Lots of great fall recipes from this year’s Kitchen Party contenders. Let’s start with chef Earl’s roasted cauliflower dish. It’s colourful and delicious!
“This is an ode to both fall and our great local producers and sellers. I found beautiful heirloom cauliflower at Reclaim.” –Earl Briones, exec chef Birdog.
| 1 head | flame star hybrid (golden) cauliflower |
| 1 head | depurple hybrid (purple) cauliflower |
| 1 head | green cauliflower |
| 3 cloves | garlic |
| 2 Gala | apples |
| 10 g | crushed pistachios |
| 40 ml | olive oil |
| 4 oz | pistachio aioli (recipe follows) |
| 4-5 | tomato chips (recipe follows) |
Pre-heat oven to 425ºF
Cut the cauliflower into nice bite-sized florets. Cut the apples into half inch wedges. Lay the florets, apple wedges and garlic on a baking sheet and cover well with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until sufficient browning has happened and the cauliflower is tender.
Let cool on the sheet pan for 2-5 minutes.
Pistachio Aioli
| 90 g | (⅞ cup) roasted pistachios |
| 80 ml | (⅓ c) water |
| 2 | egg yolks |
| 10 g | (1½ t) condensed milk |
| 9 g | (scant 1½ t) kosher salt |
| 200 ml | (⅞ c) pistachio oil or extra virgin olive oil |
Add the pistachios, water, egg yolk, condensed milk and salt to a blender or a food processor. Blend until smooth. Pour oil in slowly while blending on medium speed. Blend until thick and emulsified.
Tomato Chips
| 2 | Roma Tomatoes |
| 10 g | (¾ T or so) granulated sugar |
| 5 g | (3 t cayenne pepper |
Slice the tomatoes into ¼-thick slices. Remove seeds if desired.
Arrange the tomatoes on dehydrator trays, utilizing a mesh liner to prevent smaller slices of tomatoes from falling through the holes as they shrink. Sprinkle the sugar and cayenne pepper onto the slices. Dehydrate at 135ºF (57ºC) for 6-12 hours until the tomatoes are dry and hard—they should not bend. Let the dried tomatoes cool completely before storing. (Or, you could dehydrate tomatoes in the oven; 250ºF for 1.5-3 hours and keep in the fridge until needed.)
To serve: Lay your cauliflower in alternating colors on a platter. Place the apple wedges around the cauliflower florets. Drizzle with the pistachio aioli and garnish with crushed pistachios. Scatter tomato chips over.
Serve 4-6.