Hi guys! Sorry for the scant postings this week, I was busy traveling too and from Oklahoma over the last few days. I had the pleasure of going down and speaking to a few hundred women at a wonderful Festival and Luncheon in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. It was actually my first official time going to Oklahoma and I loved it! Everyone was just SO nice! I will write about it more this weekend.
So then I came home late Wednesday night and spent all day Thursday in the kitchen. I had a special request from Pia for me to recreate a dish that we LOVE from one of our favorite restaurants. I have written about Mamnoon in Seattle before, (where Pete and I were on a solid once a week date night for months at a stretch) and these Lebanese Spiced French Fries were inspired by their incredible food.
This is my desperate recreation of Pia’s favorite dish their- a whole fried cauliflower with a lemon tahini sauce on top. O-EM-GEEEE. It is SO good. I am sure that they have some tricks I don’t know about, but this was an excellent recreation if I do say so myself!
The tahini lemon sauce is the perfect rich, creamy and zesty sauce to accompany the crispy and tender cauliflower. This is an amazing side dish at dinner, or could easily be a vegetarian main course.
Ok- Stay tuned for Thanksgiving mania starting next week!!
Recipe: Fried Cauliflower with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
- 1 whole cauliflower head
- kosher salt
- Tahini Lemon Sauce
- 1/3 cup tahini
- juice of 2 lemons
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring the vegetable oil up to 375 degrees. Very carefully add the head to the hot oil and fry the top of the head first. When it is golden brown (about 2-3 minutes) then very carefully using tongs or a chinese spider, turn the cauliflower over and fry the bottom another few minutes.
- Drain the cauliflower and immediately put it on a serving plate and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, put the tahini, lemons juice and olive oil in a blender and blend until you have a smooth sauce. Season to taste with kosher salt.
- Drizzle the sauce over the top of the fried cauliflower and garnish with chives if desired.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 6 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
This!! Oh I love this!! Pia knows what is up!
I love cauliflower and that tahini sauce sounds incredible!
A whole fried cauliflower?!?! COOL!! You are such a whiz…this is flipping fabulous.
WOW! This is just awesome!
Hey Heather- This recipe looks amazing, and it reminded me of my absolute favorite cauliflower recipe I had at a John Besh restaurant in New Orleans. Here is the recipe if you would like to check it out. Definitely a winner!!!
http://www.gonola.com/2013/07/14/culinary-trails-recipe-whole-roasted-cauliflower-with-whipped-goat-cheese-from-domenica.html
The whole fried cauliflower thing has me wanting this SO badly! Also I’m a sucker for anything tahini and zesty!
This is so different, I love this!!!
This is such a creative recipe for cauliflower & I certainly want to try it! Congrats on your trip to Oklahoma ~ can’t wait to hear more!
This looks absolutely insane!! I love cauliflower so OMG totally have to make this!
It looks simply delicious! The audience in my nest will screech that it will look like a brain, but I am definitely trying this one!
Can this be baked?
I am sure you can Saniel, but I would do it at a very high heat (like 450) and roast it until tender.