The Escoffier Series continues with Chapter 13, Vegetables and Farinaceous Products

The Escoffier series continues with broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

I know that’s already a non-starter for some folks. I think these preparations will make the willing new fans to these vegetables.

You might discover some new ways to approach other vegetables, too. The sky is the limit on cooking innovation.

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The Escoffier series continues.

In the last Escoffier episode, I stopped to save broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts for this episode.

I’ve mentioned before that broccoli and cauliflower are in the cabbage family which is Brassica. It’s a pretty big family and maybe the most notable traits of that family are aroma and odor, to be gentle. The smell of it cooking is too much for some and the smell of it after eating is too much for most everyone. A bit of the wind, as they might say.

Escoffier offers recipes for cauliflower and not broccoli. He writes that any cauliflower preparation is suitable for broccoli.

Since Escoffier wrote his book a lot has changed in the production of both vegetables. He identifies a few varieties which maybe can be found in the store now and again. I don’t know what those he mentions are. Broccolini is one kind of broccoli that looks a little bit like rapini, or broccoli rabe, another cousin.

In both cases, for cauliflower and broccoli, the recommended cooking procedure is in salted boiling water until tender. Remove and refresh which means shock in ice water to stop the cooking. Remember he’s writing for cooks and service. At home, an ice bath may not always be necessary.

I want to talk about cooking various vegetables in various kinds of water, specifically alkaline and acid. Mostly that’s a tease for an upcoming episode. There’s a lot there and it’s worth covering. The one thing to add here about that is to avoid adding acid to water for green vegetables. At first, the color is amazing green then not so much. The other big problem is slime. The green vegetable–we tested green beans in culinary school–gets a slime that is entirely unappetizing.

Escoffier puts thought into the presentation and that’s why some of the cauliflower procedures indicate boiling the whole cauliflower. That’ll take some time and you may need to add more boiling water to the pot to keep the cauliflower submerged.

One complaint is cauliflower has nearly no flavor. I can agree with that when discussing boiled cauliflower. It’s pretty bland and the flavor is mostly subtle cabbage. Not a big selling point to most people. Add a Cheddar cheese sauce and you might get some attention.

It could be that everyone forever thought cauliflower as is can be a bit dull. Escoffier had a solution. Cauliflower gratin. For you playing the home version it is procedure 4067

“Arrange the bouquets in a suitable-size round bowl to reform it to its original shape, filling the centre with a few tablespoons of Sauce Mornay. Coat the bottom of a gratin dish with Sauce Mornay and demold the cauliflower on top, Cover completely with more sauce, sprinkle with a mixture of grated cheese and fine dry white breadcrumbs, and with melted butter, and gratinate.”

The key in all of Escoffier’s cauliflower procedures is fat. Butter specifically since fat adds flavor and veggies love butter.

Two more to mention that are easy to do at home. If you have a large party, rearranging the cauliflower back into a round head is fine, accepting you have a service bowl suitable to hold such a thing. In most cases, we will serve on a plate or platter for a passed plate service or arrange the plates in the kitchen.

Cauliflower Milanaise and Polonaise both use browned butter and that’s where the similarity ends.

Cauliflower Milanaise, “place the cooked and well drained cauliflower in a buttered dish sprinkled with grated cheese. Sprinkle the cauliflower also with grated cheese, add a few small pieces of butter and gratinate in the over. On removing from the oven coat the cauliflower with a little brown butter and serve immediately.” That can easily be done in small oven-safe dishes or one larger casserole dish for self-help service. It would also look impressive. He doesn’t say so, but chopped fresh parsley for green is a good addition.

Cauliflower Polonaise is at least one more step but worth the effort. “Drain the cooked cauliflower well and place in a buttered dish; sprinkle with mixed chopped hard-boiled egg yolks and chopped parsley. At the moment of service, coat with brown butter in which fine white breadcrumbs have been fried to a golden brown.”

At the Governors’ Club, we added Cauliflower Polonaise to a chicken dish with a few adjustments. We used the whole hard-cooked egg. The yolk was passed through a fine screen and the white was chopped with a knife. We also mixed the toasted breadcrumbs and parsley with the cooked egg, seasoned the mix, and then waited. On each order, some of the mix was sprinkled onto the cauliflower piece and heated in the oven to get hot and gratinèed in the salamander. It looks nice and the crunch of the crispy breadcrumbs is a good added texture to otherwise pretty soft cauliflower.

Sauce Mornay is Bechamel with Gruyere cheese. You can easily make Cheddar Cheese sauce or any cheese sauce you prefer. Cheddar Cheese sauce sounds especially good on broccoli. I think broccoli au Gratin would also work nicely.

Before we leave cauliflower I want to add this process. It’s not in his book and it’s a flavor powerhouse. It’s not in his book since there seems no easy way to make the presentation pretty.

This process does create some cauliflower trim. You can chop them or food processor them to make your own cauliflower rice. The main part comes from the middle. From a whole head of cauliflower with the stem side up, cut along the core straight down creating those loose pieces. Next, cut planks of cauliflower through the core about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch thick. You’ll only get a few of these per head. Lay the planks flat and season with salt and pepper.

Here’s one time a hot pan doesn’t mean smoking hot. It does mean as hot as the medium-low setting will get it. In a pan over medium-low heat, add some coconut oil or clarified fat, bacon fat, tallow, lard, or ghee is fine, add the planks to the hot pan. Allow to cook so they brown. Low and slow is the key to developing the rich, deep flavor cauliflower has hidden away. I use a 10″ cast iron and can sometimes get three planks placed flat. Sometimes only two. This is a test of patience and trusting the process. Allow the cauliflower to get as dark as the brown leather of a bombardier jacket. What happens when it gets that dark is an umami shows up that can’t be found any other way. Turn it over. It’ll probably fall apart a bit and brown the other side. You may need to add a bit more fat to avoid burning. It’s done when the bottom is good and brown and the core is tender. Use a fork to test. Push into the core. If the core is soft, the plank is done.

What the heck do you do with this? Place a chicken or beef curry on top. Add sausage and eggs. When it is well cooked, it’ll break easily. At that point, add blanched cherry tomatoes, some water, or stock, and it’s a pasta sauce. That’s gonna be a shock of flavor. Add a bit of extra virgin olive oil to the sauce in the pan to finish it. It really is something else.

I use coconut oil because I use that caramelized cauliflower as the base for a curry. If I keep saying how amazing it is you are not going to believe me.

Brocolli can be caramelized like cauliflower. The flowerettes aren’t as amazing but the stems, which need to be peeled, are very nice when caramelized.

Brussels sprouts are very nice au gratin, Milanaise, or Polonaise. My go-to preparation is to caramelize them, big surprise, right, in bacon fat and finish them in the oven. Then add chopped bacon and bleu cheese and mix. Ideally, some of the cheese will not melt so there’s a temperature contrast and the unmelted cheese has a different tang.

One other way which works for broccoli and cauliflower is baked in a cream sauce. In all cases, the veg should be cooked about 75%. Since I prefer my veggies hammered, I make sure they are at least that. Allow the veg to drain well then arrange it into a casserole which has either been buttered and sprinkled with grated cheese or prepared with a thin layer of cream sauce. Add the drained, cooked veg, one layer if possible, and cover with the cream sauce and bake till hot and lightly browned. You are free to add cheese to the top for better browning and more flavor.

No doubt foes of these three veggies may show reluctance at these new preparations. No preparation makes the flavor go away; these are only meant to enhance the flavor they have. I realize that’s a losing position for some folks and that’s fine. More for you. My brother was firmly opposed to bacon with Brussels sprouts since the bacon flavor overpowered the sprouts. I see his point and never once agreed. Thinking something is going to overpower a Brussels sprout seems kinda silly. So, bacon it up.

The Escoffier Series, Ch 13, Vegetables and Farinacious Products, continues

Cabbage and chicory are today’s offerings. I remember how we used escarole on a salmon dish and why that worked so well. Also some ways to cook cabbage that you’ll enjoy and which pair well with meats.

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The Escoffier series moves along in chapter 13. 

I think I teased about using escarole, which is in the Chicory family, with a salmon dish.

Escarole is a key to Italian Wedding soup. I find it a touch bitter which is a feature since I like bitter. 

The chicory family includes the salad green Frissee, much loved by chefs, as well as Belgian Endive, which isn’t a chicory, and escarole, which is a chicory. Belgian endive is a variety of radicchio and all of them are related to the dandelion.

That salmon dish had a grilled portion of salmon served on top of sauteed escarole and creamed corn. The sweet, creamy rich corn against the bitter, garlicky escarole with the fatty rich salmon was an amazing meal.

Escarole should be washed. Well. It is often pretty sandy. Then cut into somewhat large pieces, 2 inches or so, and blanched. The blanching will remove some of the bitterness but also facilitate faster sauteeing. That’s for restaurant line service. At home, I would do the same thing. The stems are quite thick and need the blanching to help soften them. 

Blanched escarole leaves are wet. That’s a Duh moment. That’s important to know when you add it to a hot pan. It’s gonna spit. Butter or animal fat in the hot pan, escarole next, and then the garlic. Garlic will burn if you put it in the pan first. Adjust the seasoning and that alone is a fine side dish. You could render some bacon then add the escarole to that and continue and it might be better. Slowly cook some chicken thighs fat side down to make crispy skin and that’s a fine protein addition to that escarole.

Another reason to blanch greens, spinach, or escarole, or lettuce (we’ll get there) is to remove the water before the final cooking. 

Creamed escarole is dandy. Escoffier offers a procedure with brown roux and stock and I just don’t think that’s necessary. Blanch the escarole. Remove that to a pot and add heavy cream and two cloves of garlic. Cook that until the cream becomes thick. Adjust the seasoning and serve in a small bowl. Or a big bowl.

Most of us think of Belgian Endive as a salad ingredient or a vessel for appetizers. They can be cooked. I worked with a chef who spent time in Belgium and made the most amazing casserole of Belgian endive with ham and cream and Gruyere cheese.

Instead of blanching, Escoffier writes the endives should be placed tightly in one layer in a non-reactive pan, stainless steel will do, covered with salted lemon water and a few pats of butter. Cover that with buttered parchment and then foil or the pan’s lid and cook slowly for about half an hour or until the endive are tender at the root end.

Variations to that would be cooking them in stock without the acid and keeping the butter. Covered and cooked till done. Remove the endive, reduce the liquid till thick, and drape over the endive. Add diced ham at the midpoint of cooking, or, serve them with a slice of ham. Maybe even as a side for an Easter ham.

He offers an idea about Belgian Endive Mornay. Place the cooked endives in a pan with Sauce Mornay, cover with more sauce, grated cheese, and brown in a broiler.

So, here’s how those Endive et Jambon was made. Wrap the prepared endive in a slice of ham. Lay those in a pan of Mornay sauce, cover with more sauce, and add the grated Gruyere cheese. Bake till hot, glaze in a broiler, and eat.

Turning that large pan into portions is easy enough if you have the right dishes. Sometimes Crème Brûlée is served in a small-ish dish which would be perfect for individual portions of creamed Belgian endive.

Cabbage is next. More than likely you made a face just now. I suspect most people don’t care for cabbage and most people probably have only ever had it boiled which is bland and boring.

Cabbage is excellent as sauerkraut. Cabbage can also be braised or pickled which opens up a lot of options. Of course, you know the red cabbage and the light green cabbage which looks almost exactly like white cabbage. If you happen to be Polish, you might remember granny with those giant cabbage heads to make Gołabki.

Cabbage, the Brassica family, is the largest vegetable family. It includes cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, various other cabbages such as napa and Bok Choi, kale, turnips, collard greens, kohlrabi, and more.

I eat cabbage in some form nearly every day for breakfast. Caramelized is my preferred way. That’s not an Escoffier method. It is one I borrowed from our Keto friend Jimmy Clegg who I’m pretty sure borrowed it from his wife. It’s easy enough to make. Dice some bacon. Render that. At about the halfway point of it being done, add diced cabbage. Cook low and slow until the cabbage is literally browned, stirring now and again. Adjust the seasoning and eat.

Red cabbage makes excellent braised cabbage which pairs with venison or wild boar very nicely. Escoffier offers a version of red cabbage which would also go well with those two, or any other gamey meat. Ostrich isn’t gamey and would also go well with red cabbage.

The red cabbage a la Limousine is simply julienned red cabbage, seasoned, avoid the core–more about that in a moment–cover with light stock, chicken perhaps, pork drippings, and whole raw chestnuts. He writes 20 per head of red cabbage.

So, the first challenge is raw chestnuts in the spring. Canned chestnuts would work. Just add them halfway through the cooking process.

Here’s a braised red cabbage you can make. The ratios aren’t set in stone. In fact, I’m adjusting them as I read from the 7 1/2 pounds of cabbage the recipe uses. 

1/4 of a red onion, half of an apple, variety doesn’t matter, 1 piece of bacon, diced, 1 head of red cabbage, julienned, 1/2 cup of red wine, the drier the better, 1/2 c red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar or 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 ounce of red currant jelly or the jelly you have on hand, and a sachet of cinnamon stick, juniper berries, and a bay leaf.

Render the bacon, and add the sugar or honey. When that melts add the onion, apple, and cabbage. Season with salt and stir to cook down. When the cabbage has started to wilt, add the sachet of spices, the jelly, and the liquids. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the juice is mostly reduced and the cabbage is tender. Remove the sachet.

It isn’t included here that raisins are a good addition. Dried currents may be better. I said this is good for game, and it is. It’ll also be great with sauerbraten. 

Escoffier has a very short entry for the various leaves of other cabbage family items. Broccoli leaves, kohlrabi leaves and turnip leaves he identified as well as Scotch Kale. He writes, “all of these different leaves may be prepared à l’Anglaise, i.e. boiled in salted water, or cooked with butter as for Brussels sprouts. These are the only suitable methods of cooking.”

I found humor in the suggestion that Kale can only be cooked one way. I think that’s one too many.

Broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts will have to wait. Some procedures for cauliflower really do merit some time.

Before I end I said I would get back to that cabbage core. Jack Shoop, CMC, was endlessly curious about food. One day we were cutting the cores out of cabbage and he grabbed one hunk. He salted it and started nibbling small bites. Jack was very animated when he got excited and almost yelled how good that was. Salted cabbage cores was a new treat.

I don’t eat them raw and I don’t throw them away. I cut them out and then cut them very thinly so they cook with the rest of the cabbage. The point of the story is two-fold. Be curious. Eat something different. And find joy in the simplest of things.