RETIRED professional chef Paul James, author of travel and food blog Recipes From My Travels, writes for our paper.
This week – Curry Dusted Cauliflower ‘Steak’ Topped With Chive and Garlic Mushrooms
I am going to do something a little different this week. I was asked to recreate a dish from one of the readers who had just returned from a family break in France.
They had this wonderful array of vegetarian dishes while they were out there in a beautiful restaurant in the Dordogne region of the country.
It’s a wonderful feeling to create someone’s holiday memories through the joy of cooking.
Having never been to France, it’s definitely on my list to visit in the future where hopefully I will be able to pick up some more recipes to share.
Search for ‘Recipes From My Travels’ on Facebook for Paul’s blog and visit amazon.co.uk to check out his Recipes From My Travels ebook about his trip to New York with his son Jay.
INGREDIENTS
Serves Two.
1 large cauliflower
Selection of mushrooms
500ml of vegetable stock
1 tbsp of curry powder
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of dried parsley
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of roughly chopped chives
1 tsp of garlic paste
50 grams of butter
Salt and pepper
Pinch of saffron ( optional )
METHOD
1. Make up half a litre of vegetable stock (using stock cube), the curry powder, saffron, cumin, parsley and lemon juice. Bring it to the boil.
2. While it is coming to the boil, get the cauliflower, trim the leaves and cut two slices about half-an-inch thick from the centre of the cauliflower, keeping the stalk in-tact. Take the stock off the heat, season to taste and place the ‘steaks’ to sit in the residual heat for then minutes. In the meantime, fry your mushrooms in the garlic and olive butter.
3. Drain the ‘steaks’ and add to a medium hot pan with a bit of olive oil and a knob of butter. Colour both sides of the cauliflower, basting constantly. Add the dusting of curry powder and place in a pre-heate oven 180 degrees C for ten minutes (until tender).
4. Remove from the oven, top with the mushrooms and serve straight away with a salad, home-made chips and your choice of dips.
All the best and enjoy!
