Caramelized Cauliflower, Cauliflower Puree, Currants, Crispy Yuca Chips

I've had a few requests for the caramelized cauliflower dish I mentioned in my post How (Not) To Throw a Chateauneuf Party.  Since I'm a people pleaser, I'll share the details for a tasty, inexpensive dish I made as a small appetizer to start a meal.

I've been loving caramelized cauliflower ever since having it as an antipasti a few years ago at Lupa.   The charred, crispy exterior adds a lot of flavor to the otherwise bland veggie.  But as there was a whole half a head of cauliflower left over, I decided to make a creamy, rich cauliflower puree to further enhance the caramelized beauties.  As I remember raisins adding a welcomed, sweet note to cauliflower, I went with a sprinkle of currants as a garnish.  As an optional addition you may want to consider, I thought another textural accent would be nice, so I thinly sliced, fried and laid the yuca over the cauliflower as another garnish.  My full recipe follows.

Make the Caramelized Cauliflower

Take the florets off of the head of the cauliflower. Discard the base and root of the head. You want to make the florets all relatively small in size so they can roast quickly. An example of the size is below.  Do this for the whole, large head of cauliflower.  Use about half the head for the roasted cauliflower and reserve the rest for the puree below.

Place the cauliflower in a pan and drizzle with two glugs of olive oil, or a two second pour. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them. Mix it all together, making sure to lightly coat all of the florets with the oil. The oil is important for them to caramelize.

Roast the Cauliflower

Place your cauliflower in the oven and broil for 12 minutes, depending on the temperature of you oven. Check it after about 5 or 6 minutes and toss them quickly and place back in the oven. You could also roast them at 450 degrees, just make sure to preheat.

The cauliflower are ready when they have a rice brown caramelized top, but are also al dente and give a bit. Taste to determine whether they are ready. If they get too brown and are not soft enough, you can turn the oven to 350. .

Make the Cauliflower Puree

Boil about 1/2 head cauliflower in salted water until cauliflower is very tender, about 5 minutes. Strain.  Puree in food processor with 1 tablespoon of cream and about 1.5 teaspoons of butter.  Add some salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice andpuree until smooth.  Make sure to puree the cauliflower when hot.  Taste and adjust as you wish.  Consider a bit more cream or a touch more butter, depending on how rich you like it.

Make the Yuca Chips

Peel the yuca.  Slice very thin disks of the yuca...the thinner the better.  You could use a mandolin , your food processor or a kick ass knive. In a small pot heat 1-1/2 inches of veg oil to 375F.  Drop the slices into the oil one at a time and fry them in batches, turning them, for 1 to 2 minutes until pale golden.  Transferring them to paper towels to drain and season them immediately with salt.

Enjoy.

Comments

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