I thought you were doing the Girl and the Goat cauliflower? No--you just roasted it?

I want to eventually do girl & goat cauliflower but for now I’m happy with the easier roasting :-)

Speaking of cauliflower, a few days back we changed up the spices we roast it with. Usually, I go with cumin and fennel seeds and salt/pepper. This time, I went with Sichuan peppers and star anise (both freshly ground of course)... Some of the best I've tasted when all was said and done.

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interesting...I think your first spice blend sounded really good. I think star anise has a way of taking over. But i loved your mix of fennel seeds and cumin.

I asked my wife to pick up some cauliflower at the store this morning, and like the idea of cumin and fennel seeds. But being from Chicago, I automatically link fennel seeds and sausage (even though I love fennel bulb roasted or in salads), so haven't tried this before. Are you grinding the seeds or using whole? How much do you use per head?

Sorry for asking a bunch of questions here, but in your picture with the new spice mix is that onion or fennel bulb along side the cauliflower?

Always looking for new cauliflower ideas!

Me too which is why I am anxious to try the recipe mentioned above with the crunch.
I thought those were fennel bulb pieces but they could be onion slices. hmm. And biting in to whole fennel seeds is a bit rough..I would think they would be ground?? When they are in sausage, they are cooked so get softer.

Toasted, then ground. For a head of cauliflower, I eyeball it, but think it's probably around 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds. (Fennel in sausage, BTW: yum!) I feel like I use about 4-5 tbsp melted butter and toss the cauliflower florets in that, then sprinkle the ground cumin & fennel + salt on, toss more, add more spices, etc., until well-coated. Sometimes I add a bit of curry powder, and sometimes some garam masala. But always the two ground seeds. I mix it up a bit differently every time; I sprinkled grated parm on the most recent batch after taking it out of the oven, and have tossed on sliced scallions before as well. I just love the versatility of roast cauliflower.

And yes, that is onion. I usually include a half of an onion tossed with the cauliflower, and try to caramelize the onion pretty thoroughly during the roast. For the one in the photo, I left it cut in course wedges (I usually separate into thin slices) so they'd have some structure still after roasting.

The fact that fennel worked pretty well in that blend is one reason I tried star anise in the one I posted a photo of above. It worked pretty well. I think I used only 1 anise pod for the entire head of cauliflower, and it was a small-ish one (maybe the size of a dime; I've used ones more the size of quarters when making tea eggs, for example).

We spend a lot of time in Nice, FR and I’ve been wanting some socca. Today finally made and yummy. Also made some chicken wings with Costco Butt Rub + brown sugar and a little tomato salad.
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Gorgeous - ever go to Paris? I liked the Breton crepes in St Germain in 2005. By 2010 it felt easier to get buckwheat crepes all over Paris.
ive never been to Nice. Only Lille and some Provence places (stayed in Goult for a week). All lovely.

Yes, I lived in Paris as a grad student. And spend about a month in Nice or Paris most summers. These days I’m so grateful for the buckwheat (gluten free) crepes! I have a crepes hot plate for making them but haven’t done it in a while. Should! But this socca was amazing today. And so easy. I am astonished that I haven’t tried before. I have batter left over so going to swap the onion/rosemary accoutrements for sundried tomatoes and herbed de Provence.

Socca online recipes are lovely. I’ll eventually ask about it as I’ve enough food / meal plans for this week :-)

Awesome, thanks! It's on my list to try. I think the cauliflower she picked up may be earmarked for a different destiny this time, based on the other ingredients she bought, but I'll be making it soon.

I was able to un-earmark the cauliflower last night and tried the fennel and cumin. It went over well, and will find a place in our cauliflower rotation. Thanks for posting that spice combo!

Also roasted a pork loin with a mustard & various spice rub, and panko. And sauteed green beans. Then had a last minute inspiration to make a quick sauce using some leftover beef broth, sour cream, mustard with a light roux. Although everything was tasty, the sauce was the surprise hit of the dinner.

Unfortunately tonight it's back to unpacking and painting a room in the new house, so I'm thinking a box or red pepper soup with the leftover pork loin in it :).

The answer to the original question tonight was ‘no’. And it’s the virus’s fault. When it looked like we would need to stay home and avoid frequent grocery shopping, I laid in some supplies that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy. Canned ham seemed like a smart idea: doesn’t take up much room, doesn’t need refrigeration, keeps for years in the pantry. In honor of phase 1, I “ cooked” a Plumrose 1 pound canned ham. I think the 1 pounder is made up of pressed scraps and floor sweepings. Mrs BV wanted to know why I was serving her Spam.

Who on earth ever thought that putting meat in a can, and then pumping it so full of preservatives that it needs no refrigeration no less, was a good idea? I mean who was the guy who first said “hey, I know, let’s put a ham in a can and, even better, make it so it can last 100 years”?

You asked and Wikipedia has the most plausible answer:

Spam is fantastic. Haters gonna hate.

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I believe, even before Spam, the French used canned meats in army rations as well. Don't quote me on that, but I remember reading that somewhere and it's stuck with me. Those rascally French and their haute cuisine!

Plumrose, the company that put my ham in its can, was Danish until 2007. That’s what I remembered. It is now a subsidiary of a Brazilian company. Those rascally Brazilians and their haute cuisine!

I have no problem with Spam. Just don’t put it in an oval can and label it ham.

I’m guessing canned meat predates household refrigeration.

Probably true. Quick search, Encyclopedia Brittanica says that Nicolas Appert of France invented canning in 1809 to preserve food for military use. Didn't see a reference to canned meat specifically.

Another interesting "fact" from Wikipedia:
"In 1917, the French Army began issuing canned French cuisine, such as coq au vin, Beef Bourguignon, french onion soup and Vichyssoise"

And from that, we got SPAM :)

In 1984 I read a fiction war novel taking place during the Korean War and there was mention of a soldier’s mother sending a whole cooked chicken in a can. I cannot now imagine HOW one would do it.

anyway big kudos for cooking the canned ham in the pantry as opposed to tossing it as some could justify doing. I always hate tossing expired food or leftovers although I know it’s better than the alternative :-)

If you have any interest in weird foods in a can, check out vlogger Atomic Shrimp on YouTube. I believe I watched him open and sample a canned chicken. And many stranger things.

I haven't seen that one, but I recall on one of the cooking shows, I think it was "Chopped" one of the mystery ingredients was a whole bird in a can -- can't remember if it was chicken, duck, pheasant, or whatever. But it was in there, bones and all. It did not look good.

As far as canned hams go, I can't say I buy them often, but have had a few over the years. I typically chop them up - maybe use in a soup or something like that. I've never eaten it like a nice baked holiday ham. When I make homemade split pea soup, I'll usually use smoked ham hocks for the flavor, then after they simmer for a couple hours, pull off whatever meat I can and return to the pot when I discard the bones. Then I'll supplement with some chopped ham, and canned actually isn't bad for that, assuming you don't have a leftover real ham.

I didn't stock up on them before the impending doom of this plague -- I was too busy searching for toilet paper :).

The milk - egg mix leaked a bit during baking but omg my spouse loved this. I’m still eating leftover carnitas and yes we are spoiled. So yummy.
but the quiche. Wow I’m impressed that it was highly enjoyed.
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I’m going to chop up the leftover ham and toss it into an omelet tomorrow morning with whatever else is handy.

Do you guys always eat different things from each other? Leftover carnitas--I missed that you made carnitas too. I love quiche--I bet that was yummy.

High school camp was ten days hiking out in the wilderness. We had to carry all our food, slept in bivouacs etc. Trust me, having a bit of protein even in can form, is much better than having to eat rice etc with nothing on it. ;)

The carnitas were delivered. By his mom, I think.

Sigh, what is now History Channel has a show about that called, "Eating History"


Now, for Memorial Day weekend I will smoke two slabs of baby backs and a 3# boneless butt for sure and might grill some top sirloin picanha-style since I have one I need to cook or cut/freeze soon.

I've suggested to my uncle that he reach out to Eating History, because the house is filled with old canned goods, and if anyone would be interested in any of them, they might.

There also are YouTubers who will open and eat, if safe, old canned foods. Like military rations from WW2.

I've got a giant bubbling cauldron of spicy tomato stew with onions, potatoes, and linguica. Going to drop in some fresh haddock I just bought earlier straight off the boat. Pictures soon!

Thank you for turning me on to this cauliflower recipe. I didn't have any pine nuts, i used less mint because I was afraid it would overpower but i could have added more . I used jarred pepperoncini for the pickled peppers. It was delicious !!
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Aforementioned bubbling cauldron of spicy fish stew.

That picture looks a lot like the restaurant dish, nice job!

I have substituted toasted, slivered almonds a couple times for pine nuts. Different flavor, but it still works in the dish, and the crunch is nice. Pine nuts are expensive too.

i thought of slivered almonds, which i do have but i was ok with this. And yes...pine nuts are a fortune. Lots of tweaking can be done with this recipe which is fun...maybe even bacon crumbled on top.
I made maple candied walnuts for my salad though.

i reheated the carnitas Via oven and BamaVol guided me about why oven is better than microwave for reheating cooked meat (esp carnitas). I’m the only one who likes carnitas and most or all pork products. We are mostly zero pork household with salami having been the exception.

my spouse’s bestie brought birthday supper for us - a Nopalito restaurant “reheat” kit and sold at Douglas and surely other bourgeois bodegas (Epicurean Trader types). We have it here because it’s a gift.


i have to one day try it - we are very satisfied with the basic style using olive oil and 550. I should try and get more for tonight’s supper.

Please do post any tweaks you try. I agree, there are so many different flavors that play well together here that you can probably make some fun modifications.

Having grown up in the midwest in the 70's and 80's, our veggies were typically just boiled to death, maybe with a bit of butter on top. It was a real revelation to me when I started eating dishes like this as an adult, where the vegetables were roasted or sauteed and actually had flavor.

I’m going to try it tonight.