TGRWT #7: Roasted Cauliflower and Chicken Mole

This month's TGRWT event, hosted by Flavor Alchemy, is a challenge indeed. The rules are to pair carmelized cauliflower with cocoa! See the roundup here.

Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I always make it the same way: drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with freshly cracked black pepper and several generous scrapes of nutmeg, baked at 350*F until it looks like this. Then salt.




So instead of just snarfing the roasted cauliflower, I used it to make Roasted Cauliflower and Chicken Mole.



Roasted Cauliflower and Chicken Mole

1 28-ounce can peeled tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I buy them in a bag this way in the baking aisle)
olive oil
1/4 cup roughly chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and ribs removed, roughly chopped
1/3 cup sesame seeds
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 pound chicken, poached and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 cups roasted cauliflower

1. Toast pecan pieces in a dry skillet over medium heat to toast. Do not scorch. Transfer toasted pecans to crock pot.


2. In the same skillet over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil until just starting to become transparent. Add chopped garlic and saute until frangrant. Remove from heat and transfer to crock pot.


3. Add tomatoes, toasted pecans, onion, garlic, jalapenos, sesame seeds and chipotle peppers to the crock pot with the pecans, onion and garlic; puree with a hand blender (or you could do this in a regular blender in batches). Stir in cocoa, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and black pepper.


4. Add chicken broth and set crock pot on high. Stir in cooked chicken and roasted cauliflower. Cook for three hours. Serve hot over steamed brown rice.




The result? Good...


In all fairness, I've never tried mole before. I enjoyed the smoky combination of flavors and the gentle heat. I could absolutely see it as a sauce over shredded pork or chicken enchiladas.


But I don't think I'll add cauliflower next time. The fact is that I love roasted cauli all by itself. And the mole was good by itself. But together it took on a whole other personality--the perfectly roasted flavor of the cauliflower disappeared into the stew.


Don't get me wrong--I ate it. And liked it. I enjoy cauliflower in all forms, but the roasted nature of the vegetable was lost in this recipe.

Eat it Raw

Friday nights I get together with a bunch of friends for food and fellowship. It's always interesting to see what dishes people bring, and something to look forward to during the week. There are also dietary restrictions to consider which mainly include limiting refined sugars--which fits right into my own food lifestyle.

I couldn't resist a jumbo head of cauliflower at the farmer's stand last week, and it was still sitting in my fridge, amazingly still blemish-free and at the peak of freshness. It only seemed right to serve such a perfect specimen as a raw crudite.

That's not much of a recipe for a food blog, is it?

What I can share is the recipe for the curry dip served alongside, which was a nice change from the usual ranch dip (which I also served, for the kiddos and the unadventurous).


Curry Dip

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons hot curry powder

Combine sour cream, mayonnaise and curry powder in a bowl; transfer to a serving bowl and serve with fresh vegetables.


This would be equally delicious served over a piece of chicken or fish, or used as a dressing in chicken or turkey salad.


Mrs.W

Farmer's Market Foray

One of my pals has a house she rents a few towns away, and is in the process of cleanup to ready the house for sale. I've been going with her... it's always good to help a friend spiffy up a house.

Along the way is our favorite farmer's market stand, where they sell the produce they've grown. In the last week I've purchased an eggplant, a hubbard squash, two spaghetti squash, a bunch of beets, three seckel pears and a large head of cauliflower, most of which I have no idea how to use or what they taste like. Well, except for the eggplant and cauliflower. I'm an old pro at those.

My first taste test was the seckel pears.

According to my internet research, the seckel pear is also dubbed the sugar pear, and is reportedly best for eating out-of-hand. That was not my experience.

They were okay, but the skin was rather thick and, well, they weren't as sweet as I'd like in a pear. Maybe they weren't ripe enough?

The size was nice, though--the perfect amount of treat. That is, if it had been the treat I had expected it to be.

Conclusion: I'd give it another try, but let it ripen a bit more to see if they truly are as sweet and delicious as everyone else seems to claim.

As for the other produce, I'd love to hear from anyone with ideas for those squash and the beets, and I'd love some new ideas for cauliflower and eggplant.

Mrs.W