Blog Contagion

This is antique food, so I found an ancient snapshot-type frame for it. The preparation dates back to 2008 (that's antique), when everybody learned how to make cauliflower steaks. I had to play along, too. You know, way back then.

I really loved my cauliflower steak, back, oh, five years ago. And then I never made another one. I mean, it was good enough to eat, but I got this notion that it had been a fad, was passé, and I'd look horribly out of date. (Note to self: It's just food! You're all into your Green Goddess dressing and your Chicken Divan... That's old!)

So, not long ago, by means of blog contagion, I wanted to cook a cauliflower the way somebody or other had, roasted, whole, in the oven. It was new to me. It was modern! Pretty, browny, sort of stunning to look at.

We had the cauliflower in the fridge, but then, by blog contagion, I came across a condiment called muhammara, which I had never heard of. I Googled it, and found out I had, in fact, eaten it before when a guest brought some to my house. So that's what it was called. It's a mixture of roasted red bell peppers, chopped walnuts, bread crumbs, a chopped jalapeño, lemon juice, garlic and oil. We made some, and ate a little with bread. Terribly interesting.

Do you see where this is going? Yeah. We thought the leftover muhammara would be delicious with that cauliflower, but suddenly a whole, roasted cauliflower seemed wrong. Gross. Bulbulous.

We swallowed our pride. So steaks it is, simply prepared by browning both sides in a skillet with a little butter or oil. They get such a beautiful, toasty crunch on the edges. And they cook really fast, so keep a sharp knife handy to poke them to see how tender they are getting.

Then, warm up a little muhammara, which isn't usually done but nobody wanted cold sauce on warm food, and slather some on your outmoded cauliflower steaks. Try to live down the shame. But man, this is good.

Eat, enjoy, and remind yourself what a dope you are. Cauliflower steaks are officially back in the repertoire.