Last Christmas our family rented a house in Sonoma county. It was a wonderful home in the middle of the redwoods with a large meadow and an old orchard full of crazy mushrooms. It was remote and far from any large town, but only 18 minutes to a restaurant called Zazu. The restaurant bills itself as a roadhouse with great food. The husband and wife team grow most of their own produce and have a chicken, pig and sheep ranch. They have great foodie reviews and a bacon club! So of course we had to make our way in the dark one lane highway, guided by a bitch of a GPS system, to have dinner there on a rainy night.
The restaurant met all of our expectations, from the rustic decor to the inventive foods. Two dishes stood out in my memory. One a pappardelle pasta with roasted beets, greens and pancetta and the other a pork osso buco with cauliflower couscous. I went home and promptly made the pasta dish a few days later, loving the beets and greens. The cauliflower couscous was completely forgotten until tonight when Paul requested osso buco for his birthday dinner. Our refrigerator was full of CSA vegetables when I opened it to consider a side dish. A head of cauliflower rolled out of the fridge and landed at my feet. Tada! An inspiration was born. I am one of those crazies who plunge head first into a recipe without consulting any resource. "How hard can it be?" Sometimes it's really hard, but tonight the stars are aligned and the couscous was delicious. I added in a cup of cooked whole wheat couscous to the cauliflowers because I didn't think it was enough to serve my family of four. I also added in some preserved Meyer lemons that I made with lemons from my tree. It has an exotic citrus note that I really like. One day soon we can talk about preserved lemons, a good, good thing.
Here's the recipe, a great way to disguise cauliflowers if your kids don't like it.
Cauliflower couscous
1 large head of cauliflower
3 tablespoon of butter
¼ cup of chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon of lemon peel
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Salt & pepper
1 cup of cooked couscous
1/4cup of chopped preserved lemons (optional)
Trim leaves off cauliflower and discard or save for vegetable stock. Using a serrated knife, shave the head of cauliflower florets until you get to the inner stems and core, reserve these for vegetable stock. Transfer the cauliflower trimmings to a food processor and pulse until they resemble coarse couscous or chop the cauliflower on the cutting board very finely.
Melt butter in a large frying pan on medium high heat until it foams up and turns brown, take care not to burn the butter. Add in cauliflower and sauté for 4-5 minutes until some of the cauliflower picks up a golden tinge and is tender. Add in a teaspoon or two of salt until it develops enough flavor. Take pan off heat and add fresh cracked black pepper, lemon peel, lemon juice and parsley. Add in the cup of cooked couscous and mix well. Readjust seasoning and drizzle with a good virgin olive oil.
Serve it as you would couscous, a side dish to osso buco, roasted salmon, or baked chicken.
Variations: add in 1/2 cup of slivered almonds, 1/2 cup of golden raisins, and a pinch of cinnamon.
Zazu Restaurant
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