Tagliatelle with Cauliflower Leaves, Bacon and Pine Nuts

Well, Mum has gone after a lovely week visiting us from Auld Reekie.  It's nice having her around and the extra pair of hands is always welcome when we're trying to get things done and R is playing up.  Last weekend, before she left, we took a trip up to Headingley on a two pronged mission.  Z wanted to visit Heart and Craft to meet up with some of her crafty friends and I felt the need to mooch around the Headingley Farmers Market.

We were specifically looking for something to have for our dinner on Sunday but we ended up with our bags full of exiting ingredients.  The star find was an enormous Pattypan Squash, but I'll come back to that tomorrow.  From the same stall as the squash we also picked up a Kohlrabi that was turned into a gratin that we had with a beef stew on Sunday, and a cauliflower.

We will be having cauliflower cheese later in the week but, unlike shop bought cauli's, the beast we bought from Headingley came complete with a bushel of foliage.  I hate chucking food away but had never considered cauliflower leaves to be a source of nutrition.  A quick internet search later confirmed that I was not going to poison myself or Z by eating the leaves.  Google didn't serve up much by the way of recipes however, so I pretty much made up Tonight's Menu as I went along.

We cook pasta with kale quite often so I was happy that I could do the same kind of thing with the cauliflower leaves.  I fried onions, garlic and some bacon in a little olive oil before adding the greens and a splash of white wine.  With the wine reduced and the greens wilted I added some toasted pine nuts, cooked tagliatelle, a splash of the pasta water and some grated parmesan cheese.

I have got absolutely no idea why I have never done this before, but cooking cauliflower leaves just makes sense.  They aren't as strong as kale or even cabbage, but they were tasty and as it keeps less food going into the bin, I'll definitely be cooking with them again.  Oh, and this would easily make a good vegetarian meal but I'm sure you can work that out for yourselves.

Venison Steaks with Caraway Cauliflower and Anya Potatoes

Last weekend Z took the boy on a trip to Headingley so that I could crack on with some of the urgent DIY that a Victorian house demands.  We are slowly reinstalling a cast iron fireplace, replacing an ugly 80's gas fire in the process.  My task for the day was to chisel out the existing mortar from beneath the hearth tiles so that they can be relayed.

Z's trip was actually to a craft fair in Heart, but she also managed a trip to Headingley Farmers Market and picked up a few goodies.  One of Z's finds was a purple cauliflower.  I have seen them in seed catalogues but never seen one in the flesh, let alone eaten one.  As with all oddly coloured vegetables, I assumed* that the purple cauli would taste the same as the standard creamy white version.

With that in mind we decided to serve the cauliflower as a side veg, steamed to keep its colour.  We raided the freezer and found a couple of venison haunch steaks that were begging to be eaten.  The venison was simply fried for a couple of minutes on each side and allowed to rest.  The steamed cauliflower was tossed in butter and cracked caraway seeds.  A pile of anya** potatoes finished off a plate of food I could sit down to night after night.

*correctly.
**one of the nicest potatoes out there.

Cauliflower Cheese

Tonight is the last night of our food freedom before being locked into the Olympic Food Challenge.  For the last time for twenty days we can eat whatever we want, without having to find a suitable recipe from Azerbaijan.  Only it's not that simple, things rarely are.  Because our diet is going places it has never been before, we need to eat up fresh items that won't be used while the big sport event in London is on.

Last night's spaghetti bolognese used up quite a few random vegetables that were about to become surplus to requirements.  However, there is no room in bolognese sauce for cauliflower.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, Z is the queen of white sauces in this house.  She made her cheese sauce using leftover garlic butter for the roux.  Once a pint of milk had been slowly stirred into the roux she added the remains of the cheese that I brought home from Cheese Club.  The sauce was then poured over the parboiled cauliflower, topped with breadcrumbs and mature cheddar, then baked in the oven.  With so much dairy it's hardly the healthiest vegetarian meal but it will leave me with fond memories of cauliflower until I can eat it again after the Olympics.

Aloo Gobi

We have returned to the freezer for tonight's meal.  Z has been fantastic over the last couple of months while I have been working late, but there are some days when you're just not in the mood to cook.  Plus life doesn't stand still and there are other, more important, things that still need doing*.

On the freezer blackboard on the kitchen door** Z found leftover aloo gobi from last month and a portion of tomato bhajis.  The defrosted curry reheated a treat, as did the bhajis.  Z cooked some basmati rice and warmed up a naan to have on the side.  Tomorrow I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get the meal prepared before leaving for work but more on that later.

*Booking a holiday is very high on that list!
**I have no idea how we would keep on top of the leftovers if it wasn't for the freezer blackboard.

Aloo Gobi

Another late night at work means another night of Z in charge of the pots and pans.  We're going away this weekend, so she has also been tasked with emptying the fridge and using any fresh vegetables that are in the house.

After rooting around the fridge Z came up with the wherewithal to cook a great Aloo Gobi.  I last cooked a cauliflower curry back in March and to be honest I overcooked the veg.  Z was clearly paying more attention, as tonight's curry was full of properly cooked vegetables and a lovely thick sauce.

Friday Night Take-away - Aloo Gobi

Tonight's Friday Night Take-away inspiration came, not from the raft of menus that clutter our welcome mat on a regular basis, but from the bottom of our fridge.  We'd bought and completely forgotten about a cauliflower at the weekend and it was screaming out to be used.  A curry seemed the obvious option.

I started the curry by frying mustard seeds in oil until they popped before adding onions and garlic.  Once they were starting to brown I added coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powder and a splash of water so that the spices didn't burn.  As soon as the onions were coated in the spice mix I added the potatoes, cauliflower and a little vegetable stock.  The curry was ready as soon as the potatoes were cooked.  For a change we had chapatis with the curry and a beer or two of course.

Today's Lunch No.3 Cauliflower Soup

We're visiting Z's parents for Christmas and so the "What needs using in the fridge" game has started.  This would be simpler if I was at home in the evenings this week but alas, no.  Z is doing her best at using up leftovers, but she is only one person.  Half a cauliflower is a bit of a mountainous task for a single serving so soup it is.

We cook soups a lot, they are a good way of using up leftovers but, more importantly, they are also a good way of preparing and storing gluts of food.  We are often faced with more veg than we can eat in one go and soup is simple and versatile.

Our cauliflower is cooked in chicken stock until tender and then blended until smooth.  Stir in some cream to finish it off. If I were a TV chef I'd now be telling you to drizzle with truffle oil and a few shavings of white truffle.

Murgh Gobi - Chicken and Cauliflower Curry

I feel sorry for the cauliflower.  I've heard various reports recently that state that the cauli-market is in decline.  Fields of tight-white-headed brassicas are going to waste.  I have a funny feeling that the old adage "eat your greens" (and more recently "taste the rainbow") is partly to blame.  Cauliflower is no less good for you than broccoli but just doesn't get the press.

One bonus to all of this is that you can usually pick up a cauliflower the size of your head, for less than a bag of chips (I have literally no idea how much a bag of chips costs). 

Today was my first day back at work following a two week holiday.  I'm not going to make any apologies, food was far from my mind.  I needed to cook something that I knew I had the requisite ingredients for and there, sat in the fridge, was a cauliflower.  I knew we had chicken in the freezer and my spice rack is never empty.  Curry it is. 

There are, of course, secrets to a great curry and I am no expert.  If you seek guidance to authenticity then you're in the wrong place.  Having said that I do know what I like.  With a hearty, wintry, earthy curry I love mustard seeds fried in hot oil until they pop before any onion is added.  After that the world's your balti.