Food

[geoffbot]

[Henry Krinkle]

Tried a Greek bread yesterday, Daktyla. It uses unbleached bread flour, whole wheat and a fine grind cornmeal and has small amounts of milk, honey and oil for enrichment. It came out a bit overbaked and I think I used a tiny bit too much water, but it is tasty and I will fine tune the recipe.



I converted a bunch of it into croutons for this steakhouse style meal we had last night. Bison striploin, Old Bay lobster tail and Caesar salad.

[skywatch]

I have been trying to make roasted cauliflower more delicious by coating it in various things - zatar, tomato paste & garam masala, etc. Last night I invented a breading with crushed beans, masa flour, tahini, yogurt, egg, spices and it turned out really delicious. The idea was to make a sort pf dense corn pancake batter that would give a texture of fritters in the oven. My notes are pictured below next to the result. Geoff could make this vegan by skipping the egg & yogurt and adding more corn starch, I suspect.

[geoffbot]

I have been trying to make roasted cauliflower more delicious by coating it in various things - zatar, tomato paste & garam masala, etc. Last night I invented a breading with crushed beans, masa flour, tahini, yogurt, egg, spices and it turned out really delicious. The idea was to make a sort pf dense corn pancake batter that would give a texture of fritters in the oven. My notes are pictured below next to the result. Geoff could make this vegan by skipping the egg & yogurt and adding more corn starch, I suspect.

Nom! I had sublime cauliflower in miami some posts back and yes, I must recreate! Thanks for the reminder.

[Henry Krinkle]

I have been trying to make roasted cauliflower more delicious by coating it in various things - zatar, tomato paste & garam masala, etc. Last night I invented a breading with crushed beans, masa flour, tahini, yogurt, egg, spices and it turned out really delicious. The idea was to make a sort pf dense corn pancake batter that would give a texture of fritters in the oven. My notes are pictured below next to the result. Geoff could make this vegan by skipping the egg & yogurt and adding more corn starch, I suspect.

Yum.

We make buffalo cauliflower all the time, using my homemade generic red hotsauce. I'd say at least once a month and then it usually becomes the entire meal.

[Henry Krinkle]

This is the original recipe.



1 large head of cauliflower cut into florets
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
cooking spray
1/2 cup hot sauce
2 tablespoons butter melted
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
Ranch or blue cheese dressing for serving
Carrots and celery sticks for serving


Instructions


Preheat oven to 450°F. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, water, garlic powder, paprika, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper until batter is smooth. Add cauliflower to batter and toss to coat.
Spread cauliflower onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer with space between them. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 20 to 25 minutes, flipping over halfway through.
In another small bowl, combine the hot sauce, melted butter and lemon juice until well blended. Brush the buffalo sauce mixture on the cauliflower.
Return to the oven and bake until they start to brown, about 15 minutes.
Serve hot with ranch dressing, celery and carrots, if desired

We about double the batter but only two thirds the liquid. The butter in the buffalo sauce can easily be subbed with olive oil and while the recipe does need fat, it can use A LOT less. Starting from half that and working up or down as you see fitis a legit basepoint. If you like onion powder and garlic powder add another subtly different layer when added to the buffalo sauce as well. We often don't bother with the blue cheese or ranch, but a good vegan green goddess dressing is both possible and probably a viable option here. We've been doing some experimenting with them in other dishes. But I mean, the celery and all the rest of that is just bullshit. It's all about the cauliflower.

[skywatch]

This is the original recipe. (snip)

Indeed! In terms of essential elements, our two approaches are really similar. I used tahini for the fat instead of butter, and masa+beans for starch instead of flour, yogurt instead of water and lemon juice, various herbs instead of hot sauce... basically the same cooking chemistry though... and yummy!

[Henry Krinkle]

Indeed! In terms of essential elements, our two approaches are really similar. I used tahini for the fat instead of butter, and masa+beans for starch instead of flour, yogurt instead of water and lemon juice, various herbs instead of hot sauce... basically the same cooking chemistry though... and yummy!

I think we've discussed before how differently similar we are.

[geoffbot]

I think we've discussed before how differently similar we are.

I'm similar to both of you but different in that I'm nowhere near as good a chef.

[skywatch]

I'm similar to both of you but different in that I'm nowhere near as good a chef.

Vegan cooking is a special challenge. I was vegetarian for about 10 years in the 80s and even then I had trouble getting vegan dishes to taste satisfying, or take on the desired textures, or at least have a consistency different from bread and a bowl of beans. Also paying attention to full nutrition takes a lot more focus and detail. A special diet should be a great incentive to experiment. I think it's important to play in the kitchen, and accept the occasional cooking disaster.