Posts tagged ‘cauliflower’

Feb 22

Coconut Caulifower Soup With Ginger And Turmeric

Looking through Clean Soups the one that leapt out at me was the Coconut Cauliflower Soup, actually I decided on this soup before I chose which broth to make. You all know my love affair with cauliflower and I am such a big fan of pureed soups, this was the one I had to make. Turmeric has amazing medicinal, nutritional properties and I have it every day with milk and a grind of black pepper. When I saw the gorgeous golden yellow soup it was love at first sight. I am also a big fan of Thai flavors, lemongrass, ginger, lime and coconut are a happy marriage of flavors and make this silky pureed soup exotic and delicious. A touch of red Thai chili paste provides a gentle bite and the sum of all of the ingredients is wonderfully comforting and so yummy.

I made the soup exactly as written in the recipe but ended up tweaking just a bit as I wasn’t quite satisfied with the results. The cauliflower is roasted in a hot oven drizzled with olive oil and turmeric and what ended up happening is that it started getting too dark and the cauliflower was not tender enough, I kept turning it and moving it around until the prescribed length of baking time was reached. I didn’t think the cauliflower was quite soft enough but continued, blending it with the other vegetables and I didn’t like the texture. Now it could be my wonky oven or maybe the florets were too big, I don’t know. I ended up cooking the pureéd soup for about 20 minutes and then put it back in the blender so that it was velvety smooth. The soup is delicious and I would definitely make it again.

Coconut Cauliflower Soup With Ginger And Turmeric

2 1/2 – 3 lb cauliflower cut into 1 1/2 inch florets

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 yellow onion peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

2 carrots peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

2 tsp Thai red chili paste

6 cups Thai coconut broth plus more if needed (I did need more)

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tbs freshly squeezed lime juice plus more if needed

garnish with fresh chopped mint or cilantro

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 425 degree’s. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the cauliflower, 2 tbs olive oil, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt and the black pepper in a large bowl and toss until coated. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread to an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and tender.

Meanwhile heat the remaining tbs of olive oil in a soup pot, then add the onion, a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 tsp of turmeric and sauté until translucent about 3 minutes, add the garlic, carrots and celery and 1/4 tsp salt and sauté until the vegetables begin to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add the chili paste and stir to coat the vegetables. Pour in 1/2 cup of the broth to deglaze the pot, stirring to loosen any bits at the bottom of the pot. Let cook until the liquid reduces by half.

Pour 1/3 of the broth into a blender, add the ginger and 1/3 of the vegetables and cauliflower and blend until smooth adding more broth if needed. Continue to blend until all of the broth and vegetables are pureed. Pour back into the soup pot and cook over low heat until warmed, add salt if needed and the lime juice. Soup will keep 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Oct 20

55 Comments

Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake And Apple Pear Crumble With Creamy Cider Syrup

I just have to say what a lifesaver it has been to have the guest posts. I have been so extremely busy I really haven’t cooked much of anything and most of what I have cooked is not noteworthy enough to blog about. Thank you so much to everyone who has submitted guest posts, you truly are amazing. I also have been delinquent in reading and commenting on your blogs. I will not be able to catch up there are just too many, once Halloween is done I should be able to breathe and get back to my routine.

Searching through the hundreds of cookbooks I have (and rarely use) I happened upon this recipe from “Plenty More” by Yotam Ottolenghi. Since my latests obsession is cauliflower this immediately grabbed my attention, the list of ingredients sounds delicious, I decided this is a recipe I have to try. It does contain some flour, one cup of all purpose flour but I subbed spelt flour making it lower in carbs and more healthful. It’s a simple recipe, easy to put together and with my current crazy busy schedule this was a must. I really do love Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, the photo’s are drool worthy and recipes are not complex they use simple ingredients but how they put it all together is genius.

Cauliflower Cake

from Plenty More- Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves 6-8

1 small head cauliflower broken into 1 1/2 inch florets

1 medium onion (recipe calls for a red onion)

5 tbs olive oil (I didn’t measure)

1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

7 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup all purpose flour (I used spelt flour)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 tsp turmeric

1 1/2 cups grated parmesan or your favorite grating cheese

melted butter for brushing – about 1 tbs

1 tbs white sesame seeds

1 tsp nigella seeds (I misplaced them so just used sesame)

salt and pepper to taste

Pre heat oven to 400 degree’s

Place cauliflower florets in saucepan filled with salted water, simmer for 15 minutes until the florets are quite soft, they should break when pressed with a spoon. Drain and set aside in a colander.

Cut 4 round slices approximately 1/4 inch thick from one end of the onion and set aside. Coursely chop the rest of the onion and place in a pan with some olive oil and the rosemary. Cook for 1o minutes over medium heat, stirring from time to time until soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Transfer the onions to a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and basil and whisk well, then add the flour, baking powder, turmeric, cheese and 1 tsp salt (I used less salt) and plenty of ground pepper stir to combine and add the cauliflower stirring gently so as not to break up the florets.

Line the base and sides of a 9 1/2 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Brush the sides with melted butter then mix together the sesame and nigella seeds and toss them in the pan and swirl the pan around so that the seeds stick to the buttered sides. Pour the cauliflower mixture in the pan smooth the top and arrange the onion rings on top ( I sprinkled some of the grated cheese on top as well). Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and set. A knife inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave for at least 20 minutes before serving. It should be served warm or at room temperature rather than hot.

For Dessert was an apple Pear crumble using no refined sugar and almost no flour. To sweeten the fruit and crumble I used a little bit of maple syrup and served it with a creamy cider reduction, again made completely without sugar. The natural sweetness of the cider when cooked down into a syrup is intensely sweet, I softened it with a little heavy cream (to make even more decadent you could add a little butter also) and the end product was amazing on this simple crumble. The cider syrup would be great on oatmeal, pancakes or waffles also, instead of adding cream just add a little butter.

This dessert is great and you don’t feel badly eating it, you could even use a little less maple syrup because the cider syrup is sweet enough that you would never know that this is not loaded with sugar.

Apple Pear Crumble

Made 2

Crumble topping

1/4 cup whole oats

1/4 cup spelt flour

2 tbs toasted hazelnut flour (or any nut flour)

pinch of salt

2 tbs softened (not melted) coconut oil

1 tbs cold butter

2 tbs maple syrup

Mix everything together with your fingers until it is blended completely (it will look more like a cookie dough). Pre heat oven to 375 degree’s

2 -3 apples (if you don’t have pear use 3 apples)

1 ripe pear

1 tbs maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

Peel and slice the apples and pears. Oil or butter the baking dish, mix the fruit with the maple syrup, spices and salt, lay the fruit in the pan. Add the crumble topping and pour a little apple cider over it. Bake for 30-40 minutes until crumble is browned and fruit is soft. Note: The crumble topping was patted into place rather than dropping in crumbles, after baking I broke it up kind of like a cookie crust.

Creamy Cider Syrup

Apple cider

Heavy cream

Pour about 1 cup cider in saucepan over medium high heat until reduced to a very thick syrup, it took about 20 minutes. One cup of cider reduced to about 1/4 cup of syrup. The more cider you use the longer it will take to reduce of course. One cup of cider in a saucepan took a little over 20 minutes on medium high heat.

Reduces to almost nothing you can see my hand reflected in the pan, LOL.

Add some heavy cream about 2 tbs and continue to cook another 30 seconds approximately. The sauce will be thick.

Spoon over the crumble and enjoy.

Oct 17

33 Comments

Guest Post- The Frugal Hausfrau

I am thrilled to introduce Mollie –The Frugal Hausfrau. One look at her delicious recipes and beautiful blog and you will be hooked. Her food is home style with an elegant twist, whether a main course, side or dessert you will be drooling. She is one of sweetest and kindest people I know and I have to mention that she is the force behind Throw Back Thursday. Allow me to introduce Mollie, if you don’t already know her I know you will love her as much as I do. Take it away Mollie. One more thing, she hit the nail on the head when she chose this recipe, it has my name written all over it.

I’m so happy to be here today with a guest post for Suzanne. When she put out the call, I jumped. Here’s a woman who does so much for everyone whether she’s just inspiring quietly in her own way, stopping by with lovely comments and encouragement, or working for fundraisers and charities.

I admire Suzanne and her cooking style and over the years I must have read nearly every post Suzanne has ever put out. I’d like to think I have a handle on her taste and I want to be mindful of the healthy direction she’s been moving toward.

So I found some inspiration in a recipe for a roasted cauliflower from Martha Stewart, changed it up a bit and added an Italian flair, just for Suzanne. I used my fave Fennel Spice Rub, and it’s worth making, even if it is and extra step. After your first taste you’ll want to sprinkle that magic on everything!

The nutty roasted cauliflower steaks in this dish are gorgeous with the mushrooms, and those mushrooms – oh my gosh, they’re golden brown and nutty and the flavor intensifies with the roasting. I used Baby Bellas, but just about any mushroom or a combination would be wonderful.

And oh, yeah, I can’t forget the cheese. Just a smidge…it’s wafer thin. If you’re not as old as I am, you might not get the joke…Google it! 🙂 l left a section of the cauliflower steaks “nude” so you could see what it looks like before the cheese.

Then to top it all off, I went a little crazy and added my rather loose interpretation of a Chermoula Sauce (optional) made from the last vestiges of my dying garden. That piquant green sauce, kind of like a Chimichurri, adds a bright counterpart to the earthy dish.

I hope you all like it! Be prepared to have a use for the extra cauliflower if you have any.

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Chermoula Sauce

1 small head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 4 inch thick slices
3/8ths cup of olive oil, approximately
8 ounces mushrooms, shiitake, cremini or a combination, cut into 3/8″ slices
2 slices rustic bread, or enough so stacked it will be about 1″ thick, crusts removed and torn into small pieces, about 1/2 inch across
1 teaspoon (or to taste) Fennel Spice rub (see below) or salt and pepper to taste
4 thin slices of Provolone
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Position racks, one each in the upper and lower third of oven.

Prepare the ingredients:

Rub the cauliflower on both sides with olive oil, season with the Fennel Spice Rub and place on a single layer of a rimmed baking sheet.
Toss the mushrooms with about 2 to 3 tablespoons oil and spread on a second baking sheet.
Toss the breadcrumbs with the remaining oil and set aside.
Place cauliflower on the upper rack and bake for about 10 minutes. When the time is up, add the mushrooms on the lower rack and roast for 12-15 minutes more, until the bottom of the cauliflower is golden brown.

Flip the cauliflower and mushrooms, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mushrooms and continue to roast both trays for another 10 minutes.

Remove the trays and combine the mushrooms and cauliflower. Spread into a single layer, top with cheese and place back in the oven for three to four minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and melted.

Serve immediately.

Fennel Spice Rub:

1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon white peppercorns
1 teaspoon sea salt
Toast seeds and peppercorns in a small skillet, tossing often until fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool before crushing. When cool, crush using a blender, mortar and pestle or pan. Mix with the salt. Store excess in small container or zip type bag.

Chermoula Sauce, about 1/2 cup

3 tablespoons crushed nuts, hazelnut or pecans
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander
3/4 cups of roughly chopped herbs and greens, lightly packed, parsley, cilantro, arugula are good choices
1 teaspoon orange zest, reserve 1/2 the orange if juice is needed
1/4 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch or two of salt
Mix all ingredients together in blender, blend until a cohesive sauce is made. If necessary add a little orange juice to get the blender moving.

Oct 2

76 Comments

Cauliflower Mash

My food choices lately are really pretty uninteresting and I apologize for that, my food repertoire is not that varied. Right now I am eating what works for me and my schedule and my taste and maybe later I will do a little more experimentation. This is not a recipe, and I am sure that many of you have made or tasted cauliflower as a subsitute for potatoes. It looks just like them, and really tastes very close but doesn’t have the high carb count that potatoes do. I put butter and sour cream or cream in the cauliflower just like I do potatoes. I don’t really count carbs but as a comparison I wanted to see what the difference is. One cup of cooked or raw cauliflower is 5 carbs and 1 medium size potato is 37, big difference. If you have leftover mashed cauliflower you can make soup with it, simply add some vegetable or chicken stock or even water, heat it up and you have creamy cauliflower soup.

Request: I would love to have some of you do guest posts, if you would like to please let me know in the comment section and I will contact you, or you can email me directly my email address is listed on the site. I would love to schedule several guest blog posts. Thanks so much.

I don’t know how cauliflower mash is usually prepared but here is what I did and it worked great.

Cauliflower Mash

Makes approximately 6-8 servings

1 large head cauliflower cleaned and cut into florets

3 tbs softened or room temperature butter (2 when you blend or process and one on top when serving)

approximately 1/4 cup hot cream, milk, half and half or sour cream (that has been brought to room temperature)

salt and pepper to taste

Place cauliflower florets in pot of salted water and boil until tender. Drain. Turn oven to 200 degree’s and put the cauliflower on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for about 45 minutes so that it dries out. The reason for this step is that Cauliflower absorbs liquid almost like a sponge and if you process the cauliflower straight from the boiling water it will be more like soup. NOTE: Alternately you can steam the cauliflower which would prevent it from absorbing so much water so the time in the oven to dry would be less, maybe 15 minutes.)

Put the cauliflower straight from the oven into the blender or food processor breaking it up into small pieces. add the butter, salt and pepper and a little cream or sour cream. Blend or process until smooth adding more cream as needed so that it’s the right consistency.

Dinner of roasted chicken, cauliflower mash and oven roasted asparagus

Percy is going to go to a Pug Meetup Halloween party next weekend and I am working on his costume, the cape was made by one of our Instagram friends at Fauxpaws Accessories. I am trying to find him a white tuxedo type bib to go underneath the cape and an amulet as well, I won’t push my luck with vampire teeth.

Notice a similarity? Bela would be proud!

Aug 28

118 Comments

Pizza With Cauliflower Crust

In my quest to eat less carbs and still hoping to have some of the same flavors that I love I discovered that you can make pizza with a cauliflower crust. I knew about cauliflower mash (instead of potatoes), and cous cous and rice. This did not start out to be pizza crust, at first I planned on a cauliflower and cheese bake, then thought I would do a roasted cauliflower soup (still too hot out) it then morphed into this pizza crust. Since it was not originally meant to be used for pizza I didn’t follow the directions for making it. They have you grate raw cauliflower and depending what recipe you use steam or dry roast in a skillet. My method may not be entirely orthodox and because of this I had to add a little bit of flour, I used only 1/4 cup of spelt flour along with egg and cheese to bind. The cauliflower was steam roasted first in the oven then covered in grated parm/asiago/romano, drizzled with a little olive oil and roasted again uncovered this time until lightly browned and the cauliflower is soft. Now Cauliflower has a high water content and depending which method you use they have you squeeze out the water with a towel. Because I dry roasted the water pretty much evaporated except for a few drops. I then blitzed it in the food processor mixed in the flour, egg and some taleggio cheese (grated) laid it on a cast iron pizza pan on some parchment (sprayed with cooking spray) and baked at 425 degree’s for about 25 minutes. Before baking I grated a little taleggio on top. When making a cauliflower crust you have to pre bake otherwise you will have a soupy mess.

The pizza turned out great and I love that I have the flavor of pizza without feeling bad about eating it.

Preparing the Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower cut into florets (my cauliflower was medium size)

grated cheese

olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degree’s. Place the cauliflower on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with foil, or you can steam it if you like. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Remove the foil and drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and grated cheese of your choice. I make a blend of parmigiana, romano and asiago. Place back in the oven and roast until it is very tender and lightly browned. Let it cool and place in a sieve or colander over a bowl or plate, cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight. Cauliflower has quite a bit of water and you want to make sure it is pretty dry when you make the pizza dough.

pulsed in processor

Making the dough

makes one 12 inch pizza

2 1/2 cups of cauliflower crumbs (there will probably be leftover cauliflower, I put in a ziplock and froze)

1 egg lightly beaten

1/4 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup grated melting cheese like mozzarella or I used taleggio (Highly recommend taleggio)

Note: If you use all of the cauliflower (more than 2 1/2 cups) you should add an additional egg and a little more spelt flour and when grating either taleggio or fresh mozzarella it should be cold, the cheese is soft and even softer at room tempurature.

Place the cauliflower crumbs in a mixing bowl add the egg, flour and cheeses and form into a cohesive ball. Heat the oven to 425 degree’s and line a baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment, spray lightly with cooking spray. Press the dough onto the parchment into whatever shape you like, square, rectangular or round. Grate some more taleggio or mozzarella on top and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool, after 10 minutes transfer the parchment sheet to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before putting the pizza together.

Top your pizza with whatever you like I topped with roasted tomatoes and zucchini, mozzarella, dollops of pesto and grated cheese. It’s really so good and I didn’t miss the regular pizza crust at all.

Oct 30

105 Comments

Paul Bertolli’s Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower soup

I had a head of cauliflower, it’s getting cold outside and I wanted some soup but it had to be very simple. I found this recipe on Food52, I had run out of stock vegetable or chicken and couldn’t run to the store, was waiting for a delivery and when I saw how easy this soup was and the list of ingredients is minimal I knew this was what I would make. This is part of the Food52 Genius collection, it is genius in it’s simplicity and tasting it you would never know just how easy it is to make. It would be an elegant addition to any meal, your guests will be impressed. As it is this recipe is vegan, no dairy or animal products at all. Of course I added a couple of tbs of butter to mine, just because I like butter but this is completely optional and unnecessary. The soup is delicious as is.

Serves 8

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion (6 ounces), sliced thin
1 head very fresh cauliflower (about 1-1/2 pounds), broken into florets
Salt, to taste
5 1/2 cups water, divided
Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Sweat the onion in the olive oil over low heat without letting it brown for 15 minutes.
Add the cauliflower, salt to taste, and 1/2 cup water. Raise the heat slightly, cover the pot tightly and stew the cauliflower for 15 to 18 minutes, or until tender. Then add another 4 1/2 cups hot water, bring to a low simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes uncovered.
Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender to a very smooth, creamy consistency. Let the soup stand for 20 minutes. In this time it will thicken slightly.
Thin the soup with 1/2 cup hot water. Reheat the soup. Serve hot, drizzled with a thin stream of extra-virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

smooth and creamy

Sep 27

61 Comments

Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday #35

Warm Fall Farro Salad

Wow, that’s a lot of F’s Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday. I tested this recipe as a community pick on Food52 and it’s so delicious I wanted to make more and share with all my friends at Fiesta Friday. This warm or room temperature salad is so good for you and the flavor is amazing. I am a big Farro fan, love it in salads and think about it with roasted cauliflower and brussells sprouts, pancetta, feta cheese and other vegetatables toss it in a simple lemon,herb and olive oil dressing, The combination is absolutely heavenly. It’s from one of the very talented cooks on Food52 Wendy@healthier kitchen. This can be made vegetarian or vegan by simply omitting the pancetta and using vegetable stock or water instead of chicken stock also if vegan of course omit the feta cheese, but you know that. I opted for the vegetarian version and omitted the pancetta and cooked the farro in salted water, the only reason was that I didn’t have any pancetta and honestly, the salad is so good as it was I didn’t miss it at all. Note: Don’t skimp on the lemon I halved the recipe and still used the whole lemon, it adds such a bright delicious flavor also I used dried marjoram in place of the oregano.

This Friday Angie@the novice gardener has enlisted the help of two very talented ladies. Prudy@butter basil and breadcrumbs and Naina@spiceinthecity. With these two talented and lovely co hosts this promises to be one heck of a party, you must check out the food, what an array of delicious dishes. Join in, it’s fun!!

Fall Farro Salad

Serves 8 – 10
1 large head cauliflower, cut up into small florets (I sometimes do this with brussels sprouts in addition – they cook more quickly so only roast them about 15 or so minutes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch salt
4 cups low or no sodium added chicken (or vegetable if you want to keep it vegetarian) stock
4 cups water
about 1 pounds farro, rinsed
4 ounces pancetta, diced (omit if you’re keeping this vegetarian)
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano (or even marjoram if you’ve got it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup best quality olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
about 1 cups crumbled feta, spread over top
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Toss the cut up cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. Make sure all pieces are lightly coated with olive oil. Spread cauliflower in a single layer in a shallow baking dish or half sheet pan. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over cauliflower.
Let cauliflower roast, stirring and turning pieces occasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 25 – 35 minutes.
While cauliflower roasts, bring the stock and water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Once the stock boils, add the rinsed farro and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 – 25 minutes. Drain farro, and set aside in a large serving bowl.
Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the diced pancetta unitl it darkens and gets a little crispy. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and carrot has softened, about 10 minutes. You might have to lower the burner to medium-low if the onion is starting to crispen. Season vegetables with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Once cooked, add onion mixture to the farro in the serving bowl.
Add the cooked cauliflower to the serving bowl.
Add parsley, oregano and half the chives to the serving bowl.
Add lemon juice and olive oil to serving bowl and mix contents gently, but thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper and add if necessary.
Garnish with remaining chives and feta.
Can be served warm or room temperature.