hello cauli, my old friend

welcome to the cauliflower chronicles: from the ordinary to the extraordinary

In the fall of 2021, I entered into the first wave of what would become known as The Cauliflower Chronicles ™.  In short, there was a lot to it. I remember it was an early winter. Well, not even fall, but close enough.

Feet of fluffy snow covered the ground before October. Jules’ sister was in town. Both big deals, as this was also (still) the summer of the sisters, with both of ours having visited for the first time. Technically, it started heavily snowing in September. Which, being Alaska, is a month that does not limit itself to merely one or two seasons of change.

I shook snow off kale in our raised bed. Memories were made.

our alaskan garden / september 20, 2021

Nevertheless, that cruciferous persisted, along with a tremendous order of “late season” bounty we picked up from a really cool educational farm (really, really) outside of Fairbanks, with many more cauli surely joining a few already in the fridge from earlier U-pick adventures. Looking back now, it was a summer of remarkable-fantastico-abundance in our lives and kitchen. Especially in the north. We had a CSA, a happening garden plot and those U-pick visits. And a whole lot of cauli…which is a whole lot like gold.

alaska-grown harvest / inside our 2021-2022 denali kitchen that same day / september 20, 2021

Cauli, cauli, cauli. There were stir-fries, stews, and roasts. Steamed and seared. Turmeric-tinged pickles. Even blanched and frozen, which was purposeful, although not something worth repeating any time soon for such a mushy end result. We’ll see how that goes again in the coming months !

two weeks before: our final CSA box / september 8, 2021

Best yet, there were these crispy roasted cauliflower leaves.

Those were, and are, the bomb. That's still a good thing. Fresh from the farm, used within a few days of picking, tossed in sesame or olive oil, maybe a little nooch, often smoked paprika, most definitely a little togarashi, a little more salt and pepper, into the oven, and we had a crunchy, special appetizer or side within minutes. Top mac & cheese, “bowls” (you know the ones - I’m not doubting these remain a thing), or the inevitable / potentially / probably / surely awesome curries to come. They’re coming…

As were/are dinner plates with those trendy sliced “steaks” - though I’ve come to state a preference for the far more practical & less messy quarters and halves. And who could forget the requisite buffalo? Now on endless menus.

cauliflower “steak” plates / a la september 14, 2022

Certainly curry after curry - that might I call both casual and capacious - while I’m in the c’s. Ah, and the indulgently, intentionally whole-roasted. All-stars.

That was 2021, going into 2022. Those resilient cauli. It was the bestest, cauliflower-riffic time in my life so far. Until the next season. Can’t stop, won’t stop, cole crops. Ditto for the next.

We even traveled with an orange cauliflower picked up (one of many, of multiple shades) from our final, for now, Big M Harvest Fest. For those new here and for those who may not have memorized my adoration for another cooooooool farm, literally & figuratively, etc. in the interior of Alaska, well, that sums up the matter. We would visit multiple times a summer for a plethora of U-pick produce and berries, including the swoony season-opener: haskaps, aka honeyberries. I was entranced, which is saying a lot when you live somewhere where the forest floor is berries part of the year.

picking cauli + honeyberries at Big M Farm / 2022

Time goes on. As is no secret, we’re yet again people who stock up. Albeit in different circumstances that are far more remote in their own ways, and that we’re very much still figuring out. 

That is to say that cauli of both the fresh and frozen variety was a given going into this winter. Clearly. And technically speaking, there may be feet of snow on the ground, but it’s not officially winter yet. Once again.

And that yet, means The Cauliflower Chronicles™ have returned.

We continue to cook and eat our way through the “fresh stuff” as we head into whatever full winter shall resemble. 

“caulipots” anyone? / december 13, 2023

I started writing this missive during night 5 or 6 of of consecutive cauliflower…..creations. Cooking. Concoctions. Pats on the back, and cabbage patches. Close enough.

You haven’t read this far to come to a big cauliflower epiphany. Hey, it was already there. The delight of those crispy roasted leaves. Akin to kale chips: the next level.

And for the foodies, isn’t whole-roasted is even more of a must than buffalo-sauce’d these days? Come on.

ready to roast / august 28, 2023

Even more so than the “steaks”? Consider that demi-rhetorical, ‘cause I do appreciate your own cauli contemplation.

Cauli Curiousity: When was *your* first whole-roasted cauli? When’s your next?

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“l’originale tete de choux-fleurs” / Miznon in Paris / 2017

Mine (okay, I would safely say ours, because we both swooned) was circa Fall 2017 at Miznon in Paris during a big, big, big trip from one continent to another (and another back home).  I would say heavenly, because it was its own celestial, char-roasted, salt-dusted, utterly-satisfying European date night delight, but there’s now a location in Chelsea Market in NYC, or there was - I shan’t fact check. Knowing that is just less special. For me! Not them. 

There was another whole-roasted affair that stands out from this past summer. That last one (for now!!) in Alaska, enjoyed with good friends, surrounded by new potatoes and garlic. Cherished, even. Marinated in beet juice, and encrusted in smoked paprika, harissa, more I’m forgetting.

again, cracking myself up with this process / august 28, 2023

More wholesome for those reading on for the revelations, ba da bum: that there’s glee in harvesting an entire head of cauliflower encased in leaves at a farm (and your garden)!

…unless you too are the middle of your own chronic cauliflower-succession.

I kid, bring on the vegetables!

I’m not complaining. It wasn’t dramatic. It was dinner. 

And then, even more dinner, courtesy of a huge special guest from the Union Square farmers market that made its way west in Jules’ suitcase on a last minute before-the-roads-still-hadn’t-closed trip. So recently! It broke through the monotony of our inventory of storebought cauli - and lasted for oh, so very many meals.

there’s a massive cauli under that pasta & vegan chz / thanks, jules / december 1, 2023

Hey, some people get flowers. I get produce.

The Cauliflower Chronicles 2.0 - Night by Night

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1. Night 1: aloo gobi, naan, kale, tandoori tempeh

2. Night 2: thai red + yellow curry w/ cauli - I think of the fantastic/now-many-years-closed In the Bowl in Seattle whenever I go for a curry paste combo, sigh

3. Night 3: berbere-orange roasted cauli for Ethiopian night

   [Psst, my casual dinner photos confess there was then an eggplant alla norma evening interlude!]

4. Night 4: shawarma-spice roasted cauli, pita, lebanese balela chickpea salad, basil-parsley tahini, slaw, green olives, yadda yadda

5. Night 5: roasted yellow pepper, parsley & basil pesto spaghetti, cast iron roasted cauliflower w/ garlic + panko

6. Night 6: sichuan “fish fragrant” eggplant, mala cast iron roasted cauli

7. Night 7: chipotle mac & cheese, gochujang-buffalo crispy baked cauli (dipped in a seasoned batter of ½ wheat, ½ cornstarch + seltzer) + miso wilted kale while we still have fresh greens ~

8. Night 8: pad see ew w/ rapini, carrots + bonus cauli

9. Night 9: caulipots, sesame tofu cutlets, sautéed rapini, roasted carrots

10. Night 10: …is set for pasta con cavolfiore…eventually! aka in the coming days

behold, cast iron cookin’

And might I add, that cauli did crumble. And caramelize. Credit goes to the cast iron.

Cue a repeating cast iron chock-full-of roasting florets as my own personal revelation. There, I said it. A small, delicious one that became a habit. No secret sauce. No batter-dredged feat (though I did that, too). Trusty cast iron, oven at 425F or 450F, drizzle of olive or sesame or coconut oil, s & p, a spice or two, maybe finish with squeeze of citrus. Bit of breadcrumbs if you’re swinging that way. Stir towards the end of roasting, after it gets all crusty. See you tomorrow night.

The concept of caulipots does make me roll my eyes, but they were by request. And rocking out a new-to-me, thrifted + old school potato masher and the good olive oil helps. Again, I’m mostly joking, due to eating so many mashed potatoes as a picky child. They remain satisfying. Really. : )

1) lebanese night 2) buffalo night 3) ethiopian night 4) sichuan night 5) indian night 6) pesto pasta night [clockwise top L to R]

So, what’s *your* favorite way to cauliflower?

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References + Relevant Links:

• Aloo Gobi, Cook with Manali

• Cole crops and its diva, the cauliflower Michigan State University Extension - Vegetables October 10, 2018

• Miznon’s Whole-Roasted Cauliflower recipe, Food and Wine 

• North to Nenana: Daytrippin’ for Honeyberries, Edible Alaska May 8, 2023

• Roasted Chicken Thighs with Berbere and Orange, Former Chef {which I used as a rough guide for cauliflower one night}

• + @scone.archives on insta {where I’m doing my dang-est to ‘catch up’ since the relocation!}