Finally, An A.O.C. Cookbook, A Preview Curried Cauliflower Recipe + Suzanne Goin & David Lentz's Cooking Channel Debut

Eatocracy.cnn.com

Suzanne Goin

If you are a devout Sunday Supper at Lucques fan (the printed version), you have probably wondered, as most of us have, when that A.O.C. Winebar cookbook follow-up is going to finally going to happen? Impossible as it is to believe, Goin's first cookbook was printed in 2005, and we still see a tattered copy occasionally in a farmers market shopper's hands. But she is not the sort of celebrity chef to immediately follow up with a second book simply because the first was a success, and for that, we should all be grateful. (Full disclosure: This writer was a pastry intern at Lucques some years back).

It means that the A.O.C Food and Wine Cookbook (tentative title), which she is working on right now, will be full of the same creative farmers market-driven recipes ("Well, things are a little busy so ''working on it' is a loose description right now," says Goin, laughing; The Cooking Channel has been filming a special profiling Goin and husband David Lentz as they prepare for a Hollywood Farmers Market benefit, which airs this Sunday evening, October 16, at 8 p.m.). What should we expect when the cookbook hits shelves in the fall of 2013?

As Goin explains in her proposal, "In the era of Rachael Ray, my recipes do take longer... my books and recipes are not for everyone but for that niche of people who love food and love to cook. I hope to make them happy one more time."

The recipes will be seasonally arranged, as with her first book, but also organized like the wine bar's menu. Thus, it will begin with a chapter on cheese and charcuterie (with recipes like speck with apples, and fried tetilla cheese with quince paste and romesco), and move on to salads (nectarines and figs with crushed hazelnuts and burrata), fish, meat, veggies (cumin-roasted carrots with dandelion, black olives and ricotta salata), grains, a chapter on brick oven cooking, and of course, desserts (frozen Meyer lemon meringue pie with gingersnaps, bittersweet chocolate tart with crème fraîche and honeycomb).

And yes, the restaurant's wine director and co-owner Caroline Styne will be offering up wine pairing advice. Plenty to look forward to in two years (yeah, good cookbooks take an awful lot of time to write). In the meantime, here is A.O.C.'s roasted cauliflower recipe to tide us over.

jandjeat.com

Roasted Cauliflower from A.O.C.

Roasted Cauliflower with Curry & Red Vinegar
From: Suzanne Goin, A.O.C. Winebar
Serves: 4 to 6 as a side

1 medium sized head of cauliflower, cored and cut into florets
1 small yellow onion peeled, cored and cut into 6ths
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Scant 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
A few turns of a pepper mill
1/4 teaspoon coriander, toasted and ground
1/4 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ tablespoon bittersweet paprika
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the cauliflower and onion, being sure to separate all the "petals" of the onion. Add the olive oil and melted butter, and toss to coat.

2. Combine the salt, pepper and spices in a small bowl, and sprinkle them evenly over the cauliflower mix. Add the vinegar and toss well to combine. Put the cauliflower in a baking dish big enough to hold all the cauliflower in a single layer.

3. Bake, uncovered for 25 to 35 minutes, or until tender, stirring the cauliflower every 5 to 7 minutes to assure even browning. Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve immediately.

[More from Jenn Garbee @eathistory + eathistory.com]