Jono & Jules do food & wine

We tend to cook outside when the weather allows but don’t always feel like meat. There are lots of good veggie recipes for the barbecue about now and we particuarly like this one. You won’t miss the burnt sausages.

Wine Suggestion: It was a warm, summer evening so wanted to choose a chilled wine to accompany our dinner. Fortunately this goes great with rosé so we chose the Flying Solo from Domaine Gayda which is just as good as many wines from Provence; dry, textural, easy-drinking but with good weight, plus summery red fruit flavours.

BBQ Cauliflower with Satay Sauce – serves 4 to 6

• 1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets

FOR THE MARINADE:

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
• ⅓ of a 400ml tin coconut milk (use the rest for the sauce)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp soft brown sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

FOR THE SATAY SAUCE:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2.5cm ginger, grated
• 1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped
• ⅔ of a 400ml tin coconut milk
• 125g salted peanuts, roughly crushed
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

TO SERVE:

• steamed rice
• coriander, roughly chopped
• scallions, roughly chopped
• red chillies, roughly chopped

Make the marinade first. Put the coriander seeds in a small frying pan and toast over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Roughly grind in a pestle and mortar, then transfer to a bowl. Add the chilli flakes, turmeric, shallot, coconut milk, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and stir well.

Bring a large pan of water to the pan and add some salt. Blanch the caulilfower for 5 minutes until starting to soften, then drain well and add to the marinade. Stir gently to coat, then set aside for 2 hours.

Next, make the satay sauce. Heat the oil in a small pan over a low heat. Add the shallots and cook gently for 15 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic, ginger and lemongrass and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the rest of the coconut milk, the peanuts and the soy sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened, then keep warm while you cook the caulilfower.

When you are ready to cook you need to get your barbecue ready for direct grilling.

Thread the cauliflower onto skewers, reserving any leftover marinade. Put the skewers onto the hot barbecue, cover with the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes, then baste with the leftover marinade and turn them over. Keep cooking and basting for about 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.

Serve the cauliflower over rice and scatter over the coriander, scallions and chillies. Serve the satay sauce on the side.

(Original recipe from Foolproof BBQ by Genevieve Taylor, Quadrille, 2021.)