Vegetable recipes for September 2010 – Fresh Cauliflower.
HINTS:
(1) Before cooking, soak cauliflower for about an hour with the head down in cold water to which has been added a teaspoon each of vinegar and salt. This will freshen the head. (2) Cauliflower will cook faster if you cross-cut the base of the stalk. (3) If the cauliflower has become discoloured, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the cooking water and the vegetable will be creamy white when served. (4) Keep cauliflowers in the refrigerator and use within 1-2 days. (5) Florets can be eaten raw in salads. (6) The briefer the cooking time for cauliflower, the less smelly the sulphurous compounds.
CAULIFLOWER SOUP:
5 cups milk, 1 onion, 1 large cauliflower, 1 cup chicken stock, salt & pepper, 2 tbsp cream, ½ cup grated cheese.
Heat the milk gently in a large saucepan. Chop onion roughly.
Cut the cauliflower into pieces, put into the milk, add the chicken stock & seasonings & cook for 30 to 40 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Cool.
Pour the soup into the blender & liquidize for one to two minutes or put through a food mill.
Pour back into the saucepan & reheat. Add cream just before serving & garnish with grated cheese.
CAULIFLOWER A LA GREQUE:
1 and ½ cups water, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 3 tbsp salad oil, ½ tsp salt, 4 peppercorns, 3 coriander seeds, 1 cauliflower.
Mix all the ingredients, except the cauliflower, in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Wash the cauliflower and break into small florets. Once the liquid boils, add the cauliflower and simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until it is just tender. Remove from the heat and allow cooking in the liquid. When cool lift out the cauliflower and drain. Serve in a small dish garnished with a strip of red pepper or a sprig of parsley.
Variations – Other vegetables such as mushrooms, leeks, carrots, and beans can be treated similarly.
CAULIFLOWER RELISH:
Cook 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon each of ground turmeric and asafoetida in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
Cut 1 small cauliflower into bite-size pieces, finely chop 1 red onion and deseed and chop 1 fresh green chilli. When the seeds start to pop, add the vegetables and stir-fry for 5 minutes. The cauliflower should be firm to bite.
Season to taste with lemon juice and salt and serve at room temperature.
Fruit recipes for September 2010 – Fresh Grapes.
HINTS:
(1) Cheese platter – Grapes and cheese go together, particularly red grapes with full-flavoured cheddars, blue-black grapes with creamy blue cheeses, green grapes with the light, mild ones like brie, camembert, ricotta and cream cheese. (2) Cheesecake topping – Top chilled cheesecake with grapes – concentric circles of green and black grapes looks lovely. Glaze them with a little honey syrup for gloss. (3) Store grapes, unwashed, in the refrigerator and keep them on their stems until required. (4) Just before use, wash well under running water to remove pesticide residues, but don’t peel or you will remove many of the important nutrients. (5) Eat as a snack, serve with cheese or use in salads.
GRAPE SALAD:
½ fresh pineapple (skin removed), 1 ½ cups green grapes (seedless) or halved & seeds removed, 6 tbsp pure maple syrup.
Cut pineapple into small cubes. Be sure to remove any hard central core. Mix pineapple & grapes with maple syrup.
Serve at room temperature or cover & chill for later. Serves 4-6 people.
GREEN/GOLD GRAPE SALAD:
1 tbsp clover honey, juice of 1 orange, 1 cup seedless green grapes, 1 ripe golden-fleshed peach.
Mix honey and orange juice. Peel, stone and dice peach and add to juice with grapes. Serves two.
BLACK GRAPE JELLY WITH CITRUS FRUITS:
Gently heat 150ml red grape juice with 2 sachets gelatine. Allow to cool. Mix the dissolved gelatine with 450ml red grape juice.
Put 175gm halved red and green grapes in 4 glasses; pour over the jelly. Chill until set.
Segment 1 orange and 1 pink grapefruit, collecting the juice in a pan. Add 1 tablespoon caster sugar and heat until dissolved. Bring to a simmer then add the segments and leave to cool.
To serve, spoon the citrus segments and a little juice on the jelly. Serves 4.
Glenn Forsyth.