Love and Cooking

Well, the Sacramento Bee, which I have always regarded as a fine paper, has clued into the foodblogging phenomenon. Elise of Elise's Simply Recipes was their featured interviewee, as she and her folks live in Carmichael.

I got the press tip through Clotilde, who was also interviewed (local-ish angle: Clotilde used to work in Silly Valley), and hopped on over there. (The Carmichael Mafia lives.) While I was there, I saw a recipe for Roast Cauliflower and decided to put my "Waste less food in 2005" resolution to practical use by roasting the head of cauliflower I had purchased to make a dip for New Year's. I also needed to complete my latest installment in "Practice cutting up chicken".

So when I got home I heated up the oven (my heater works now; I don't have to have the oven on all the time) and got busy. The recipe is simplicity itself; you can refer to Elise's page for how she did it, but this is the way I did:

1. Chop one head of cauliflower into florets
2. Arrange on a baking sheet with sides (I used my quarter-sheet pan)
3. Juice one lemon, wash hands, pour lemon over cauliflower and toss
4. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over cauliflower and toss
5. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over and toss
6. Arrange florets flat on the sheet.

If the oven is not 400 F yet, wait till it is. Then put the cauliflower in and cook for 15-25 minutes, till tender and starting to brown.

I punched up the heat because after the cauliflower was in, I cut up a chicken for roasting, and I wanted them both in the oven. (I roast chicken at 450 F.)

While it was cooking, I grated some Parmesan cheese on my Microplane.

This. was. so. tasty. And I don't even particularly like cauliflower. I nibbled a couple of pieces and it was obvious that they wouldn't last till the chicken was finished. I got the inspiration to cook the bunch of broccoli rabe in my fridge (my standard way; steam in the microwave, then saute briefly in some olive oil with a clove of garlic chopped up). Then I mixed the parmesan in. Winter heaven in a bowl. I ate it all, promptly.

Elise says roast some garlic cloves with this, but it doesn't need it in my opinion.

Next time, maybe kalamata olives or red peppers mixed in?