Cauliflower

Preparation

1. Bland

   Step 1

   Two seasonings that go well with bland cauliflower are mace (sprinkle on a pinch) and poppy seed (scatter 1 to 2 teaspoons per head).

2. Burned

   Step 2

   See Appendix A.

3. Discolored

   Step 3

   If the cauliflower isn’t as white as you’d like, you’ll have to cook it in boiling water (rather than steaming it) this time. Add a dash of vinegar after the water boils. It will whiten.

4. Not enough

   Step 4

   Cooked cauliflower is a strangely shaped (cauliflower-shaped, you might say) vegetable that doesn’t really toss well with much. But if you’ve got a red bell pepper, cut it into strips. Combine it with your cauliflower florets and a good sprinkling of olive oil and roast at 400°F for 20 to 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. Attractive and tasty. Or you can put any other vegetable (cooked) on the bottom of a greased baking dish, then a layer of cheese of any sort, then a layer of cauliflower, and a final sprinkling of cheese on the top. Use a tablespoon of the bottom vegetable as a garnish as fair warning to diners.

5. Old

   Step 5

   Add a pinch of sugar and another pinch of salt to each and every cup of water you use to cook it. They will help retain sweetness, flavor, and color.

6. Overcooked

   Step 6

   Let us tell you about overcooked cauliflower. It is an absolute godsend to dieters. You know all those things people make with white sauce (casseroles, gravies, timbales, etc.)? You can make awfully good, much-lower-fat facsimiles with overcooked cauliflower.

   Step 7

   Keep cooking it until it is completely soft when you poke it with a spoon. Then mash it absolutely smooth (a blender or food processor will do this quickly). Add milk until you have the consistency of loose mashed potatoes.

   Step 8

   Save this glop in the refrigerator to combine, for example, with defatted turkey drippings for lovely guiltless gravy. It’s quite good served on real mashed potatoes.

7. Salty

   Step 9

   If cauliflower is too salty on the plate, put it back in fresh boiling water for 1 minute. If you discover you’ve oversalted the cooking water, change it immediately.

8. Smelly

   Step 10

   Many hold that most of the smells that emanate from cooking cauliflower come from the water. And most of the smells enter the water during the first 5 minutes of boiling. The solution, therefore, is to change the water after the cauliflower has boiled for 5 minutes.

   Step 11

   If it is too late for that, toss a piece of bread (preferably rye) into the pot. Or make a solution of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water, dip a cloth in it, wring it out, and spread it over the top of the pot while the cauliflower cooks. Be careful not to let the cloth catch fire from the burner. But if it does, it will certainly cover the cauliflower smell.

9. Thawed

   Step 12

   See Appendix B if your frozen cauliflower defrosted itself when you weren’t looking.

10. Too much

    Step 13

    Raw cauliflower keeps for a long time if it’s cold and dry. Cooked cauliflower can be used in salads the next day. Or cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two or three days.