Cauliflowers And, Broccoli - How To Prepare And Cook Them In Water

Clean and wash them well, throw into boiling water with a little salt and a little flour, boil till cooked, and drain them.

How To Serve With Cheese

Put them on a crockery dish when prepared; pour on a white sauce, in which you have mixed a little grated cheese; then dust the whole with fine bread-crumbs; after which you take a soft brush or a feather, which you dip in lukewarm butter, and put a thin coat of it all over the cauliflowers; then place the dish in a quick oven for ten minutes, and serve as they are, i. e., in the dish in which they have been cooked. This is also called au gratin.

In Bechamel

Boil the cauliflowers till done to your taste, drain immediately and place them on the dish, the top upward. While it is boiling make a Bechamel sauce and turn it over the cauliflowers as soon as dished, and serve as warm as possible. Cauliflower, like asparagus, Las a better taste when rather underdone; it is more crisp.

Au Beurre Noir (With Brown Butter)

When boiled, drained, and dished, turn a brown butter over them, and serve warm.

With A Cream-Sauce

Clean, prepare, boil, and drain the cauliflowers as directed above, then dish them also with the top upward. While they are boiling, make a cream-sauce and turn it over the cauliflowers as soon as they are dished, and serve warm. As they must be served warm, if the sauce is ready before the cauliflowers are cooked, keep it in a bain-marie ; if the cauliflowers are cooked before the sauce is ready, keep them in a warm place.

With A White Sauce

Proceed as with a cream-sauce in every particular, turning a white instead of a cream-sauce over them; serve warm.

Fried

Clean, prepare, and boil them for about five minutes, that is, till they are about half cooked; then dip them in batter for frying vegetables, and fry them in hot fat. Take them off with a skimmer, turn them into a colander, sprinkle salt all over, and serve as hot as possible. They are excellent fried, but they must not be allowed to cooL

With A Tomato-Sauce

Commence by making a tomato-sauce, as it requires longer than preparing the cauliflowers. When the sauce is nearly made, boil the cauliflower as directed, dish it, and then turn the sauce over it, and serve warm.

Au Jus, Or Stewed

Prepare, boil the cauliflowers till half done, and drain them. Place them carefully in a stew-pan, the top upward, and set on the fire with a little fat The fire must be rather slow. Stir gently and very carefully in order not to break them, and, about five minutes after they are on the fire, add half a gill of broth for a middling-sized cauliflower, salt, and pepper; simmer till done, stirring now and then during the process; dish them, turn the sauce all over, and serve warm.

In Salad

When boiled and drained, leave them in the colander till perfectly cold, then put them in the salad-dish with salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil, move carefully in order not to break it, and serve. A salad of cauliflowers is not served as a salad of greens, but as an entremet, like other vegetables, and as if prepared in any other way. It is an excellent dish for breakfast.