Cauliflower Quickles Scented with Lavender and Fennel

Another recipe from the Quickles file. Cauliflower lends itself beautifully to this technique-it maintains it crisp texture yet no longer tastes raw, and the blend of lavender, fennel seed, and peppercorns brings out the sweetness of the cauliflower. The lavender will tint white cauliflower, but if you use purple cauliflower the color is even nicer. These are nice to serve as an appetizer or as a side to accompany braise and stews, roasts, burgers, or as part of a salad. They go really well with a dish of lentils topped with a poached egg. It turns out kids like them as well, and they last for quite a while in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

Put the cauliflower and onion into a non-reactive bowl, and scatter the salt over, tossing as you work to get all the cauliflower with the salt. Rub it around to cover all the surfaces and work it in a little. Use your fingers to separate the onions bits and be sure they get salted as well. Allow to rest at room temperature 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, rinse the onions and the cauliflower in several changes of water, being sure to remove all the salt. Taste a little cauliflower-it can have a touch of salt flavor, but should not be “salty”. Rinse more if needed, then drain in a colander really well. You want to get rid of as much water as possible.

Once the cauliflower is drying, put the sugar, vinegar, and water into a pot and bring to a boil. Boil until the sugar goes into suspension, and reduce the heat to a bare simmer. When simmering, add the lavender, fennel, pepper, and thyme if using. Simmer 10 minutes, remove from the heat and allow to cool down 5 minutes.

While the quickling solution cools, fill a wide-mouthed 1 quart canning jar with boiling water, then empty after 30 seconds. Load in the drained vegetables.

Strain the quickling solution of the herbs and fill the jar. Before you get to the top with the solution, rap the jar smartly on a cutting board to settle the contents and drive out air bubbles. If you wish, pour boiling water on a metal spoon and use it push down the vegetables. Top the container up with the solution.

Put the lid on loosely**** and allow to cool a bit more to where you can put it in the refrigerator. When cool enough, tighten the lid and chill. They are ready as soon as they are cold. Keeps several weeks.

Chef’s Notes:

*Diamond Crystal Kosher salt is the perfect sized flake for this job. Not small enough that it dissolves into the vegetables, nor so large that it does nothing. The size and timing work for the best here, tenderizing/curing the vegetables without flavoring them too much. If you use smaller crystal salt, you will need to adjust volume and time to keep from wilting the vegetables and making them taste salty. Also, the flavor of this salt is clean and pure.

**Using the mix of vinegars adds more depth to the flavor and softens the tang a little. It will help compensate for a not so good white wine vinegar. Some white wine vinegars are very harsh, so use a nice one with good flavor. You want some white wine vinegar as it matches the cruciferous funk of cauliflower perfectly. If you wanted to try something fun and you have a good red wine vinegar, use that instead.

***Some lavender is grown for perfume and sachets and is heavily sprayed. Avoid at all costs for food.

****You can get sturdy white plastic lids for wide mouth canning jars, and that would be ideal for quickles. The quickle solution will break down the metal rings and tops fairly quickly, and the plastic tops are quite sturdy and re-usable.

Yield: Around 1 quart

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen