Going vegetarian? NOT

[BrianCal]

NOT A CHANCE !!!
But did try a few non meat things in the past few weeks, trying new things. It all started with my chef friend asking if I could smoke some cauliflower for him to use as an ingredient. He marinated it over night in honey, sriracha, olive oil and some other things, looked pretty cool. Smoked it for about two hours over a mix of hickory and apple. Then a final quick sear to make “cauliflower burnt ends”

Even made it onto his restaurant Instagram feed.



He said the sandwiches sold out really fast. Its the one circled on the menu

I made one for me too, maybe not as impressive, just drizzled some EVOO and some Pappy’s rub, but came out pretty good too, was great on a grilled cheese

 

[BrianCal]

Also decided to try some garlic. Some cloves peeled, and some elephant garlic with just the top cut off. Olive oil, salt and pepper.



Turned out pretty good


Used it to make a compound butter, good for some unique garlic bread

 

[BrianCal]

Next up was an onion, did one last week, was just ok, so my friend suggested cutting it like a blossom, and cooking it longer until it was super soft. Added a pat of butter, s&p and a sprig of rosemary.


Made a nice onion dip, chopped it in the food processor with some sour cream, mayo, worcestershire, chipotle powder and cumin.

 

[BrianCal]

Last one was an attempt at some smoked peanuts. Mixed up some melted butter and a maple BBQ rub. Smelled great, seemed to be going okay. Finished product was kind of meh, just an ok initial flavor but finish with a bitter aftertaste. Might try again, possibly with a different rub. But they look pretty....

 

[Steve Madden]

Everything looks delicious! Will have to try the onion an garlic!

 

[Doug Selman]

The roasted garlic and onion blooms look great! Will be trying the onion real soon

 

[BillSmith]

Looks good! My daughter is a pescatarian (seafood & veggies) so I'm always looking for meat free recipes. Just made jalapeno popper mac-and-cheese today. Very good.

 

[Ken Barth]

Good ideas, nicely done! Gonna have to try smoking cauliflower.

 

[Brad Olson]

Next up was an onion, did one last week, was just ok, so my friend suggested cutting it like a blossom, and cooking it longer until it was super soft. Added a pat of butter, s&p and a sprig of rosemary.
Made a nice onion dip, chopped it in the food processor with some sour cream, mayo, worcestershire, chipotle powder and cumin.

Screw the dip. Up here in SupperClubLand, I envision that onion in the Saturday night soup kettle.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Have done the cauliflower on a grill works but takes a while. Like cutting it up and cooking a bit faster indoors. But it does look really good from the grill. As a former vegan i can agree that no. Not going back

 

[BrianCal]

Screw the dip. Up here in Supper Club Land, I envision that onion in the Saturday night soup kettle.

Soup sounds good too. My wife also wants to try them in a quiche.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Wow Brian, that all looks delicious. That grilled baguette is my favorite.

 

[BrianCal]

One more, a little unusual for me since it is kind of patting myself on the back. But my chef friend is so blown away by the popularity of the smoked cauliflower panini, and learning the impact of smoke as a flavor layer, that I decided to give him a sample of my other experiment, smoked butter. Was doing some cheeses, figured what the heck, give it a shot.
This is what he put on his restaurant’s social media posts. Have to admit, felt pretty good to have a talented chef give a public shout out.

 

[Brad Olson]

One more, a little unusual for me since it is kind of patting myself on the back.

Geez, Brian, your head's gonna get as big as Barry Bonds'!

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

High praise Brian!! Well deserved, I'm sure.

 

[BrianCal]

Geez, Brian, your head's gonna get as big as Barry Bonds'!

Very possible, but I won’t forget all of you little people I met along the way
But the good news is that my friend who posted it is also a wiseass Irishman from Dublin, who can bust me back down just as easily, lol.

 

[BrianCal]

High praise Brian!! Well deserved, I'm sure.

Thanks Cliff !!
For us passionate, but non-professional cooks, sometimes just that pat on the back is all we need....

 

[BrianCal]

Wifey decided to make quiche tonight, it called for onions so we decided to use the smoked ones. She nailed it, it was really delicious. Could definitely taste the smoke, and even picked up a hint of the Rosemary that they were smoked with. She also used some Dill Havarti that I had smoked, for another layer of flavor.

 

[BrianCal]

Tasty appetizer....smoked butter on a baguette with sliced tomato, fresh basil, s&p. Yum !!