Cauliflower with semi-homemade breadcrumbs

I attempted this cauliflower dish that I found through Saveur on http://whatsforsupper-juno.blogspot.com. It is a slightly modified Robert Carrier recipe.

Breadcrumbs

I made the breadcrumbs by slicing a Trader Joe's baguette and baking the slices for approximately 15 minutes at 300 degrees. I then obliterated the slices in Alex's fabulous food processor until they devolved into crumbs.


Cauliflower with Butter, Lemon, Parsley and Crispy Breadcrumbs

1 small, fresh head of cauliflower (I used one I got at the farmer's market)
1 t (5 ml) salt
a slice of lemon
2 big eggs (I also got these at the farmer's market. Farm-raised eggs are just so much more delicious)
7 T (about 100 ml) melted butter
3 T (45 ml) breadcrumbs
the juice of 1 fat lemon
a handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and milled black pepper

Fill a big saucepan with water, add the salt and the lemon slice, and bring to the boil. Remove the green outer leaves of the cauliflower and trim the stalk, and any brown bits. Submerge the whole head of cauliflower in the boiling water and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until it's just tender and yields to a knife.

In the meantime, put the eggs on to boil. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water, and cook for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, pour off the boiling water, and run cold water over the eggs until their shells feel cool to the touch. Crack and peel the eggs, chop them into a fine dice, cover with cling film and set aside.

NOTE: Lower gently does not mean toss them in there. doh.

Remove the head of cauliflower from the water and drain, upside down, in a colander over the sink.

Heat the butter in a frying pan. When it stops foaming, tip in the breadcrumbs and fry them for a few minutes, or until they turn golden brown and crunchy. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, parsley and chopped boiled egg. Season well with salt and pepper.'

VERDICT

Dud Recipe. Never again. 7 tablespoons of butter is a lot of dang butter, and definitely WAY too much to fry 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. As if the soupy mixture of butter and breadcrumbs wasn't bad enough, the whole lemon/parsley combo that sounded so interesting was just kind of....gross. Fortunately, Alex's pork loin (a favorite of ours) turned out great. I will have to post that recipe for safekeeping sometime.

Ok, at least I tried it. Though I feel terrible for practically wasting such a wonderful cauliflower, two fresh delicious eggs, and a whole stick of butter (I tried to re-do the sauce, and then Alex tried after my second attempt). *sigh*