Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of the so-called cruciferous vegetables. It has a white-light yellow head and is a good-looking vegetable as a side or main dish. 

It can be eaten raw, but also boiled, blanched, baked, pan- or deep- fried. If you want to prepare the cauliflower whole put the bloom into lightly salted water to persuade any unwanted little guests to leave! You can also break it up and cook it in pieces. First remove the outer leaves, wash the bulb and cut off the little rosettes one by one. To stop the little flowers from falling apart during the cooking process make sure you remove it from the water immediately when it is cooked. If you want to deep-fry cauliflower it is better to batter it first, and if the cauliflower you are using has been frozen it has invariably been blanched prior to freezing so be aware that it will cook faster but also disintegrate faster too! 

Cauliflower tastes quite mild but it has a strong cabbage fragrance. It is a great side dish with meat, but it is also fabulous as a main dish covered in cheese or served with a Hollandaise Sauce. It will harmonize well with carrots, garlic, caraway, coriander, bay leaves and fennel. 

Good quality cauliflower has tightly packed rosettes and a fresh smell and it will keep in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

TIP

Cauliflower is fabulous slow-roasted in olive oil. When the rosettes are almost done add some butter and nutmeg and season them with salt and pepper. When roasting any vegetables a crust will form which caramelizes in the oven and gives them a very pleasant smoky aroma. 

 Smoked cauliflower is a great variation and worth the work if you want to offer your guests something unusual. Mix some smoke meal with plenty herbs and a little tea and put it into a pot. Then cover the smoke meal with aluminum foil and make some holes in it with a fork. Break the cauliflower into pieces and place them on the foil before finally covering the whole thing once again with some more foil. Heat the pot until it begins to smoke, turn the heat down and let it smoke for about 5 minutes. It will still be raw at this stage but the flavor will be there. Then saute some shallots, douse them in white wine and add the cauliflower, topping it up with some chicken stock. Season it with some salt and cover the pot to cook the cauliflower until it is soft. Next remove the lid and reduce the stock some more before adding some cream and allowing the whole mixture to reduce even more. Now mash the cauliflower with  fork and add lemon juice, nutmeg, and pepper. Put the mixture into a food processor, puree it and if necessary season it again. This is a fabulous side dish for lobster, or a vegetarian option as as one of a triplet of cauliflower dishes, alongside fried cauliflower and marinaded cauliflower pureed with hazelnuts.