Chou-fleur à la Crème

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6-quart pot
• •2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •1 1/2-quart deep serving bowl or timbale
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Balloon whisk
• •Large colander
• •Thick, clean kitchen towel
• •Small sauce boat

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut generous bunches

   Pull away the large outer leaves, then remove every small leaf tucked between the branches, exactly as the preparation requires. Trim the base without cutting away the branching core. Divide the cauliflower through the stem into 6 to 8 generous bunches, keeping each one broad and rounded enough to help reconstruct the head later. Rinse them under cold water and inspect between the branches. Tiny florets cook unevenly and cannot be rebuilt, so resist chopping further.

   Cut through the stem first, then ease the branches apart with your fingers. This preserves their rounded surfaces instead of scattering crumbs across the board.
2. 2

   Build the sauce crème

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, letting it bubble gently without taking colour. This roux (butter-and-flour base) gives the sauce its body, and cooking it now removes the raw flour taste. Whisk in 1 cup (240 ml / 245 g) of the milk a little at a time, smoothing each addition before adding the next. Bring it to the gentlest simmer and cook for 5 minutes, whisking along the bottom and corners.

   If the sauce turns lumpy, take it off the heat and whisk firmly. If stubborn lumps remain, pass it through a fine-mesh sieve and return it to the clean pan. Ça se rattrape.
3. 3

   Finish to a gloss

   Whisk 1/2 cup (120 ml / 119 g) of the cream into the sauce and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until it nappes the back of a spoon, meaning it leaves an even coating that holds a clean line drawn through it. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml / 59 g) cream, the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter, the sauce salt, and the white pepper. If it is thin, return it to a quiet simmer rather than adding more flour. Cover and hold it off the heat while the cauliflower cooks.

4. 4

   Cook until tender

   Bring the water to a full boil in a large pot and dissolve the cooking salt in it. Lower in the cauliflower bunches and let the water return to a steady boil, then cook uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes. Test the thickest stem with the point of a small knife; it should enter easily but meet a faint resistance at the centre. Lift smaller bunches as soon as they are ready. If you boil everything until the largest piece collapses, there will be no cauliflower left to reconstruct.

5. 5

   Drain it hard

   Lift the bunches into a colander and shake it gently. Leave them for 2 minutes with the stems pointing upward so water can escape from the branches, then arrange them cut-side down on a thick, clean kitchen towel for another 5 minutes. This is not waiting for its own sake; it is the dish. If droplets still collect underneath, return the bunches to the empty, still-warm pot for 30 seconds off the heat, rolling them carefully so the residual warmth dries them without colouring.

6. 6

   Rebuild the cauliflower

   Fill a 1 1/2-quart deep serving bowl or timbale with hot tap water, empty it, and dry it thoroughly. Set the largest curved bunches around the wall with their flowered sides upward and their stems pointing inward. Fill the centre with the smaller bunches, fitting them together into a rounded crown without crushing them. The aim is the recognizable form of a whole cauliflower, generously reconstructed rather than forced into perfect geometry.

7. 7

   Serve sauce apart

   Return the sauce crème to low heat and whisk until smooth and glossy. If holding has made it too thick, add the reserved milk a teaspoon at a time; if butter beads at the edge, take the pan off the heat and whisk in one teaspoon of that milk until the sauce gathers again. Taste for seasoning, pour the sauce into a warmed sauce boat, and carry it beside the timbale rather than coating the cauliflower in advance. Each person spoons the sauce over their own serving, while both cauliflower and sauce keep their proper texture. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a cauliflower with a compact, creamy-white head and crisp green leaves. Brown specks can be trimmed, but loose branches signal a head that has begun to tire and will soften unevenly in the pot.
• •Do not rinse the cooked cauliflower under cold water. It would chill the vegetable and drive fresh water between the branches, undoing the draining that gives this preparation its clean finish.
• •A sauce boat is not ceremony here. Serving the sauce crème apart prevents the cauliflower from sitting in cream and releasing more water before it reaches the plate.
• •For wine, pour a fresh, lightly rounded white Burgundy, such as a Mâcon-Villages. It has enough acidity for the cream without bullying the quiet sweetness of the cauliflower.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce crème can be made up to 1 day ahead. Press parchment directly against its surface, chill promptly, then reheat over low heat while whisking; loosen it with a little of the reserved milk if necessary.
• •The cauliflower can be divided into bunches up to 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Cook, drain, and reconstruct it shortly before serving, because a warm assembled cauliflower continues to release moisture as it waits.
• •If leftovers remain, refrigerate the cauliflower and sauce separately for up to 2 days. Reheat the cauliflower covered and the sauce over low heat, whisking in a teaspoon of milk if it has tightened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)