Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes

I will start by saying no matter what you think or how you think this will taste, trust me when I say this dish is delicious.  It's a great way to get those veggies on your plate, especially if you aren't a fan of veggies.  Kids would love these as well - anything that has 'cheesy' and 'cake' in the title would please any palate!

The next thing I will say is, I have to make these again, not just because they are yummy, but because my first attempt to make 'cakes' turned into making mashed cheesy cauliflower stuff.  Still absolutely delicious, but not the prettiest thing I've ever made.



This recipe is originally from A Good Appetite but I did make some tweaks with ingredient amounts.

Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower - cut into florets
2 eggs - beaten
3/4C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2C Panko bread crumbs
1/2tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
(wine optional :) )

Directions:
1. Cut cauliflower into florets and place in boiling water for 10 minutes

2. Drain cauliflower well

3.  Mash cauliflower with a potato masher.

4.  Add beaten eggs, cheese, Panko bread crumbs and cayenne.  Mix well.

6.  Spoon mixture into a medium-hot frying pan (with a layer of oil for frying) to make 3-4 inch cakes. (I'm pretty sure we determined the thinner the better...)  The mixture should yield approximately 12 cakes (depends on the size you make them)

7. This is where things got a little messy for me - they looked and smelled great, until I flipped them.  Then they still smelled great but didn't look so pretty. They fell apart every time I moved them, but I was hungry and didn't really care about the aesthetics!

8.  Brown both sides - approximately 7 minutes per side (don't have your burner up too high or they will burn before they have a chance to set up into cakes)

Again, not the prettiest creation - but totally tasty!

I was using a fish spatula, which should have made it a bit easier to handle, but apparently I wasn't easy with them.

For the last batch, I just made one big cake and browned it much like I would hash browns.

Okay - so I know this does NOT look appetizing, but seriously, I promise promise promise this is so good!  It's just starchy enough to make you think it's potatoes, only without the carbs that come with potatoes. I will definitely be making this again and hopefully next time I will make them more cakey, and not casseroley :)


Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower
2 eggs - beaten
3/4C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2C Panko bread crumbs
1/2tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying


Directions:

1. Cut cauliflower into florets and place in boiling water for 10 minutes
2. Drain and mash cauliflower with a potato masher
3. Add beaten eggs, cheese, Panko bread crumbs and cayenne.  Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into a medium-hot frying pan (with a layer of oil for frying) to make 3-4 inch cakes. The thinner the better.  The mixture should yield approximately 12 cakes (depends on the size you make them)
5. Brown both sides - approximately 7 minutes per side (don't have your burner up too high or they will burn before they have a chance to set up into cakes)
9. ENJOY!


This recipe made about 3 servings for me - It was good, we ate a good majority of it.