Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Yogurt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly oil it. Cut the cauliflower into medium florets, not too small, or they'll go soft before they crisp.
2. Make the batter. Whisk the flour, water, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until smooth. You want the texture of thin pancake batter, thick enough to cling but not gloppy. Toss the cauliflower until evenly coated, then shake off the excess as you place each piece on the tray. Too much batter means soggy bottoms.
3. First bake. Spread the florets out with space between them. Bake 20 minutes, flip, and bake another 10–15 minutes until golden, dry-looking, and crisp at the edges. This stage matters most: if they aren't crisp now, they won't be crisp later.
4. While the cauliflower bakes, make the dip. Mash the blue cheese into the yogurt with a fork until mostly incorporated but still a little chunky. Stir in the lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, and pepper. Taste before salting; blue cheese is already salty. Let it sit at least 10 minutes so the flavour settles.
5. Whisk the buffalo sauce. Combine the hot sauce, melted butter, honey, garlic powder, and Worcestershire if using.
6. Sauce the cauliflower. Brush or toss the florets lightly in the sauce. Don't drown them, or you'll lose the crisp.
7. Second bake. Return the tray to the oven for 10–15 minutes, until the sauce is sticky, caramelized, and crisped at the edges. For extra char, broil 1–2 minutes at the very end and watch it like a hawk.
8. Pile onto a platter. Spoon the blue cheese yogurt into a bowl alongside, top the dip with a few extra blue cheese crumbles, black pepper, and chives, and serve with celery sticks.