Wild Garlic, Cauliflower 'Steak' and Chickpea Curry

I haven't been that adventurous in the kitchen, sticking closely to familiar dishes that I can knock up with ease from memory.

I am hoping come the long Easter weekend, I will be able to play in my kitchen, but I already have plans to meet with friends and leave D home alone; and then when I am home - I have to turn my attention to the allotment garden plot.

One of these easy dishes was this Cauliflower Chickpea Curry.  I did put a little seasonal twist on the Cauliflower Chickpea curry and stirred through a handful of wild garlic.  Obviously if you don't have wild garlic, spinach, chard or kale will be fine too.   

While I still can, I will also pretentiously call the cauliflower slabs - 'steaks' !

I often make this dish vegan, but this time in place of the vegetable/olive oil, I added salted butter and D loved the unctuous richness.  

I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair #127 which is being hosted by Motions and Emotions this month.  The food blog challenge was started by Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook and continues thanks to Lisa's Kitchen.  Adapted from this recipe Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry in place of the runner beans is a good handful of wild garlic; and in place of the vegetable/olive oil - salted butter, but feel free to keep it vegan if you wish.  

Celebratory Whole Cauliflower Nut Roast Wellington

So its Sunday and sometimes we go all out and have a full on vegetarian Sunday Roast Dinner with all the trimmings, stuffing and Yorkshire pudding, but today I share with you something else that took centre stage.

No not a Nut Roast, though I do love them or the very trendy Seitan Roast, no its a Cauliflower Wellington.

I was inspired  to make this after I saw a UK supermarket chain sharing its festive range last year and it included a Cauliflower Wellington. It was a whole head of cauliflower covered with a butternut and minced mushroom stuffing that was flavoured with red wine and spices associated with Christmas.  It was then wrapped in a puff pastry.  I did not get to try the supermarket version, but in true Shaheen style I thought I'd attempt to make a version of Cauliflower Wellington at  home. 

Here it is; my celebratory whole Cauliflower Nut Roast Wellington.  Is it not marvellous?! And are you not impressed?!  I am for once.

I cooked the whole cauliflower head, then covered it in a homemade nut roast and then wrapped it puff pastry.  It then went into the oven to bake and go all golden.

Burnt Green Cauliflower Quiche

Despite the name, this is not a Burnt Green Cauliflower Quiche. I have only used the word 'burnt' here as a descriptive to draw attention to the golden colouring on top.  

Perhaps I should have called it Autumn Green Cauliflower Quiche instead, as the colours in this quiche are reflective of the autumnal trees around me, but then that would me getting all poetic or pretentious - depending on your view - so I stick with Burnt Green Cauliflower Quiche as some of the cauliflower florets peeking out of the quiche are tinged a little from over baking. 

This Quiche was made with a whole head of Green Cauliflower - If you haven't seen what a green cauliflower looks like, then please click here to see it in the raw.   

The photograph of the Quiche was taken a day after it was made, so the glossy topping had muted overnight in the fridge.  Still as anyone who knows, Quiche is good to eat hot, warm or cold. 

I am sharing a slice of Burnt Green Cauliflower Quiche with The VegHog who is hosting #EatYourGreens this month.  There is plenty of time to join in, so please do.   

Green Cauliflower Quiche  
Serves 8 as an accompaniment 
Adapted and based on this recipe.
Ingredients
Blind baked shortcrust pastry lining a 8 - 9 inch fluted tin
1 medium cauliflower (green, purple or ordinary), broken into florets 

250ml milk or double cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoons grainy mustard
100g cheddar cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste

Method 

For the cauliflower: steam until tender but still with a bit of bite, then drain and allow to cool.

In a bowl, pour the double cream, then whisk in the eggs, mustard and season to taste. 
Set aside
Carefully and evenly spread on the shortcrust pastry.
place the steamed cauliflower over the blind baked shortcrust pastry.
Pour over the creamy egg mustard mixture.
Then evenly scatter over the grated cheese.
Bake gas mark 4/180oc for 40 - 45 minutes or until golden. 
Allow to cool, before serving. 

Black Sesame and Purple Cauliflower Cake

When the opportunity presents itself, I do like going to farmers markets to see what's in season and also what new and what different vegetables I can get hold off, plus I am always looking for inspiration. It did not disappoint I came home with a purple and green cauliflower. 

At the time I was not sure what to make with it to be honest, but that is me - buy first - think later.  At one point I had considered making a warm cauliflower salad with them, but then D suggested making a Savoury Cauliflower Cake that I made many years ago.  

I don't make this Savoury Cauliflower Cake that often because it uses 10 eggs, but as we had some friends coming over, I thought it was worth the effort.  

Of course in true Shaheen style I adapted it a little from the original recipe only in that I added some beetroot powder to the egg batter. I also made the topping looking a little more pretty with red onions filled with some black sesame seeds. Here it is looking vivid and incredible before going into the oven to be transformed into a golden bake. 

This is not a recipe that you knock up after work.  Its takes time from steaming the cauliflower, cracking 10 eggs, grating the cheese - I know so much work - but its worth the effort when your guests exclaim 'Wow'!

Just a shame when you slice into it that the beetroot colour has faded upon cooking and so did the steamed purple cauliflower.  Shame really, still it was a very nice savoury cake to eat and share.  

Other Savoury Cakes on my blog
Celery and Pecan Cake
Leek and Stilton 'Eccles' Cake
Persian Style Upside Beetroot Rice Cake
Savoury Broccoli Cake
Vegetarian Chorizo, Sun dried Tomato and Pistachio Savoury Cake

Black Chickpeas and Carrot Curry Perfect for Halloween

I am going to a gig tonight and am looking forward to it.  It hosted at a Miners Institute in the Welsh valleys.  D is taking his camera, so who knows I may be able to share more later in the week, but before I go off gallivanting, I thought I would share this orange and black bowl of food.

Yes, another one, that is perfect for those cooking up a feast for the Halloween weekend. 

The black comes from black chickpeas and orange from carrots or course, for the beady eyed amongst you there are some 'brain like' pieces in the bowl too, this is cauliflower that has turned orange from the turmeric.

The recipe is adapted from my vegan Marrow Curry with Chickpeas, but this one is studded with black chickpeas and in place of the marrow, carrots and cauliflower. Please don't worry too much if you can't find black chickpeas where you are, just substitute it with the traditional variety.

Southern Fried Cauliflower

I do somewhat seem to attract people who think they are in influential and powerful positions and somehow I should bow down to them because they think they can make things happen.  When truth is they have very little power and abuse it.  I'd even go down as saying, perhaps there is an element of class and racism coming into play as well, but its hard to tell when people hide behind a fascade of being people led, when really its a few dominant people really in charge who are pulling their puppet strings. The problem people have with me is, I don't tolerate this nonsense and confront them, and tell them as I experience it - then they are clever and are able to twist things, so it appears that I am the one with the issue, but then I learn from others like me - that they have also been treated the same way. This cannot continue. 

Anyway, onto something really delicious.  I have only ever had  KFC once in my life, it was in my early teens.  My father took us out on a day trip to Birmingham and we ate out.  This was a big deal for as we rarely ate out, my mother is a fantastic home cook you see.  

I remember only ever liking the spicy batter, even then I disliked the eating meat.  

D has had KFC or the equivalent from his time in the US. He said the batter was spot and the cauliflower worked well in place of chicken.  I have mentioned before, my husband only ever eats fish and seafood now and even then, that's quite rare as I don't make it at home. So he was really delighted with this change of flavourful lunch. Of course, he dipped his in blue cheese with some pickled gherkins - apparently that is the way to eat it. 

Just a word of warning, when deep frying the cauliflower - your hot oil will turn red from the paprika.  

Saffron Spiced Cauliflower with Spinach

I've just come back from one of the most fantastic jam packed holidays in my life; and its not even been a full day back home and and my feeling of elation have been burst with a virtual needle at the blase attitude of some people towards something that matters to me seriously.

On another note, I have left my keys at my parents, so I am locked indoors as D is at work. So I have been unable to step outside of the house or into the garden.  The day gets better...not.

I share with you a light dish that I made before I went on holiday - Saffron Spiced Cauliflower.   I had  found some saffron in the kitchen cupboards and that was the reason I decided to make this recipe.  It was perfect for the warm weather we were having, not too heavy.

I also chucked in some spinach left over from the Green Pate and red peppers as without these I thought the dish looked monotone.

Baked Tandoori Cauliflower Wings

Yesterday and much of today we have spent in our allotment garden plot.

I am not going to complain about the weather.  It's been hot, very hot but I was thankful for it as we have got loads of done between the two of us.  The ground is ready for planting.  We have some seedlings in the greenhouse, but not many - as I mentioned before, our greenhouse was badly damaged and although fixed now, we have not been able to grow much from seed and D wants to get tomatoes in before we go away on holiday.  So next weekend, the plan is to go to a garden centre or nursery and pick up some vegetable plants and put them straight into the ground.

Food today is easy fare. Jacket potato, paprika nut cheese, salad and home-made coleslaw, but I share with you something I made a few days back - Baked Tandoori Cauliflower Wings.  

These Baked Tandoori Cauliflower Wings were served them with a mint yogurt sauce.  

There are lots of good Tandoori Spice Blend Paste brands about, but you can also make it at home and I recommend using Tiffin Box recipe fro homemade Tandoori Masala  Spice Blend.  The Baked Tandoori Cauliflower Wings recipe is loosely based on these Hot and Spicy Cauliflower Florets, but the recipe needs further more tweaking, hence the reason I have not shared it yet. 

Other Tandoori Spice Blend recipes on the blog
Tandoori Butterflied Aubergines
Saabut Gobhi aka Whole Roasted Tandoori Cauliflower 

Peri Peri Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Couscous Salad

I made this Peri Peri Roasted Cauliflower Couscous last month after we had come back from Glastonbury.  

The Peri Peri Roasted Couscous is studded with nutty chickpeas and garnished with baby kale that tasted more like rocket than kale.  Its not much of a recipe, I coated the cauliflower in a little olive oil and doused it with Peri Peri spice blend and then put it in the oven to roast. You can make your own Peri Peri Spice Mix or buy it.  The couscous was made according to the packet instructions and then combined together along with a tin of cooked chickpeas.

Vegan Cauliflower Parmigiana

I always avoid Aubergine Parmigiana when I see it on the menu at eateries, its common like mushroom risotto and vegetable lasagne - not that I don't like the idea of it, I do, I am often disappointed in the way aubergines are cooked or most of the time not cooked properly.  No wonder so many people have an aversion to aubergines.

But when I saw a Cauliflower Parmigiana version from Kristy Turners But I Could Never Go Vegan, I was interested.  I had already made Roasted Broccoli and Apple Salad  and BBQ Cauliflower Salad from the cookbook and knew it would be good.

Colourful BBQ Cauliflower Salad Bowl

I have to throw my hands up and admit that I have somewhat lost my blogging groove.  At the same time I have also found myself uninspired in the kitchen, I am not begrudging this at all, in fact I am a little thankful for it as it has allowed me to both cook those bookmarked recipes as well as peruse cookbooks from my burgeoning bookshelf,  to which I have to confess I have added some more cookbooks. 

For those of you who read my blog, will know that I went to the last Bristol Vegfest at the weekend.  Whilst there, I picked up some vegan cookbooks including Kristy Turners But I could Never Go Vegan and  But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan.

I had considered last year to put them both on my Christmas wish list, but then for some reason decided  not to as I had other vegan and vegetarian cookbooks that I wanted more, but then when I saw both of them at the Vegfest.  I was finally swayed to get the cookbook as my blogger friend Johanna who cooks much like I do at home, was making recipes on her blog and commenting, even fellow blogger Faye Veganopoulous was recommending it.  Both Faye and Johanna have cooked extensively from them.

That evening when I returned home after the Bristol Vegfest, feet up, sitting in front of the TV with a glass of wine and paging through the cookbook very slowly, I knew exactly what I wanted to make first.  It was the s BBQ Cauliflower Salad , not only did it look delicious, I had most of the ingredients to hand. 

The following day, this BBQ Cauliflower Salad was made. The salad is smothered with a vegan blue cheese dressing and some oven baked onion rings, but I found the  BBQ Cauliflower substantial enough on its own and quite hearty lunch after a spell in the garden Sunday afternoon.  It was quite easy to put together with ready made BBQ sauce.

The cookbooks have some vegan recipes that are new to me, especially those made with sauerkraut (as I never know what to do with the jars I bring at home), Jackfruit Crabless Cakes and the Savoury Corn Cheesecake but some not so much like Chickpea Scramble, Chickpea Fries,   Faux Tofu Fish and Chips. I have been making my own and Tofu Fish and Chips inspired by Something Fishy that started their vegan fish and chips business in 2008 now almost 10 years later its appearing all over blogosphere and in cookbooks.

Still the cookbooks have enough inspiration for me to have finally wanted a copy of my own. The next bookmarked from the cookbook are Samosa Cakes and the Sunflower Sausage. 
For the full BBQ Cauliflower Salad Recipe - see here. 

To read Green Gourmet Giraffes Review of But I could Never Go Vegan  see here
And to read Veganopoulous review of But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan click here

Meera Sodha's Cauliflower Korma

For a person of South Asian heritage who is not that bad in the kitchen, I still have quite a few South Asian Indian cookbooks on my shelf as cuisine from the Indian sub continent is wide, vast and diverse, just like its people.  

Most of the Indian cookbooks I have come from Madhur Jaffrey, Reza Mahammad, but I also have some by Dala Tarla and lesser known cooks in this part of the UK Viji Varadarajan.  I also have all the cookbooks by the beautiful Vicki Bhogul who has just made a comeback with the republication of Cooking Like Mummiji.  A couple of years back I was super excited by the publication of Prashad cookbook. However I only have a handful of Gujrati Indian Vegetarian Cookbooks.  The one I flick through quite often is Hansa's Indian Vegetarian Cookbook (2001) by Hansa Daghi who combines her Gujarit home cooking with touches of her East African upbringing.  

However, its my newest cookbook that I want to put in the spotlight.  My husband got me Fresh India: Quick, easy and Delicious Vegetarian Recipes For Every Day by Meera Sodha for Christmas.   This Cauliflower Korma with Blackened Raisins (Gobhi Korma) was the first recipe that I bookmarked from the cookbook.  

I have to say Meera Sodha's Cauliflower Korma as you may know it, its very different. There is no coconut or coconut milk in the recipe , but there are nuts not what we often see cashew nuts but ground almonds that act as both thickener and give it that rich creaminess.   It made for a change and I like change.

Cauliflower Cheese Gratin with Black Olives

I know it don't look much, but this Cauliflower Cheese Gratin with Black Olives made for an interesting change.  

The onions were soft and caramelised, the cauliflower was blistered gold here and there as if it were sprayed lustre gold and then studded with black pearls of sliced black olives.  It was surprisingly quite good and this is a compliment from someone who still snugs her nose at cauliflower dishes.   I must say though, this is not a creamy gratin.  The cream clings onto the cauliflower florets or  sinks into the gaps.

I served the gratin with some crusty crisp bread, but you could happily have it with sauteed new potatoes if you wish. 

Roasted Aloo Gobi Salad

This  Warn Aloo Gobi Salad aka Roasted Potato Cauliflower Salad was really yummy.

What elevated this salad was the seeds, especially the Kolonji, onion seeds known these days as nigella seeds.  

We ate this Roasted Warm Aloo Gobi Salad with a little drizzle of tangy tamarind sauce or even mango sauce if you prefer sweetness.  The seeds added both spice and crunch.  There was also crunch from the curly kale that crisped up in the oven, but if you still want additional texture maybe some poppadom crisps or pitta chips.  I was thinking about tinkering with this further by throwing in some chickpeas, but decided against it as I was concerned they would have dried out too much, but popping beans are quite trendy at the moment - so I was kicking myself after, so maybe next time.  

Vegan Mofo prompt today is Fusion Food.    This Warm Aloo Gobi Salad is essentially a Aloo Gobi Curry or even Bombay Potato - what makes this fusion is that it is baked in the oven, turned into a warm salad.  

Roasted Aloo Gobi Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 red onion, thickly sliced
200g new potatoes, parboiled
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes or ground chilli
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon  nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of curly kale, stalks removed
Method
In a wide bowl, toss in the vegetables (except for the kale), oil and spices and stir well to coat.
Transfer to a baking tin.
Roast in oven gas mark 4/180oc for 30 minutes or  until tender.
Then stir in the curly kale.  
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then return to oven and cook for a further 10 - 15 minutes until crisps.
Serve immediately with optional mango chutney, tamarind sauce.

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Sriracha and Sweet Potato Wedges

Vegan Mofo prompt today is Eating Out.   Truth is I don't eat out much.  I even make my lunch for work.  The times when we find ourselves eating out is when we are in the city of Bristol or on holiday and then I get excited and make a list of places I want to eat at.   We went to Brighton a couple of months back for a short break and I ate at two vegetarian restaurants reputed for serving  fine dining cuisine. These two places Terre e Terre and Food for Friends,  you can see my Brighton Eats blog post here.   

Back home in Wales, we have seen a rise in  the number of fantastic independent vegetarian eateries, especailly in the last five years.  The majority of these are crammed in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales including its first 100% vegan cafe.  You will also find some vegetarian and vegan eateries in other parts of Wales, such as The Quarry Cafe in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, Waverly Vegetarian Restaurant in Camathenshire and remember Hunky Dory's in Newport (now closed, but left a legacy by influencing non-vegetarian eateries to put slightly more interesting vegan and vegetarian options on their menu).  What all these places have in common is that they all serve down to earth, honest food - the kind of food I make at home.  However, there is not yet a 100% vegetarian or vegan restaurant with the Accolade of vegetarian fine dining  - haute cuisne - a gap that no doubt will be filled in the next few years, especially as there are a handful of excellent vegan and vegetarian supper clubs emerging yet again in Cardiff.  I love Cardiff but it is not my turf.  I am a Townie, and these day more Valley girl.  Regardless, I will still I will wave the flag for Wales. 

Anyway, here is my attempt at fine dining at home, a dish with lots of components. It is still missing a drizzle of sauce, something like a tahini lemon sauce and a bit of crunch perhaps by some spiced crushed nuts like a dukkah or even  three seed coconut bacon.  So this is work in progress. 

Its a combination of Cauliflower Steaks and Cauliflower Buffalo Wings I've made in the past, served with sweet potato wedges and sauteed purple kale that I picked from the farmers market. D really enjoyed this meal.  The cauliflower was cooked just right, tender but still with some bite and the Sriracha sauce had crept into the crevices of the cauliflower florets making them plump and juicy.