When I studied at Le Cordon Bleu here in Paris the chefs would say "the only thing better than butter is more butter", and this is a dish in that spirit. Beurre blanc is a classic french sauce that is often reserved for seafood, but here I`ve paired it with roasted cauliflower. The dish is the perfect side to fish or chicken, but it`s also wonderful by itself with just a piece of good bread (with more butter, but that goes without saying).
Ingredients
- ½ x cauliflower
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 handful fresh sage
- 1 x shallots
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 handful fresh tarragon
- 100 g butter
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- 1 x organic lemon
- 2 x kumquat
Method
- Clean your cauliflower. Cut into florets and add them to a bowl. Dress with a little olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 190 °C, fan.
- Transfer the cauliflower to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in the middle of the oven until the cauliflower is nice and golden. This will take about 15-20 minutes, but make sure to check once in a while. I also like to add a handful of fresh sage leaves. Mix them with a generous amount of olive oil and a little salt and add them to the sheet when the cauliflower is about half way done. This way they won`t burn.
- Finely slice the shallot, garlic and about 1 tbsp fresh herbs. I used tarragon, but chives or flat leaf parsley will also work perfectly.
- Make the sauce: Dice the butter into smaller pieces. Make sure it is cold and straight from the fridge. Heat up about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a little sauce pan. Sweat the shallot on medium heat until it`s softened but not coloured. Add the garlic and sweat a couple more minutes. Pour in the white wine and let reduce completely before adding the creme fraiche. Let simmer for a minute or two more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the diced butter. Stir in some finely sliced herbs and add salt, black pepper and lemon zest to taste.
- Slice the kumquat and dress with a little olive oil. If you can`t get hold of kumquat they cand be replaced with sliced clementine segments. Add the sauce to a serving plate or individual plates and top with the cauliflower, crispy sage and kumquat. I also added fresh endive leaves, but any fresh herbs or nice salad leaves will do. Voila!
