Mock Mashed Potato with crispy onions and shallots
By: Jessica Glick
Published: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 - 6:36pm

Ingredients




You will need a 9 x 6 inch baking dish, or larger
For the fried onions :
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 small onion, cut in half then thinly sliced crosswise
1/3 cup white rice flour
2/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup sparkling water plus 2-3 tablespoons
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon maldon sea salt or flour de sel
about 2/3 litre grape seed oil for frying
For the cauliflower mash:
2 large cauliflower, stems removed, cut into large florets
4 tablespoons earth balance
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 dashes ground nutmeg

Preparation

1 Steam all the cauliflower florets until very soft. 2 Transfer to a bowl, or your drained bottom of your steamer pot. 3 Mash with a potato masher or a held held immersion blender, until smooth. 4 Add earth balance, combine well. 5 Add coconut yogurt, combine well. 6 Transfer to a baking dish. 7 For the onions: 8 In a deep saucepan, fitted with a candy thermometer, add grape seed oil turn heat to high and wait for the oil to reach 360 degrees F 9 Meanwhile, prepare tempura. 10 In a small bowl combine white rice flour, arrowroot, sparkling water and kosher salt. Stir well. 11 Add more flour or sparkling water if needed. 12 Note: It should be the consistency of a thin batter. 13 Add shallots and onions to the tempura, coat the slices well, by hand, before frying. 14 When the oil reaches 360 degrees F add as many slices as you can without crowding or layering the slices in the oil. 15 Note: You will see the temperature drop dramatically. That’s fine. 16 Wait until the temperatures reaches 350 degrees F before each batch. 17 Note: Before frying each batch, stir again to coat onions well, tempura does settle to the bottom of the bowl. 18 Each batch takes about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown. 19 Let the oil drip off the strainer, then remove complete batch with a mesh strainer. 20 When all onions have been fried place on top of the cauliflower mash. 21 Sprinkle maldon, fleur de sel or kosher salt across onions before serving. 22 Serve hot.

About

This mash does not disappoint. It is so creamy, just like mashed potatoes without the heavy feeling of potatoes, yet rich at the same time … a lighter and healthier option. Okay, maybe not as healthy, or lighter with these fried shallots and onions on top. But that’s okay, all that cauliflower will make up for it!
If you have never had a cauliflower mock mashed potato you need to give this one a try. It is so easy and when mashed like this, the flavor will surprise you, and who can resist a bunch of crispy fried onions and shallots on top?