Eat Pip-Life

That cauliflower recipe (and a bit about the weekend!)

March 21, 2016

 

I’ve had a really busy few days.  On Friday I helped Spotlight launch National Craft Month (with a bunch of really lovely creative people.) It was a snack/demo/make fest in a gorgeous little restaurant at the end of St Kilda Pier. I did a little speech where I said good things but spoke too fast and then got to chat to lots of super great girls (and a few boys too!)

On Saturday we got up early and headed to the market to gather flowers for a very special wedding. I spent Saturday and Saturday night making pretty arrangements – add to that a bonus middle of the night kid pick-up at 2.30am – and then got up nice and early on Sunday to finish up, take the blooms to the wedding venue and set ’em all up.

Then it was lunchtime, so we whizzed back home from wedding venue to get ready for a little afternoon tea party, because it was MY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY!

Somewhere, amidst all the busy, it seemed like a good idea to make room for a family and friends get-together to celebrate my birthday, so that is what we did. Thank goodness I have Cam to help me out, because honestly, I could not have got things organised and done all my special jobs if it weren’t for him.

We made a bunch of delicious food – some sweet things and some savoury – and loaded the table up for hungry afternoon pals. The things that were the most extra popular were

+ Cam’s Triple Decker Lemon Curd Pavlova – I think the recipe is from the Greta-Anna Cookbook
+ My Brown Sugar Roasted Potatoes and
+ Our Super Delicious Fried Cauliflower

We also made:

+ Upside Down Pear Cake (the Sally Wise recipe from her gluten-free cookbook)
+ Platters of cheese and grapes and tomatoes and radishes and things
+ Fluffy scones with raspberry cream

And our friend Angela brought a beautiful cheesecake and Brooke + Shanaka brought some momos from their restaurant.

We also made some pompoms (of course!) and some beaded things (I have the biggest bowl of beads on my table, still!) It was lovely and I am so glad to have such good people in my life.

I promised a few of those people that I would post the recipe for the cauliflower on my blog because it was hugely popular!

So… here is how to make the cauliflower dish!

 

Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 4.46.39 pm

 

Super Delicious Fried Cauliflower
Based on this recipe

You need a wok or a very deep saucepan to deep-fry the cauliflower in – or use a deep-fryer if you have one (we don’t!)
This dish is great for parties because it’s vegan and gluten-free and dairy-free – perfect for those with dietary restrictions.

You need…

1 cauliflower, broken up into small flowerets

And – for the batter
100g chickpea flour
50g rice flour
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric*
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
1/2 teaspoon of sweet paprika
300 ml soda water
fresh herbs for garnish

What to do
Mix all dry ingredients together. Make a well in the middle. Add soda water. Mix until the batter is smooth.
Coat cauliflower in the batter and deep fry in hot, clean oil (vegetable oil will do!) until golden. Drain on paper towel.
Season with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve.

Serve hot or cold – both are great!

I like to serve the cauliflower with a nice tomato sambal.

* if you are doing gluten-free – remember some turmeric has wheat in it, so read the label carefully!

 

This morning, I did some writing and went to a film screening and now I am at home being exhausted, listening to The Bachelor while I type (as though it’s a radio show or something!) I am officially tuckered out and shall limp to the finish line that is Easter and have a BIG rest, I think.

It’s so ace to have so many fun and interesting things to do, but the year sure did start with a bang. I am looking forward to a less pace-y but equally interesting next quarter of the year.

How about you? How has the start of the year been? Can you even believe we are a quarter of the way through already?! And did you know that Craft For The Soul came out one year ago?! How. Time. Flies!

pip signature

 

Got Something To Say?
Want to comment on this post? Got something to say on this subject? Ace!
You can head to my Facebook for further discussion!
(Or send me an email!)
Or you can also comment below.

3 Comments

  • Reply Angela March 23, 2016 at 10:53 PM

    Thank you for the recipe Pip!! Such a lovely birthday party for a lovely lady! xx

  • Reply Claire March 21, 2016 at 9:01 PM

    Happy Birthday Pip! It sounds like a super celebration 🙂 I can’t believe we’re a quarter of the way through the year already – how did that happen? But a bit of spring weather is very welcome here. Looking forward to snapping up a copy of Craft for the Soul… I’ve been looking for it for ages and can finally see online that’s available in the UK in April – Hooray! Have a lovely Easter x

  • Reply Clare March 21, 2016 at 5:47 PM

    It sounds like you had a lovely, full weekend and a fabulous birthday filled with some of your favourite things. The flowers were beautiful.

  • Leave a Reply