Raisin | Recipe Road

Cauliflower with Grapes, Almonds and Curry

We’ve been wanting to try another recipe from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, after we enjoyed the Roasted Pork Rack with Onions and Cherries. The amount of preparation time is daunting however, so it wasn’t until we had a long weekend that we had time to cook this recipe. We’re so glad that we took the time, because it’s the most delicious thing we’ve made so far! The various textures of cauliflower, with the complimentary flavours of raisin, curry and carrot were amazing.Once again, we found the most daunting thing about cooking an Eleven Madison Park dish is the number of elements to be prepared, and flipping backwards and forwards between the main recipe and the sub-recipes in the back of the book. Hopefully our adaptation of the recipe makes the steps a little easier to follow. Individually, each element is fairly straightforward, and delicious! If you don’t feel like making this whole recipe, at least try the cauliflower puree, or the curry oil, or burnt butter, which we’ve been using in just about everything we make this week.

We have adapted this recipe to serve 4 people. You will have some extra brown butter, curry oil, and curried raisins.

Brown Butter:

250g butter
3 sprigs thyme
1 clove garlic

Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer slowly for about 40 minutes, until the butter is clear and a light caramel colour. Continue to cook, whisking vigorously until the butter becomes a walnut brown colour. Place the thyme and garlic in a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Strain the Brown Butter over the thyme and garlic, and set aside until needed. Discard the thyme and garlic.

Curry Oil:

2 cups canola oil
½ cup thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
1/3 cup thinly sliced white onions
½ stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Madras curry powder
1 kaffir lime leaf

Heat 1 cup of the oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the apple, onion and lemongrass and sweat until translucent but not caramelised, about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and toast for 2 minutes. Add the remaining oil and the kaffir lime leaf, and heat the oil to 70°C. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter.

Curry Raisin Puree

¾ cup golden raisins
30ml Curry Oil
½ tsp salt

Place the raisins in a bowl. Pour hot water over the raisins and bloom at room temperature for 2 hours, or until they are soft. Drain, discarding the water, and puree in a blender or with a stick blender. Slowly incorporate the Curry Oil, with the blender still running. Add the salt and stir through.

Dehydrated Grapes

2 cups sugar
32 seedless red grapes

Preheat the oven to 65°C or set a dehydrator to 50°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar with 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the grapes and remove the pan from the heat. Steep for 5 minutes, remove the grapes from the syrup and transfer them to the baking tray. Dehydrate the sugared grapes in the oven for 2 hours or in the dehydrator for 4 hours.

Curried Raisins:

1 tsp canola oil
1 ½ cups thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
¼ cup thinly sliced shallots
1 tsp Madras curry powder
1 pod star anise
10 black peppercorns
1/3 cup white port
1 kaffir lime leaf
1 Tbsp salt
¼ cup golden raisins

Place the canola oil in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Add the apple and shallots and sweat without caramelising until pale and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the curry powder, anise and peppercorns and toast for about 1 minute. Deglaze with the port and reduce until the pan is almost dry. Add two cups of water and the kaffir lime leaf and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes, then season with the salt. Place the golden raisins in a heatproof container, then strain the hot liquid over the raisins. Discard the solids and keep the raisins in their liquid at room temperature until ready to serve.

Carrot Curry Sauce:

1 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1 cup thinly sliced white onion
1 Tbsp thinly sliced ginger
1 tsp Madras curry powder
¼ cup white wine
½ cup canned whole peeled tomatoes, drained
3 ½ tsp coriander seeds
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
2 ½ cups chicken stock
1 ½ tsp salt

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the carrots, onion and ginger and sweat the vegetables for about 15 minutes, until they are tender. Add the curry powder and toast for one minute. Deglaze the saucepan with the white wine and reduce until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add the tomatoes, again cooking until almost dry. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over a low heat until fragrant. Add the toasted spices and chicken stock to the vegetables. Simmer slowly for 45 minutes, then strain the sauce and discard the solids. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce until you have 1 ½ cups of liquid. Season with the salt and immediately chill over ice.

Cauliflower Cross-Sections:

1 ½ heads cauliflower

Slice 6 cross-sections of the cauliflower, each one measuring 3/8 of an inch thick. Each cross-section should keep the florets intact. Reserve the remainder of the cauliflower for the Cauliflower Puree.

Cauliflower Puree:

1 ½ cups cauliflower trim, diced
½ cup single cream
½ cup whole milk
1 Tbsp Brown Butter
1 tsp salt

Place the cauliflower in a saucepan and cover with the cream and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer the cauliflower until tender, around 25 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, reserving the liquid. Puree in a blender or with a stick blender, adding one tablespoon of the liquid at a time, until the mixture is smooth but not too runny. Blend in the Brown Butter and season with the salt. If your puree is still a little coarse, pass through a fine mesh sieve.

Sous Vide Cauliflower:

2 Cauliflower Cross-Sections
30ml Curry Oil
30ml Brown Butter
½ tsp salt

Use a 1 ¼ inch ring cutter to punch out 8 cauliflower rounds from the Cauliflower Cross-Sections, including some floret and stem in each round. Trim 12 florets from the remaining cauliflower. Save all other trim for the Cauliflower Couscous. Place the rounds, florets, Curry Oil, Brown Butter and salt in a Sous Vide bag and vacuum seal. Simmer the bags in a water bath at 85°C for 20 minutes, until tender. Transfer to a bowl of ice water.

Cauliflower Couscous:

1 cup cauliflower trim
½ Tbsp Brown Butter
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt

Finely chop the cauliflower so that it resembles grains of couscous. Place in a small bowl and add the Brown Butter, lemon juice and salt. Stir well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Roasted Cauliflower

4 Cauliflower Cross-Sections
¼ cup Curry Oil
¼ cup Brown Butter
1 Tbsp salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Slice each cross-section in half, so you have 8 pieces. Heat two large oven-proof sauté pans or casseroles over a high heat and divide the Curry Oil and Brown Butter between the pans. Place 4 pieces of cauliflower in each pan and lower the heat to medium. Sear the cauliflower until well browned on each side, basting with the oil and butter. Transfer the pans to the oven and roast until the cauliflower is cooked through and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Season with the salt.

To Serve:

4 Tbsp Cauliflower Puree
4 Tbsp Curry Raisin Puree
Carrot Curry Sauce
2 Tbsp Curry Oil
Sous Vide Cauliflower
1 Tbsp chicken stock
1 Tbsp butter
Salt
Curried Raisins
Dehydrated Grapes
16 Blanched Almonds
Cauliflower Couscous
Madras Curry Powder
8 sprigs celery leaves

In three small saucepans, reheat the Cauliflower Puree, Curry Raisin Puree and Carrot Curry Sauce over a low heat. Add the Curry Oil to the Carrot Curry Sauce.
Open the bags of the Sous Vide Cauliflower, drain the liquid and reserve it. In a medium sauté pan, heat the chicken stock and the reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and add the cauliflower discs and florets. Add the butter and reduce to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
Onto each plate, spoon 1 tablespoon of Cauliflower Puree and 1 tablespoon of Curry Raisin Puree. Place two Roasted Cauliflower sections on top. Add 2 cauliflower rounds, 3 cauliflower florets, 3 Curried Raisins, 3 Dehydrated Grapes, 4 Blanched Almonds and a spoonful of Cauliflower Couscous around the Roasted Cauliflower. Finish each plate with 1 tablespoon of Carrot Curry Sauce, a sprinkle of Madras Curry Powder and 2 celery leaves.

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Two of our main reasons for starting this blog were to find ways to challenge ourselves, and to cook with ingredients we haven’t used before. This week’s recipe certainly achieved those two goals! We were both a little scared of cooking octopus, but it turned out to be not very difficult and the results were delicious. This would be a great dinner party dish as you can do almost all of the work in advance and leave the octopus to marinate in the fridge overnight. This recipe is adapted from Ottolenghi and Scully’s Nopi cookbook, and like all of Ottolenghi’s recipes, the flavours of each component is perfect. We’ve never found kale particularly tasty, but this stir-fried kale is delicious and would work well as a side dish to any of your favourite mains. If the octopus challenge is too much for you, the salsa and kale would also work well with some fried fish fillets.

We took Ottolenghi’s advice and bought a frozen octopus, which we de-frosted before cooking. This helps to tenderise the meat and prevent it becoming chewy. If you buy a fresh octopus you could tenderise it by bashing it with a rolling pin, or by blanching the tentacles a few times in boiling water. We watched some helpful youtube videos on preparing the octopus (we recommend the videos from Sydney Fish Market for any kind of seafood preparation), as we were unsure if ours had been prepared or not. In the end all we had to do was cut out the eyes and we were ready to start cooking.

Ingredients:

1 large frozen octopus, with head and tentacles (about 1.5kg)
1 small celery stick, roughly chopped
1 small fennel, trimmed and stalk removed, roughly chopped. Reserve the fronds for garnishing.
1 small leek, trimmed and sliced
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
500ml white wine
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp harissa
½ tsp rose water
1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
sea salt

Salsa:

50g golden raisins
1 small red onion, finely diced (110g)
100g pitted kalamata olives, finely sliced into circles
1 ½ Tbsp sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
10g mint leaves

Kale:

2 Tbsp olive oil
10g unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
300g kale, stalks removed and discarded, roughly chopped
80ml vegetable stock
80ml white wine

Method:

If you need to clean the octopus, cut the head from the body just below the eyes and discard the head. Remove the beak from the top of the tentacles by turning the tentacles inside out and pushing the beak through. Peel and discard any excess skin, leaving the tentacles intact and still held together at the top.
Put the celery, fennel, leeks, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, coriander seeds, white wine and 1 teaspoon of salt into a large deep pot. Add 1.2 litres of water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a medium low heat. Using a pair of tongs, plunge the whole octopus into the hot water for about 5 seconds. Lift out, then repeat this process twice more. You will see the tentacles beginning to curl up with each plunge. This will also prevent the skin from peeling during cooking. Return the octopus to the water and submerge completely. Cover with a cartouche (a round of baking paper the same size as the pot) and cover with a large plate to ensure the octopus remains submerged. Simmer over a medium heat for 40 to 50 minutes, until the octopus is cooked through. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the octopus, you will know it is cooked when the flesh is tender but retains a little bite.
Remove the octopus from the pot. Set it aside to cool and then transfer to the fridge for an hour or so, until chilled. You should now have about 650g of cooked octopus. Discard the stock and vegetables.
Slice the octopus, leaving the tentacles untouched and cutting into the body to make 2cm thick slices. Place the octopus in a bowl with the olive oil, harissa and rose water. Stir to coat everything well, then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
To make the salsa: place the raisins in a saucepan with 80ml of water. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside for 1 hour. Drain any remaining liquid and place the raisins in a bowl with the rest of the salsa ingredients, except the mint. Add a grind of black pepper, mix well and set aside until ready to serve.
To cook the kale: add the olive oil and butter to a frypan and place on a medium high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook until just brown, stirring constantly. Add the kale and keep stirring while you add the stock and wine. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and some black pepper to taste. Cooke for 3-4 minutes, until the kale has wilted. Drain the kale, shaking it in a colander to dry. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Just before serving, place a griddle or frying pan over a high heat. Toss the octopus in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the griddle is smoking hot, add the octopus and grill for 1-2 minutes, turning it over halfway through. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan by working in batches if necessary. Once the octopus is charred and warmed through, transfer to a bowl and toss immediately in the lemon juice.
Shred the mint and stir it through the salsa.
To plate: place some of the kale in a small circle on each plate. Add two small circles of the salsa to each plate. Gently place a piece of octopus over each of the little piles of kale and salsa you have created. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds and some halved Kalamata olives (optional).