We ate meat once a week while growing up and the rest of the time we had pasta or vegetable stews called “főzelék”. To replace the meat we put all sorts of things on top of the stew. A poached egg, a couple of slices of unsweetened French toast, fried bread cubes, fried potatoes, a tiny bit of leftover meat with sauce, a drizzle of paprika grease or some breaded deep fried vegetables. We called them “feltét”, which means “to put on top”.
Breaded cauliflower makes a tasty meat replacement, but it can be a nice appetizer too. Serve it with a sauce or sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan. We happen to like them golden fried with just pepper and salt. Breading vegetables is easy. It will never cease to amaze me the trouble people go into making up a batter just the right consistency, which invariably ends up too little at first and in the end way too much. Dipping the vegetables into the batter is pretty useless too, because most of the coating will slide off during frying. The Hungarian way is much easier plus you will never end up with naked veggies on your plate.
BREADED CAULIFLOWER
1/2 head cauliflower
1-2 eggs, beaten slightly
3/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
oil for frying
• Cut apart the florets, but leave them fairly large.
• Rinse and dry with a paper towel.
• Sprinkle the florets with salt.
• Place flour in a medium sized bowl.
• In a different bowl, beat the eggs lightly with a fork, making sure the yolks and the whites are truly mixed.
• One by one dip each floret into the flour, then into the beaten egg and into the flour one more time.
• Place the florets on a tray.
• Slowly heat up 1 to 2 inches of oil in a fry-pan. Make sure the oil is not too hot, because the batter burns easily.
• Turn the florets to lightly brown on all sides.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Serve hot or cold.
