Cauliflower Steak Piccata

My latest culinary experiment:



I'd read about grilled cauliflower steak being a bit underwhelming, but I thought, "Hey! What if I cut a head of cauliflower into steaks, par-cooked them by steaming, then used them in place of chicken cutlets in a Chicken Piccata or Chicken Francaise recipe?

Well, here are my results. I got two rather thick cauliflower steaks out of a head. You can only cut the steaks through the stem, so you'll end up with leftover florettes. I par-cooked the two steaks by steaming them for about 5-7 minutes, being careful to not overcook them. I ran the steaks under cold water briefly and let them cool while I seasoned some flour, made an egg wash and heated some olive oil and butter in a frying pan as described in this Chicken Piccata recipe. I opted to use 1/2 c. white wine for the sauce, the juice of about one lemon, and probably too many capers (but I love them!). I also rolled the 2 tablespoons of butter in flour before adding it to the sauce to thicken it a bit more.

The verdict: Great, but with a little room for improvement. I think I cut the cauliflower steaks too thick (almost 1&quot . With a little practice, I think I can get about four 1/2"-thick steaks out of a head, and I think that would make for a better dish. The steaks cooked up golden brown and beautiful. The par-cooking was definitely necessary. Apart from helping achieve proper done-ness, it also helped the flour and the egg wash stick. As for the sauce, it was just awesome, and I wouldn't change a thing (even the prodigious amount of capers!) Another minus is that this recipe calls for parmesan cheese, butter, and eggs, so our vegan friends will have to be creative if they want to adapt this recipe to their needs.

I accompanied it with lemon risotto with peas (to complete my proteins!), and I also added some leftover asparagus for the picture because the plate looked like it needed more.