of cooking this vegetable. will try your way, it looks very interesting, esp the vinegar.
and biggles, ghee is extremely flavourful, try this: mix ghee with hot basmati rice, sprinkle salt and a little freshly ground black pepper. my mum would serve fried fish with this.
yes, beets.
Henry Joe’s got it exactly right. Yum.
Hey, Mr. Meat! Christine here, from the Berkeley Farmer’s Market. Bummer about the gout, dude.
Hey, I’m about to buy a quarter of a cow from Chileno Valley Beef. Do you have any experience in this arena? I am very excited. My friends split a quarter with someone else last year, and were so enthused that they’ll be buying an entire quarter now. And I gave them the “Big Book of Meat” (aka, The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells) so they’re ready to cook the different cuts accordingly now. I think I promised to give you the particulars on that book before; must have the book, Guy. So, where do you buy your non-Fatted Calf meat products?
Yours, Christine
Bigs, maybe next time you should try mustard oil for coating purposes. I myself am not a fan of cooked cruciferous vegetables, prefering ’em to be raw or not at all. If this were my recipe I’d heat the marinade up real good and hot and pour that over thin slices of the florets in layers. A layer o’ this, a layer o’ that, let it set a few hrs and serve. But that’s just because I’ have some wierd nutritional ticks. Don’t know why. Curious about what you get up to with beets.
While that cauliflower does look tasty, and yes, by all means you should meet beets, I solemnly pledge to maintain meat’s lofty position in the culinary grand scheme of things in the face of this evil gout by redoubling my carnivorousness, particularly as regards The Smoker (hmmm, can ya smoke veggies?).
Here’s to your speedy recovery.
Hey Everyone!
I wanted to stop by and thank ya’ll for coming by and lending a Comment and an ear. It lends inspiration for food stuffs that weren’t there before. Keep it coming !
Hey Christine,
Hey, now you’re thinkin’. Buy the cow! I don’t have any experience directly wacking at the cow. I can remove bones from hunks with the greatest of ease. Separate this from that with a deft hand. Little or no help here, sorry.
I buy most all my ‘other’ meats from Rick at Rick’s Quality Meats in El Cerrito. He buys half cows and wacks em’. He’d be more than willing to piece yours up, if that’s what you’re looking for. He’s also got really good natural chickens for a decent price, Martinelli’s. That’s what I usually go for. His pork is good too, yum. He also makes his own Italian sausages, Hot & Mild. Both good, but the hot is really different. Get a few. Other than that, he’s a traditional butcher. Something you’d expect to find back in the 1950s. Oh wait, he’s been smoking meats as well. 75 pounds at a time. Done very very nicely too, he don’t screw around. Here:
http://www.meathenge.com/archives/000486.html
I hope this helps.
Biggles
Hey Aaron,
HAHAHHAH, shit man, I hope you don’t get gout too. Hmm, you can grill veggies. Cauliflower seems to be a pretty hearty beast. I bet it’d smoke pretty darned well. Dry rub and off you go!
Speaking of veggies, check out the newest post over at http://baconpress.blogspot.com/ (ignore the part about the meat). He’s got some great, imaginative stuff he’s doing with veggies.
Hey Molly,
Yeah Kevin can really lay it down. Tons of coherent thoughts that meander all in the right directions.
I ate a chicken wing last night. I felt so naughty. But it was so juicy, so good.
Biggles
Thanks for the tips, Senor Biggles. Actually, the 1/4 cow I’m planning on buying is grass-fed, which is supposed to be full of healthier cholesterol than grain-fed, which makes sense if you think about it. Does Rick sell grass-fed? And the folks at Chileno Beef have a butcher in Cotati do the cutting, so you have to drive to Cotati and pay the man. So,$275 for the meat, plus around $75 to the butcher, and they say you wind up with around 100 pounds of meat, plus some soup bones. Organ meats are separate; I’m not sure why. Anyway, my friends swear it’s the tastiest beef ever; they just regreat doing things like trying to fry what they should have stewed, and vice versa. Oh, and the packages are supposed to fit easily into a standard fridge freezer (if you don’t have anything else in there, I think). But hey, I have a full size freezer now, so no problem! Oh, and BTW, Taylor’s sausages DO freeze well; I like to keep a bunch of them in the freezer for those nights where I need to think fast. (Merguez with bulghur wheat and lemon juice, cornmeal crust deep dish pizza with hot sausage, or fennel, cannellini beans and Toulouse with white wine or vermouth. Yeah, we eat well. Taylor is a meat artist.)
Okey-doke. Enough meat blabbing.
Christine
Hey Christine,
The Cotati situation sounds like the way to go. Rick doesn’t sell grass fed. The demographics of his clientele ain’t going to deal with paying more. Beef is already pretty darned pricy, grass fed or no.
Organ meats are separate these days because they have a market for them. Years ago you could have the organs, tritip and the hanger or onlget cuts. No longer, they’re worth a mint. All about money.
Ya know, if you’re going to spend that kind of money on a load of anything, I would think one would do a little research on how to cook what. But you’re right, it does take some practice to make a roast, of any cut, come out perfect. Usually, you’ll all sit around and talk about how next time you’d do something different. The goal is to sit back with a smile and not say a damned thing until you’re asked about whether you want your pie warmed or not. Practice practice practice. Same thing with tending the fire in your grill or smoker.
As far as freezing things, yeah I know. I even have the book, Will It Freeze?. Or something like that. Years ago I attempted to buy huge and freeze. But it was so depressing to come home and find you’d forgotten to pull out tonights dinner yesterday. So, you are either forced to fry frozen hamburger or go to Safeway to buy fresh what your freezer is full of. For the last 8 years or so I’ve been going to the butcher nearly every day. At least 3 times during the week and once on the weekend. Unless I get some odd inspiration and wind up with a 6lb pork shoulder when I was shopping for crackers.
Taylor is certainly a Meat Ninja, that’s for sure. From pork roasts wrapped in pork belly, to pate & sausage. Sheet fire, the herb salsa he made at the picnic a few weeks ago was outflippenstanding.
Biggles
Tip for deconstructing the cauliflower or any other cruciferous vegetable (cabbage, broccoli, etc). Cut it in quarters first. Then you can easily trim out the centers with one cut.
Cauliflower stems make a tasty crunchy snack (the middle part, not the tough skin). My mom used to feed it to us when we were young. No wonder I became a vegetarian!
OK – the big slabs ‘o beef is where it’s at. I have a friend who has a source to a farmer on highway 1 down near half moon bay who has a few head of cattle he grazes on grass and artichokes. The rumor is that this cow is the best cow there is with all that artichoke eating. He sells occasional WHOLE cows at a time. So the only way to do it is to get a consortium of cow lovers to buy shares in the thing. A local butcher does the hacking up part. My friend and I have never had a large enough group to pull this off (we sometimes get 1/4 of a lamb this way though) but maybe if we all get together???
Owen
I adore cauliflower and can’t wait to try this recipe! thank you for sharing it.
Hey Suebob,
Just so you know, one of my nicknames from years ago was and still is, Guy Bob.
Hey, I couldn’t do the quartering with the cauliflower. It seemed a shame to not have each and every little tree in perfect shape and form. I was able to bring it to it’s knees in no time by taking out the stalk, then snip snip snip. Perfection !!!
Hey Alison,
You’re very welcome. At the moment I’m attempting to come up with some kind of bright & firey Southern or Mexican version. A Cauliflower that would go well with a grilled fest of some kind. Ya know?
I happened to be Lebanese in origin and I have been kind of let down at how most Americans try to avoid or have a disliking to Cauliflower. Where in Lebanon, our most beloved dishes include Cauliflower at some point. Spiced and deep fried cauliflower is also a tri-weekly appetizer or an add-on to most sandwiches. Your recipe looks promising, will try it tonight.
Hey Kal,
Don’t give up hope. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m more of a throwback around here, most people enjoy the Cauliflower. I do too, at least the roasted version.
Would you be willing to share your spiced deep fried cauliflower recipe?
Talk about serendipity (or don’t)… I’m invited to a dish to pass Indian dinner tonight. The roasted cauliflower is going with me.
Recently we have rediscovered cauliflower and have been simply steaming it and then running it through the food processor with some mayo and other spices. Takes the place of mashed potatoes without as much starch.
Delighted to have found this place.
~LG
Hey Ladygold,
This recipe turned out just fine, as you’ve read. Last week I attempted to do something similar with more of a spicy Texmex blend and roast them on a wire rack, not resting on the bottom of the roaster.
Nasty failure, the only way I could eat them was to cover in hot sauce. Using a rack at that temperature really heated up the oil to the point of burning it good. The spices didn’t tast like ANYTHING at all. I was going to post about it, but just didn’t. I suppose I still could. We’ll see.
Biggles
okay, just came to mind but do you have a recipe for cauliflower (yes, i’m still on the cauliflower)that starts off marinating the C. in champagne and then ends with roasting in the oven covered with a gruyere sauce…i tried it and it was delish – haven’t been able to replicate it quite the same – the champagne actually came through…..
Hey,
Ya know I don’t. However, that does sound really good. If you run across one, let me know, eh? I need all the help I can get.
Biggles