I’ve been seeing yellow cauliflower at the farmer’s market for years now, but I hadn’t used it so much. I started reading about it recently, and apparently the different colors of cauliflower have different nutrient levels. Yellow cauliflower, for example, is way higher in Vitamin A than normal cauliflower (cauliflower is already naturally high in Vitamin C). I also read that it had a slightly sweeter flavor. I bought a couple of heads of the yellow cauliflower and proceeded to cook with them, with varying results. I don’t know if it really has a sweeter flavor, but yellow cauliflower is certainly delicious.

First up I did a pretty straightforward “smashed” cauliflower. I cooked them in salted boiling water until tender, and then drained them and put them back on the heat. I started mashing them up, adding salt, pepper, butter, and a little fontina cheese. This was really excellent — the milky flavor of the cheese blended well with the cauliflower’s flavor.

Next I made a pasta dish. I had intended this to be Italian-influenced, but then I changed my mind as I started cooking. I started by sweating some onions in olive oil, then added chunks of the yellow cauliflower. Then I added some cumin and coriander powder, and when this had cooked for a little bit I added the juice of a lemon and turned down the heat. I know from experience that cumin matched well with cauliflower, and this was no exception. It was kind of an Indian-influenced pasta, which may sound like a strange combination but was really good.

The only dish I made that wasn’t great was this one, made from a Lidia Bastianich recipe. She even recommended using yellow cauliflower for this, and it looked so simple. Basically you cook the cauliflower in with the pasta, and meanwhile you brown some breadcrumbs with garlic and pepper flakes in olive oil. Then you mix them all together. Although I seasoned the crumbs and the pasta liberally, the whole thing seemed to be lacking in flavor. I tried adding lemon zest, just to perk it up, but it didn’t do much for the flavor. Lidia said specifically that it didn’t need cheese, but I decided to try it anyway and grated some pecorino into it as well. All of this helped, but overall the dish was just so-so.

I may have OD’ed a bit on yellow cauliflower, but at least I satiated my curiosity. Yellow cauliflower is delicious, but so is regular cauliflower. I suppose the added nutrients are enough to make it worth buying, along with the striking color. If you come across yellow cauliflower, I suggest you give it a try.

So we went on a Thursday night and surprisingly we were all on time! Really rare that happens, eh I guess I’m always 30mins late to everything. We went in and got seated right away. The waiter quickly told us that they were out of the smoked half chicken and it was only 8:15pm. I took a lot longer than usual to finally decide what I wanted. But here’s what we all got.

Here’s what Howard thought:
Last year when I went to visit my sister in Wisconsin, I discovered the best bar food ever — deep fried cheese curds. I wished at the time that someone would bring them to NYC. Then a few months ago I read a blog post on Goodies First about Char No. 4 which serves deep fried cheese curds right here in Brooklyn. I immediately put Char No. 4 onto my list of places to go in 2010.

Photo by Howard

I didn’t really do any research into the place, so I assumed it was just a bar of some sort. When we finally decided to go I went and looked at the website and realized that Char No. 4 is a full-fledged restaurant, specializing in barbecue and bourbon.

I started my meal with the curds, but I was a bit disappointed. They weren’t nearly flavorful enough; in order to stand up to the beer, they should be salty and greasy. The “spicy pimento sauce” served with them tasted like thin ranch dressing with a spritz of hot sauce in it. Give me tiger blue sauce any day.

There is only one vegetarian option on the entree menu: crispy sweet potato gnocchi, served on a bed of mushrooms and spinach. While everything was pretty good, nothing really seemed outstanding. I did enjoy the textural component of the gnocchi — the crispy outside leading to the soft, pillowy inside — but the flavor seemed a little dull. I snagged some maple butter off of Donny’s plate to dip the gnocchi into.

We did have a bunch of good whiskey, so maybe it’s better to visit Char No. 4 as a bar, and ordering food if you get hungry.

Matt started off with the Smoked & Fried Pork Nuggets with char no. 4 hot sauce and had the House Smoked Brisket with pickled cabbage, beer cheese & side of potato salad.

Anh got 2 sides bacon-braised kale and brussels sprouts with parmesan cheese.

As for me, I got the duck special as the starter. Duck bacon, duck sausage and duck rillettes served with a salad and bread. Then I got the House smoked spare ribs with side of jalapeño-bacon cornbread and baked beans. After trying the “duck bacon” I think I’ll stick to regular bacon. Maybe I’m just so used to the great flavors of bacon that I was expecting the same from duck bacon. The sausage and rillettes were great, too bad it was a special and not part of the regular menu. The spare ribs were amazing. A little hard to eat with a fork and knife but I think the true winners were the honey butter and jalapeño-bacon cornbread. I would do anything ANYTHING for more.

So the other half of Char No.4 is their countless number of different whiskeys. We 2 flights, each flight had 3 different whiskeys. The Belmont Park flight had Woodford Reserve Master’s Seasoned Oak Finish, R1, and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel. The Churchill Downs flight had Parker’s Heritage 27 Year, Thomas H. Handy Rye, and George Dickel #8. They all tasted the same to me so maybe Matt or Howard can tell you what was good or maybe not because we couldn’t figure which glass was which.

- Char No.4 196 Smith Street Brooklyn

My parents went to Philadelphia recently, and visited the market at Reading Terminal. Here’s what my Dad had to say about it:

Adjacent to Philadelphia’s Convention Center in the old Reading (as in “Go for a ride on”) Railroad Terminal on –appropriately- Market Street stands the largest farmer’s market I’ve been to in the East. The pervasive smell of fresh food will make anyone’s mouth water, break down defenses and generally make you want to eat. Not even the sandwiches are run of the mill, but savory gardens of delight. Whether the market is reminiscent of L.A.’s famous farmer’s market, or the reverse, I don’t know, but it put to mind that tag line on Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s restaurant” You can get anything you want at…” Provided it’s fresh, sweet, tasty or just darn good. From Asian food, to butchers, fresh fish, Salumeria shops, Seafood and fresh produce, as well as crepes for your breakfast and chocolate shaped like body organs for the nearby hospital workers there are about one hundred booths that serve quite a lot of variety. There are breakfast specialists and lunch specialists, scrumptious Italian pastry shops, vegetarian and organic meat specialists, and places, which because of lack of time, I missed, but like Doug Macarthur, I shall return. Now shall I try the REAL Philly Cheese Steak, or the crepes, or…

Also the place was kinda quiet and cozy which was what I needed after few hours at the Draft Barn.

- Zuzu Ramen 173 4th Avenue Brooklyn