Interesting things to do with a glut of cauliflowers

What to do with a glut of cauliflowers

Having just returned from my plot with a bagful of cauliflowers, I am pondering the wisdom of growing them. Today, I have brought five home, to add to the four I have left from harvesting a couple of days ago. Several more are starting to head up and will be ready in two or three days. Fortunately, a neighbour arrived as I was packing up and I was able to convince her she really wanted a couple for dinner. They are not huge. Cauliflowers require a lot of water when their heads start to bulk up. We have had so little rain over the last 6 weeks that, by the time I have watered my polytunnel and outside seedbeds, I really don’t have the energy to carry a dozen or more buckets of water to the cauliflower patch. For me, water has to be carried in watering cans or buckets a significant distance.

I do love fresh cauliflower and home-grown ones taste so much better than those tired and very expensive ones we can buy in the shops. But! They take up a lot of space on the plot for quite a long time, 8 – 12 months for most varieties. Already, I’m becoming impatient with them, as I need the space for other crops. Unfortunately, when they are ready to crop, they all seem to come ready in the space of  7 – 10 days.

The saving grace is that there is so much you can do with them – not just make friends with your neighbours and earn brownie points with your friends by sharing them. You can freeze cauliflower but, personally, I don’t like it frozen. There are so many dishes you can make from them or they can be included in.

·         Cauliflower with cheese sauce (vary it by having parsley sauce instead, fewer calories!)

·         Cauliflower pakoras – yummy!

·         Piccalilli – mixed vegetable mustard pickle

·         Curried cauliflower – on its own or with potatoes or other vegetables

·         Cauliflower soup

·         Cauliflower potato bake

·         Vegetable lasagne

·         Vegetable cottage pie

·         Pickled cauliflower

·         Cauliflower and potato mash

Just a couple of recipes:-

Piccalilli – the Queen of pickles

If you like pickles this is definitely the most popular one – and how excellent for using the glut of different vegetables.  You will need a good selection but, use what you have on the allotment, try to avoid going to the shops for what you feel might be missing.( tender young runner beans and French beans, young marrow or courgettes, green tomatoes ( though I haven’t tried these in piccalilli), small cucumber, cauliflower, small onions or shallots( if the shallots are too large you will need to cut then in ½s or ¼s).

This recipe might seem like a lot of effort, but it is so worth the trouble

You will need a brine ( salt and water)solution – allow 50g(2oz) for each 600ml(1 pint) water. Ensure the salt is completely dissolved. You will need sufficient brine to cover the vegetables in a basin.

Increase or decrease the following ingredients in proportion according to what you have available:

900g ( 2 lb) mixed vegetables                          Brine – enough to cover the vegetables

Spiced vinegar: - for this quantity allow approx 600ml or 1 pt spiced vinegar

Use preferably white vinegar. Ordinary brown vinegar, although fine for flavour and cheaper, will affect the colour of your pickle. Simmer the vinegar with a selection of spices of your choice ( eg. mixed pepper corns, pimento, whole coriander, dried red chillies, a few bay leaves, mustard seeds, etc). Simmer -  ( gently) the spices in the vinegar for 15 minutes or so, then strain.

Sauce: -

25g/ 1 oz plain flour                                         1 tblsp.  Mustard powder

½ tblsp turmeric                                               2 tsp. Ground ginger

Vinegar to mix                                                   600ml / 1 pint spiced vinegar ( as above)

1.       Prepare the vegetables                ( cut into small pieces, about 1-1.5cm, ½inch size), weigh them – so you know how much sauce to prepare and put into the prepared brine solution – leave for 24 hours.

2.       Prepare the sauce – mix the flour, mustard powder, turmeric and mixing vinegar in a large basin, to make a soft paste. Gradually add the strained spiced vinegar, stirring frequently to ensure there are no lumps.

3.       Return the sauce mix to a large saucepan or preserving pan and simmer over a low heat until it coats the back of a wooden spoon ( reasonably  thickly). Stir frequently to ensure there are no lumps.

4.       Drain the vegetables well, but don’t rinse in cold water.

5.       Add the vegetable to the mustard sauce and gradually bring to the boil

6.       Boil for about 1 -2 minutes ( avoid cooking the vegetables)

7.       Pour/spoon into hot, sterilised jars and seal.

8.       Leave for a few weeks before eating to allow it to mature           

Pakoras

Although you can use a tempura batter, I do prefer the sublime spicy batter of Indian cooking – higher calorie perhaps but, so delicious.

You can use potatoes, cauliflower florets, mushrooms, onions, carrots, etc

For the batter:-  100gm( 4oz) gram flour / besan flour

                           2 tsp ground cumin (jeera)

                           3 tsp ground coriander (dhania)

                           ½ tsp chilli powder

                           ½  tsp turmeric

                           ½  tsp salt

                           ¼  tsp baking soda( bicarbonate of soda)

                           Water to mix

                           Oil for frying

                          200ml water approx.

·         Mix the flour, salt, spices and baking soda in a bowl

Vegetables:     wash - potatoes – peel and cut into slices; cauliflower – cut into smallish florets; mushrooms - cut in half; peel and cut into rings; carrots – peel and cut into batons or rings.

·         Add the prepared vegetables and the water and mix until the vegetables are coated generously with the batter( ensuring there are no pockets of dry ingredients and that all parts of the vegetables are covered)

·         Add the coated vegetables to preheated oil in a deep-fat fryer or wok. If using a deep-fat fryer, don’t use the basket as the batter will attach to the wire.

·         Turn the pakoras over as necessary

·         Fry until the pakoras are evenly brown, then remove from the pan and drain.

Serve with a suitable dipping sauce - total bliss!

If you would like recipes for any other dish suggestions listed here, do get back to me.