Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Hollandaise, Shoestring Potatoes and Pickled Onions

instead of cutting your cauliflower up into florets, do a whole roasted cauliflower and top with lemon-y hollandaise, crispy potatoes and pickled red onion. mmm.

i definitely don't bake/cook as much as i did before starting a full time job, which has had a trickle effect to the volume of content that goes up here.

i go out a lot more, including that time i accidentally ordered 3 drinks instead of 1 because the bartender misheard me (their thunderdome, with orange rooiboos sherbet, a whole egg and gin is delicious, btw).

or that time my friend and i ordered drinks (i opted for a grapefruit, gin and egg white combo, so maybe my new thing is fruity egg gin cocktails), marinated olives and creme brulee after eating a pile of nachos and some shrimp cocktail.

on one such delicious outing, i tasted liholiho's whole roasted cauliflower with bone marrow hollandaise, pickled red onion and shoestring potatoes. i'm not a huge fan of hollandaise, and i'm 99% sure we decided to get this to add some vegetables into our lives. fast forward 10 minutes after it lands on the table, and there's barely a drop of sauce left, maybe half a crispy corner of carb remaining. my cousin couldn't stop raving about it and saying that she didn't even like cauliflower.

i thought it'd be fun to surprise everyone with this dish at a family gathering over the summer, especially since liholiho's menu no longer lists it on their menu anymore, so i did! this homemade version is equally as delicious as the restaurant rendition, even with a simplified hollandaise without bone marrow (i've posted something with meat twice this year, which speaks to how often i cook meat). i also borrowed the method i used for baked curly fries, using a slightly thinner die to cut the potatoes out.

and how did this whole roasted cauliflower turn out? the cauliflower is tender and a little charred along the floret tops, the perfect base for everything else on top. the hollandaise is super creamy (hello egg yolks and butter!), but it's kept from being too much with all the lemon in the hollandaise, plus the tangy, crunchy pickled red onion that i could shamelessly munch on plain, a mini forest of cilantro, and crispy potatoes.

1 year ago: pumpkin banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting | sleepytime tea latte
2 year ago: lap cheong okonomiyaki | pumpkin cranberry raspberry oatmeal
3 years ago: waffles with spiced pumpkin butter and brown sugar walnut crumble

5 from 1 vote

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Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Hollandaise, Shoestring Potatoes and Pickled Onions

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Pickling Time

1 hr

Total Time

2 hrs 5 mins

 

In case you're really looking to impress someone with cauliflower, this whole roasted cauliflower doctored with creamy, crispy, pickle-y toppings is perfect.

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cauliflower, cilantro, eggs, hollandaise, onion, pickles, potatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 398 kcal

Ingredients

Quick-Pickled Red Onions

• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup water
• ½ red onion thinly sliced

Shoestring Potatoes

• 1 russet potato scrubbed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 medium head cauliflower stem trimmed

Hollandaise

• 2 large egg yolks room temperature
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Assembly

• ¼ cup cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Quick-Pickled Red Onions

2. Whisk vinegar, sugar, salt and water in a small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Place onion in a jar; pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

3. Shoestring Potatoes
4. Use a spiralizer to cut out the fries (use the thinnest setting that you can). Toss them with the oil and a couple of shakes of salt, then spread onto a baking sheet.
5. Roast the potatoes at 425F for 15-20 minutes on the bottom rack, flipping the potatoes halfway through so that they brown evenly. Check often during the last 5-10 minutes, and pull any potatoes off that are really dark.
6. Roasted Cauliflower
7. Sprinkle salt all over the cauliflower. Add 2 inches of water to a large pot, then add the cauliflower, stem side down. Cover the pot with a lid.
8. Place over medium-low heat, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is fork-tender. If it looks like the water level is getting low, add more water as needed. Cool slightly, then transfer to a oiled rimmed baking sheet.
9. Place an oven rack as close as possible to the heating element, taking into account how tall the cauliflower is. Preheat your oven to broil. Broil the cauliflower for 5-10 minutes, or until the florets are golden brown.
10. Hollandaise
11. Put the egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest in a blender. Pulse a couple times to combine.
12. Put the butter in a microwave-safe container with a spout and melt in a microwave until melted and hot. With the blender running, gradually add the butter into the egg to make a smooth frothy sauce. If the sauce is very thick, blend in a teaspoon of lukewarm water to loosen it up. Season with the salt.
13. Assembly
14. Place the cauliflower on a serving plate. Drizzle the hollandaise over, then sprinkle the pickled red onions all over. Scatter the shoestring potatoes and cilantro on top. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Hollandaise modified slightly from The Food Network Test Kitchen, quick-pickled red onions from Oliver Strand via Bon Appetit, June 2012.

It may be tempting to spiralize the potatoes ahead of time and then bake right before using, but I'd recommend against this, since the potatoes will oxidize and stick together. I'd recommend pickling the onions and steaming the cauliflower the night before, then finishing everything else close to serving time if you're trying to divide the work and time.

Your choice if you want to keep or remove the cauliflower leaves (I removed them off of the cauliflower pictured in this post).

other cauliflower dishes besides this whole roasted cauliflower

cauliflower salad with pickled grapes, cheddar and almonds