Smokey cauliflower with a kick

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dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
Oct 4, 2012
21,947
4,224
Bend Oregon
I know you all are wondering what in the world is gurt! Well its what my youngest called Yogurt for the longest time. Had it in my mind to make a simple marinade for some chicken tenders I wanted to grill when I remembered seeing a post about using a yogurt marinade on cauliflower (had a head in the fridge that needed to be used). So I searched it out and here's what I came up with.

For the Cauliflower:

Marinade for cauliflower. I'll save the extra for marinating pork or something for tomorrow.

1½ cups plain Greek yogurt

1 lime, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons chile powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Original recipe calls for baking in the oven at 425° for 30 minutes. I knew that I'd be running the smoker around 300°. Past experience with whole cauliflower I knew that this wold take a while and I was hoping to do the whole thing in the smoker. Well I should have steamed the head for 15-20 minutes. Let cool then apply the marinade. After 1 1/2 hours at 325° the head was rock hard and I had to pseudo steam it in the oven for 10 minutes to get it to the soft stage.  Next time I'm going to steam the head and let cool prior to marinading it.

I also wasn't completely sold on the flavors. I think i would have preferred Chipotle over the chile powder. Probably some more garlic, add onion, it was just missing some thing. I think part of the problem was that I am comparing it to a mustard, mayo, cheese bake that we do with cauliflower. Anyways it wasn't bad, just needs some work. 


Ingredients for the cauliflower marinade. Fermented Jalapenos in the background.


Give it a dip and roll.


I ran out of tin pans so I just made a small one out of foil.

For the chicken I made another yogurt marinade.

1 cup yogurt

1 lemon zested and juiced

4 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons Chipotle

1 teaspoon Cayenne

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cracked black pepper

usually add fresh cilantro but I was out.

Marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes, but longer is better.


The marinade forms a nice bark. Barks not just for Butts ya know!

 
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Reactions: leah elisheva
It's supposed to, but after a 1 1/2 it was not. When I do this again I will steam or boil the head for 15-20 minutes, let cool then apply the marinade and smoke.
 
 
That looks incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! How fantastic! Cheers! - Leah
Thanks Leah! The cauliflower was Ok, still needs some refinement on the overall recipe. I'll tweak it a bit next go around and see how it all turns out. The yogurt makes a great crust though!
 
That looks amazing. I was going to try this but first I wanted to do the cauliflower soup recipe found on these boards. I found a purple cauliflower ( never heard of it, they also had a green one!) the soup turned out ok, not much depth of flavor, so I think I need to tweak it or I did something wrong. The cauliflower looked great though.
About to enter my SI#2
After the smoke. And here's the soup.
I should have done your recipe with one of the heads. Next time.
 
the wife is insisting we make this  
icon14.gif
 
Western Australia here
They are in season now so going to give this a go for sure
I will steam for 20 mins or so and marinate after cooling
Going to hot smoke with grapevine chips
WASP
 
Umm
Needs a modification or two
I will cut down through the caulli next time three or four times and put marinade inside
I would say leave overnight in fridge and make sure you boil for 20 mins prior to marinade
Smoked for three hours at 230 or so
Yum
 
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