All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013
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Holy crap! I could live on this mashed cauliflower dish! I added 1/2 cup heavy cream to this but I do not think that is necessary. Butter or a little milk (even plain soy milk) would likely be cool. And wowza! Are they easy. I added caramelized fennel just to get fancy & it added a really nice flavor but caramelized onions or roasted garlic or goat cheese or any number of additions could take this dish in a multitude of directions.
As to the albacore – I buy it like this at Trader Joe’s.
Two decent sized slabs of tuna for just over $5. Can’t beat that! The problem is, I find this to sometimes be a tad fishy so I intentionally cook the bejesus out of it. I cook it until the fat bubbles out of it. At that point – it is virtually indistinguishable from some dry chicken breast. At least – for me – it is because I haven’t eaten actual chicken breast in like 25 years. Dry chicken might not sound appealing to you but I gave up meat to avoid giving my money to factory farms (and savage, MASS cruelty), not because I don’t like it. I miss things like the awesome hotdogs at Costco, chicken piccata, rare steak and bacon. So – I eat veggie dogs and Bacos in a jar & I try to make chicken piccata from this overcooked fish thing. I used it here to simulate a glazed chicken dish & it works for me. You might want to use actual chicken or salmon, if this albacore isn’t available to you – or if my description above was a bit on the soft sell side.
These flavors worked really well together & it was a very filling while still pretty healthy dinner. But, whether you make the funky chicken albacore or not – TRY THE MASHED CAULIFLOWER!
Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” with Caramelized Fennel & Spicy Orange-Glazed Albacore
INGREDIENTS
For the spicy orange-glazed albacore
2 pieces of albacore (or chicken breasts or salmon)
2 TBS butter
juice & zest of 2 oranges
2 TBS honey
2 TBS Dijon
2 tsp (or to taste) crushed red pepper
S&P to taste
For the cauliflower mashed potatoes with caramelized fennel
1 head cauliflower – cut into florets
1 bulb fennel – shaved very thin
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (or milk or soy milk)
1 TBS horseradish (optional)
DIRECTIONS
For the Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” with Caramelized Fennel
Boil water & add the cauliflower & cook until soft. Maybe 15 minutes. Turn off heat & let cauliflower sit in the hot water.
Slice the fennel very thinly – reserving the dilly tops for garnish. Melt the butter in a saute pan. Saute the fennel, stirring constantly over medium heat – just until it begins to brown. Remove from heat.
Drain the cauliflower & put it, the heavy cream, horseradish, and 1/2 of the caramelized fennel in a food processor & puree until smooth. Add a little water to thin them if you desire. Reserve some caramelized fennel for garnish.
Taste & add S&P to taste.
For the spicy orange-glazed albacore
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the orange juice & zest, honey, Dijon & crushed red pepper & saute over medium heat until it thickens enough to coat a wooden spoon. Add S&P to taste.
Coat the top of the fish with the glaze – reserving a little extra for garnish. Bake the fish for about 20 minutes or until done. I then turned the broiler on & put the fish near the flame for several seconds, watching VERY closely, until the glaze bubbled & boiled.
To serve – put a generous helping of the cauliflower puree on two plates. Top with the cooked fish & then garnish with the reserved orange glaze, caramelized fennel and maybe some of the chopped dilly tops of the fennel and lots of freshly cracked pepper.
