Cauliflower fan?
(It’s been a while since my last post (if anyone is still there) and my NEXT post I will give a look at what our life was like during the antique show. 12 hour days and most of the time I was too tired to cook when I got home and definitely too tired to try a new delicious recipe for this blog.)
Can’t say I was ever a cauliflower fan in my earlier years. That would be decades ago! I don’t remember my mother or grandmother ever cooking cauliflower. I’m not sure why because my dad had the best garden around and grew just about anything he could think of; even Jerusalem Artichokes and who the heck knew what to do with those things back then.
Over the years I’ve done some delicious things with the funny looking head. My Tomato and Cauliflower Soup recipe is one of those recipes that is pretty to look at and delicious to eat. My Cauliflower Potato Salad is infamous with my friends; although now I add one potato to the mix for flavor and texture. I’ve done Cauliflower Steak and Onions before but I have to say I like this Lemon Basil Cauliflower “Steak” better.
Once I found a beautiful head of purple cauliflower (and purple is my favorite color) and couldn’t resist making my Pasta with Purple Cauliflower and Walnut Cream Sauce. There are many other cauliflower dishes on my blog you can “search” for but before I quit telling what I’ve done in the past you have to take a look at my Winter White Soup which is one of my favorite cream soups.
Did you know cauliflower contains many nutrients, high in fiber, high in choline, good source of antioxidants, very low in calories and provides many other health benefits.
I came across this recipe at “cooking on the weekends” blog and thought of my thai basil growing in my little aero garden and the fact that I have not used any of it so why not try a new cauliflower recipe for dinner tonight. I changed the orange to lemon which I loved and ended up sprinkling a little pork belly crumbles (or bacon) on top. The only problem I have with these cauliflower “steak” recipes is that unless you get very large head of cauliflower, you will only get two steaks out of a head. I did cut the other sections so they would have a flat bottom so they would brown nicely and hold the butter. If you don’t want to do the steaks then I would at least cut large pieces and flatten the bottoms to get better roasting.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: With Spring not too far away this Lemon Basil Sorbet makes a light dessert for the end of your meal. (there is also a fig sorbet along with the lemon.)
Buy the biggest head of cauliflower you can find. I only got two “steaks” out of this one.
The ingredients for the compound lemon butter.
Mix all the ingredients for the butter…..
Put the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a cylinder. Refrigerate until firm.
I only got two “steaks” from a small head of cauliflower. I cut the other pieces flat on the bottom so I would get a nice brown on them.
After you have browned the cauliflower steaks on one side turn over and cook another 12 minutes. When you remove from the oven, cut a slice of the lemon basil butter and put on top of each piece. Just toss some of the extra butter with the other cauliflower pieces. Serve immediately.
Lemon Basil Cauliflower Steaks
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- few crumbles of bacon I used pork belly
- Compound Lemon Butter:
- 4 Tbsp. butter room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°.
- For the compound lemon butter mix the butter with the basil, zest and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Make a log and wrap in plastic wrap and put in freezer or refrigerator to firm up. You are going to slice this and put some on each cauliflower steak.
- Put some olive oil on a sheet pan or spray with cooking spray.
- Cut the cauliflower into steaks going through the stem into about 1" slices. If the ends fall apart just put the pieces together on the sheet. Brush both sides of the cauliflower steaks with some of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on oven to roast.
- About 12 minutes into roasting flip the steaks over if the pieces have turned a deep golden color on the bottoms. The steaks should be tender when pierced with a knife or fork. Bake for another 12 minutes. While the cauliflower is still warm from the oven, cut a slice of lemon butter to top each piece of "steak". Garnish with extra basil.
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