Remember last week when the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and Baltimore was setting weather records for hitting 80˚.  Yup, I remember too.  I had grilling on my mind.  And then remember Saturday when we lost an hour of sleep.  You remember, or maybe you are too tired to remember why you are tired.  Needless to say, Monday, you have been exhausting.  And while I dreamt of grilling, the weather is now cloudy, raw, rainy, and cool.  Not the weather for grilling.  (You will notice, eventually, that as the seasons change, so does my cooking.)

Because I couldn’t figure out away to hook a coffee iv up, I needed a simple dinner.  I hit Costco earlier for a few things, and snagged a rotisserie chicken.  It is the ultimate cheat, I freely admit.  I didn’t really have much of an idea for dinner past that.  Then.  Dun Dun Dah Dun!  In my fridge was a bag of cauliflower florets.

First, you began by boiling some well salted water.  (Of course, I didn’t snap that.)

Add the cauliflower florets – absolutely chop up that whole cauliflower, or like tonight, I just tossed in the pre-cut I picked up at Trader Joe’s last week. (Tip – when buying a whole head, chop it up, store in a Ziploc® bag until you are ready.  It takes up less space and is ready to go when you are.)

Boil until the cauliflower is fork tender.  It only takes a few minutes.  Five at the most.

Strain the cauliflower.

(Finally remembered to snap a picture.)

Return the pot back to the stove top and on low heat melt your butter with some milk.

In the food processor, add the cauliflower, and butter and milk.

Pulse away.  This is great time to get the kids involved.  My guys love taking turns pressing the button.  The irony – neither will eat this recipe.  It’s just all about button pushing to them.

Here you are all puréed.

Now for the fun.  You could very easily add salt and pepper to taste and be done.

I like to mix it up.  Tonight, I added a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg.

If you don’t use fresh nutmeg often – it is very strong in flavor.  A little can long away.  Always start out with less, taste and add more if you need.  Nutmeg will quickly over power any dish if you add too much.

Finish with salt and pepper.  Tonight, I added some sour cream too.

DLS Monday was long, this was an easy dish that was flavorful, and comforting.

 

Cauliflower Purée
12-16 oz rough chopped cauliflower florets
1 T unsalted butter, melted
2 T milk
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
– Add whole garlic cloves the cauliflower when boiling and purée along with it.
– After puréed, add parmesan cheese.
– Add a pinch of nutmeg, along with salt and pepper.
– After puréed, add sour cream.

In a medium pot, bring salted water to a boil on high heat.  Boil the cauliflower until fork tender, and no longer than five minutes.  Strain.  Return the pot to the stove on low heat and melt the butter and milk together.

Combine in a food processor.  Pulse several times until puréed.  Add salt and pepper, and any extras.  Serve it up!