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You remember I'm not a big fan of cauliflower, right? Well, I need to amend that because now have another recipe that makes me think it's not so bad after all.
Yesterday, I wrote about Maharajah curry powder, one of four global spice blends worth trying.
Today, I'm sharing a recipe for roasted cauliflower using that highly aromatic (and colorful) spice. And by recipe, you do know that I mean, I'll just talk you through the process, right?
The first thing you do, after turning the oven on at 400 degrees, is cut the florets off the head of the cauliflower, cutting the larger ones into bite size pieces.
Wash and pat dry with paper towels. We'll be tossing with oil later, so the florets need to be dry. Oh, this head of cauliflower is two pounds, kind of a medium-ish size.
I also cut 1/2 of a large, yellow onion into lengthwise wedges, because, you know, what's roasted cauliflower without onions?
Whisk together a scant tablespoon of the Maharajah curry powder with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon (or, 1 full teaspoon if you dare) of Sriracha (or other hot sauce), and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Pour the mixture over the cauliflower and onions and give it a good toss, coating the whole caboodle. (Caboodle is such a fun word. Say it with me: kuh-BOOD-l. If that doesn't put a grin on your face, I don't know what will.)
Spread the cauliflower and onions on a baking sheet in a single layer. Place in the oven and roast until the cauliflower starts to caramelize and the onions are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
The only thing left to do now is to taste it and adjust for salt and pepper. I like to give it a good sprinkle of freshly ground white pepper, and finish it with some chopped fresh mint. Mint and curry go together like peanut butter and jelly, in an exotic sort of way. You could use cilantro if you have it in addition to, or instead of the mint.
Roasted curried cauliflower is really delicious as a side dish to say, grilled pork or grilled halibut. Or you could use it to top a salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. Or, you could even puree it, add a little vegetable stock, a splash of cream and call it a soup.
I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I bought the Maharajah curry powder at Penzey's but you can find it at other specialty spice sites like The Spice House and Whole Spice, too.
I've always been a fan of V-8 Juice, especially the spicy hot flavor. Maybe it's because I like spicy flavors, or because I have a penchant for Bloody Marys.
The only thing I didn't particularly like was the amount of sodium (a whopping 710 mg per 8-ounce serving, or 30% of the USDA recommended daily allowance). So I switched to V-8 Low Sodium (140 mg of sodium per 8-ounce serving).
There was only one problem. Remove the salt and you remove some of the flavor. Salt is a flavor enhancer.
It's possible to "retrain" your taste buds, and many people do, through sheer mind-over-matter. But I'm not many people, and I just couldn't sacrifice taste for health. So, I came up with a solution.
What V-8 taketh away, my stocked pantry returnith.
Without adding any additional salt, I punched up the flavor of the low sodium V-8 juice by adding dashes of different spices.
My first experiment was green jalapeno powder. It added a nice after burn.
Next, I tried chipotle powder - a nice kick and smokiness.
Feeling embolden, I tried curry powder. W-O-W... what a nice combination. Many curries also include tomatoes, so curry powder and V-8 juice are a natural match.
I have a red curry powder from McCormick that's quite spicy, and I have Maharajah curry powder from Penzeys Spices that's not quite as hot but extremely aromatic with ginger, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, cardamom and cloves, among other spices. It transforms the juice from plain to exotic.
Now, how much to add? That depends upon your own particular taste -- and heat tolerance. I started with 1/4 teaspoon per 8 ounces, and for some of the pepper powders, that was plenty.
I add a smidgen more with the curry powders. If you find a flavor you particularly like, you can add enough for the whole container, but I like the flexibility of having a different flavor each morning.
I'm still exploring new flavor combinations. I just picked up a Mexican Adobo seasoning blend from Penzeys so I'm trying that next. Sometimes I squirt in a bit of lemon or lime juice, both flavor brighteners.
In other words, I guess I just can't leave well enough alone. V-8 juice is good for me. And with my flavor tricks, it's even better.
Seriously, how many kinds of pepper does one cook need?
Black, sure. White? OK.
But when you start veering off into what kind of black pepper (Malabar, Lampong, Tellicherry, etc.) it gets kind of nuts.
But that's not all I have in my pantry.
There's Szechuan (from China), Aleppo (from Turkey), and pink peppercorns (which aren't peppercorns at all, but have a peppery flavor and look like peppercorns, only shockingly pink). I have two kinds of white pepper, the darker Muntok and the whiter (more expensive) Sarawak.
Green peppercorns live in two places in my household: swimming in brine (in the fridge) and dehydrated, snuggled up next to my black, white and pink peppercorns. If nothing else, I run an equal opportunity pantry. No discrimination here.
In all, I have ten different peppercorns (counting the pink ones, even though we've already established that they aren't true peppercorns.) I don't think we should go into how many pepper grinders I have.
Is there really a taste difference between the Indonesian Lampong and the Indian Tellicherry peppercorns? Yes, but it's not earth-shatteringly-dramatic. The only way to discern the difference is to taste them, and that gets kind of hot after a while, but you can pick up different flavor notes. The Lampong is earthy. The Tellicherry has fruity notes. Both leave a nice after burn.
Pepper, right after salt, of course, is the most important seasoning ingredient in a cook's arsenal. I'm not saying you need to have ten different peppercorns, but you should have peppercorns as opposed to pre-ground pepper, and grind them fresh every time to get the real power of this heady spice.
My go-to source for peppercorns is Penzeys Spice Company. Another great source is Flavorbank, based out of Tucson, Arizona. It's where I picked up the earthy Lampong pepper.
Everyone needs a little spice in their life. I, apparently, need lots.
"Do you have any cardamom? Not ground but the whole pods," my friend asks as we're walking our dogs. I run through a mental picture of my spice cabinet, and land on the little bottle of green cardamom I bought a while back at Penzeys Spice Company.
"Yes, I do," I say, "but they're green, not black." She looks at me with a blank stare. My friend is not a prolific cook or baker, and she is constantly amazed at my tools, gadgets, and well-stocked pantry. "What's the difference, she says?"
And I couldn't answer her question, so I went hunting for the answer. Found it in the Field Guide to Herbs & Spices by Aliza Green. (Disclosure: I've met Aliza, and she's quite well known in the professional culinary circle as the field guide queen. She's also written guides on meat, seafood, and produce.)
Turns out that both green and black cardamom are used extensively in Indian cooking (think chai tea flavor as an example). Cardamom is also used in African, Middle Eastern and to a lesser degree, Chinese and Scandinavian cooking.
The green is more delicate in aroma and flavor than the black pods and black cardamom has a unique, smoky aroma and flavor as well. Green cardamom is also about three times as expensive as black cardamom, which would explain why I have green instead of black in my pantry. I tend to buy expensive things when it comes to the kitchen, thinking that it's better. Sometimes I'm right, other times not so much.
About an hour after our dog walk, I'm rummaging around in my pantry looking for the green cardamom pods when the phone rings. It's my friend and she tells me that she just returned from the grocery store and found black cardamom pods...on sale...half price, even. Instead of $14, she spent $7. If you knew how frugal my friend was, you'd laugh. She would NEVER spend that much money on a jar of spice. But she is determined to make these "Swedish Toasts" (Skorpa) that she describes as similar to biscotti, but thinner.
Now that she has her own cardamom, I'm not sure I'll get a sample of her Swedish treat, but I'm hoping that just the effort of looking for it, and reassuring her that using the black pods instead of the green pods won't cause any kitchen disasters, will be enough to encourage her to share. It is the sharing season, after all.
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