Roasted Cauliflower Polonaise

It’s actually feeling like fall here this week. Cooler weather, drizzly rain, and earlier sunsets are making it clear that summer is gone. Just in time to help warm up the house with the oven, Ruhlman's How to Roast has appeared, and I received a review copy. This new book covers the basics of oven roasting everything from the Thanksgiving turkey to roasted fruit for dessert. He starts by explaining what roasting has come to mean. Originally, roasting involved a spit and fire, but these days, the process of roasting is really the same as that of baking. The different names are used depending on what is being cooked. With either name, it’s a “dry-heat cooking method.” And, it’s a pretty easy way to make things delicious when they take on a golden crispness in the oven. Starting with a classic roasted chicken, Ruhlman walks you through the simple steps of seasoning, bringing up to temperature, prepping, roasting, and carving. Beef, pork, lamb, fish, and shellfish are all covered including an actual spit-roasted leg of lamb, and then there are lovely, golden, roasted vegetables. I’ve roasted all sorts of vegetables over the years. Usually, I just toss the vegetables with some olive oil, maybe add some sliced garlic or smashed whole cloves of garlic, and pop them in the hot oven on a sheet pan. But, now that I’ve tasted the wonder of roasting cauliflower in a cast iron skillet with butter, I may never go back. The Roasted Cauliflower Polonaise recipe caught my eye because it was completely unfamiliar to me. I learned that Polonaise refers to any dish topped with buttered breadcrumbs and hard cooked eggs. Here, there’s also a splash of lemon and chopped fresh parsley. It’s one of two recipes that uses Basic Roasted Cauliflower in the book, and I highly recommend it. 

Now, I have to explain that I took option B in making this dish. Option A would have been to roast the whole head of cauliflower intact. Then, it would have been served in the cast iron skillet and portions would have been cut as wedges. It’s a lovely, old-school kind of preparation and presentation, but since I was just cooking for two, I went the simpler route. I cut the head of cauliflower into florets, and roasted them in the skillet with butter. Every ten minutes or so, I turned the cauliflower pieces and spooned melted, browned butter over the tops. The cauliflower pieces roasted for about 40 minutes total, and came out of the oven nicely golden. Meanwhile, I hard-cooked two eggs, chopped parsley, and toasted breadcrumbs in melted butter on top of the stove. To serve, I transferred cauliflower pieces to a platter, squeezed lemon juice over the top, added the toasted buttery breadcrumbs and chopped eggs, and garnished with parsley. 

For me, this was a vegetarian main course. The buttery goodness was undeniable, but the crispy breadcrumbs, bright lemon, and rich chopped egg combined delightfully. My next stop in the book will either be the Duck Fat-Roasted Potatoes or the Roasted Pineapple with Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce. The oven is going to get plenty of use this fall. 

Roasted Cauliflower Polonaise 
Recipes reprinted with publisher’s permission from Ruhlman's How to Roast. Copyright ©2014 by Ruhlman Enterprises, Inc. Courtesy Little, Brown and Company. The book is available at Barnes and Noble and IndieBound.

Boiled cauliflower with hard-cooked eggs, bread crumbs, and parsley? When I first learned this old preparation, in a culinary basics class at the CIA, I thought it was too goofy for words. But when I asked my cooking partner, Adam Shepard, what he thought of it, he said, “I’d serve it at my restaurant. Though I’d figure out a way to make the egg and bread crumbs stick to the cauliflower.” That he took it seriously made me take it seriously. As my appreciation of classic dishes grew, so too did my affection for this dish. Prepare it with roasted cauliflower rather than boiled, and it becomes a great dish for any occasion. 

1 head cauliflower (whole or cut into florets), roasted 
1/4 cup/20 grams panko bread crumbs 
1 or 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped 
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

• PLACE the hot roasted cauliflower on a serving platter. If there is no remaining butter in the skillet, add another tablespoon. Add the bread crumbs to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat till they’re toasted. 

• SQUEEZE the lemon over the cauliflower and then spoon the toasted bread crumbs over the cauliflower. Spoon the chopped egg over the cauliflower (don’t worry if it doesn’t stick). Sprinkle it with parsley and serve in wedges or slices, scooping up extra garnish as you do so. 

• If you’re using roasted florets, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a separate small skillet over medium-high heat and toast the bread crumbs. To serve, simply sprinkle the lemon juice, toasted bread crumbs, chopped egg, and parsley uniformly over the top of the florets and serve right from the skillet. 

Basic Roasted Cauliflower 
6 tablespoons/90 grams butter, at room temperature 
1 head cauliflower 
Kosher salt 

• PREHEAT the oven to 425˚F/220˚C (use convection if you have it). 

• Cut the stem and leaves off the cauliflower so that it will sit flat in a skillet; the more of the cauliflower that’s in contact with the skillet the better, as it gets very brown and tasty. 

• Set the cauliflower in an ovenproof skillet and smear the butter all over the surface. Give it a liberal sprinkling of salt. 

• Roast till tender (a long knife should slide easily down into the cauliflower all the way through to its stem), 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Several times while it’s roasting, baste it with the butter, which will have melted and started to brown. (If you’re roasting a cut-up cauliflower, simply put the florets and butter in the skillet and put it in the oven. After 5 or 10 minutes, stir and toss the cauliflower to coat the florets with the melted butter, and then continue roasting and basting till tender, 30 to 40 

• Serve immediately, in wedges or slices, or keep warm and reheat for a few minutes in a hot oven before serving. 

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Spaghetti with Fennel, Chile, Lemon, and Breadcrumbs

It’s true that I have trust issues with recipes. If I’m skeptical, I may proceed as instructed, but I try to be prepared should I feel the need to change course. So, although I was intrigued by a pasta recipe that suggested a topping of breadcrumbs in place of parmesan, I had a wedge of parmigiano reggiano ready and waiting just in case. This came from Delicious magazine a few months ago, and I can’t seem to locate the recipe online so I’ll include it below. Spicy breadcrumbs were made by toasting chunks of day-old bread that had been tossed with olive oil and dried chile flakes and then processing them to crumbs once cool. They were tasty breadcrumbs, and they were certainly going to add a flavorful, crispy element to the pasta dish, but I wasn’t convinced they could completely replace the experience of a good parmigiano reggiano. I had just received some fennel from my CSA, and making fresh pasta is one of my most favorite kitchen tasks, so with some back-up parmesan to shred over each plate of pasta should it be necessary, I was ready to experiment.

I made the fresh pasta from Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition since this has become my go-to pasta recipe. I cut the fresh pasta sheets into thin spaghetti and let the strands dry for a bit while working on the breadcrumbs. Half a loaf of day-old bread, and I used some leftover Norwich sourdough which had been stored in the freezer since Christmas, was cut into chunks and tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and red chile flakes. The bread chunks were toasted on a sheet pan in the oven until dry and crisp, and they were left to cool. Then, they went into a food processor with some fronds from the fennel and were pulsed until crumbly. Next, the fennel bulbs were prepped by slicing them thinly with a mandoline or Benriner. Lemon rind was supposed to have been cut into thin ribbons, but Kurt isn’t a fan of big pieces of citrus rind in savory dishes, so I zested the lemon with a microplane instead. Last, garlic was minced, and cooking could commence. While water for the pasta boiled, olive oil was heated in a large saute pan. The fennel and garlic were gently cooked over medium heat so as not to brown the fennel but just to allow it to soften. The lemon zest was added, and after a short dunk in the boiling water, the drained pasta was added with lemon juice and more olive oil. Everything was tossed about in the pan to combine and warm through, and then it was served topped with the breadcrumbs.

This dish ended up delivering two surprises. First, I had assumed the fennel would retain its anise bite since it was so gently cooked. Although it didn’t even brown in the pan, it did soften and become sweeter and was not at all like sharp, raw fennel. The bright lemon juice and zest mingled nicely with it. The other surprise was that the breadcrumbs were delicious and satisfying in a way that I didn’t expect at all. With the salt, chile flakes, and fennel fronds, the crunchy bits of bread were all the dish needed. At the end of the meal, the wedge of parmigiano reggiano had gone completely untouched.

Spaghetti with Fennel, Chile, Lemon, and Breadcrumbs
adapted from Delicious magazine

half a loaf of day-old bread such as a sourdough rustic loaf or ciabatta
2 teaspoons dried chile flakes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 organic lemons (organic is important here since the peel will be used)
3 fennel bulbs
12 ounces long strands of thin pasta (make fresh pasta if you have time)
Salt and pepper to taste

-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut or pull the bread into chunks and place on a baking sheet. Toss the bread chunks with two tablespoons of the olive oil, the dried chile flakes, and a big pinch of salt. Spread the pieces into an even layer and bake for about 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Then, set aside and allow to cool.

- Zest one lemon and then cut both in halve to be juiced. Remove and discard the outer leaves of the fennel and reserve 1/2 cup of the fronds. Thinly slice the fennel, and using a Benriner is the quickest way to do it.

- Place the fennel fronds and cooled bread chunks in a food processor and pulse until crumbly.

- Boil a large pot of salted water for the pasta, and time the cooking of the pasta for it to be ready when the fennel and lemon zest have cooked (fresh pasta will cook must faster than dried). Meanwhile, heat three tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel to the saute pan, and cook while stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue to cook for three minutes until the fennel begins to soften. Add the lemon zest, reduce heat to low and cook for another five minutes or so. The goal is for the lemon and garlic flavors to meld with the fennel, but the fennel should only gently cook and not brown. When the pasta has cooked, drain it and add it to the saute pan. Add the juice from the two lemons and the remaining olive oil, and toss to combine.

- Serve the pasta and fennel topped with a generous handful of the breadcrumbs, and I promise you won’t need a single shred of parmesan.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.

Mussels with Hot Paprika Breadcrumbs

This dish caught my eye in the January issue of Food and Wine. It was part of the 50 trends to try this year, and the trend in question was new sparkling wines. Three wines including a lambrusco bianco, a sparkling chenin blanc, and a sparkling gruner veltliner were suggested, and all would pair well with the mussels. We never have much luck locating exact bottles that appear in articles and that proved to be the case last weekend. So, we chose a prosecco instead. Therefore, I suppose we failed to experience this trend set by these new sparklers, but the mussels were outstanding with the bubbly wine we did procure.

This was served as a first course prior to the eggplant salmon entree. The mussels are quick and simple to prepare, and smoked, hot paprika is always welcome. Breadcrumbs were tossed with butter-cooked garlic and paprika, and then thyme, lemon zest, and salt and pepper were added. This mixture was spooned over steamed, opened mussels which were then set under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

Simply delicious. Of course, we wished we would have bought more mussels. When paprika, butter, and breadcrumbs are involved, always plan to serve more than you think you’ll need. The prosecco was lovely as both the steaming liquid and as the beverage served with the finished dish, but the Szigeti Gruner Veltliner Brut sounded interesting. We’ll have to keep looking for it so we can properly experience this particular trend.