Palmabella's Passions

Here is this week's recipe from the FLAVORS blog. Our ingredient is cauliflower.

I called these "Cauliflower Popsicles", because of the weird preparation. I was inspired by pastry chef Francois Payard's idea of freezing pureed vegetables, and then deep frying the frozen cubes.

1/2 half a head of cauliflower (or 1 Trader Joe's bag of flowerettes)
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 T. olive oil
a splash of cream
1/3 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. grated cheddar
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

1 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. bread crumbs
1/3 c. panko

canola oil for frying

First I lined a mini-muffin tin with plastic wrap.

Cut cauliflower and shallot into thin slices. Cook shallot in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.
Add cauliflower, cream, broth, salt and pepper. Cook until tender (about 10 min). Puree mixture in a food processor. Stir in cheeses, and spoon into mini-muffin tins. I made mine 2 days before frying.

15-20 minutes before serving, take "cauliflowersicles" out of the freezer. Remove plastic wrap from muffin tin, and unwrap the frozen cubes.

Prepare bowls of flour, eggs and crumbs

Heat canola oil in deep fryer (or saucepan) to 350.
Dip the cauliflowersicles into flour, then egg, them bread crumbs, and fry them 5 at a time for 5 minutes. The outsides are crisp and crunchy, and the insides are a warm, cheesy filling. Delicious!

I have another pan in the freezer! YUM!