Almond Parmesan Cauliflower Bites for Man Food Mondays

Hi Folks.

Today I want to share these Almond Parmesan Cauliflower Bites we made on Saturday with you.  This was a side dish I made while I tested out my new deep fryer for Thanksgiving.  I am planning to cook a deep fried turkey for the first time, and as you know I have a rule of holiday cooking…..Don’t wait to make a dish you have never made on the day before the big gathering. To this end, I am test cooking turkey now to get it right on Thanksgiving day. So after I cooked the turkey breast, I decided to make these Almond Parmesan Cauliflower Bites while we waited for the bird to rest. Since the oil was there, why not try it?

This is the point where I have to do a little preaching.  I am using a turkey fryer out side and I am going to assume you are doing the same OR your doing this on the stove in your home.  The oil is HOT and it gets EVERY WHERE, it will splash on your clothing, and it can burn you. Please remember this and do not do any kind of short cuts here.  TURN the burners off before you add the cauliflower to the oil. Add it slowly because you have eggs and buttermilk on the pieces, and they are considered a liquid.  HOT oil does not like liquid added to it. It gets angry and tries to climb out of the pot and whup on your flesh. It will also ATTACK the burners that the pot is sitting on, and if there is an open flame  you’ll look like Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four….FLAME ON! Practice safety here, gloves to handle the hot stuff, glasses to protect your eyes, don’t stand over the pot while it is cooking and for the lords sake turn off the burner when your adding to the pot.  Ok, I feel better now!

So here is what we did

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Almond Parmesan Cauliflower Bites for Man Food Mondays

Prep 15 mins

Cook 4 mins

Total 19 mins

Author Steve

Yield 5 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 head of fresh cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (the kind in the jar)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried and powdered rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Instructions

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a Ziploc type bag and set aside.
2. Combine the beaten eggs and the buttermilk.
3. Dredge the cauliflower pieces through the egg mixture then toss in the dry mixture to fully coat.
4. Bring your deep fryer up to 350° then slowly add the coated cauliflower to the VERY hot oil. It will bubble up.
5. Cook at 350° for 4 to 6 minutes. Then, turn off the burner before you remove them with a wok or screen type strainer.
6. Serve immediately.

Courses side

Cuisine American

These were great! Added a little hot sauce to them at the table and they were very tasty. I figure that you could have these as appetizers with a ranch or blue cheese dip.

Now I figure there may be a question about how the “turkey” turned out….well lets just say that I need another run through to make adjustments to cooking…The thermometer that came with the unit was 50° cold so we did not get the best results.  Planning another cook this week maybe another turkey breast or possibly a deep fried chicken. But, that’s for next week.

‘Til next week, take care and be safe.

Steve