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Versatile Cauliflower.

incorporating Recipes and Cooking
johnstevens77
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Versatile Cauliflower.

#493205

Postby johnstevens77 » April 9th, 2022, 10:20 pm

My wife came home last night with an enormous cauliflower from the local greengrocer, fresh cut from a local farm. “Here you are, something to keep you occupied! 99 pence”
So, I removed the leaves, stripped the green off the stems and shredded it for a soup garnish. The ribs I roughly chopped for the soup. I sweated off a diced onion and some celery in butter in the high dome pressure cooker then added the chopped ribs and a litre of chicken stock from the freezer and cooked it for 5 mins at high pressure. When the pressure reduced, I blended it all in a jug blender and passed it through a sieve for good measure.
I cut the cauliflower in half and put one half in the fridge. For the rest, I removed the florets and trimmed them and cooked them in a little vegetable bouillon and we had them warm, tossed in EVO oil with freshly ground black pepper for dinner. I added the cooking liquid to the thick soup. (We eat a light meal at night).
The trimmings I diced along with the central core, added them to the shredded leaves, cooked them a couple of minutes in a little water and added it all to the soup. The soup was still a bit thick so I thinned it further with some milk. I adjusted the seasoning and that was it. Four portions of soup for the freezer and two for dinner this evening.
The remaining half cauli will probably be used for cauliflower and potato curry and cauliflower cheese as usual.
All for 99p basic ingredient cost.

john

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493228

Postby UncleEbenezer » April 10th, 2022, 1:31 am

Agreed, beautifully versatile veg, especially when you get a good one - neither hard like the usual supermarket ones, nor past it. Works in so many dishes, and even across cuisines.

As it happens, we finished one this evening. My recipe for cauli cheese involves a sauce that's a bit more interesting than just dairy. Fry up an onion and some pepper for taste, and mushrooms for interest, then take off the heat for a couple of minutes before adding the dairy (first single cream, then the actual cheese) and bringing back to the gentlest simmer. Pour over the cauli, which is itself on (today) very thick sliced bread.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493231

Postby servodude » April 10th, 2022, 1:41 am

Here's what I once posted regards cauli:

Cut in to florrets
Dip head bit in beaten egg (or something to make it sticky)
Roll in a mixture of panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan, and paprika ( or cajun spice)
Drizzle with oil and roast in a hot oven till crispy

serve with buffalo sauce (made by mixing melted butter with franks sauce, about 30% butter to sauce ratio


and with that I'll nip out and get one

-sd

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493237

Postby mutantpoodle » April 10th, 2022, 8:18 am

why remove the leaves?
ok, lose a few of the very outer ones as they will be worn by traffic
but otherwise...everything can go into the slow cooker for soups etc

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493241

Postby servodude » April 10th, 2022, 8:41 am

mutantpoodle wrote:why remove the leaves?
ok, lose a few of the very outer ones as they will be worn by traffic
but otherwise...everything can go into the slow cooker for soups etc

Green things in cheese sauce?! Perhaps I should broaden my horizons

Round these parts green bit of cauliflower are free; you say "for the guinea pig" and they wave you through
- not sure if that's a top tip or not :)

-sd

johnstevens77
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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493305

Postby johnstevens77 » April 10th, 2022, 12:44 pm

mutantpoodle wrote:why remove the leaves?
ok, lose a few of the very outer ones as they will be worn by traffic
but otherwise...everything can go into the slow cooker for soups etc

Because the shredded green leaves make nice and attractive garnish for the soup. Of course, if you don't care about what your food looks like, then by all means skip that stage.

john

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493321

Postby johnstevens77 » April 10th, 2022, 1:04 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:Agreed, beautifully versatile veg, especially when you get a good one - neither hard like the usual supermarket ones, nor past it. Works in so many dishes, and even across cuisines.

As it happens, we finished one this evening. My recipe for cauli cheese involves a sauce that's a bit more interesting than just dairy. Fry up an onion and some pepper for taste, and mushrooms for interest, then take off the heat for a couple of minutes before adding the dairy (first single cream, then the actual cheese) and bringing back to the gentlest simmer. Pour over the cauli, which is itself on (today) very thick sliced bread.


Uncle, that looks interesting. i may give it a go. Thanks.

john

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493479

Postby Gerry557 » April 11th, 2022, 7:23 am

Cauliflower rice with that curry

I also remember seeing a TV chef cutting off the bottom of the cauliflower with all the leaves and roasting it with something rather than binning it.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493497

Postby mutantpoodle » April 11th, 2022, 8:46 am

well it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things!

I often put green things into cheese sauce...peas mainly or onions, but otherwise whatever is to hand!

again we all different, but I tend to focus on what my food tastes like as opposed to looks/presentation
(wife would cofirm this as many times she comments on my presentations...but seldom leaves anything)

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493500

Postby GrahamPlatt » April 11th, 2022, 8:50 am

https://www.healthyfood.com/healthy-rec ... izza-base/

This works, and is pretty tasty. There are variations - e.g. adding ground almonds.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493866

Postby didds » April 12th, 2022, 11:08 pm

I do ,like cauliflower.

but cauliflower ricve defeats me.

I whizz it lightly, or grate it.

microwave it for whatever time the recipe im following says. With whatever herbs/spices/whatever it suggests.

And it just tastes like microwaved cauli, and doesnt at all "work" with chilli or curry etc. its just steamed cauli basically. The only "rice" lkike quality it has its its small white bits

didds

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493878

Postby Dod101 » April 12th, 2022, 11:31 pm

Of course it is not the cauliflower that is versatile, it is the cook.

Dod

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493880

Postby servodude » April 12th, 2022, 11:35 pm

didds wrote:I do ,like cauliflower.

but cauliflower ricve defeats me.

I whizz it lightly, or grate it.

microwave it for whatever time the recipe im following says. With whatever herbs/spices/whatever it suggests.

And it just tastes like microwaved cauli, and doesnt at all "work" with chilli or curry etc. its just steamed cauli basically. The only "rice" lkike quality it has its its small white bits

didds


recipes can be weird :roll:
try cooking for less time, hotter and drier
- i can get a fried rice (or cous cous-ish) type texture with blitzed up cauli just sautee-ing it with stuff

- sd

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493898

Postby Urbandreamer » April 13th, 2022, 7:10 am

didds wrote:And it just tastes like microwaved cauli, and doesnt at all "work" with chilli or curry etc. its just steamed cauli basically. The only "rice" lkike quality it has its its small white bits

didds


You are not going to get cauli to taste like rice, anymore than you can get barley* to taste like rice. Cauli rice can work with curry, provided that you get the texture right. After all the result should taste of curry! Aloo Gobi doesn't suffer from the taste of cauliflower, though it's off our menu now.

Try partially cooking in the microwave, let it cool a bit with the steam escaping to dry, then reheat. You are aiming for firm, not mush.

Given that Aldi are selling them cheap, you can experiment. Any overcooked cauli rice can be used to try potato-less hash browns, or made into mash to see if you think that it would work on cottage pie or fish pie. I've not tried the latter two and my hash browns were overcooked and dry. But that's technique. If wanting to eat failed cauli-rice experiments, turn into soup.

*Some people use barley to make a sort of risotto. As my wife doesn't like risotto I won't be doing so. Reducing carb intake and high GI foods is important in our house now.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493915

Postby bungeejumper » April 13th, 2022, 8:32 am

In the words of a former girlfriend, a broad-bottomed Zummerzet lass:

"Collyflower? Haaharrr, that do make I fart." :lol:

(It turned out that she wasn't wrong, although it wasn't the only cause of the problem. Draught Bass and rough cider were the more predictable suspects. And no, we didn't last many weeks. :mrgreen: )

Actually, thanks for the thought. I've been looking for a versatile cauliflower for some time now. One that would clean up the kitchen in the evenings would be particularly welcome.

BJ

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#493926

Postby UncleEbenezer » April 13th, 2022, 9:31 am

Dod101 wrote:Of course it is not the cauliflower that is versatile, it is the cook.

Dod

This cook is not particularly versatile, but finds the cauliflower a versatile ingredient.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#494174

Postby formoverfunction » April 14th, 2022, 6:16 am

I'm making roasting cauliflower with harrisa tonight.

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#494175

Postby servodude » April 14th, 2022, 6:40 am

formoverfunction wrote:I'm making roasting cauliflower with harrisa tonight.


Great way to use it

I throw it in half way through roasting the spuds (shaken in a mix of chicken stock powder, cajun spice and oil) and serve them together with sour cream and harissa

- sd

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Re: Versatile Cauliflower.

#494291

Postby formoverfunction » April 14th, 2022, 12:44 pm

I'm going for it on a bed of couscous, with blanched almonds, dates and sultanas.
I haven't tried this myself, but I alongside the harissa and olive oil, I've read you can add apricot jam as a glaze. I believe it can also be combined with lemon juice and a dash of vinegar. Spicy, versatile cauliflower.


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