February 23, 2011: Classy cauliflower

We had a fairly lowbrow evening lined up: 9 episodes of The Simpsons (three each chosen by Mike, Cindy and I, representing the creme de la creme), awesome pies from La Panella and a six-pack of beer. So to step things up a notch, I was in charge of coming up with a vegie side to complement the pies.

After browsing Cindy's massive stash of bookmarks, I settled on this straightforward cauliflower recipe from 101 Cookbooks. It's easy to prep - most of the work is in cutting up the cauliflower (rest assured, I'm nowhere near as precise as Heidi in making my florets uniform). The cauliflower gets a bit brown and softens up nicely, and the chives, lemon and parmesan are a pretty classic flavour combo (with good reason). It may not have turned us into debonair arthouse movie watchers, but it did take meat pies and beer to a slightly classier level.


Classy cauliflower
(based on a simple cauliflower recipe from 101 Cookbooks)

1 head of cauliflower
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
small bunch garlic chives, sliced finely
zest of one lemon and a few splashes of juice
freshly grated parmesan
salt, to taste

Trim the cauliflower into small florets - see the picture for a rough size guide.

Heat the oil in a fry pan and add the cauliflower, stirring to coat well with the oil.

Let it fry for a while, stirring occasionally. You want the florets to start to get some colour (I probably could have left ours for longer, but The Simpsons awaited). Just before you're ready to kill the heat, stir through the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so.

Kill the heat and stir through the chives, lemon zest and juice and grate some parmesan over the top.