Brown Butter Roasted Cauliflower

Name: Brown Butter Roasted Cauliflower
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower, washed, with green leaves removed and stem trimmed; 4 tbsp butter, softened; 1 tbsp sherry vinegar; 1 tbsp dijon mustard; 1 tbsp canola oil; to taste sea salt; 1 sprig thyme, optional

August 09, 2019

This is a simple and incredibly tasty dish that takes some time but is fairly hands off during the process. The cauliflower can be a side dish to a protein, or it is hearty enough to be a vegetarian entree for a meal.

The basic recipe is from Michael Ruhlman’s classic Ruhlman’s Twenty cookbook, but after having a similar preparation at Momofuku Ssam bar where they paired it with a tangy vinaigrette sauce, I’ve started to incorporate a similar mustard sauce into the preparation when I make it at home.

8 servings

10 mins

90 mins

100 mins

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, washed, with green leaves removed and stem trimmed
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp canola oil
to taste sea salt
1 sprig thyme, optional

Equipment

Cast Iron Skillet

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place the head of cauliflower in a cast iron skillet and drizzle with canola oil. Roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, the cauliflower should begin to brown. Remove it from the oven.
Coat the top of the cauliflower head with the softened butter and season generously with sea salt.
Return the cast iron to the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
Angle the pan and use a metal spoon to baste the cauliflower with some of the collected melted butter. You can optionally add aromatics at this step like a sprig of thyme leaves.
Return the cast iron to the oven for a final 15 minutes.
Remove the cast iron from the oven and turn the oven off.
Baste the cauliflower head again with the melted butter from the pan.
Transfer the cauliflower head to a wire rack to rest.
Add the sherry vinegar to the butter collected in the bottom of the cast iron pan and use a small whisk to incorporate. Add the butter/sherry mix to a small bowl with the dijon mustard and whisk to make a thickened sauce.
Serve the cauliflower in wedges on a plate with a dollop of the mustard sauce.