Volume 12, Issue 062 - March 27, 2007

Good Day Chef,

Before I begin...there is a chance to win a beautiful cookbook on our Restaurant of the Month page. Look for the link at the bottom of this page. Two winners will be chosen.

Cauliflower and broccoli are in the same species, which is why they resemble each other. You can find them in supermarkets and from foodservice purveyors year round, so they are a natural for your menu or at home. If you simply steam them and top them with a dollop of butter and maybe a squeeze of lemon, you will get bored with them quickly. Today we will look at each of these veggies and new ways to prepare them.

Cauliflower:

You don't often see cauliflower on the menu. It is white, just like most dinner plates, and it is almost never paired with chicken or fish because most of those presentations are light colored, too. You will see it in soups and salad bars quite often. Only the head of the plant is eaten. It is very nutritious, low in fat, and high in fiber and vitamin C. It can be eaten raw, cooked or even pickled.

Cauliflower has seen a spike in popularity with the low-carb conscious crowd as a substitute for potatoes. They can be used in a lot of potato applications without introducing starch to the diet.

Cauliflower should be cut into similar size pieces for cooking. Care needs to be taken when boiling or steaming cauliflower, as it will get mushy if overcooked. The same applies when baking or roasting cauliflower. Roasting cauliflower adds color, a change of texture and a more pronounced nutty flavor. Today we will look at that application.

I have one chef friend who will happily rant about how useless cauliflower is in foodservice...I hope he is reading this today. ;-)

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Roasting cauliflower adds a crispy browned surface and a creamy smooth texture inside if done properly. When I roast cauliflower to serve with steak, I might season it with Montreal Steak Seasoning. If I was serving it along side a piece of Key West Grilled Salmon, I might season it with red pepper flakes and fresh squeezed limes. This would also be good with grilled shrimp.

Roasted Cauliflower with Red Pepper Flakes and Lime

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, core removed, broken into even sized pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 small lime, juiced, seeds removed

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the cauliflower in a baking dish and add the olive oil, salt and pepper flakes. Gently mix, but do not break up the florets. Try to keep an even layer.

When the oven is hot, place the baking dish in it and roast you cauliflower for about 30 minutes until colorful and tender to a fork. Turn once gently after 15 minutes to insure even cooking. Remove from the oven and drizzle the lime over the cauliflower. Serve

Many thanks to Kalyn's Kitchen for the photograph!

Broccoli

Here is what President George Bush Senior had to say about broccoli: "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."

Broccoli is believed to be the first of the cole crops to evolve from the wild species of kale or cabbage and was actually cultivated by the Romans. It was introduced in England in the early 16th century known as " Italian asparagus" or "sprout cauliflower". In 1775, John Randolph described broccoli as ‘the heads eat like cauliflower' and ‘the stems will eat like asparagus'. Broccoli is a relatively recent introduction into the United States. It was grown in the 1800's, but was not popular until later. The first shipment from the west to the east was in 1923 and was really only found in Italian areas of the country. Broccoli means ‘little sprouts' in Italian. It became an important vegetable in the US during the 1930's.

Broccoli, like cauliflower, is in the Brassicaceae family. While it looks like cauliflower with its tree like structure, it is bright green and you can eat the stalk. It too can be eaten raw or cooked, but is not as commonly pickled. Like cauliflower, it too is high in fiber and vitamin C and also is high in calcium and vitamin A. It is most commonly cooked by boiling or steaming. The next recipe is one that we use with raw broccoli and a tasty marinade, preserving all of its nutrients.

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Sesame Honey Marinated Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 large head of broccoli, cut into even pieces
1/4 red bell pepper, cut into julienne strips, 1 inch long
1/4 yellow bell pepper, cut into julienne strips 1 inch long
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a large zip lock style bag and gently toss to coat. Marinate for at least 3 hours before service.