Nov 12, 2009
Bossy’s Favorite Things
Orange cauliflower.
There are foods Bossy loves, which number in the bazillions. And then there are foods Bossy hates, of which there is one (chitterlings), and then there are foods Bossy tolerates, of which there used to be a very small number that is disappearing as Bossy ages — those tolerated foods are shifting into the beloved category.
Cauliflower is one such thing. Bossy could take it or leave it, mostly leave it if there were any other options. But this past summer, Bossy attended
a wedding party which was catered vegan, and the cauliflower showed up in Bossy’s dreams for weeks afterward.
Bossy wasn’t sure how that cauliflower was prepared because this is the extent of what Bossy knows about vegan cooking: wasn’t Gwyneth Paltrow a vegan? But now she rides around on the back of Mario Batali’s motorcycle through all of Galicia sampling grilled sardines? Yeah, that’s what Bossy knows about vegan cooking.
But back to cauliflower: who knew? There’s a wide divide between tolerating something and dreaming about it, and in those intervening years has been Bossy’s dad, the voice of reason, saying, “Oy. Makes you gassy.”
The other day when Bossy spied this fresh orange cauliflower at her local
co-op market, she couldn’t buy it up fast enough, and for three nights in a row Bossy has been cooking it up this way:
In her skillet with some olive oil, sea salt, and cracked pepper, Bossy sautés bite-sized pieces for a few minutes, and then she splashes some heavy cream over it and throws a lid over the thing and lets the cream bubble and scald away under there until it evaporates, for the most part. And then Bossy sprinkles cinnamon and nutmeg over the whole deal.
Honestly, it’s better than a sweet potato pie.
Bossy must try the purple (yes purple!) cauliflower! It is so yummy! Tossed in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted, and yummmmm………….
I love roasted too! Or mashed like potatoes!
Roast it in the oven until it gets brown around the edges, sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top, and top the whole mess with some seasoned (buttered) breadcrumbs and put it under the broiler until the breadcrumbs are toasty. Very yummy.
Wow! That sounds divine! I love love love cauliflower~ but have shied away from the colors, because it’s seems so genetically modified (I don’t even know if is actually is).
Does the orange and /or purple taste any different?
I second (third?) the roasted suggestion.
Cut it into small pieces, toss with olive oil and kosher salt. Put in a 400 or 425 degree oven for a long time - often around an hour - until it gets brown. It is SO GOOD! YUM. I dream about it too!
I’m with Bossy’s dad. Pass the Beano.
Maybe it’s the heavy cream that makes me gassy!
That would be an awesome side for Thanksgiving, although we’d have to use a non-dairy heavy cream instead.
I bet Bossy could take my recipe for cream of broccoli soup and turn it into cream of orange cauliflower soup.
Heresy! Love you but nothing is better than sweet potato pie.
From the teaser photo, I thought I was going to see fried chicken and it made me so hungry! I do like cauliflower, but prefer it raw with spinach dip. If it must be cooked, a blanch is all that I can stand. It does often look delicious in many other incarnations on top chef, though.
I prefer my cauliflower in Aloo Ghobi, and when somebody else cooks it, and when I’m in a restaurant with a glass or two of wine in my belly.
(just so you know… I typed “tow” instead of “two”. Dang.)
The only way I can tolerate cauliflower is when my great-grandma fries it. All other forms remind me of sweat socks! Bleh.
I bet it would taste even better roasted in the oven !
I toss it in olive oil, salt, pepper and curry powder. Roast on 450, then toss it with rice wine vinegar - Delish!
Cauliflower is horrible, even when drowning in cheese sauce. blech
You had me going with you until cream…that made me pause but I was willing to give you some leway and see where it was going. Where it was going was straight downhill into cinnamon and nutmeg??!!! Blech!!
Oh yum. We like it roasted too — little bit of oil on the flowerettes , some kosher salt, delicious.
As I get older (oops I already did), I find we’re planning meals around the fresh vegetables instead of the entree. Not vegetarians , just like the veggies way better than we used to.
#16, gotta try it a different way than overcooked. We used to hate it too.
What oh what am I doing reading delicious sound recipes at the end of my workday?
At least it’s time to go home now. to a dinner without orange cauliflower, sadly.
Lovely photo btw.
I love it any way you cook it but my fave is to steam it till tender and then drown it in cheese sauce. So bad for you but so damn good!
dump some curry on it!!!
It will make you go “hhhhmmmmmm…….”
I have to try the roasted cauliflower it is “the trendy” these dayz