Temple Days revisited: curried cauliflower

Way back at the beginning of this blog, I wrote of how I was stealing an idea from Nigella Lawson. In one of her shows, she spoke of how, after one or more nights of wretched excess, she would have what she called "temple days," where she would cut back drastically on the richness of what she cooked, in an attempt to balance things out.

Indeed, do we not all try to work these compromises? Sometimes we try even in the middle of a dinner: serve the rich with something not so rich, and the meal will "balance" out, at least in theory.

Sometimes it works. But let us all confess: how many of us have pushed aside the steamed spinach, to have another mouthful of macaroni and cheese (speaking of which, Annalena will be giving you YET ANOTHER macaroni and cheese recipe soon. Aren't you all excited, my wonderful food geeks?).

As we enter the month of excess after excess after excess, the balance beam of rich food and not so rich food becomes more difficult. Annalena believes that one of the reasons for the problem is that these "temple" foods often, well, TASTE like they're good for you. Annalena loves plain boiled spinach, and would eat it gladly; however, knowing that she's SUPPOSED to eat it, because of the pork chop (or lamb roast or what have you), on the plate, somehow makes it less desirable. So, ragazzi, to get something that is good for you into you, the so-called "temple food," must appeal to you in a way that makes you reach for THAT, instead of the mac and cheese (or whatever your "poison" may be).

Cauliflower is a vegetable of which , I have said often, that it needs some help. There are people who love just plain boiled cauliflower. I do not know any of them. Its pure white color (in its pure white form), is appealing in a sense. But in another sense, does it not make you think you are eating hospital food?

Ah, the issues, the issues, the issues. If you care not to follow this internal debate, just go to the recipe. Annalena served this as part of her Thanksgiving dinner, which by all measures was unbridled excess. She tried to add some nourishing, good for you food with the others and this cauliflower recipe was a very big hit. Annalena was pleased.

And, here's an added benefit. This is ridiculously easy to do, IF you have good spices. And if you do not have good, fresh spices, why not? Go to the store immediately and get some.

This recipe makes an enormous amount, so here is Annalena's suggestion: serve half of it alongside an entry, like a turkey... or a pork chop..., and later in the week, put it over rice, or even pasta (where it will seem rather exotic, in a Sicilian/Middle Eastern kind of way).

So, here we go. First, the spices. You need half a teaspoon of tumeric. This is the stuff that makes curry yellow, and if it's fresh, when you smell it, you will KNOW it is the essence of curry. This will be the main ingredient, and I will give you the other spices in ratio to this, because while all of us have a half teaspoon somewhere, few have a 1/4 teaspoon measure, and even fewer a 1/8 teaspoon measure. You add to the tumeric, half as much black pepper (1/4 teaspoon), and then a fourth as much (1/8 teaspoon) of each of cayenne pepper, nutmeg and cloves. Finally add 1/2 teaspoon of dry ginger, and mix this up.

It feels like an odd mix, doesn't it? You have a curry spice, and then spices you associate with dessert (clove, nutmeg, ginger), and then pepper. Ah, but it works ragazzi, yes it does.

Now, put that spice aside, and get yourself 2-3 heads of cauliflower.

That's right: 2-3 heads of it. Here's the part that takes the longest, and it doesn't take long. You want to go at that cauliflower and cut the tiniest florets possible. This means you WILL be wasting much of it, unless you want to save it and make a cauliflower soup, which is admirable, but consider how much of this stuff you can eat in a week. You will want about 8 cups of florets, which ultimately is not that much. Don't believe me? Fill a cup with the vegetable and you'll say "OH. Annalena was right."

You should be saying that frequently. OK, now you have the cauliflower. While you are deflowering the heads, get a big pot of salty water boiling. Drop the florets in, and cook them for no more than two minutes. You should do this in batches, because (i) they will cook faster and (ii) your kitchen will not smell of cauliflower if you do so. As they come out of the water, drop them on paper towels, and let them dry. You are doing this because of what you are going to do next,which is make a spice butter.

Oh, stop fretting. Here's what you do. Put half a stick of unsalted butter in a pan, over low heat. Add your spice mix, melt the butter and take it off the heat. The fat will cause the spices to give up some of their color and fragrance, and now your kitchen will truly smell exotic.

Put all of that dried cauliflower into a bowl, and pour the butter over it. Turn it gently, with your hands, and taste a floret for salt. Add more if you need it and, finally, squeeze a lime over the whole mess.

Not so hard, huh? Look up the calories, etc, in cauliflower, and then you shall see, as you have this massive bowl of stuff in front of you, that the four tablespoons of butter, with their 480 calories, are nearly irrelevant. You can easily serve 8 people with this, maybe more. But if you like it, eat it all and make it again. It does go with just about anything. The Guyman and I will be having it with pasta, and probably for lunch just as it is. It was wonderful as a vegetable with the Thanksgiving spread.

Cauliflower is a regular actor in Southern Italian Christmas dinners, especially in something called "insalata reinforzata," so you will not be breaking any taboos if, when you make your meal of the seven fishes, you made this to go with it. And it will be good.

Have you your own "Temple Day" foods? Please let Annalena know. She would love to add them to her arsenal of the good, the lean, the tasty.