Friday, July 06, 2007

Favourite Ways with Cauliflower: cauliflower with browned butter & breadcrumbs

With local vegetables ripening in my container 'garden' and appearing on every market stall, I'm trying to make the most of them. Among other new season's vegetables I've also bought some great cauliflowers from the market, and am looking for great new recipes. So far, I've tried cauliflower with sage butter & eggs and Ilva's spicy cauliflower with tomatoes. I've roasted cauliflower (wonderful!!) and I've given it an Indian touch in gobi matar (cauliflower & peas with cumin). Here's the simplest way of serving cauliflower - boil, drain, melt, pour & sprinkle kind of dish - very common here in Estonia. But with good young cauliflowers, this is divine (if you like cauliflower, that is).

What's your favourite way with cauliflower? And do you like cauliflower at all? I'd love to know!

Cauliflower with browned butter & breadcrumbs



cauliflower, cut into florets
butter
breadcrumbs
couple of sage leaves

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, season with salt and add cauliflower florets. Boil for 5-10 minutes, until softened, but still al dente.
Drain thoroughly.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a small saucepan and simmer on a medium heat until it browns a little. Add breadcrumbs, stirring.
To serve, place cooked cauliflower florets on a plate and drizzle some browned butter with breadcrumbs on top.
Garnish with some sage leaves and serve at once.

BLAST FROM THE PAST
Two years ago I had bought my first digital camera and these photos of CHEESY FEET alias footprint-shaped cheese biscuits with caraway seeds were the first photos I took with it. I think my teeny Casio Exilim will retire from now on, however, as K. got us a new camera today :)

15 comments:

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I love the bread crumbs done this way! That looks perfect on the cauliflower!

Inne said...

Pille, I love cauliflower! My favourite cauliflower dish is how my dad makes it: boiled, with bechamel sauce and shrimp (the tiny 'grey' ones), all mixed together in one big pot and served with boiled potatoes. Delish! Although I have to say that Clotilde's cauliflower gratin comes in a close second...

Elsa said...

Ma tegin pikka aega regulaarselt lillkapsast valges kastmes, millele oli lisatud uhke kogus sidrunimahla. Töötas jube hästi kala kõrvale. Ja seda sõid siis meelsasti nii lapsed kui need, kellele "igav kapsas" ei meeldinud. Enam ei mäletagi retseptinüansse, sest selle tegemise kõrgaeg oli ca 10a eest ja algidee korjasin ühest saksakeelsest raamatust...

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

For my entire life, I've been trying to learn to love cauliflower. Some of my blog readers have sent their favorite recipes: "oh, you'll love this one!" Sad to say, I haven't yet found the recipe that has won me over.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Pille, I love cauliflower - my mother used to make it a lot and she also used to tell me to eat "all the little trees". :)
This recipe is delicious!
I love cauliflower soup, too, and also baked with cheese.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I adore cauliflower! I prefer it like yours, crispy and crunchy, and the brown butter? Oh, fantastic! My favorite way to make cauliflower is to dip it in egg and breadcrumbs, then bake until crispy, and serve with an olive tapenade. I blogged on this a while back, and it's under my vegetable section if you're ever interested in checking it out. :)

chili&vanilia said...

Oh, I love it too! A while ago, I found this recipe on Glutenfree Girls site: cauliflower roasted with cayenne pepper and bitter cocoa!! It is amazing! I blogged about it and a lot of my readers tried it and loved it. Zsofi

Kalyn Denny said...

Sounds heavenly. I have a recipe for Cauliflower Fried in Butter that sounds might taste kind of similar to this. Congratulations on the new camera, and guess what, that Casio was the first digital camera I had too!

Violet said...

Yum. I just made a cauliflower spread using pretty much the same ingredients! ;)

Clivia said...

My favourite way with cauliflower is an old-fashioned Swedish way: I boil it until soft, then use the water as a base for a simple white sauce with a bit of grated cheese in it. Cut the cauliflower in florets and put them in the sauce and serve with new potatoes and smoked ham or a little bacon. I have a head in the fridge right now...

Katie Zeller said...

I love cauliflower - and I love cauliflower with browned butter! Haven't added the bread crumbs, though, good idea!
I make it with Parmesan, and paprika, and lemon, and sage (not all together LOL)

Anonymous said...

Pille, I was practically raised on cauliflower with browned butter and breadcrumbs. It reminds me of childhood and it tastes great!

christine said...

I really like how this sounds! I'm not too fond of cauliflower because it can get quite boring after a while. But with ideas like these, I think I learn to like it even more. :)

Jeanne said...

Oh I *love* cauliflower. My new favourite was of serving it is roasting the florets in olive oil with garlic and topping them with breadcrumbs right at the end, when yuo turn the grill on. Fab, sprinkled with fleur de sel and somehow brings out a latent nuttiness in the cauliflower. FOr comfort food, though, you can't beat cauliflower florets steamed or boiled and smothered in a creamy sheese sauce. I made one the other day with blue-veined cheddar and it was incredible...

Pille said...

Tanna - it's pretty tasty indeed!

Inne - I don't eat shellfish, so cannot try your favourite way, but I'll check out Clotilde's cauliflower gratin!

Elsa - see 'valge kaste rohke sidrunimahlaga' kõlab päris ahvatlevalt. Peaks proovima. Äkki Sa varsti blogid sellest? Siis oleks kindel, et ma midagi valesti ei tee..

Lydia - sorry to hear that. Maybe this one makes you change your mind? LOL:) Have you tried roasting cauliflower? Apparently lots of cauliflower-haters like that one..

Patricia - yep, both soup and baked with cheese sound delicious!

Susan - I'll definitely check it out, thanks!

Chili & Vanilla - I've tried roasted cauliflower, but not with bitter cocoa & chilli. Sounds intriguing!

Kalyn - that camera thing is funny!

Stephen - I'll come and have a look!

Clivia - we do something similar here, too. I want something lighter during the summer, but cheese sauce sounds perfect for autumn cauliflower dishes.

Katie - adding breadcrumbs gives
them a nice crunch - try it! Thanks for listing the various other ways of serving cauliflower - I'd love to try the parmesan and paprika versions!

Dagmar - I thought so! I guess some of the Estonian & Polish eating habits are pretty similar:)

Christine - do try it and let me know how you liked it. I've certainly got a few new tips for using cauliflower, too!

Jeanne - I've tried the roasted cauliflower thing couple of times, but added just oil, salt & pepper. Garlic and breadcrumbs sound like a great addition!!