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Here. Try this Cauliflower Kugel. You'll like it.


Jason Perlow

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kugel-cauliflower

 

Cauliflower, Leek and Mushroom Kugel

    • 1 large head of cauliflower
    • 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
    • 1 medium onion diced
    • 1 large leek cleaned and sliced 
    • 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
    • 1.5 tsp salt
    • .5 tsp pepper
    • 2 tbsp finely chopped dill (divided)
    • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (divided)
    • .5 cup coarsely ground almonds
    • 1/4 cup of matzo meal
    • 4 eggs, beaten  

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shred cauliflower, cook in microwave in your largest glass bowl (so you can mix all ingredients in it later) until tender but not to soft (approx 10 mins stirring occasionally).

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large skillet, cook onions 5 mins or they begin to brown, then add leeks and salt, sauteed another 5 mins, then add mushrooms and cook another 5 mins. Remove from heat. Add ground  pepper, half the parsley and half the dill. Mix with cooked cauliflower and allow everything to cool.

In a small bowl, combine reserved dill, parsley and ground almonds with 2 tbsp olive oil, set aside.

Grease casserole dish liberally with olive oil.

Mix eggs and matzo meal with cooled off vegetables, spoon into casserole and smooth the top. Spread the herb and nut mixture over the top.

Bake in oven for 40-50 mins until puffed and lightly browned.

Serves 8-12 people or 24 bariatric patients

 

See original blog post here (offthebroiler.com)

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Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Nice recipe, Jason.  I'm still hunting for good ways to treat cauliflower, and this looks promising.

 

Can you clarify the microwave goal for the cauliflower? At what point does it go past 'tender' into 'too soft' territory, and how do you gauge it? 

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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This is great! Thanks, Jason. And just in time for Pesach, which I can see in your blog post was your intent.

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7 hours ago, Alex said:

This is great! Thanks, Jason. And just in time for Pesach, which I can see in your blog post was your intent.

Just what I was thinking. I'm having people over for the 2nd seder and I have a cauliflower in the fridge. Looks like this is destined to be on the menu.

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16 hours ago, Smithy said:

Nice recipe, Jason.  I'm still hunting for good ways to treat cauliflower, and this looks promising.

 

Can you clarify the microwave goal for the cauliflower? At what point does it go past 'tender' into 'too soft' territory, and how do you gauge it? 

 

I guess fork tender is the goal. However we are also going to try this at a finer consistency so as to better simulate a potato kugel. This also should make prep a little easier as you would only need to cook the florets and the other veg as normal (just steam a head or microwave the florets) and then pulse it all in the food processor.

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Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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  • 1 month later...

When a recipe calls for cooked or barely tender cauliflower I find that sautéing florets in butter or olive oil is always superior to microwaving or boiling or steaming. Add salt and pepper halfway through, add minced garlic toward the end. If you set heat at medium or medium low you can get golden cauliflower that is still has some bite and rich flavor. The recipe for the kugel above sounds like you are almost making cauliflower rice, so the pieces are very small, but I think you could still sauté them and get better flavor. 

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Better flavor? Maybe. But more work. :) Also adding fat and seasoning into the mix after microwaving accomplishes similar results, because you are then going to bake the entire mess. You could also roast the cauliflower and food process it. But then you are getting different texture results. 

 

The kugel ended up not being that popular at Passover with Rachel's extended family when other starchy things were available, so it was kind of disappointing. We ended up bringing 80 percent of it home. So we mixed up the remainder with parmesan cheese and bacon fat and fried it as "latkes" in a pan. I probably have 4 or 5 portions of "batter" left in the freezer.

 

 

So screw the kugel. Make latkes :)

 

 

Edited by Jason Perlow (log)
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Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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