by Julia Child
Optional: add 1 cup of milk to kettle for each 3 quarts of boiling water, to keep cauliflower white
Drop the washed cauliflower into the rapidly boiling water; use a vegetable rack if you have one. Bring back to the boil as quickly as possible. Boil slowly, uncovered, for 9 to 12 minutes. The cauliflower is done when a knife pierces the stems easily. Eat a piece to be sure. It should be tender but retain the merest suggestion of crunchiness at the core.
As soon as it is done, carefully remove the cauliflower with a skimmer or spoon and drain in a colander, or remove the rack with cauliflower in it.
Refreshing Blanched Cauliflower
When cooked cauliflower is not to be served immediately or is to be served cold, it should be refreshed in cold water as soon as it is blanched. This stops the cooking so that the cauliflower retains its fresh taste and texture. Plunge the colander or vegetable rack holding the hot cauliflower into a large basin of cold water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain.
Reheating
If the refreshed cauliflower is to be served hot with melted butter or sauce, steam it in a covered colander over boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes until hot through. Then season with salt and pepper, and it is ready for saucing and serving.
How to Mold Cooked Cauliflower into its Original Shape
It is not necessary, of course, to mold the cooked flowerets back into the shape of a whole head, but it makes an attractive presentation.
Select a bowl slightly smaller than the width and depth of the cauliflower head before it was cut into flowerets. Set the bowl over simmering water to warm it. When the cauliflower heads have been blanched and drained, one by one place the longest flowerets in the bottom of the bowl, heads down and stems converging at the center of the bowl. Continue with the rest of the flowerets, arranging their heads around the sides of the bowl until it is filled. Place the cooked pieces of stem on top. Then turn a warm, round, serving dish upside down over the bowl. Reverse the bowl onto the dish and remove the bowl; the cauliflower will stand molded in approximately its original shape.
SAUCES FOR HOT CAULIFLOWER
Here is a list of sauces to serve with hot cauliflower; about 1 to 1½ cups are sufficient for an 8-inch head. If the cauliflower has been molded, spoon ⅓ of the sauce over the stems before reversing the bowl.
Beurre au Citron, lemon butter sauce
Beurre Noir, brown butter sauce. You may brown ¾ cup of fresh, white bread crumbs with the butter. Sieved hard-boiled egg yolks and chopped parsley mixed into the butter and breadcrumbs turn the cauliflower into chou-fleur à la polonaise.
Sauce Crème, béchamel with cream
Sauce Bâtarde, mock hollandaise
sauce hollandaise
Sauce Mousseline, hollandaise with cream
Sauce à la Crème
[Fresh Cream Sauce]
For an 8-inch cauliflower
2 cups whipping cream
A small saucepan
Salt and white pepper
Lemon juice
2 Tb softened butter
A wire whip
Parsley sprigs
Simmer the cream in the saucepan until reduced by half. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and drops of lemon juice. Set aside until ready to use, then reheat. Remove from heat and beat in the butter half a tablespoon at a time and pour the sauce over the hot cauliflower. Decorate with parsley and serve.
CHOU-FLEUR À LA MORN AY, GRATINÉ
[Cauliflower au gratin with Cheese]
Cauliflower au gratin may be prepared for the oven well in advance of serving, and goes with all kinds of roasts, chops, and steaks. You may, if you wish, mold the cauliflower in a bowl before saucing it, this page, so it will preserve its round shape.
For 4 to 6 people
An 8-inch cauliflower cut into flowerets
Following directions on this page, blanch the cauliflower in 7 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water for 9 to 12 minutes, refresh in cold water, and drain.
2½ cups sauce mornay (béchamel with cheese)
A lightly buttered baking dish about 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep
Salt and pepper
2 Tb fine, dry, white bread crumbs mixed with 2 Tb grated Swiss cheese
2 Tb melted butter
Spread ⅓ of the sauce in the baking dish. Arrange the cauliflower over it and season with salt and pepper. Pour on the rest of the sauce and sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and cheese. Dribble on the melted butter.
(*) Set aside, covered loosely with waxed paper, until ready to bake.
About 30 minutes before serving time, place in upper third of a preheated 375-degree oven to warm through thoroughly and to brown lightly. Serve as soon as possible.
CHOU-FLEUR AUX TOMATES FRAÎCHES
[Cauliflower Gratinéed with Cheese and Tomatoes]
This dish is particularly good with steaks, chops, and hamburgers.
For 4 to 6 people
An 8-inch head of cauliflower, cut into flowerets
Following directions blanch the cauliflower in boiling salted water for 9 to 12 minutes, refresh in cold water, and drain.
1 lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced (makes 1½ cups of pulp)
Cut the tomato pulp into strips ½ inch wide.
A shallow 10-inch buttered baking dish
¼ tsp salt
Big pinch of pepper
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup fine, dry, white bread crumbs mixed with ½ cup grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese
Arrange the cauliflower in the center of the dish. Place the tomatoes around the edge of the dish. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, and half the melted butter. Spread the cheese and bread crumbs over the vegetables, and pour on the rest of the melted butter.
(*) Set aside until ready to bake.
About 30 minutes before serving time, place in upper third of a preheated 375-degree oven to warm through thoroughly and brown the cheese nicely. Serve as soon as possible.
CHOU-FLEUR EN VERDURE
[Purée of Cauliflower and Water Cress with Cream]
Serve this delectable purée with roast veal, chicken, or turkey, broiled or sautéed chicken, chicken breasts, or veal scallops.
For 4 to 6 people
An 8-inch head of cauliflower
A bunch of fresh water cress about 3 inches in diameter across the stems
A kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water
1½ tsp salt per quart of water
Separate the cauliflower head into flowerets; peel off and discard the tough skin of the central stalk and chop the stalk. Cut off the bunch of water cress just above the point where the stems join the leaves (stems may be used for soup). Wash and drain the vegetables. Drop the cauliflower into the boiling, salted water and boil slowly for 6 minutes. Then add the watercress leaves and boil 4 to 5 minutes more, or until cauliflower is just tender. Drain.
A food mill
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A rubber scraper
2 cups thick béchamel sauce (3½ Tb butter, 5 Tb flour, 2 cups boiling milk, salt, and pepper)
½ cup whipping cream
½ cup grated Swiss cheese
Salt and pepper
Purée the cauliflower and water cress through the food mill and place purée in mixing bowl. Fold in the béchamel sauce. By spoonfuls, fold in the cream but do not thin out the purée too much; it should just hold its shape when a bit is lifted on the scraper. Fold in the cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
A lightly buttered baking dish 8 to 9 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep
2 Tb fine, dry, white bread crumbs mixed with 2 Tb grated Swiss cheese
2 Tb melted butter
Heap the purée in the baking dish. Sprinkle on the cheese and bread crumbs, then the melted butter.
(*) Set aside until ready to bake.
About 30 minutes before serving, place in upper third of a preheated 375-degree oven to heat through thoroughly and brown th
e cheese and bread crumbs. Serve as soon as possible.
TIMBALE DE CHOU-FLEUR
[Cauliflower Mold]
This is a purée of cooked cauliflower mixed with eggs, bread crumbs, cheese, and milk. It is baked in a soufflé mold, unmolded, and surrounded with a sauce. Use the recipe for asparagus mold on this page, substituting cauliflower for the asparagus. Other sauces to serve besides those suggested in the recipe are:
Coulis de Tomates, fresh tomato sauce with herbs
Sauce au Cari, béchamel with curry and onions
GREEN PEAS
Petits Pois
The tenderest, freshest, and sweetest peas have bright green pods that are rather velvety to the touch. The pods should be fairly well filled. A perfect raw pea will taste tender and sweet. As peas mature they become larger, harder, and less sweet; but even a quite tough pea will make good eating if it is cooked in the right way. Choose, if possible, pods of equal size with peas all at the same stage of development so they will cook evenly.
As we have not the space in this book to cover every aspect of pea cookery, we have felt it would be most useful to present one fundamental recipe each for the small tender pea, the large tender pea, the tough pea, peas à la française, and frozen and canned peas.
AMOUNT TO BUY
One pound of small, tender peas will usually furnish about 1 cup of shelled peas.
One pound of large peas will usually furnish about 1½ cups of shelled peas.
One cup of shelled peas will serve from 1 to 3 people depending on your menu. We have based our recipes on 2 people per cup.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Beautifully cooked peas make a delicious separate vegetable course, and they may accompany almost anything from eggs and roasts to stews.
THREE RECIPES FOR BUTTERED PEAS
Each of the three recipes here is designed for peas of a particular quality, from sweet and tender to rather tough. Pick the recipe which corresponds to the type of peas you are to cook.
Petits Pois Frais à l’Anglaise
[Battered Peas I—for very tender, sweet, fresh, green peas]
Anyone who has eaten a plateful of small, tender, fresh, green peas in Italy or France in the springtime is not likely to forget the experience. These best-of-all peas are always cooked by blanching in a very large kettle of boiling salted water. They are served at once à l’anglaise, meaning they are merely seasoned, turned into a vegetable dish, and topped with pieces of butter. This simple and fundamental treatment preserves, unadulterated, their color, texture, and taste.
For 6 people
3 lbs. of very tender, sweet, young, fresh green peas (3 cups, shelled)
A large kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water
1½ tsp salt per quart of water
Drop the shelled peas into the rapidly boiling salted water. Bring the water to the boil again as quickly as possible. Boil slowly, uncovered, for 4 to 8 minutes, testing the peas frequently by eating one. They will have more taste and be greener if they are drained at the point where they are tender but still retain a suggestion of texture. But this is a matter of personal taste, and they may be boiled a few more minutes if you wish.
A colander
A heavy-bottomed saucepan
Salt and pepper
½ to 1 Tb granulated sugar (depending on sweetness of peas)
A hot vegetable dish
6 Tb butter, formed into little shells or cut into pieces
Drain the peas immediately. Place in the saucepan with the seasonings and roll them gently over moderate heat for a moment or two to evaporate all their humidity. Correct seasoning. Turn the peas into a hot vegetable dish, arrange the butter over them, and serve at once.
Petits Pois Étuvés au Beurre
[Buttered Peas II—for large but tender fresh green peas]
This is for the larger pea, the kind you usually find at your market.
For 6 people
2 lbs. large but tender fresh green peas (3 cups, shelled)
A kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water
1½ tsp salt per quart of water
A colander
Drop the peas in the boiling salted water and boil uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes or until the peas are almost but not quite tender. They will finish cooking later. Drain.
(*) If the peas are not to be served immediately, refresh them in cold water for 3 to 4 minutes to stop the cooking and to retain their color and texture. Drain.
A heavy-bottomed, 6- to 8-cup enameled saucepan
1 to 2 Tb granulated sugar (depending on the sweetness of the peas)
¼ tsp salt
Big pinch of pepper
6 Tb softened butter
Optional English touch: 1 to 2 Tb minced fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper
A hot vegetable dish
Roll the peas in the saucepan over moderate heat for a moment or two to evaporate their moisture. Then roll them with the sugar, salt, pepper, butter, and optional mint. When the peas are well coated with butter, cover and cook over very low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until they are tender. Correct seasoning, turn into a hot vegetable dish, and serve as soon as possible.
Petits Pois aux Oignons
[Buttered Peas with Onions]
12 to 18 small, white, peeled onions boiled in salted water until almost tender, OR 3 to 5 Tb minced shallots or green onions
Prepare the peas as in the preceding recipe, but add boiled onions or diced shallots or green onions to the saucepan with the peas and seasonings for the final, 10-minute cooking period.
Pois Frais en Braisage
[Buttered Peas III—for large, rather tough, fresh green peas]
This is for large, mature, end-of-season peas. They remain green after cooking, become tender, and have a fine flavor though they will look a bit wrinkled.
For 6 people
A heavy-bottomed, 2½-quart enameled saucepan
2 lbs. of large, mature, fresh peas (3 cups, shelled)
1 large head of Boston lettuce, shredded
½ tsp salt
2 Tb granulated sugar
4 Tb minced green onions
6 Tb softened butter
Place in the saucepan the peas and all the rest of the ingredients. Squeeze the peas with your hands rather roughly to bruise them slightly, and to mix them thoroughly with the butter, lettuce, onions, and seasonings. Add enough cold water to cover the peas by ¼ inch.
A hot vegetable dish
Cover the saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Boil rapidly for 20 to 30 minutes; test the peas frequently by eating one after 20 minutes, to see if they are tender. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons more water if it evaporates before the peas are done. When they are tender, uncover and quickly boil off any remaining liquid. Taste for seasoning. Turn into a hot vegetable dish, and serve.
(*) If not served immediately, set aside uncovered. Shortly before serving, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, cover, and boil slowly until the peas are well warmed through and the water has evaporated.
PETITS POIS FRAIS À LA FRANÇAISE
[Peas Braised with Lettuce and Onions—for medium sized, tender, fresh peas]
This dish is considered the glory of pea cookery; it should really be served as a separate course and eaten with a spoon. If you wish to have a wine with the peas, serve a chilled white that is not too dry, such as Traminer or Graves, or a chilled rosé.
For 4 to 6 people
1½ firm, fresh heads of Boston lettuce 7 to 8 inches in diameter
White string
Remove wilted leaves, trim the stems, and wash the lettuce heads carefully so they will not break apart. Cut into quarters. Wind several loops of string about each quarter to keep it in shape as much as possible during the cooking.
6 Tb butter
½ cup water
1½ Tb granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
A heavy-bottomed, 3-
quart, enameled saucepan
3 lbs. medium sized, tender, fresh green peas (3 cups, shelled)
8 parsley stems tied together with white string
12 green onion bulbs about 1 inch in diameter OR small white onions boiled for 5 minutes in salted water
Bring the butter, water, and seasonings to the boil in the saucepan. Then add the peas and toss to cover them with the liquid. Bury the parsley in their midst. Arrange the lettuce quarters over them and baste with the liquid. Pierce a cross in the root ends of the onions (for even cooking) and disperse them among the lettuce quarters.
A domed lid or a soup plate
So that the cooking steam will condense and fall back onto the peas, invert a lid over the saucepan and fill it with cold water or ice cubes; or use a soup plate. Bring the peas to the boil and boil slowly for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Several times during this period, remove the cover and toss the peas and vegetables to insure even cooking. As the water warms up and evaporates in the cover or soup plate, refill with ice cubes or cold water.