Sicilian orange cauliflower and black olive stew! Orange cauliflower hybrid!
If you need a good cauliflower or broccoli recipe, then turn to the experts. Sicilians are experts at creating great cauliflower and broccoli recipes!
Cauliflower has been grown in Sicily for a very long time. Sicilians vegetable growers have been creating cauliflower and broccoli hybrids for a long time too. There is nothing like hearing a hybrid vegetable grower say "This is a very special cauliflower!" Especially if the gardener is Sicilian, because you know that you will be in for a real treat!
Purple cauliflower is a Sicilian hybrid. I have posted a few recipes for purple cauliflower in the past. A greenish white cauliflower hybrid is another Sicilian hybrid. Orange cauliflower is also called yellow or cheddar cauliflower. The flavor of orange cauliflower is very delicate and it marries with the flavors of good black olives and good olive oil in a very nice way!
Choose the olives wisely for this recipe. Second rate chefs use Grecian kalamata olives in recipes far too often. Kalamata olives have the wrong flavor profile for this Sicilian recipe. Kalamata is far too strong of a flavor! Good Italian cured black olives or Arabic black olives that have about a medium strong flavor are best for this recipe. The black olives should be slightly oily and shiny from the start.
Cheap canned pitted olives are better off left on the store shelf. Cheap black olives taste like cardboard! Shop for olives where good olives can be found. A nice variety of good olives can be found in Italian markets and delicatessens, Grecian markets, Spanish markets and middle eastern markets The French also grow nice olives, but Nicoise olives have the wrong flavor profile for this recipe.
Stufato translates to stew in Italian. Stewing is a technique that is similar to braising. A stew has the stereotype of a pot of food that cooks all day. Some items only need to be stewed for a short time! This Sicilian cauliflower stew only requires about 30 minutes of stewing time.
I posted a braised opah fish recipe a few months ago, by request of a French culinary arts instructor from Louisiana. She had never heard of braising fish before. I mentioned the braised fish recipe to my dad over the phone a few days later. My dad was in Marseilles France doing business at the time and he was having dinner. He said that I must be psychic, because a French braised fish entree was what he ordered for dinner! Braising fish is nothing new. The length of braising time depends on the texture of the fish meat.
I mentioned the braised fish recipe request to a few other culinary arts instructors at the chef school. The responses that I got would make a veteran French chef laugh! Many of the American French chefs said that fish cannot be braised and there was no point in braising fish. Those same chefs were basically stuck on char grilling as a good fish cooking technique. A few of the instructors said that only tough texture fish like shark can be braised. Those chefs were stuck on thinking about a braising tough meats for a long period of time. Only two chefs at the entire chef school grasped what I tried to convey concerning braising fish. Braising fish is a technique that is used to meld flavors and to create a savory sauce in the braising pan! Braising is not just for tough meats! Veteran French chefs know this well. Chef Rick Moonen at RM Seafood in Las Vegas also uses the braising technique for fish in some recipes.
Braising is a technique where timing is a variable, just like stewing. If you stew the cauliflower for too long, then you will be eating geriatric home cauliflower mush! Stewing for too little time will cause the cauliflower to look like a saute recipe and the flavors will not have developed.
Blanching is part of this recipe. The initial blanching will minimize the caramelization of the cauliflower, when it is sauteed with the garlic, before stewing with white wine and black olives.
Stufato di arancia cavolfiore e d'oliva Siciliana Recipe:
Cut 1/2 of a head of orange cauliflower into very small florets. Slice the larger florets into 1/4" or thinner slices.
Heat a sauce pot of salted water over high heat and bring the water to a boil.
Blanch the cauliflower in the hot water, till it is cooke a little bit less than al dente.
Drain the water off of the cauliflower.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
Add a splash of olive oil.
Add 3 to 4 cloves of finely minced garlic.
Saute till the garlic becomes aromatic.
Add the blanched cauliflower.
Saute till a few golden highlights appear.
Add 1 small handful of medium cure olives that have been pitted by hand.
Add 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine.
Add sea salt and black pepper.
Toss the ingredients together.
Reduce the temperature to low heat.
Cover the pan with a lid.
Stew the cauliflower for 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove the lid from the pan.
Raise the temperature to medium heat.
Simmer and reduce, till nearly all of the liquid has evaporated.
Drizzle a little bit of good virgin olive oil over the cauliflower.
Place the Stufato di arancia cavolfiore e d'oliva Siciliana on a plate.
No garnish is necessary!
Sounds simple and easy! It is simple and easy! The flavors are uncomplicated yet complex. Sicilians are experts at getting great flavor from a recipe that only has a few ingredients. This is a very nice traditional Sicilian cauliflower recipe that features the pretty color of orange cauliflower! Yum! Ciao Baby! ... Shawna
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