Caramelized Cauliflower

My husband David recently took me to “Range”, a popular restaurant in Chevy Chase whose owner and chef, Bryan Voltaggio, competed in the Iron Chef show.  David had been there before with his true-foodie and close friend Dr. Mark Soberman, a thoracic surgeon who worked at Washington Hospital Center for about twenty years and now is the head of the oncology program at Frederick Memorial Hospital, conveniently down the street from Volt a small and classy restaurant in Frederick which is also owned by Mr. Voltaggio.  A two time James Beard Foundation Award finalist, he also co-owns four or five other local restaurants.  When we had dinner at Volt, the dishes were full of exotic ingredients including edible flowers.  The presentation at Volt was beautiful but the portions, as in a typical fancy and expensive restaurant, were “moderate” at best.  For example, Sandy said to David and to me: “You know, the truffle foam is very nice but it isn’t very filling”.  In contrast, the portions at Range were reasonable!

At Range, customers can see the open kitchens (seven of them!) where chefs prepare meat, vegetable dishes and pizza.  The restaurant even has home made truffle stations where you can see a “truffle chef” making many different kinds of colorful truffles including ginger-lemongrass! 

One of the vegetable dishes we had at Range was caramelized cauliflower with golden raisins and sliced almonds.  I told David I remembered seeing that dish “somewhere” and, as I suspected, I found the almost identical dish in a cookbook I recently bought at Shady Grove Hospital’s book fair.  This beautiful cookbook “The New Jewish Table” was written by Todd and Ellen Gray, owners of the renowned Equinox restaurant in Washington D.C. 

Last weekend, I made the dish with my friend My Huong, a pediatrician and fellow boot camper.  She volunteered to fry the cauliflower, which definitely took more time than me soaking the raisins and spreading the sliced almonds! Our two families enjoyed the dish very much.

Cauliflower, a cruciferous vegetable, is high in fiber, folate, vitamin C.  It contains Sulforaphane which may protect against different cancers.  It also has carotenoids and Indole 3 Carbinol, a chemical that enhances DNA repair.  Steaming, microwaving or stir frying cauliflower will not reduce the mentioned antioxidants.   A high intake of Cauliflower may reduce prostate cancer risk.

The recipe below for caramelized cauliflower, from Todd and Ellen Gray’s “The New Jewish Table,” is very easy to make and is delicious.  I ate the leftovers kept in the refrigerator the day after and it was still good even when it was cold. 

CARAMELIZED CAULIFLOWER

Ingredients:                                                                                                                                 

1 cup golden raisins

 2 tablespoons canola oil                                                                                                                      

1 tablespoon unsalted butter                                                                                                      

1 head cauliflower ( or the equivalent mix of several heirloom varieties),cut into 1/2-inch florets.                                                                                                                                    

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Soak the raisins.  Place the raisins in a small bowl.  Add hot water to cover and set aside to soak for 1 hour. Drain in a mesh strainer.

Cook the cauliflower.  Heat the oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the cauliflower and cook without stirring until caramelized on the bottom—2 to 3 minutes (the less the cauliflower moves in the pan, the more evenly it will caramelize).  Turn florets over and caramelize the other side in the same way, cooking until the cauliflower is crisp-tender and its edges are golden brown.  Add the raisins, almonds, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Toss well to combine.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if you wish (we thought the recipe needed a bit more salt).  Serve immediately.

Next time, I might add a few drops of Balsamic vinegar to see what the dish would taste like, since our family likes balsamic vinegar.  Creativity might lead to something even better.

I hope you will enjoy this dish as much as we did! 

Thu