Say it with cauliflowers
There’s a lot to love about the humble cauli, which is tastiest at this time of year. Nicola Galloway serves up two of her winter favourites.
Cauliflower, although available year round, really comes into its own in winter. The cooler temperatures slow growth, resulting in concentrated sugars and overall flavour in the brassica heads. Roasting or lightly steaming cauliflower will intensify this even more. Here are two recipes I enjoy making for the winter table.
Spiced cauliflower nuggets with coriander yoghurt sauce
If you haven’t tried roasted cauliflower yet, these nuggets are a great introduction to the flavoursome result. I use chickpea flour in this recipe as it colours well during cooking. It is a versatile, gluten-free flour to add to the pantry that can be used for vegetable fritters and pancakes.
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side
1⁄2 a large cauliflower (about 700g) 1 tsp mild curry powder
1⁄2 tsp turmeric powder
1⁄2 tsp ground cumin
1⁄2 tsp salt
3 tbsp chickpea flour or use standard
flour
2 tbsp olive oil
Coriander sauce
Small handful (30g) of fresh coriander
leaves
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1⁄2 cup unsweetened yoghurt
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Use your fingers to break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets.
Combine the spices, salt and flour in a mixing bowl and toss the cauliflower pieces in batches to evenly coat.
Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on a large baking tray – use two trays if needed. Drizzle evenly with the oil.
Bake for 15 minutes then remove the tray from the oven. Use a spatula to turn the cauliflower and spread out evenly again. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden.
Combine the coriander sauce ingredients in a blender and blitz into a smooth sauce (alternatively, finely chop the coriander and garlic and stir through the yoghurt, oil and salt). Pour into a small bowl and serve alongside the cauliflower nuggets.
Serve with pan-fried fish that has been dusted in the leftover spiced flour before cooking.
Cauliflower & broccoli crumble bake
This dish can be made entirely with cauliflower or add other vegetables such as frozen peas. You can also make it a complete meal by adding precooked pasta. It is good one to take to a potluck or shared kai as it can be made in advance then reheated before serving.
Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves 4 as a side
2 cups (250g) cauliflower florets
2 cups (250g) broccoli florets (or use all
cauliflower) 2 tbsp water
Salt
Creamy sauce
50g butter
14 ⁄ cup (40g) flour (can use gluten-free
flour)
13⁄4 cups (440ml) milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
1⁄2 cup (50g) grated parmesan
1⁄2 cup (75g) grated tasty cheese Salt and cracked pepper
Crumble topping
1 cup breadcrumbs
1⁄2 cup rolled oats – I used small porridge
oats
50ml olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20 x 25cm baking dish with olive oil.
Place the broccoli and cauliflower into a saucepan with the water and salt. Cover with a lid and cook over a moderate heat for 4-5 minutes until just tender (don’t overcook). Drain and set aside.
Make the creamy sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan until foaming, add the flour and stir over the heat for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the milk, a little at a time, while whisking into a smooth sauce. Add the mustard and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Remove from the heat, stir through the cheeses and season to taste. Fold through the cooked vegetables and pour into the baking dish.
Combine the crumble topping ingredients in a bowl then evenly spread over the vegetable mixture. Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden.
Nicola Galloway is an award-winning cookbook author, culinary tutor and homemade enthusiast. homegrown-kitchen.co.nz
Plant more salad greens in pots
Containers are an excellent choice for growing salads over the colder months: the soil temperature in pots is warmer, the drainage is better and you can easily shift smaller tubs into a more sheltered spot if the winter weather turns ferocious. Plus, you can keep them close to the house for easier harvesting! It’s probably too cold for lettuce seed to germinate outside this month, so start in trays under cover if you want to sow seed, or plant out seedlings instead.
In the rose garden
July is the perfect month for rose pruning, so don’t put it off any longer. It isn’t all that difficult unless you are attempting to prune hoary old ramblers.
We prune to remove unsightly or dead wood, to encourage the natural process of renewal, and to keep the rose a manageable size. You need strong gloves and sharp secateurs, and you may need a small saw to remove very thick, old branches at the base.
First, remove dead and spindly branches and then step back and take a good look at the plant. You may decide to do nothing more – or you may decide to make clean cuts just above an outward facing bud-eye. Reducing the bush by one third is considered to be moderate pruning – but the bush may need only the removal of dead and spindly branches.
Immediately after pruning is a good time to spray with copper and winter oil to kill overwintering bugs. The newly pruned and sprayed roses will appreciate mulch around their roots.
Keep hands and feet off wet soil
Last week I talked about soil being friable – that’s the crumbly texture plants thrive in. But it’s easily destroyed at this time of year. Every time you dig, work or step on wet soil you push the soil particles closer together, squeezing out the air and water. This leads to compacted soil with poor drainage and reduced aeration, so when you come to plant it again in spring, your plant’s roots will struggle. It can take a whole growing season for surface compaction of the topsoil to reverse, and deeper compaction can last for years.
If you must travel across your vege beds, use a plank to distribute your weight. Don’t leave soil bare either, or rain drops will cause what’s called splash erosion. This is when the top layer of soil particles is disturbed, causing a thin crust to form on top of the soil’s surface which will bake hard in summer and block water from penetrating to a plant’s roots.
If there’s nothing you want to plant – and given it’s a bit cold now to establish a cover crop – then cover soil with several layers of old newspapers and pile mulch on the top. If you have inherited a garden and you are working with compacted soil, then you can take steps to remedy it. Once your soil is dry enough to safely work, add gypsum, and dig in organic matter such as aged manure, composted bark or a commercial product designed to improve soil structure, such as Yates Dynamic Lifter. – compiled by Barbara Smith