Would you believe, there are people living in the south of England - in the Home Counties, even - who've never seen or heard of a romanesco cauliflower?
I've been aware of them for years but you still don't see them very often. The flavour's pretty much the same as a "normal" cauliflower but they look fantastic so when I saw them at Secretts Farm Shop I snapped one up.
Now, what to have with it? The lamb from Mill Farm that we bought at the Farnham Food Festival was beckoning, and I had some lardons in the fridge already. All we needed now was new potatoes for a method that I remember my mum using when I was a kid.
Romanesco cauliflowers separate nicely into florets like the regular variety. I admit this one had been lying about a few days longer than I'd have liked so I had to bin some that had discoloured, but still got enough for two people out of it. Wash and chop some new potatoes. I like the skins left on, but feel free to peel them if you want to.
Get the lardons going in a non-stick pan, then add the potatoes and cauliflower pieces and cook over a high heat. You need to keep an eye on it at this point and move it all around every minute or so - you want the potatoes to pick up a nice golden brown colour but not burn.
Next, add enough stock to nearly cover everything (I used the stock I made from the slow-cooker roast chicken, but Oxo is fine), season with salt and pepper, chuck in some rosemary (fresh if you've got it, dried if you haven't) bring it to the boil, then cover with a lid and turn the heat right down.
Technical fact about lids. Water boils at a lower temperature at higher pressure, so if you put the lid on you can cook using less fuel, saving you money on the gas/electricity bill. You also need less liquid, as you don't need to completely cover everything because the exposed parts will cook in the steam. However, if you put the lid on, less liquid will evaporate - so if you want the liquid to evaporate (for example if you want a sauce to reduce and thicken) you will want to leave the lid off.
While we're being a bit technical, let's talk about heat distribution within a pan. Normally veg boils pretty evenly, but if you've done what I've done - use a wide pan and turn the gas down low - you'll find that the middle is hotter than the edges and the veg in the middle will cook quicker. Stir regularly, transfer everything into a smaller but deeper pan, or go electric. On modern electric stoves, the temperature gets lower but the heated area stays the same.
Anyway: after about 10-15 minutes the potatoes and cauliflower will be very nearly ready, so it's time to cook the lamb. We like our lamb as it should be - good and rare - so it takes barely any time at all. The only preparation it needs is a little seasoning with salt and pepper.
Get a griddle good and hot (or a frying pan if you don't have a griddle). These thinly sliced lamb steaks took no more than two minutes.
I don't very often go in for cheffy touches but I couldn't resist putting naff Harvester style square grill marks on it, so it's thirty seconds on one diagonal, turn over, cook another thirty seconds, then repeat on the other diagonal (if you see what I mean).
Taste verdict
The potatoes were nice, but let's be honest - they weren't as good as Mum used to make. The lamb was excellent, but I take no credit for that - when you've cooking with ingredients of that quality, you just do as little as possible and let them shine through.
I did find myself doing something I haven't done since I was a kid, and got a spoon out so I could finish the leftover gravy...
Financial verdict
180g organic lamb chump chop - £2.60
1 romanesco cauliflower - 95p
250g new potatoes - 38p
100g local free-range lardons - £1.20. Use any sort of bacon you like - the cheapest option is probably to get a couple of slices of streaky bacon from the butcher and cut them up.
£2.57 per person. For such a luxury meal, that looks like value to me!
The skinny
Chop a romanesco cauliflower into florets
Chop new potatoes into equal sized portions
Heat oil in a pan and add some lardons
Add the potatoes and cauliflower
Cook on a high heat until the potatoes pick up some golden-brown colour
Add stock to almost cover everything
Add salt, pepper and rosemary.
Cook with the lid on for about 10-15 minutes
When the potatoes are nearly cooked (test with a knife), leave the lid off to finish
Season the lamb with salt and pepper and fry for one minute on each side, making poncy diagonal lines if you have the inclination
WeightWatchers ProPoints
8
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