April 18th - Pizzeria Delfina's Spicy Cauliflower - A San Francisco Trxxx, nah, Classic

D used to live in the Bay Area for 7 years and has been a foodie/chef since he was 5 and used to cook with his grand mere who lived next door.  When he picks his favourite local pizzaria, he means bidness.  Pizzeria Delfina's in San Francisco's Mission District is amazing.  My sister who lives there now raves about it as well.  It runs in the family except, O, my sister, likes food in a way where she loves good food but does not want to be involved in the creation of it.  No offence but girl is in 3 different dance troops and outdoor clubs.  If she is not eating in 15 minutes of walking through her door, she goes into hypoglycemic shock :^P.  D and I, on the otherhand both have a propensity to want to relive our favourites as often as we can and therefore try to learn to do them at home.  This recipe can be found, re-created on many websites.  This is our adapted version with what is in the frigo.

Pizzeria Delfina's Spicy Cauliflower
(Serves 4-6 or me and D, with some snacks for tomorrow.)

The cauliflower will break down as it cooks, so keep it in large segments of about two clusters each. If the cauliflower doesn't fit in the pan without crowding, fry one batch first, drain, then fry the second batch and follow with the parsley, capers and garlic. The dish is often served with a topping of fresh breadcrumbs, sauteed in olive oil.

1 head cauliflower, 1kg, size of a Cabbage Patch Kid doll's head.
EVO aka Extra Virgin Olive Oil with some Vegetable oil if you are not able to control the heat of your stove well.
Salt to taste
1/4 c chopped Parsley, Italian if you have it.
1/4 c Capers, drained and dried
2 large cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
3 Serrano Chilies, chopped (we have used hot red banana type peppers before too)
1 t Red Chili flakes
(the classic uses Picked Calabrese Chilies, drained and sliced)

Cut the cauliflower in large even-size florets,sized of a walnuts by cutting around the core, down around the stem. Dry well with a clean dish towel.  The remaining moister will cause splatter.

Place a metal strainer over a bowl.  In a wide shallow pan with a heavy bottom like a dutch oven or Creuset, pour 1/2 inch oil. Heat the oil on high heat until very hot but not smoking.

Place the Cauliflower in the pan and cook on high heat until it begins to brown, about 1 minute, then reduce to medium/medium-high and continue cooking until it is deeply brown all over, flipping over to fry all sides, 8-10 minutes total. Season well with Coarse Sea Salt. The oil should stay bubbly hot. By the time the Cauliflower is deeply browned, it should be pretty much cooked through.

When the Cauliflower is 1-2 minutes from being done, add the Parsley, Capers and Garlic. Cook until the Garlic has browned, then add the Chile Flakes.

Immediately drain into the strainer. Allow to drain well before seasoning with salt to taste and tossing with the Calabrese Peppers, if using.

Props to:

Pizzeria Delfina

the Mission District
3611 18th St
San Francisco, CA 94110



Drinking:

Kumquat Mojitos

10 Kumquats
1 T Fine Sugar
1.5 oz White Rum (or Cacacia
10-12 leaves of fresh Mint
Ice
Club Soda



The rest of dinner was accompanied by a Callia Alta Shiraz Malbec.  Deep Fruits, nice profile and texture. Better with food than alone.

  
For breakfast, I had Poached Eggs on Sourdough with some Chinese Chives. MMMMM Nice Medium Poached Eggs are guuuuuud! With a side of Fake-on aka Soy Bacon.