Fall is upon us bringing along that special appetite for hearty dishes. Such as cauliflower and other cabbage dishes.
We are not generally fond of flatulent vegetables but we need to eat more veg and less meat and the cauliflowers looked so beautiful at the market that we took one home.

Now how to prepare it? The American way with cheese sauce? German style with breadcrumbs and butter? Indian style?

No, something new. Something sweet but spicy, cream but not cheesy. Something to compliment but also excite through it’s unexpectedness.

Et voila: Cauliflower in Caramelized Pink Onion and Mustard Sauce, good hot but equally good the next day with only exotic passion fruit vinegar added.

I hope you enjoy this yum and more creation, we sure did!

Cauliflower in Caramelized Pink Onion and Mustard Sauce

Cauliflower in Caramelized Pink Onion and Mustard Sauce

Ingredients for the hot dish:

• 1 cauliflower

• 2 French pink onions

• 1 TBSP of brown sugar

• ½ tsp olive oil

• juice of 1 pressed orange

• ground pepper

• 200 ml of vegetable-based or other light cream

• 1 tsp of very strong mustard

• ½ tsp salt

• chili flakes to taste

• a handful of chopped Cilantro leaves (optional)

Ingredients for the cold dish:

• 1 TBSP of passion fruit or other vinegar fruit or white vinegar that you like

Putting it all together:

Peel and break down the cauliflower into florets. Wash thoroughly, drain.

Place florets in a steamer with salt water and steam cauliflower 10-15 minutes checking for doneness in between. The Florets should be done but not overly soft or falling apart. Turn off heat and remove lid to stop cooking process.

In the meantime, peel and chop the 2 pink onions into medium-sized cubes.

Warm your caramelizing pan, mine is copper and steel, with the sugar. Brown sugar has a higher melting point but I prefer the taste to white.
When the sugar starts to melt add the onions and stir to coat, reduce the heat and continue to fry be careful not to burn.
Add the olive oil and stir, then add the juice, salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste and simmer on very low heat for another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, wait for the boiling to stop and add the cream and the mustard stirring vigorously to combine.

Add the florets and stir carefully. Return to heat and bring to almost a boil.

Adjust seasoning, you may want to add more mustard, add the cilantro leaves if using.

Serve in soup plates with crusty bread.

Cold cauliflower salad:

When the cauliflower and sauce are completely cool, add 1 TBSP passion fruit vinegar or any other suitable vinegar. Stir and store in the fridge until needed. If you wait a day it tastes even better.

Enjoy hot or cold…or hot and cold!