1 large head cauliflower (1¾ to 2 pounds)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound plums (3 medium), pitted and cut into small chunks
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek)
¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
3 scallions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
1 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup mint leaves
Heat the oven to 425°F.
If the cauliflower still has outer leaves and they look fresh, chop them. Cut the center stem from the cauliflower and cut the head into florets. If there are big pieces of stem without florets, cut them into chunks. Toss the cauliflower with a glug of olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and many twists of black pepper.
Spread the cauliflower out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender and nicely browned around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then pile into a large bowl.
Add the plums, half the lemon juice, chile flakes, ½ teaspoon salt, and lots of twists of black pepper. Toss to distribute the seasonings. Add ¼ cup olive oil and the yogurt and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, black pepper, chile flakes, or lemon juice as you like.
Top with the sesame seeds, scallions, parsley, and mint, and serve at cool room temperature.
Cauliflower Ragu
I think of this dish as one of my sleeper recipes—it’s not super sexy on paper, but it is surprisingly delicious and crowd-pleasing. Part of the appeal comes from adding the cauliflower in two batches—the first addition becomes meltingly tender and breaks down through the long cooking. The second addition holds on to a bit of its fresh texture and flavor, forming a flavor “chord.” Another key is to finish cooking the pasta in the ragu, so that it soaks up some of the sauce. And be sure to season this well!
» Serves 4
1 large head cauliflower or Romanesco (1½ to 1¾ pounds)
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 medium yellow onion, diced
½ cup dry, unoaked white wine
1½ cups water
1 big sprig rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 ounces fusilli or other spiral- or tube-shaped pasta
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
If the cauliflower still has outer leaves and they look fresh, chop them. Cut the center stem from the cauliflower and cut the head into small florets. Chop the stem into small chunks.
Heat ¼ cup olive oil, the garlic, and the chile flakes in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add about two-thirds of the cauliflower florets and chopped stems (you’ll add the last third in a bit) and the onion. Add the wine, 1 cup of the water, rosemary sprig, 1 teaspoon salt, and several generous twists of black pepper. Tumble everything together.
Cover the pan and adjust the heat so the mixture simmers nicely. Cook until the cauliflower is fairly tender, about 25 minutes, stirring and smashing with a wooden spoon or spatula a few times as you cook.
Add the rest of the cauliflower and the remaining ½ cup water and cook until the second batch of cauliflower is very tender, though it will have more tooth to it than the first batch, which should be quite sloppy by now. This second cooking should take another 20 minutes or so. The ragu at this stage should be loose but not watery, so if it seems dry or tight, add a few more spoonfuls of water.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea. Add the pasta and cook until 2 minutes shy of al dente (according to the package directions). The pasta will finish cooking in the ragu. With a ladle or a measuring cup, scoop out about 1 cup pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta well.
Add the pasta to the ragu, along with the lemon juice, butter, and Parmigiano, and fold everything together. Taste and adjust with more salt, lemon, black pepper, or cheese, and adjust the texture to make it creamy by adding a splash or two of the reserved pasta water. Serve right away.
Cauliflower Steak with Provolone and Pickled Peppers
This is a novel, and flavor-packed, way to use cauliflower. It’s also a great dinner party dish because it can be prepared ahead: Cook the cauliflower “steaks,” pat on the topping, arrange them on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until just few minutes before serving. Then slide them into the oven, keeping in mind that the final cooking will take a little longer if they are cold.
» Serves 2 to 4 . . . or maybe 6, depending on the shape of your cauliflower and whether you serve a whole steak or a half per person
1 large head cauliflower (1½ to 1¾ pounds)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups Dried Breadcrumbs
1 cup grated (on large holes of a grater) aged provolone (3 ounces), plus ¼ cup finely grated aged provolone for dusting
½ cup chopped pickled sweet hot peppers (Mama Lil’s is a great brand)
⅓ cup chopped mixed pitted olives
¼ cup capers
¾ cup lightly packed roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Heat the oven to 450°F.
Trim the bottom of the cauliflower so that it sits steadily on the cutting board. Trim off about ½ inch from two opposite sides (to flatten them), then cut the cauliflower into 3 or 4 thick slabs—the number will be determined by the shape of your cauliflower. Brush both sides of each slab with olive oil and season generously with salt and black pepper. Chop and crumble the trimmings and set aside.
Figure out whether you need one or two baking sheets to fit the cauliflower steaks without crowding them, then heat the sheets in the oven for 10 minutes (this preheating will make the underside of the slabs nicely golden brown). Carefully lay the slabs on the sheet(s) and return to the oven quickly. Roast the cauliflower until it’s tender all the way through, but not falling apart, 18 to 20 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, make the topping by mixing together the breadcrumbs, large-grated provolone, pickled peppers, olives, capers, parsley, lemon zest, and crumbled cauliflower trimmings. Moisten with a small glug of olive oil, just to help the filling hold together. Taste and season generously with salt and black pepper until it’s so delicious, you want to eat it all.
Take out the baking sheet(s) again and distribute the topping among all the slabs. Press and pat to make a thick layer. Return the cauliflower to the oven and roast until the topping is lightly browned and starting to crisp, and the cheese is starting to melt, 10 to 15 minutes.
With as wide a spatula as you have, transfer the slabs (they’re delicate) to plates and top with a dusting of the finely grated provolone.
Baked Cauliflower with Salt Cod, Currants, and Pine Nuts
Salt cod is one of my favorite go-to ingredients, but it requires planning. At least a day ahead of cooking, it has to be soaked and rinsed several times, but after that it is quite easy to work with. The currants add a note of bittersweet to the dish that is a welcome contrast to the overall richness. This is perfect served with a simple leaf salad or bitter greens.
» Serves 4
1 pound salt cod fillet (start soaking this at least 1 day ahead)
1 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
½ cup milk or water
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 small bunch scallions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), cu
t into 1-inch lengths
1 bay leaf
1 small head cauliflower (about ¾ pound), cut into florets
¼ cup dried currants, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
¼ cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes or Aleppo pepper
½ cup Dried Breadcrumbs
A day before you make this dish, desalt the cod: Rinse the salt cod with cool water, then put it in a large bowl or a big saucepan. Fill with more cool water and soak for 1 or 2 hours. Drain the water, refill with fresh water, and soak again. You’ll want to drain and refill 5 or 6 times total. The fish should soak for a good 12 hours and up to 24 hours before it’s ready to cook.
Once the cod is desalted, put it in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan with the cream, milk, garlic, scallions, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and very gently simmer until the salt cod is tender and you can flake it apart with a fork, about 15 minutes. During this simmering time, the cream will reduce and thicken and the garlic and scallions will get soft.
Heat the oven to 425°F.
Scoop the cod out of the cream and crumble-flake it into a large bowl. Add the cauliflower, currants, pine nuts, parsley, and lemon zest to the bowl. Season with many twists of black pepper. Toss gently so all the ingredients are combined.
If the cream mixture still looks very liquidy, simmer for another few minutes until it is nice and thick. With a fork or wooden spoon, mash the garlic and scallion pieces into the cream. The garlic should crush into a puree and the scallions will just sort of smash. Pour this cream over all the ingredients and fold gently to combine. Taste and adjust your seasonings; you probably won’t need salt because the cream will be salty.
Pile everything into a 3-quart baking or gratin dish (be sure to scrape all the cream from the bowl). Top the casserole with the breadcrumbs and bake until the cream is lightly browned and bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes.
Let the dish cool for about 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the chile flakes just before serving.
Fried Cauliflower with Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce
This recipe is the result of an experiment I did one day when I was working at a restaurant in New York City. I was cooking Brussels sprouts and trying to figure out what method to use to get them super crispy. I had sprouts going simultaneously in a sauté pan, the oven, the steamer, and I threw one into the deep fryer. I sort of forgot about that one, yanking it out only after it was almost burnt. And of course it was the winner—crisp, almost charred, and exceedingly sweet. Now I use the same method for many vegetables, cauliflower being ideal. You can serve it simply tossed with lemon, salt, and dried chile flakes; with a lime and freshly coarsely chopped garlic and parsley; or with a sauce or dip, as I do here.
» Serves 4
2 garlic cloves, minced
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium cauliflower cut into chubby florets
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce
Put the garlic in a bowl large enough to hold all the cauliflower and add enough olive oil to cover.
Pour at least 3 inches of oil into a medium saucepan with tall sides (so that the oil can’t bubble over when you add the cauliflower). Slowly bring the oil up to 365°F on a thermometer. Arrange a double layer of paper towels on a tray and set near the stove.
Carefully immerse a few of the cauliflower florets into the oil and fry until they are really dark brown, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper towels. Repeat to fry all the cauliflower, taking care not to add too many florets at once, which would lower the oil temperature and make the cauliflower greasy.
Toss the fried florets in the bowl with the chopped garlic and its oil, the parsley, and a big old glug of the fish-sauce sauce. You want enough to coat the florets and leave more for sopping up. You can also serve the cauliflower undressed, with the spicy fish-sauce sauce in a ramekin for dipping.
At the market Look for Romanesco, cauliflower’s sexy cousin, especially at farmers’ markets. Related to both cauliflower and broccoli, it has a flavor similar to cauliflower, is quite delicate, and is a shocking lime green. The most amazing thing about Romanesco is its fractal shape. Its endlessly repeating conical forms make it look like a rocket ship from a fever dream.
Cucumbers
A bite of cucumber brings you a refreshing juiciness and satisfying crunch that could almost be called thirst-quenching. The flavor, on the other hand, might kindly be called “subtle.” Barely sweet with melon-y overtones, cucumbers benefit from supporting flavors in a dish.
Different on the outside, same on the inside. We’re used to seeing green, slightly nubby cukes in the market, along with the “fancy” ones called English cucumbers, which almost always come imprisoned in a plastic sleeve. The main difference is the seeds, which are fewer and smaller in the English variety. But step away from the supermarket and into a farmers’ market—or your garden—and you’ll see a wide range of much prettier and more succulent cucumbers. Their shapes will range from round to submarine to slightly curved trumpets, in shades from ivory through lemon yellow, bronze, and green, striped, mottled, or uniform.
The flavors of all these are similar. However, pickling cucumbers (aka Kirby) are distinctly different. While you can pickle any cuke, Kirbys are cultivated to be drier and firmer than a salad-style cuke.
Chill. Cucumbers like the cold, so store them in the refrigerator, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag so that they get a bit of air—they will get slimy if they’re tightly sealed.
Keep some peel, lose the seeds. Some cucumbers are waxed to keep them from drying out; I’ll always peel a waxy cuke. Otherwise, my preference is to leave the skins on, unless they feel too nubby. Sometimes I’ll peel them in alternating stripes, which leaves some color but removes much of the chewiness. Then I halve them lengthwise and scrape out the seeds using the tip of a spoon. Some people do this with a melon baller.
Add salt to tighten. A cucumber’s juiciness also means that it can exude a lot of water into your dish, diluting flavors and making things soggy. So I always salt cucumbers before I use them to draw out some water while seasoning the flesh, making it tastier and firmer—it’s like a gentle pickling.
Slice the cucumber according to the directions in the recipe and pile the slices into a bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and arrange in a colander. Let sit for at least 1 hour (and up to 24). You’ll see beads of moisture forming on the slices after a while. When the time is up, tumble the cuke slices onto paper towels and blot to remove the water and excess salt. Now you’re ready to continue with your dish.
Versatile players. Cucumbers are so neutral that they fit in nicely anywhere you’re looking for crispness and moisture, such as salads of almost any kind. I love cucumbers with dairy, such as yogurt, and I always use plenty of intensely flavored accents—dried fruit, hot chiles, fragrant herbs—to balance out their mildness. I mostly use cucumbers raw and chilled, but a lightly sautéed cucumber dressed with one of the flavored butters in this book (starting here to here) makes a really delicious side dish to grilled meat, chicken, or fish.
Cucumbers, Celery, Apricots, and Pistachios
This dish hits every flavor note—sweet, sour, salty, bitter . . . and it’s all kinds of crunchy. The more herbs you pack in there, the better. Mint, parsley, basil, and celery are just the beginning—you can add sorrel, every kind of basil you can find, chives, even some cooked grains or couscous. Serve this with grilled lamb, friends, the great outdoors, and cold pink wine.
» Serves 4
1½ pounds cucumbers (a mix of varieties if possible)
Kosher salt and freshly gr
ound black pepper
4 medium celery stalks (leaves reserved)
½ cup dried apricots, quartered
1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup pistachios, lightly toasted and chopped
½ cup lightly packed mint leaves
½ cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup lightly packed basil leaves
½ cup lightly packed celery leaves (if you have them)
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
‘Peel the cucumbers if their skins are tough or waxed. Trim the ends of the cucumbers, halve lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Cut the halves crosswise on an angle into very thin slices. Put the cucumbers in a colander and toss them with 1½ teaspoons salt. Set aside for at least 20 minutes to extract their water and give them a “quick-pickled” flavor.
Meanwhile, cut the celery crosswise on an angle into very thin slices and soak in ice water for 10 minutes. Drain, pat dry, and pile into a serving bowl.
Put the apricots, garlic, and vinegar in a small bowl. Let the apricots plump for 10 minutes.
Pat the cucumbers dry and add to the celery, along with the pistachios, mint, parsley, basil, and celery leaves (if using). Remove the garlic from the apricots and discard it. Add the apricots and vinegar to the bowl, along with the chile flakes and ¼ cup olive oil. Season with black pepper, but don’t add more salt yet because the cucumbers will have absorbed a bit. Toss, taste, and adjust the flavors with more salt, vinegar, chile flakes, or black pepper until it’s bright and zingy. Finish with another drizzle of olive oil. Serve right away.
Cucumbers, Yogurt, Rose, Walnuts, and Herbs
Be very careful with the amount of rose water you use—too much and the dish becomes overly floral. You can find rose water at well-stocked grocery stores and also at Middle Eastern stores. The salad is so beautiful, whether you build it on a big platter and serve it with a bunch of other dishes, or you plate it individually. If you can’t find roses, use any edible flower (unsprayed, of course).
Six Seasons Page 18