Roasted Sriracha Cauliflower w/ Peanut Dipping Sauce---Thug Kitchen====The results

So today I did the recipe, but with 48 heads of cauliflower. Here are the results.

1. The flour slurry is needed to hold the hot sauce. Without it the cauliflower is to slick for the sauce to stick. In a home oven the flour mixture is probably pretty easy to handle, but I was cooking it in a hearth oven in a dining hall. I found that it was difficult to achieve the same level of yummy that I would get at home. If I have to do it in that quantity again I will fry it rather than bake it. Definitely less healthy, but a better product for holding and serving.

2. The hot sauce is good. I like the kick and the soy adds a nice salty touch.

3. Best. Peanut. Sauce. Ever.  I made gallons and we have put it on everything from toast to salad to noodles. There is nothing this sauce isn't good on. I'm going to try it with a jalapeno jelly on hearth-bread very, very soon.


So, a really nice recipe. Great for snacking. The heat is perfect and the peanut sauce is amazing. I'll fry it to cook in large quantities, but am happy with the baking method for home use.

Roasted Sriracha Cauliflower Bites with Peanut Dipping Sauce----Thug Kitchen

So I got this new cookbook from my daughter for my birthday. Thug Kitchen. I have to say it has some ass-kicking recipes in it. And it is all vegan. Before you let that scare you off, consider how much more there is to a meal than the meat. I'm omnivorous. I like meat. But meat is taking up less and less real estate on my plate. It is expensive. There are way to many antibiotics and other crap in there. The animals are treated like shit before they are killed. There are a lot of reasons to rethink meat. But even if you don't, you still have to eat more than meat.

So far I've tried the veggie lasagna, one of the stir-fry dishes, and tomorrow I am going to serve lots of hungry college students "Roasted Sriracha Cauliflower Bites w/ Peanut Dipping Sauce". The recipe looks easy enough to scale for 400. I made about 5 gallons of the Peanut Dipping Sauce today. It is good, with a citrus tang that really cuts the cloying tendency of the peanut butter. I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, here is the recipe, straight from "Eat Like You Give A Fu*k" by Thug Kitchen, unedited and unadulterated.

2 medium heads cauliflower
1/2 c flour
1/2 c water

Hot Sauce
2 t oil, olive, coconut, grapeseed...whatever you got
1/2 to 2/3 c Sriracha, if you like it hot go for the 2/3c
1/4 c rice vinegar
1/2 t soy sauce or tamari

Peanut Dipping Sauce
1/4 c warm water
1/4 c plus 2 T creamy peanut butter
2 T rice vinegar
2 T lime juice
2 t minced fresh ginger
1 t maple syrup or agave syrup


1 cucumber cut into finger-long sticks

1. Crank your oven to 450 F. Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet. Chop up your cauliflower into little trees no bigger than your thumb.
2. Whisk together the flour and water in a big bowl until a batter forms with no chunks. Did you already fuck up and its chunky? Start that shit over again. Toss in the cauliflower and mix it around until all the pieces look a little coated.  Spread the cauliflower out on the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Mix those fuckers around halfway through roasting so all the sides get a little love.
3. Make the hot sauce. In a small pan mix the oil, sriracha, vinegar, and soy sauce. Heat over a low heat until the sauce is warm but not bubbling. Turn off the heat and leave it alone.
4. Now its time for the peanut dipping sauce. In a medium glass, whisk together the wate rand the peanut butter until it looks all creamy. Add all the other ingredients and keep stirring until everything is incorporated. Stick that in the fridge until it's go time.
5. After 15 minutes in the oven, dump the cauliflower back in a big bowl and toss it with the hot sauce mixture from the stove-top. Make sure everything is coated. Drop those motherfuckers back on the baking sheet, leaving the extra sauce in the bowl, and roast for another 3 minutes just so everything is warm and delicious.
6. Serve hot or at room temperature with the cucumber sticks and peanut dipping sauce on the side.

A Hot Blond

A Hot Blond

I've been slacking lately. I'm sick of winter, tired of the cold and the snow. Heating bills are scarier than usual. Enough already! It's enough to stress me out.

Needless to say, I've not been sleeping well lately. Now when I have a cold I like a Hot Toddy. But when I'm trying to get some sleep, there is just nothing as relaxing as a Hot Blond.

I like a Hot Blond just before bed.

Hot Blond
1 cup piping hot chamomile tea
1 spoonful of raw honey
The juice of half a lemon (I'm loving Meyer Lemons right now!)
A healthy slug of vodka, an ounce or two

This is so tasty. It is easy to drink and, like a Hot Toddy, can be excused as medicinal should you need an excuse. It does induce sleepiness and is wonderful for lulling ones mind.

But what if a Hot Blond doesn't do it for you. Consider Liquid Valium.

Liquid Valium
1 cup steaming hot Ovaltine, made with whole milk.
A shot of Kaluha and a shot of Meyers Dark Rum.


These are my winter snuggled-in-bed-at-7pm-cause-it-is-so-damn-cold-out drinks.

I do like them, but I'm really ready for the spring menu......