Joanna Pruess offers the indispensable information about how to buy, store, and cook outstanding meals using ingredients found in today’s supermarket aisles, and more than 300 tried-and-trusted recipes. She includes recipes using prepared ingredients and a minimal number of ingredients, techniques for preparing meals ahead of time, and strategies for successful grocery shopping in the twenty-first century.
When combined with potatoes and Parmesan cheese, cauliflower is subtle-tasting and a nice balance to more highly seasoned meats or vegetables. For a low-carb version, omit the potato. Pipe this puree through a pastry bag to add visual appeal and texture to a plate.
Cauliflower is another winter vegetable whose aroma gets stronger as it gets older. And if the smell is pungent, the taste will be less than sweet. Use cauliflower within a couple of days of buying it. Look for heads that are firmly bunched and uniformly pale-colored without any brown spots.
Servings: 8
1 head of cauliflower, approximately 1 /4 pounds, broken into florets
1 large red potato, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons light cream or milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Steam the cauliflower over boiling water until tender, drain well, and transfer to the bowl of a food processor. In a separate pot, boil the potato until tender, drain, and keep covered until needed.
Add the cream or milk and butter to the cauliflower and process until smooth. Add the potato, nutmeg, salt, and pepper; pulse until smooth. Overprocessing will make the potato gummy.
Add the Parmesan and pulse a few times to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Pipe the puree through a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip into a circular mound on each plate, or serve more simply.
Did you know? Vegetable purees add variety to a meal. They are a cinch to make in the processor. Make sure the non-starchy vegetable is very smooth before adding the cooked potato, since overprocessing potatoes releases starch and produces a gummy texture. Using a food mill is a way of making a more textured puree.
