403 replies to this topic

[NulloModo]

Should this be crispy/moist like a french fry? I prepared this and it had a distinct limp texture.... Cooked it for about 35 minutes (which was required to reach the deep golden brown color).

Is there a particularly good way to slice the cauliflower? Mine was quite crumbly and tended to fall about into mini-florets as I sliced...

[BarbaraD]

Since trying the cauliflower recipe, I have roasted broccoli, eggplant, and stringbeans. The best is the cauliflower, but all taste delicious.

[Toliver]

I concur. Roasting offers a different way to taste the usual suspects. Besides cauliflower, I've roasted beets and I've done carrots with dill which were very good.

[ronnie_suburban]

Someone brought some roasted brussels sprouts to a party we were at and they were also terrific, but...cauliflower is still my fave.

=R=

[hathor]

Should this be crispy/moist like a french fry? I prepared this and it had a distinct limp texture.... Cooked it for about 35 minutes (which was required to reach the deep golden brown color).

Is there a particularly good way to slice the cauliflower? Mine was quite crumbly and tended to fall about into mini-florets as I sliced...

Try roasting the cauliflower longer than 35 minutes. You'll get more 'carmelized' parts. I don't think you'll ever achieve the fried crunch of a french fry, but this is just as addicitive. In my house, the crumbled up parts disappear as quickly as the nice slices. Extra sharp knives help alot.

[fifi]

I don't remember if I reported this and I am too lazy to go look.

Anyway... I have taken to lining a half sheet pan with the new non-stick foil, non-stick side up. I have also dropped the temp to 375F. A couple of things happen, the stuff seems to toast more evenly and get crispier. It is also easier to move around for more even browning. It does take longer, about 50 minutes.

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm so happy to see this thread back at the top

Since the cauliflower from my local farmer's market is so outstanding, I've been making this throughout the relatively cool summer we've had. My last batch also included some 'poker chips' of carrot (also from the local fm), which I turned out on my V-slicer

I've also experimented with the cooking method and find that in my oven, if I do the last 10 minutes at 410 F on convection, the result is wonderfully crispy. I've also done this now with canned garbanzo beans, but they don't need to be added until there's only about 30 minutes of cooking left. Yum!

=R=

[fifi]

No convection oven for me... yet. I would bet that it does an outstanding job. How were the carrot chips?

I agree... last time I added the garbanzos I waited until the last half hour or so.

[hillvalley]

Ooooooooohhhhh. 

Can I come over?

It's already gone

I used a lower oven (350) and cut the slices fairly thin. I think it took about an hour and was completely sublime. I forgot the garlic but sea salt at the end was a nice addition. I am thinking that in a month or so this will make a great soup.

[ronnie_suburban]

How were the carrot chips?

The carrot was excellent. I'd seen, in a previous post here, that Jason and Rachel had done this some time back and it looked great. I actually used carrot in this dish last Thanksgiving, but at that time, I sliced them all by hand--which was quite time-consuming. This time out, they were nicely sweet and most of the chips were fairly crispy without being dried out or burnt. The V-slicer turns out only 2 possible thickenesses. Experimenting, I went with the thicker of the 2 and the carrot seemed to cook at almost the same rate as the cauliflower.

=R=

[fiftydollars]

I'm new to this topic and I would really like to try making the roasted cauliflower, but recipeGullet is down. Can someone get me the recipe, please?

[fifi]

I will tell you what I do which is pretty much how the original is with a few twists.

Slice the cauliflower in less than 1/4 inch slices, more like an eighth. Some folks just go to work on the whole thing. I usually separate the florets, slice those, and slice the core separately. It doesn't matter really.

In a bowl, toss the cauliflower slices and all of the little bits with about a 1/4 cup olive oil and a little Kosher salt. Don't salt heavily as this cooks down a lot.

I line a half sheet heavy aluminum baking pan with the non-stick foil. Spread the cauliflower evenly onto the sheet keeping it in a single layer. Into the oven at 375F for about 25 minutes. Turn the pieces and move it around if it is not baking evenly. Back in the oven for about another 25 minutes. Done. Munch.

[Fred12fred]

Wow...9 pages of cauliflower!

My wife and I absolutely love cooking cauliflower this way. Both of us hadn't eaten it for years and years because the only way both of our parents cooked it was steaming or boiling until mush.

Now, we can't get enough! $0.99 a head in San Diego!

We do a cauliflower pasta that works out great. Just roast the cauliflower on some aluminum foil and "deglaze" the foil using water or chicken broth after cooking. Brown some garlic in a pan with olive oil, add cauliflower and pasta, and thin sauce as necessary with the "deglaze" broth.

Sometimes we'll top with a over-easy fried egg...

Yum

[takomabaker]

I recall that in college, I read a magazine article which said that a certain supermodel regularly consumed a whole, roasted head of cauliflower -- and nothing else -- for dinner.

Since I had my first off-campus apartment, complete with grubby kitchen, I thought eating a cauliflower dinner would be a great way to look like a supermodel on my limited college-student budget. So I put an unadorned cauliflower in a pan, turned on the oven, and left it there for about an hour.

It was awful. I couldn't eat the whole thing, and I did not look one bit more like a supermodel. 

Boy do I wish I'd had some of these recipes on hand....

I had a similar college cauliflower experience. I was doing a costuming internship once summer. I was a theater major, a vegetarian, and flat broke. I would melt butter with some store-bought curry powder, pour it over a head of cauliflower, and roast it for dinner. I ate that quite a bit in those days, but haven't done it for probably 15 years. Never did the supermodel thing for me, either.

[Lexica]

Another testimonial to the power of roasted cauliflower -- I made a batch as part of dinner last night (my 2nd batch; the first one I ate all by myself). My husband, a serious veggie-phobe, had agreed somewhat dubiously to try it, but I could tell he wan't expecting to like it. He snagged a piece from the baking pan while I was dishing up the rest of dinner, chewed thoughtfully, and said (as he reached for another piece), "Damn, I'll eat roasted cauliflower in a heartbeat!"

Hurray! One more vegetable added to the list of veg I can count on him actually enjoying, which until now has pretty much been onions, garlic, mushrooms, and collard greens. Definite progress.

And now I'm going back through the thread copying down ideas for what to do with it on the occasions we can resist devouring it right when it comes out of the oven. Soup? Pasta? Butter-curry sauce? Mmmmm....

[Susan in FL]

We had roasted cauliflower tonight! We sliced and roasted a whole head and the two of us ate it all. Waiting for the other stuff to get done, it cooked longer than usual, and I think it was the best batch yet (tossed in EVOO and melted butter and S&P).

[Larry 1749]

I tried this for the first time the other night and guess what? I have been told that it is now to become a regular item in our meals. I was truley surprised by the depth of flavor it was great.

[hathor]

Me too! I made it Sunday night for a bunch of ragazzi (teenagers)....and they ate all their vegetables!!

[bloviatrix]

I picked up a massive head of purple cauliflower and roasted it for dinner last wednesday night. Our first roast c-flower of the season -- I had forgotten how much I like it. The color deepened during the roasting and looked very nice. I think roasting a head of white and a head of purple and serving the two together would be great for a dinner party.

[NulloModo]

How do you all cut the 'flower so thin?

I have great issues trying to do it with a knife, I get several nice latticed pieces and a bunch of crumbs, am I doing something wrong?

[fifi]

How do you all cut the 'flower so thin?

I have great issues trying to do it with a knife, I get several nice latticed pieces and a bunch of crumbs, am I doing something wrong?

You aren't doing anything wrong.

I have done it two ways. Some folks just start whacking at the whole thing. Even with my big french chef, I found that harder to do. I had better luck cutting it in half first. But, I keep going back to breaking off the florets and slicing them. Then I do the core separately. I seem to have better control that way and the pieces are more uniform. Crumbs are a good thing! They are my favorite part.

I may have posted this up-thread but I will repeat it. I have dropped the oven temperature to 375F. I line the sheet pan with a piece of foil. The new non-stick foil makes it really easy to move the stuff around. That layer of foil provides a little bit of insulation from the pan. I seem to get more crunch and more even browning. It takes a bit longer, up to 50 minutes, but I think that more water is driven off before it gets too brown and that accounts for the crunch.

[Susan in FL]

I picked up a massive head of purple cauliflower and roasted it for dinner last wednesday night. Our first roast c-flower of the season -- I had forgotten how much I like it.  The color deepened during the roasting and looked very nice.  I think roasting a head of white and a head of purple and serving the two together would be great for a dinner party.

I love that dinner party idea. Only thing... I don't think I've ever seen purple cauliflower in our stores. Brocoflower, yes; I guess that might be an idea. I'll be on the lookout for purple. Thanks.

[Lexica]

I have done it two ways. Some folks just start whacking at the whole thing. Even with my big french chef, I found that harder to do. I had better luck cutting it in half first. But, I keep going back to breaking off the florets and slicing them. Then I do the core separately. I seem to have better control that way and the pieces are more uniform. Crumbs are a good thing! They are my favorite part.

I find I prefer having the pieces of more uniform size, as they brown more evenly. If I leave the big lacy pieces whole, they don't get the same depth of flavor as the smaller bits.

I may have posted this up-thread but I will repeat it. I have dropped the oven temperature to 375F. I line the sheet pan with a piece of foil. The new non-stick foil makes it really easy to move the stuff around. That layer of foil provides a little bit of insulation from the pan. I seem to get more crunch and more even browning. It takes a bit longer, up to 50 minutes, but I think that more water is driven off before it gets too brown and that accounts for the crunch.

I use plain (heavy-duty) foil, as the roll of non-stick we have isn't large enough to cover a half-sheet pan in one piece. The oven is right around 400, maybe a bit on the low side, and it takes about 40 to 50 minutes to get it as brown as we like it. And the result - savory, slightly sweet, tender, crispy....

Last night I roasted a head of cauliflower with a red onion (sliced into narrow vertical wedges), then tossed it with rotini and some chèvre. The verdict? "You'll make a bigger batch next time, RIGHT?"

And oh, I must get some purple cauliflower. Food should be purple, whenever possible.

[fifi]

I use plain (heavy-duty) foil, as the roll of non-stick we have isn't large enough to cover a half-sheet pan in one piece.

Odd... My roll of Reynolds just fits in the bottom of the sheet pan. But, and maybe this is what you mean, it is not wide enough to extend up over the lip. I still have to wash the pan a bit.

I second the purple food. I don't think I have seen the purple cauliflower here. I will have to check my big HEB as they are more likely to have the odd veggies.

[Toliver]

I've seen the purple cauliflower at my Farmer's market. I haven't had the urge to buy one...but I've seen 'em there.

As for slicing the cauliflower, I have a rather large Forschner knife (10") that I use to slice up the head. It makes quick work of cutting up the beasty. I have an even longer and larger Forschner sitting in a drawer in case I need to audition for a Wes Craven film.
I tend to buy a head of cauliflower that, when cut up, is often too big for one sheet pan. But I cram it all in and then it steams instead of roasts.
I also use a foil-lined pan for easy clean up. I use regular foil and spray it with Pam. I hadn't thought of using the "Release" (non-stick) foil. I've been treating my roll of "Release" as if it's made of gold. I should probably use it more often. Thanks for the idea, fifi.

[hathor]

I use a Silpat instead of foil...and having used both at the same time when I had way too much cauliflower for the the Silpat, I liked the Silpat results better. Also used the convection feature on my oven which made everything crispier. God...its addictive.... its like zucchini blossoms...you just can never make enough to satisfy everyone1

[Susan in FL]

Speaking of slicing it, I like to make two fairly big slices that will remain intact, maybe 3/4-inch, from the very center of the head, roast them, and then to plate dinner we put something on top of that... grilled or roasted shrimp, or a ragu, or who knows what. Vertical food presentations, what a kick!

[hillvalley]

I have seen yet a brighter light
and it is roasted cauliflower soup
now I understand

This is obscene


Roasted a head of cauliflower and garlic
Boiled potatoes in freshly made chicken stock
Pureed it all together
Added some sea salt and cream


It begs for some pepper but I don't want to loose the delicate garlic finish
So the begging continues

Edited by hillvalley, 17 October 2004 - 04:04 PM.

[LaurieB]

So having read all the threads about this paragon preparation of cauliflower, I finally last night decided to try it. I also made a roasted pork tenderloin and some spinach ravioli filled with 4 cheeses in a creamy tomato sauce. I put the plate in front of my husband. He eyed the cauliflower dubiously. He took a Boy Scout taste. He then ate all of it, his pork and the ravs.

Then he had a second helping -- of the cauliflower. Then he just stood at the stove and ate the remaining cauliflower off the pan.

It's the definite New Year's Eve vegetable for our annual NYE dinner party.

[hillvalley]

Served my soup to the dining companion last night. He has one of the most delicate palates of anyone I know so I wanted to see if he could figure out what he was tasting.

Got the potato right away
Slowly got the roasted garlic finish
Swore it was potato soup over and over and over
Thought it might be something Asian
Gave up and made me come clean about the cauliflower
Devoured the whole bowl