I Did the Mash

Trying desperately to keep up with some new and compliant recipes. At the grocery store yesterday I had a run-in with Gingerbread Twix. I didn't buy them, but found myself pissed off that I couldn't. Instead I ended up with a cart that was full of healthy goodness, and just a tiny bit of racism.

For some reason Paula Deen's face is slapped on the package of the only brand of ground chicken breast my local market carries.

I would rather not buy anything that she was associated with but there are times where I just need my damn ground chicken breast and have to suck it up. 

Hence the racism in my cart.

But no Twix.

The cold is approaching and I find myself craving comfort food. The Italian Egg Drop Soup totally hit the spot the other day. Tonight I tried my hand at Cauliflower Mash.

The results were interesting, there were some things I would change the next time I made it…but I would surely make it again.

The original recipe called for cutting up a cauliflower into florets and roasting it with some cloves of garlic in the oven until it was soft enough to mash up.

No problem. Did it.

Grabbed my potato masher and went to work, but it just looked like fibrous shreds. It was not the mashed potato consistency that I was after. 

So…I had a few choices. The traditional blender, the food processor, or the immersion blender. I went with the fastest and least messiest option…the immersion blender. It wasn't as proficient as the other choices but it did get the job done.

Now that I had the right consistency I was supposed to add the rest of the ingredients. It called for olive oil, romano cheese, salt, pepper, and cream.

There was no way I was going to throw in 1/3 cup of olive oil and 1/3 cup of cream into the cauliflower so I did about 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of something that isn't necessarily 17 Day Diet compliant but probably should be in cycle 3. It's called Extra Thick Single Cream made by The Brooklyn Creamery Company. It has 30 calories, no sugars and 3.2 grams of fat in a tablespoon, so I threw it in there. Because I'm a rebel like that.

I did add about 1/4 cup of romano cheese…and boy was that pungent. I think next time I will go with the parmesan. I also put in a splash of chicken stock to wet it.

This isn't making a great impression, is it?

Well…it really did hit the spot as far as wanting something akin to mashed potato. Mine wasn't too pretty, so I will share someone else's version with you…

Here is a basic idea of what to do…but feel free to play with it.

1 head of cauliflower
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled (I would use less…I found it to be too garlicky..and I usually enjoy roasted garlic)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup romano or parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of Extra Thick Single Cream
Chicken stock to moisten if needed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the cauliflower into florets, peel the garlic, salt and pepper them and wrap in aluminum foil. Roast until very tender, about 50 minutes or until soft.

Use a blender or food processor to mix to desired consistency. Use a hand masher for a chunkier texture. Add olive oil, cheese, and cream, mix well. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Can me made ahead and reheated.

Experimenting with recipes found online can be tricky…sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. While I wouldn't rate this one as a true knockout dish, I would absolutely make it when I had that craving for something like mashed potato. Who knows…you may even want it at your holiday table this year?!?