Nothing says I love you on Saint Valentine Day like cauliflower! Say what? And not only that we will mix the cauliflower with a very dark chocolate.

WHY you ask ?????????? Ever dabbled in food pairing? The theory goes like this: 80% of the tasting experience comes from the smell and only 20% from the taste. So if the major volatile molecules of two foods are the same, they might taste nice when eaten together. What may seem like an impossible pairings can actually be a perfect compliment. Click here is you want to read more on food pairing.

Well it turns out caramelized cauliflower and cocoa (or a very very dark chocolate) is a great match. I actually did this combo once during a food pairing dinner and it was the hit of the night, everyone in shock. These two recipes are my submission for February’s #chocolatelove month! Why 2 recipes? Because the second recipe below (the original one) has a big mistake in it which required fast thinking on my party to save the recipe. It says 40gr of chocolate….I believe it should have been 140gr. Instead of going in the fridge it went in the freezer to become a semifreddo. I remade the recipe with the proper correction and without the egg, eliminating the cooking in the oven part. Much easier but I offer you both options.

Cauliflower Terrine with Cocoa

Caramelized cauliflower

Cauliflower Terrine with Cocoa Semifreddo

I just happened to receive recently some wonderful dark chocolate from Green & Black’s Chocolate.  It was a perfect match for this unusual recipe I had in mind. I have worked with this organic Fairtrade chocolate before but never with the Dark 85%: very rich and dense in flavor with a hint of sweetness. The recipe actually asked for 99% but I thought the 85% would work very well.

Please join in on the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove 🙂

Ξ Cauliflower Terrine with Cocoa Ξ
correction from the original recipe below

Ingredients:

250 g cauliflower
140 gr dark chocolate 85% cocoa, chopped
200 ml heavy cream
a pinch of cayenne and salt (I used African Bird Pepper)

Directions:

Pick cauliflower into small pieces. Blanch the flowers in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Then transfer them in ice-water, drain the flowers. Spread them over a baking grid and bake in an oven at 400 °F for approx. 30 min, turning the flowers after 15 min. Line a mini terrine rectangular*** mold with foil and fill with the cauliflower. Set aside.

***Make your own mini terrine rectangular mold 2 x 2 x 11 inches***

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the cream to boiling point and pour over the dark chocolate. Let the chocolate melt for 5 minutes without stirring. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Add a pinch of salt and cayenne and mix well. Pour the chocolate mixture in the mold covering the cauliflower. Close with a cover. Gently strike mold on the counter to remove air bubbles. Refrigerate for 24 hours. To serve, un-mould, peel off the foil and slice into wedges to serve.

Ξ Cauliflower Terrine with Cocoa Semifreddo  Ξ
adapted from La Mia Cucina

Ingredients:

250 g cauliflower
40 g dark chocolate 85% cocoa, chopped
200 ml heavy cream
1 egg
a pinch of cayenne and salt

Directions:

Pick cauliflower into small pieces. Blanch the flowers in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Then transfer them in ice-water, drain the flowers. Spread them over a baking grid and bake in an oven at 400 °F for approx. 30 min, turning the flowers after 15 min. Line a 450ml triangular mold*** with foil and fill with the cauliflower. Set aside.

***The recipe asks for a 450ml triangular mold…like really who has that? So here is what you can do instead. Get a 9 inch square pan and put it in a lasagna dish. Prop it up to a 45 degree angle with something that is ovenproof. Make a cover with a strip of aluminum paper.***

Over moderate heat in a pan, add the chocolate to the cream and stir until the chocolate has dissolved and the mixture is homogeneous . Let it cool a bit and then whisk in the egg. Add a pinch of salt and cayenne and mix well. Pour the chocolate mixture in the mold covering the cauliflower. Close with a cover. Gently strike mold on the counter to remove air bubbles.

Place the filled mold in a water bath and cook at 195°F in the oven for 1 hour. Let the terrine cool  down, then put mold in the freezer overnight. Remove the terrine from the mold, leave out to soften a bit and cut into 1 inch slices slices. Leave out o thaw out a bit before serving. Ideally the cauliflower would no longer be hard.

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P.S. I just had to share this really cute and naughty book with cookies which would make quite the unusual Saint Valentine gift: the  Kama Sutra for Cookies book, featuring an unabashed gingerbread couple, who are photographed in unflinching full color, the Cookie Sutra is a recipe for pleasure.