More cauliflower magic

I still had half a head of cauliflower left over from the farmer's market a week ago so I decided to make a cauliflower mash to go along with a Spanish inspired chicken and sausage stew. This meal was inspired by this Spanish Chicken Stew with Manchego Polenta by Rachael Ray. I used to make it with polenta before I quit corn, and needed something delicious and creamy to serve the stew on. Enter: mashed cheesy cauliflower. Overall I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I also used chicken thighs this time, I usually use breasts or tenderloins. I've always been kind of afraid of dark meat but I figured it was time to get over it. If I want to start buying pastured chickens I need to figure out how to eat all the different parts of the bird, not just the familiar white meat. The thigh meat was good. Really, it just tasted like chicken. I don't know what I was so afraid of.

Anyway, here is my version of the recipe:
For the stew:
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 smoked sausage (I used kielbasa, this would be much better with chorizo though)
1/2 C shredded or chopped carrots
3 cloves garlic
Salt, pepper, cilantro, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, and red pepper flake to taste
1/4 C red wine
1 can of diced tomatoes (the fire-roasted kind would work well if you have them

For the cauliflower:
1/2 head of cauliflower
1/4 C heavy cream
2 TBS Butter
1/2 C shredded cheese
Salt and pepper

First I put the cauliflower in a pot with water to steam. Then I brown cut the sausage and chicken into bite size pieces and brown them in some olive oil. When they are sufficiently browned I season them with all the spices and then add the garlic (diced) and the carrots. After the garlic and carrots have had a chance to cook down a little, about 5 minutes, I add the wine to deglaze the pan. Next I add the tomatoes then leave the stew to simmer by itself for a while.

While the stew is simmering I drain the cauliflower and put it into the food processor with the butter. After pulsing a few times, I added the cream and seasonings and pulsed again until it was smooth. I then added the cheese and pulsed a few more times to get it all mixed in. I seriously love my food processor, all of this was so easy.

I served the stew over top of the cauliflower and ate it all mixed together.

It wasn't beautiful, but it was delicious. It would have been better with some cilantro on top, but the cilantro in my garden isn't ready yet. Hopefully it will be next time.