“One to ten,” Brian offered.
I was so angry. I simply counted to ten, then responded. “One to one.”
He was a little shaken at my response. He looked at me to gauge how serious I was. “One to eight,” he began to compromise.
“One to two,” I retaliated.
“One to seven,” he edged down.
“ONE TO THREE!” I screamed. I even startled myself. He backed off.
“Okay, okay,” He said. “One cooked …” he began.
“NO. One eaten,” I corrected.
“Alright. One eaten for every three. Agreed?” He said it carefully, afraid I’d yell again.
“Agreed,” I said. It was an accomplishment, but I did not smile. The man has his pride and we share a bed. And a bathroom.
As you may have read in an earlier post, Brian had some health issues and is attempting dietary reform. The ratio we were negotiating was pounds of vegetables to pounds of chocolate. The deal we struck was simple: for every pound of vegetables eaten, he gets three pounds of chocolate. Believe me, that’s an improvement.
And apparently an inspiration. For Christmas dinner, he suggested the following cauliflower recipe: Indian Spiced Cauliflower from Eat Feed Autumn Winter by Anne Bramley.
I was proud of him and very proud of the result. I know that cauliflower is not high on most lists of favorite vegetables. Just think of cauliflower as a white canvas, one with potential for you to be a culinary artist. We both enjoyed every bite of this dish, served with rice pilaf and rich braised duck.
I’ll blog the duck recipe tomorrow.
Brian got his chocolate.
Indian Spiced Cauliflower
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower in half, remove the core, and beak into small-to-medium florets. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the florets and stir to coat with butter. Sprinkle with the coriander, ginger, cum, turmeric, mustard seeds, and cinnamon. Stir to coat with spices.
Pour the chicken broth over the cauliflower and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, shirring halfway through. Remove the lid and continue to cook at a simmer, stirring frequently, until all liquid is evaporated and cauliflower is fork-tender, about another 10 minutes.
In two batches, coarsely chop a food processor by using “pulse” just a few times. Don’t puree it into a mash. It should look a little like popcorn when you are done. Return to the skillet. Stir in the salt and pepper. Reheat before serving.
Tasting Notes:
As with the rice pilaf that day, we used turkey, not chicken, stock. Our Thanksgiving bird had been saved for a day, the meat stripped away, and the carcass combined with lots of veggies. We had 6 quarts of high intensity stock. Both this cauliflower and the rice benefited.
This recipe comes from a full meal menu laid out my Anne. For the entry, she suggested Duck Breast with Grapes. It’s a lovely recipe and we’ll try that soon. We did serve this cauliflower with braised duck legs and the match was heavenly.
Source: Eat Feed Autumn Winter by Anne Bramley