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HOLY CAULIFLOWER!!!

11/15/2013

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I was on a mission. I had gone to 3 different grocery stores in search of ONE RIPE AVOCADO. All I could find were rock hard ones. I needed one for TONIGHT. I was starting to get hangry and made one last attempt at my least favorite grocery store chain ACME. Wouldn’t you know they had a plethora of soft avocados. If I had stopped there first I know that they wouldn’t have any worth eating but since I was on a wild goose chase they were able to meet my needs in an attempt to lure me into being a frequent customer. I doubt that will ever happen. Before I made it to the back of the produce section with the avocados I was walking past the weekly sales and goodies that were featured that week and saw something amazing. The BIGGEST Cauliflower I had ever seen in my life. Seriously the size of volleyballs. AND THEY WERE ON SALE!!!. 2 of these massive heads for $5.00. Unreal! All I could think to myself was “I could make so much pickled cauliflower with these puppies”.  After a week of crazy canning a few weeks ago I thought I was done for the season but when I stumbled upon these beauties I knew that canning pot was calling my name. I am going to need to start stashing all my pickles underneath beds, in the back of my closet, in the linen closet.  There is probably a reason why these veggies were so huge. Most likely GMO or something unnatural but I am going to look past that temporarily, still tastes like a cauliflower to me.  From these 2 massive heads of cauliflower I was able to make 9 jars of Spicy Pickled Cauliflower, Mom’s Cauliflower Salad and a Giardiniera.

Mom started my addiction to pickled cauliflower last summer when she made a batch and shared a few jars with me. It’s yet another great recipe from Marisa McClellan from the blog Food in Jars. She does a great Youtube video in her kitchen and describes how easy it is to make these pickles. They are lemony/spicy/full of garlic and vinegary. I had 6 jars in my pantry and knew I needed more due to the fact I eat an entire jar in one sitting. Good thing Nate hates cauliflower and doesn’t really care for pickled things. YESSSS!!!!

Spicy Pickled Cauliflower

Makes 3-pint jars

From Marissa McClellan

1 ½ C Vinegar

1 ½ C. Water

2 Tbsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Cayenne

Bring this brine to a boil.

In hot jars pop in a slice of lemon and stuff jar with raw cauliflower. Really push it down/cram it in. Add the following to each jar:

½ tsp. Peppercorns

½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

½ tsp. Mustard Seeds

1 Clove Garlic (I smash it a bit)

Add hot brine to jars and top with a slice of lemon. Process jar in hot water bath for 5 minutes.



After making 9 jars of pickles I decided to make another one of my favorite recipes from Mom. It’s a garlicky cauliflower salad. It’s salty with a lot of garlic and lemon juice with briny capers and green olives. MMmmmm!

Mom’s Cauliflower Salad

1½ lbs. Cauliflower cut up into florets

1 C. Green Olves

Capers to taste

1 Clove Garlic minced

2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

½ C. EVOO

½ tsp. Salt & Pepper

1.     Blanch cauliflower for 3 minutes in boiling water, drain.

2.     Toss cauliflower with green olives and capers

3.     Mash salt and garlic to make a paste

4.     Mix paste with lemon juice. Strain (I don’t usually do this part) and toss with cauliflower.


I still had a bit of cauliflower to use so I decided to make refrigerator giardiniera. I just found a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen that I was dying to try out. I will eat just about anything pickled.

Giardiniera

From America’s Test Kitchen

Makes four 1-pint jars


½ Head of Cauliflower (about 1 lb.) Cut into florets

3 Carrots peeled and cut on bias into ½ inch pieces

3 Celery ribs cut into ½ inch pieces

1 Bell Pepper, Stemmed, Seeded, Cut into ½ inch strips

2 Serrano Chiles, sliced thin

4 Cloves Garlic sliced thin

1 C. Dill, stems and leaves chopped coarse

2 ¾ C. White Wine Vinegar

2 ¼ C Water

¼ C. Sugar

¼ C. Kosher Salt

In a large bowl mix together cauliflower, carrots, celery, bell pepper, chilies and garlic. Pack into jars. Place dill into a cheesecloth bundle and tie up with twine. Combine Dill bundle, vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cover, remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes. Remove dill bundle and bring brine back to a boil.  Pour over veggies. Let cool before placing in fridge. Giardiniera needs to marinate for 1 week. Will keep for up to 1 month in fridge.

** I strayed from the recipe slightly. I used plain white vinegar because it’s all I had on hand. Giant was all out of Serrano chilies and so I used jalapenos for this batch. I also forgot to add the dill but threw in some dried dill into the brine. I’m sure my Giardiniera will taste a bit different but I think it will still satisfy my vinegar cravings. 

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    I am an aquarius who likes long walks on the beach and the flicker of candle light.  If you haven't noticed yet, Just kidding! I'm a Vermonter who has left my beautiful home state in search of adventure. This blog contains all of my favorite things, mostly food so that my family back home can keep tabs on me. Mom & Dad I'm still alive!!!! Side note: I am terrible at spelling and grammar. There are bound to be typos all over this blog. It's like Where's Waldo. If you look hard enough you will find an error. 

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