Cauliflower

[Suvir Saran]

Toasting is browning the flour just ever so delicately. Saving it from getting burnt... and yet browning it into a light sandy color.

[Rachel Perlow]

Regular AP flour? Does the cauliflower have to be deep fried? I was thinking it had a similar taste to the roasted caulflower Jim Dixon made popular on this site. So, I thought it would be an acceptable variation to break up the head into florets, marinate as you describe, maybe adding a little oil to encourage crispiness, roast at high heat until lightly browned, then stirfry, etc., as described above. Besides saving the calories, I just hate the mess and smell of deep frying things at home. Opinions?

[Suvir Saran]

Regular AP flour? Does the cauliflower have to be deep fried? I was thinking it had a similar taste to the roasted caulflower Jim Dixon made popular on this site. So, I thought it would be an acceptable variation to break up the head into florets, marinate as you describe, maybe adding a little oil to encourage crispiness, roast at high heat until lightly browned, then stirfry, etc., as described above. Besides saving the calories, I just hate the mess and smell of deep frying things at home. Opinions?

Roasting nicely to desired and acceptable results does not always save calories.

In fact it can add to calories... For the foods being roasted sit in even the most small amount of oil for a long time. They are able to get greasier.. and there goes the save calorie thought...

But if you deep fry at a high temperature and correctly, you are flash frying and as you drain on paper towels, you will get great results using less calories.

But if you deep fry incorrectly and at low temperatures, you certainly will get greasy and overly fatty stuff.

So now, you can choose to do what you want to.

If your kitchen has good ventilation and if you use good oil.. and deep fry with care... you should have no problems with odor. In fact it will be no problem at all. Maybe I can come give you a lesson on deep frying in your new kitchen.. I would love doing that if you want to learn.. you may know the art of deep frying already.. in which case I am a fool... to have posted this.

But I deep fry a lot.. and calories have never been an issue. Also when teaching at the school... I have worked with dieticians and nutritionists and it is a grey zone many do not know how to explain.

It should be about technique and perfection.. However you achieve both, it is your call. The recipe is yours to play with. Do invite me for a tasting when you make these cauliflower's... I love them.

[Suvir Saran]

Regular all purpose flour is what is needed.

[Rachel Perlow]

I doubt I'll be making it very soon, but when you do make it out to the house I will definitely take you up on the cooking lesson offer. I deep fry occasionally, usually using a wok as the cooking vessel. Some things I have down pat - I make great corn (and zucchini and apple) fritters, a technique which would translate well into various chaat. But mostly straight veggie preparation is harder for me for some reason. Those following our remodel will realize that I probably do have adequate ventilation at this point, so the lesson would be welcome.

[Suvir Saran]

I thought you had adequate ventilation... Maybe we can give an eGullet Deep Frying demo in your kitchen.

We can come up with several recipes to demo and savor and write about later...

Would be a fun thing.. But I like Steve Klc, love all things deep fried... I may be the wrong person to trust on this one.

[Schielke]

I was thinking it had a similar taste to the roasted caulflower Jim Dixon made popular on this site.

I tried this recipe for the first time last night and it made a believer out of me! If you have not tried it, go and buy some cauliflower tonight. It couldnt be easier.

Here is my result!

Edited November 22, 2002 by Schielke (log)

[Schielke]

I thought you had adequate ventilation... Maybe we can give an eGullet Deep Frying demo in your kitchen.

We can come up with several recipes to demo and savor and write about later...

Would be a fun thing.. But I like Steve Klc, love all things deep fried... I may be the wrong person to trust on this one.

I would love to see that. How about a streaming web show with suvir and hot oil! hehehe

Ben

[mongo_jones]

let fans of the cauliflower speak. and let the content of their speech be methods for its preparation.

[Toliver]

Many here seem to like the Roasted Cauliflower version. Some have posted alternative methods of using cauliflower in that discussion, as well (see the later pages for the cauliflower, red onion and chickpeas suggestion, for example).

edited to clarify

Edited February 20, 2004 by Toliver (log)

[mongo_jones]

you mean i've got to read through 6 whole pages?

[Toliver]

you mean i've got to read through 6 whole pages?

I know what you mean.

Here at eGullet, my lips get sore from reading so much (sorry for the old joke).

You think six pages is bad, try reading the "Dinner!" thread from page 1...oy!

You can probably zip through many of the posts in that cauliflower thread since there's a lot of "I thought you guys were crazy until I tried it for myself" kind of posts.

[tommy]

you mean i've got to read through 6 whole pages?

either that, or everyone re-types what they said over there for your benefit.

conversely, you can change the default for "posts per page" on your control panel and probably get it down to 3 pages. if that makes you feel any better.

Edited February 21, 2004 by tommy (log)

[gingerly]

ok ,this is the third cauliflower thread that i've happened by. tried setting out bait on the roasted cauliflower/dead head thread-no bites sooooo..cauliflower goes to finishing school..

don't knock it til you've tried it-and then no blows to the head..

[mongo_jones]

ok ,this is the third cauliflower thread that i've happened by. tried setting out bait on the roasted cauliflower/dead head thread-no bites sooooo..cauliflower goes to finishing school..

don't knock it til you've tried it-and then no blows to the head..

this is wrong. it may be good, but it is still wrong.

[gingerly]

oh but it feels sooo right...and only natural coming from the part of india where cauliflower is treated like the goddess she is.

[John Whiting]

If this appears in the thousands of words already written here on the subject, my apologies.

For those on a low-carb diet, cauliflower steamed to tender and then processed with butter or olive oil makes a very acceptible substitute for puréed potato, either on its own or in recipes such as shepherd's pie. (Well, I think it is, and I'm the one in our household who has to eat it.)

[jhlurie]

Various generic Cauliflower topics have been merged, however, the Roasted Cauliflower topic has been left seperate, since it's about a specific preparation.

Carry on...

[mongo_jones]

i grew up hating cauliflower--strange behavior for a bengali with a mother who is an excellent cook. i was converted by the mind-boggling tandoori cauliflower at bukhara in the maurya sheraton in new delhi. the head is dusted with a spice blend and roasted whole in the tandoor.

still i treated cauliflower with suspicion for a long time after that--exceptions prove the rule and all that. on our recent trip back home, however, my wife--visiting india for the first time--got to eat home-made bengali cauliflower dishes for the first time and it was made clear that i'd need to add it to the repertoire. i've been experimenting with 2 or 3 recipes from my mother since then--even destroyed one prep with a horrible mistake last night. i had no idea that it featured prominently in cuisines other than indian.