Hot Chili Oil Roasted Truffle Cauliflower
I was travelling in Mexico when I got inspired to create this dish. We were sitting out on a patio ordering dinner when the waiter served a tequila flambeed roasted cauliflower. They pulled out this beautiful roasted whole cauliflower from a dish, first they cut it up and then coated it in tequila and then lit it on fire, it may have been one of the coolest table side dishes I’ve ever seen prepared. This recipe does not call for any Flambé, but if you are feeling confident and are careful not to burn your house down, then it definitely adds some flair to this delicious dish. We do our recipe with a little bit of Truff oil, some Yonedas spicy white and canola oil, this will give you a nice hit of spice which compliments the charred cauliflower perfectly.
Servings: 6 people
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 each Whole Head of Cauliflower
- 1 cup Canola Oil
- 3 tbsp Truff Black Hot Sauce
- 1 tbsp Yonedas Spicy White
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat the Smoker to 300 degrees.Remove the cauliflower from any packaging or plastic wrap and then cut off any leaves or remaining stem on the bottom. Keep the cauliflower whole though, do not cut off any of the florets. Then take the Truff, Canola Oil, Yonedas seasoning and mix them all together in a bowl. Using a BBQ basting brush, paint the outside of the cauliflower with the chili oil mixture until you have covered it completely, make sure to hit every crack and crevice with the oil. If you have any remaining oil at the end, you can wait 2 minutes and do it again as the chili oil will absorb into the cauliflower.
Place the cauliflower on a pan and then into the smoker
- Place the cauliflower into a disposable aluminum foil tray or onto a baking sheet and then get it into the smoker at around 300 degrees. You are going to want to roast it until it turns golden brown all over, this should take about 2 hours. If you notice that one side is turning more golden than the other, don’t be afraid to rotate the pan inside the smoker to ensure that it cooks evenly.
Resting the cauliflower
- Just kidding, you do not need to rest vegetables when they come out of the smoker. I did wrap mine in tinfoil for about 30 minutes to keep it hot while my beef that I was serving it with finished, but this is not necessary.
Serving the cauliflower
- To serve the cauliflower, place it on a cutting board and using a Yonedas Okami Chef knife, slice the florets from the stem. You can drizzle it with a little more chili oil at this time if you want to crank up the flavor. Or as discussed earlier in the introduction, you could Flambé it using extreme caution.
Step by Step
- Preheat Smoker to 300 Degrees
- Add the Truff, Yonedas Spicy White and Canola oil to a bowl and mix to emulsify
- Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower
- Paint the cauliflower with the chili oil emulsification
- Smoke or roast the cauliflower for 2 hours until golden brown all over
- Remove the florets from the stem and serve hot with a side of extra chili oil
Notes
Why leave the cauliflower whole?
When roasting a cauliflower whole it can prevent the florets from getting mushy. Often times when you remove the florets from the stem and place it on an over crowded baking sheet, the cauliflower can just braise in its own juices, but by keeping the head whole the florets roast on the stem and you have a higher change of success in browning the crown without overcooking the stems.Is this recipe healthy?
Yes, cauliflower is one of the most healthy vegetables. If you want to crank up the healthiness factor, you can use a little less oil, but a well balanced diet does include a little fat, so I say go for it!What if I am Gluten Free?
This recipe is entirely gluten free. So if your celiac friends are coming for dinner, this is a great recipe to give a try.Should I wash my cauliflower before cooking?
Cooking the cauliflower completely should kill any unintended protein sources, but if you want to wash it, you could soak the cauliflower in a light salt solution for 30 minutes, after soaking, rinse the cauliflower in cool water to remove the salt. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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