I bought Julia Child’s first cookbook – “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” when it first came out years ago. She was just beginning her cooking show on “Educational TV” as it was called back then.
I loved her show, but her cookbook recipes were so long they scared me. I put the book on my bookshelf and forgot about it.
Fast forward to current day. The movie “Julie and Julia” inspired me to revisit Julia’s book. There it was all dusty and hiding at the back of my shelf waiting for me. I figured I’d try some recipes starting with Julia’s roast chicken.
First the whole chicken was rubbed with a ton of butter then roasted, basting every ten minutes. Every 10 minutes? Seemed like a lot but OK. I gave it a try.
The result?
Hands down….. the best, most wonderful, most divine roast chicken I’ve ever eaten!
Would I make it again?
Not on your life!
It was labor intensive and took me the whole afternoon!!
The next time I made chicken, I used Julia’s recipe but changed the basting frequency to every 20 minutes instead of 10. What difference could a measly 10 minutes make?
Apparently a lot. My resulting chicken came out OK but it was not divine. Not like the first chicken. Not even close. It tasted good but ordinary.
Thinking about it, I realized that as the butter melted off the chicken, it accumulated in the bottom of the pan and caramelized. By basting the chicken with the caramelized butter every 10 minutes, its seductive flavor got plenty of soak into the chicken time. Changing the basting time meant there was less caramelized butter soaking into the chicken. Less caramelized butter in the chicken – less divine taste.
What made me think I could perfect Julia?
You are the cauli-flower of my eye.
I luv mashed potatoes but they are so high in carbs I could run a marathon on just one helping. This little gem of a recipe has changed all that for me. It’s mashed potatoes without the guilt.
But here’s the thing….
You have to be willing to swap the carbs in potatoes for the fat and calories in the cream cheese. That’s a tough one for those of us brought up with a fear of fat and calories.
If you’re into keto (a very low or no carb regime) this is a no brainer for you.
Right now I’m a lower carb cook so this fits my needs to a t.
(Don’t google it…. “t” is correct not tea or tee.)
I’ve served them to my meat and potato loving husband who thought they were really good until I told him they were cauliflower. Best to keep some things to yourself.
Fabulous Cauliflower Mash
(aka Faux Mashed Potatoes)
Sub cauliflower for potatoes and you’ve got delicious stuff so low carb you could have a second helping. Serve with gravy like any mash!
Ingredients
1 small to medium cauliflower separated into florets (about 8 cups – a little more or less is OK)
8 oz. cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Cook florets till very soft by boiling them in a pot of water or microwaving – covered - with a few tablespoons of water. Drain well.
Pulse in the food processor with the cream cheese until very smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Tasty Tips
You probably could use frozen, thawed and dried cauliflower but I’ve never tried so let me know how it turns out.
They cauliflower can be cooked in advance and refrigerated till needed. Just make sure it’s very soft.
I use regular cream cheese. I’ve never tried low fat or fat free or Neuchâtel so I don’t know how they will work either. Give them a try if you’re adventurous then let me know how they turned out, too.
Boursin cheese might be yummy but the package is only 5.2 oz. so you have to use a package a package and a half which can get expensive. You might use one whole Boursin then make up the difference with cream cheese to cut down the cost a bit.
After all this cream cheese talk you may think you will just cut down the amount of the cream cheese to save on the fat and calories which you can certainly do (and I have done myself when I’m feeling guilty) but the resulting mash will taste more like cauliflower than potatoes – which is OK too if you prefer or don’t care.
You can microwave the mash to reheat but the cream cheese can sizzle and separate out if heated too hot.
One last tip….. if the cauliflower isn’t dry, the mash will be very soft and runny-ish. I like my mash a little on the firm side like potatoes so I make sure the cauliflower is good and dry.
Hungry for more?
See what else I’m cooking up …..
CheesecakeFarms.com
Love your kitchen tips and honesty, Karla! MAYBE I'll try the psuedo-mashed cauliflower "potatoes." 😆