Another idea for a cauliflower, a warming stew and an old favourite dessert

On January 27, 2016 by battenburgbelle

I made a regular cauliflower cheese when “Uncle Patrick” came to stay. Knowing that however much I made, we’d eat the lot, I just used half the cauliflower. And then I was idly flicking through my gorgeous NOPI cook book again and found an interesting sounding recipe for the other half. It was meant to be accompanied by a celeriac purée and quails egg, but I just did the spiced cauliflower bit for a healthy lunch. The spice is ras el hanout and the dish also features preserved lemons and toasted almonds. This made me very happy indeed – it’s always exciting to find something new to do with cauliflower. Or maybe that’s just me…

Spiced cauliflower

Spiced cauliflower

This was a handy reminder that, however, confusing all the attachments are, I was totally right to treat myself to a Magimix food processor. It is awesome – it took approximately a nano-second to grate the cauliflower.

Magimix

Magimix and all the bits

It was a bit of an Ottolengi weekend – as I also made this excellent beef stew with pale ale, juniper and prunesI have to admit that prunes are never top of my list of anything really, but this slow cooked stew was really delicious – lovely and sweet because of the prunes and the date syrup and yet not overly so, because of lashings of pale ale, plenty of lemon zest and some not very well crushed juniper berries (note to self: must get a spice grinder soon). Traditionally Missy B prefers all the constituent parts of her meal to be easily identified, but she thoroughly enjoyed this winter warmer. I served it with a dollop of sour cream, as recommended, and some sprouts and mashed swede, just because I love them both and their season will soon be over.

Beef stew

Beef stew with pale ale, juniper and prunes

Dessert was these little melting chocolate puds – it’s an old favourite recipe from Florians, a Crouch End restaurant that is sadly long since gone.

225g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
110g unsalted butter
4 eggs plus 1 yolk
110 caster sugar
20g plain flour

Butter 6 small pudding basins.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in a bowl over hot water and stir until smooth.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate a little at a time.
Fold in the flour carefully.
Spoon the mixture into the basins and chill for 30 minutes (or longer – I baked the spares five days later and they were still great).
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Experience suggests that if you want it lovely and runny inside, do it for 13.
Loosen with a knife and serve with some ice cream or crème fraiche or just on its own if you prefer.

Melting chocolate pudding

Melting chocolate pudding

If you are a family of three, try not to eat them all in one sitting.

5 Responses to “Another idea for a cauliflower, a warming stew and an old favourite dessert”

  • Roxane

    A dollop of cream!? I was so shocked at the size I went to oxforddictionaries.com
    “informal
    A large, shapeless mass of something, especially soft food: great dollops of cream figurative a dollop of romance here and there”… well you are right! my dollop is a drop!!

    I bought a spice grinder years ago, for about £12 if I remember well, and Nick still teases me about how much each usage has cost so far. (3 times, specifically to prepare my own sri lankan curry powder). I don’t recommend it actually, because it leaves dents on the wooden surfaces. If you find a good one let me know!

    Love
    Roxane

    • battenburgbelle

      Ha ha – I guess that was a rather generous dollop… But I’m v happy to have inspired you to dig out the dictionary 🙂 I talk about getting a spice grinder around once every three year, so I expect I’ll just carry on without. But I will indeed let you know if I find a good one. I used to use a coffee grinder, but that didn’t go down very well! xx

  • Ooh, I like the sound of the Ottolengi beef stew – which book is that in? You used Hammerton’s N1 or N7 I hope?! Jx

    • battenburgbelle

      It was a newspaper cutting – click on the link my dear… I failed to use your family brew, but I will do next time, I promise 🙂 xx

  • Ah, I was reading via the email sent directly to my inbox so the link wasn’t a link! I remember seeing that recipe now and thinking, I’ll make that with some Hammerton beer! Thanks for the reminder!

    JX

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