Cookbook Club – Halloween

For October’s Cookbook Club, we wanted to have a Halloween party, so instead of choosing a cookbook we just asked everyone to make something spooky-looking, creepy to eat, or otherwise Halloween themed. I made Brains and Spiders! AKA cauliflower and olive gratin. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see all the frightening food at the event – it was scary spectacular! For now – my dish!

I pulled 5 large pieces from a cauliflower head and split them in half to make “brains”. Then I broke the remainder of the cauliflower head into florets. I boiled all the cauliflower for 5 minutes, then rinsed in cold water. Meanwhile, I sautéed a diced onion and some garlic. In a casserole dish I mixed the cauliflower florets, onion mixture, black olives, and Parmesan cheese. I placed the 5 cauliflower “brains” on top, added more Parmesan, salt, and pepper, then baked at 375 degrees F for half an hour.

Each brain got a spider made from one and a half olives. One olive half cut-side down was the body. I cut another olive half into 4 slices for one set of legs (discard the rounded end bits). Same for the other set of legs. Voila – brains and spiders!