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Cauliflower with Sarah Arnold of Arnold Farm.
Where’d the name ‘cauliflower’ come from, anyway? Think ‘kale flower.’
Cauliflower is in the family of plant that we typically use for the greens
(and in fact, you can use the green leaves of a cauliflower) such as cabbage, brussels sprouts, cale, broccoli and collard
greens, although they’re in a different group. Some
people aren't all that fond of cauliflower. Dear, dear, such a waste! How can it be? I love it! Raw with
dip, roasted with garlic, and especially steeped in a super-rich cheese sauce. Mmm....
Right now, in the tail end of the season around the Chesapeake region, cauliflower,
broccoli, eggplant and squashes are in. We spent an afternoon with Sarah
Arnold of Arnold Farm in Queen Anne's County. Arnold Farm has 300 acres of land in produce, and supplies local supermarkets
including Giant and Whole Foods. Cauliflower is always tricky. But this year, they got lucky. And so did we. Sarah takes us out into the three or so acres of cauliflower, knife in hand. We walk along the rows, looking for
a perfect head of cauliflower, of which there are many. Cauliflower is notoriously tricky to grow, which accounts for its
price in the stores. Keeping the florets white, for instance, is problematic.
Too much sun turns them yellowish. In Europe, Sarah says, they close up the leaves around the cauliflower to keep from exposing
it to sunlight.
Sarah admits that she's fortunate when it comes to food. Whatever's in season is right at hand
when you live on a farm. Whatever the other demands of farm living, at least the refrigerator's always stocked. "I
love that I can always ask myself, 'What can I have today?'," she says. Do the kids eat vegetables? we ask. Oh,
yes, with enough cheese sauce. Which brings us to the cauliflower gratin. Sarah has a stack of recipe magazines about, literally, a foot
high on the kitchen counter. This variation on a favorite features ingredients readily available at the local supermarket,
such as Panko bread crumbs and ground nutmeg. You can vary the cheeses as well, from Gruyere to a white Cheddar. A gratin
is any dish topped with cheese or bread crumbs or both and browned.
Preheat oven to 375°. Boil cauliflower florets in pot of boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender
but still firm. Drain.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the hot milk slowly and whisk until it comes to a boil. Whisk constantly for 1 minute until thickened. Off the heat, add teaspoon of salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of Cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Pour one-third of sauce on bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish. Place drained cauliflower on top and then spread rest of sauce evenly on top. Combine the bread crumbs with remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and sprinkle on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over gratin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until top is browned.
Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic As simple as
can be, and the sugars in cauliflower make this super tasty. Facts and Tips about Cauliflower Cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, possessing a very high nutritional
density. Low carb dieters can use cauliflower as a reasonable substitute for potatoes — they can produce a similar texture,
or mouth feel, but lack the starch of potatoes.  Facts about Cauliflower: Nutrition per half-cup Calories: 14 Fat: .3 g Carbohydrates: 2.5 g Sugars: 1.2 g Dietary fiber 1.4 g Fat: 0 Protein: 1 g B5: 6% B6: 8% Folate: 7 % Vitamin C: 46% Cauliflower is high in sodium, about 150mg per half-cup and somewhat
high in sugar (which is probably why it roasts so well). Other than that, it gets an A for nutrition.
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