cauliflower romanesco with mustard & caper sauce

This is my favorite recipe for brussels sprouts, and I love it so much that I make it with broccoli, and cauliflower, too—but I’ve just been to the Wednesday Dimond Center market, and Mary Jane had fabulously beautiful bright lime-green whorled cauliflower Romanesco! Oh my goodness, I’d seen photos of this gorgeous vegetable, but hadn’t ever seen it at our farmers’ market! It is so stunning—but it’s also DELICIOUS! Like a flavorful cauliflower, with a fantastic texture to it—you’re going to love it, especially with this sauce!  The sauce is based on a recipe from Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors.

I love to use a micro-plane zester for the lemons—it’s very easy, and the pieces of zest are thin and fine and perfect to eat, even in a raw dressing like this.  I invented this recipe as a way to use some of the garlic oil left over when poaching the garlic for our Alaskan cheese and garlic bread. If you don’t want to make the garlic oil (recipes below), you can use plain extra-virgin olive oil or butter.

2 garlic cloves
sea salt and fresh-ground pepper
2 tablespoons garlic oil (pick one of the following recipes), extra-virgin olive oil, or softened butter
1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup rinsed and drained capers
grated zest of a lemon
¼ cup chopped parsley
2 heads cauliflower Romanesco

1. To make the sauce, press the garlic (or mince very fine) into a large bowl and, using a fork, mash it with ½ teaspoon salt. Then stir in the oil or butter and add the mustard, capers, lemon zest, and parsley.
2. With a sharp paring knife, cut through the cauliflower Romanesco stems and pull the florets apart. Cut the larger floret stems in half. Steam the florets in a steamer basket over boiling water until the florets are tender but still a little firm when pierced with a knife, 4 minutes or so. 
3. Toss the florets into the mustard-caper sauce. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and toss again.

olive oil infused with roasted garlic

several heads of garlic, cloves peeled
olive oil (you don’t need extra-virgin olive oil for this—the garlic imparts so much flavor that you can use regular olive oil)

1. Put the whole peeled garlic cloves in a heavy pot. Cover the garlic cloves completely with olive oil.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Give the garlic a stir, and then turn the heat down to the absolute lowest possible heat, cover the pot, and simmer just at a bare bubble. Stir the garlic occasionally and continue to cook until the garlic cloves are completely soft and tender, and you can easily squish them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. This will probably take an hour or more, but check after 45 minutes.
3. Uncover the pot and let cool. Strain the garlic from the oil. This garlic can be used in any recipe that calls for roasted garlic (for example, in the Southwest Caesar Salad, or in the Hummus--both recipes are in the cookbook and on the website). If you make a soup or a stew that needs a little extra pizzaz, just scoop out a few cloves, mash them with a fork, and add them to your dish to really pump up the flavor. You can freeze the garlic indefinitely (I keep it in pint-sized canning jars in the freezer), and just take it out when you need it.

garlic oil

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Mash or mince the garlic cloves and cover with the olive oil. Let steep for 30 minutes if you have time.
2. Strain out the garlic and store the oil in the refrigerator.