#4HC Review: Coconut Cauliflower Curry Mash

I have already done a REVIEW of Tim Ferris, recipe for Oso Buco, so here is the SECOND blog about me attempting a dish from Four Hour Body. I attempted the Coconut Cauliflower Curry Mash as a side dish for my New Year’s Eve Dinner party. I don’t think that trying a NEW recipe for the first time in a pressure situation as one of four dishes was a terrific idea, but it was none the less what I did. So, despite a case of biting off more than I can chew, this dish turned out really well and my wife loved and has requested it again. I am going to take you through my EXPERIENCE with this recipe and how either simple or hard it was to complete. I am not going to publish the recipe in its exact, because if you like it, you should purchase the book. I kind of feel like publishing the whole recipe is taking away from the folks who worked hard to publish and sell the book.

The first step was to PREP everything and GATHER it all together. Since, I was doing this for a dinner party, I gathered everything early into a grouping, including all the dressed or diced cauliflower. I also wrote myself a little NOTE reminding me of any start up things I had to do or gather before I started the recipe. The Prep phase was mostly gathering ingredients. The only real prep is trimming the Cauliflower.

Prior to the above picture I used Tim’s technique for ‘smashing’ all the cauliflower loose. It was great, and I’ll post a video later about what that looked like, but it was MUCH faster than the techniques I had employed in the past to free up the Cauliflower, which involved a paring knife and a lot of patience, which I don’t have. This technique requires a towel, a good grip, and the ability to do HULK SMASH.

Here you can see the Cauliflower in the pan with the Coconut Milk added. Per the recipe, I let this simmer a bit until the Cauliflower softened before then adding sliced almonds. Then I went ahead and mashed the veggies up using a hand masher. I added the Curry while I was mashing so that it would bloom with the heat and mashing.

Above is the final product with a little salt (no pepper) to taste. For a recipe that SOUNDS complicated, this really is quite simple. If you are craving a ‘Mashed Potato’ alternative in your diet, this would be great for you, as it is fundamentally easier to pull off than Mashed Potatoes. I think all in all this dish probably cooked up in 20 minutes from PREP to PICK UP. It adds a LOT of flavor to your meal, and would contrast extremely well with a hearty meat. I served this with the Union Square Zucchini, Semi-Composed Salad and Oso Buco. I think this dish really stood out. Tonight, I’ll be pairing this dish with a Sexy Rib Eye Steak and some saute’d veggies.