Hypertension: Cauliflower Puree

So I woke up at 12noon with a growling stomach. Truth be told, this is one of my earlier days.

noon only?! geez people WHAT are you all doing awake?!

I rocked up to the fridge and found bits and pieces of food stuff here and there, including this tiny portion of cauliflower. Might as well, I suppose. Some trial and error cooking for 1 won't hurt anyone! =D



1 bowl of cauliflower
1 cup of milk
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 a small brown onion
25g of butter
pinch of salt
pinch of ground bay leaves
pinch of pepper

The ham and cheese toast was just, well, you know... =D

Hypertension warning
Hypertension is the medical condition whereby there is increased blood pressure in the individual. It could be caused by too much salt, cholesterol, alcohol and stuff like that. Just remember to have those stuff in moderation and maintain a healthy lifestyle i.e. exercise regularly! =D

Trivia!
There are actually other colors for cauliflowers! There's orange, green and even purple cauliflowers. Like woah. And Orange cauliflowers are supposed to contain 25 times more Vitamin A than the white ones, which is good for the eye. Cauliflowers themselves are packed with truckloads of fibre, folate and anti-cancer stuff (indole-3-carbinol). But apparently boiling quickly destroys such compounds whilst other cooking methods have not much impact on the anti-cancer compounds. Oops? Now we know!



Smash the garlic with the blade of the knife and roughly cut the onions into smaller pieces. This is to release the flavor of these beautiful little things into the milk more easily.



Cut up the cauliflower into little pieces to speed up the cooking process. Com'on I'm really hungry man.

Pour the cuppa milk, onion and garlic, and cauliflower and bring them to a boil until the cauliflower softens. It'll soften in about 5 minutes? I just pressed the cauliflower against the side of the pot with the ladle and I figured that it's done when the cauliflower gets smooshed.



When it's done, stir in a comfortable amount of butter which doesn't induce too much guilt. For me, that was about 25g..



Throw in a good pinch of salt and ground bay leaves. Omg. Omg. Ground bay leaves are so awesome. It's so fragrant and goes so well with milk and cream based food. Yum.



THIS BABY, is something that all houses should have. Heck, I think the government should issue this to every single family. Seriously, it improves lives by like miles. MILES. Or if not, use a food processor and mash the whole thingum up.



Noms. I didn't strain it so there was still grainy bits, which was the texture I was going for.



Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D
1) Season it well, seriously. No really, you have to put salt and pepper for it to be remotely tasty. I experimented with a index finger of salt and honestly, there was nothing. Then I just threw in a good pinch of say half a teaspoon and there was magic. However I do suppose there are alternatives, such as half a cup of parmesan cheese, which I am CERTAIN, would give it the salty kick AND the heavenly cheese-cauliflower complement.

2)I didn't strain the puree and thus ended up with a soupy texture with bits of cauliflower in it. For those we are looking for a thicker texture closer to mash potato, just strain the puree and use the filtrand.

3) I do suppose other herbs such as cloves would bring more kick to the recipe but you MUST. NOT. FORGET. BAY. LEAVES.

4) I think bacon, ham and cheese are cauliflowers' best friends. Just gotta think of ways to marry them all. Hmmmmmm.... Maybe maybe fried bacon bits on sprinkled on top of the puree, after it has been folded with cheese? Till next time I suppose! =D