North Country Organics gave us their first Hadrian's Wall CAULIFLOWER!

Peter has been going on about Ken's Cauliflowers since they were knee high to a grasshopper!  He has been coveting them as he rolls on by on his tractor for months.  Despite LOADS of cabbage white butterflies Ken and Tracy's caulis are perfection.  I had a cauli from a supermarche the other day and it was good but light in weight - when i cut the vallum cauli in half it was heavy, substantial and just looked so white and pristine. 

in honour of the cauli i didnt know what to do.  so i kept half and used the other half to make peter a treat.  .. scallops with cauliflower puree and roasted cherry toms.  have never made this before but seen it on restaurant menus.  i thought it would be complicated and time consuming but is was SO EASY!

i looked up a few recipes on the net then winged it:

serves 2 greedy people

1/2 a cauliflower, leaves and stem removed, snapped into small florets

1 pack baby scallops from waitrose (i had them sitting on kitchen roll and blotted the tops so they were dry .. have noticed on the cook progs that they keep meat and fish for frying on jay cloths in the fridge .. clean ones of course! assume a dry piece fries more efficiently than a damp one)

i pack cherry toms on the vine

butter, olive oil, salt and pepper

remove stems and leaves from the cauliflower.  poach in milk until tender.  strain the milk and reserve.  put the cauli in a magimix and blitz to a puree adding milk to get a puree consistency but not too thin, then butter to taste.  the internet recipes said to pass the cauli through a fine 'chinois' which i dont have so i sieved it using a wooden spoon to push it through.  season.

place the cherry toms in a hot oven with a drizzle of olive oil

get a heavy-based frying pan and melt some butter with a little oil (to stop the butter burning).  put the scallops onto the hot pan in a clockwise repeating to the centre.  make sure there is a little space between them.  wait a minute or so then peep under the first scallop you put in .. if it is going golden brown turn them over one by one going round the clock face. 

you can tell when they are cooked as they are not as translucent in the middle and these little ones are so tiny .. if both sides are a lovely brown then they are cooked.

i put the pure in a line in the middle of the plate with the scallops on top in neat lines then the tomatoes on the side. 

i think the toms really make this dish.

THANKS NORTH COUNTRY ORGANICS!

IF ANYONE HAS ANY TIPS TO ADD WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THEM.