Purée De Chou-fleur dite à la Dubarry

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for the cauliflower
• •2-quart / 1.9 L saucepan for the potatoes
• •Fine-mesh sieve, at least 8 inches / 20 cm wide
• •Flexible bowl scraper or sturdy silicone spatula
• •Potato ricer or hand masher
• •1-quart / 950 ml deep serving bowl or timbale

Instructions

1. 1

   Make firm potato purée

   Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover them with cold water by 1 inch / 2.5 cm, and add 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until a knife passes through without resistance. Drain thoroughly and return them to the dry pan over low heat for 1 minute, shaking gently to drive off moisture. Press them through a potato ricer or the fine-mesh sieve while hot, then fold in 2 tablespoons of the warm cream. The purée should be smooth but firm enough to retain a spoon mark. If it slumps, keep stirring over low heat until it tightens. Ça se rattrape. Cover and keep warm.

2. 2

   Cook the cauliflower

   Bring a large pot of water to a full boil and season it with the remaining measured salt. Add the cauliflower and cook uncovered for 9 to 12 minutes. It is ready when the thickest stem crushes easily between two fingers and a knife enters the core cleanly. Do not stop at merely tender; cauliflower that is too firm will never pass smoothly through the sieve.

3. 3

   Drain and dry

   Drain the cauliflower in a colander for 3 minutes, tossing it once, then return it to the empty pot over low heat. Fold and shake it gently for 2 to 4 minutes, until no water collects on the pot floor and the florets look matte rather than wet. Do not let them color. This drying is the step that decides the dish: if water still gathers when you press a floret, keep drying. Butter cannot repair a watery purée.

4. 4

   Pass through the sieve

   While the cauliflower is hot, rub it through a fine-mesh sieve in small batches with a flexible scraper, then collect the smooth purée clinging beneath the mesh. This replaces the source's tamis, or tammy, without changing its purpose. Do not dilute the cauliflower to make the work easier. Measure the finished purée by volume; the expected yield is about 2 cups / 480 ml, though the exact amount depends on the head.

5. 5

   Keep the Dubarry ratio

   Measure firm creamed potato equal to exactly one-quarter of the cauliflower purée's volume. For 2 cups / 480 ml cauliflower purée, use ½ cup / 120 ml potato purée. Fold them together in a clean saucepan over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture falls from the spoon in a heavy ribbon and holds a soft mound. If a watery ring appears, do not add the butter yet. Ça se rattrape: continue stirring over low heat until the moisture cooks away. If the purée becomes too firm, loosen it with the reserved warm cream, 1 teaspoon at a time.

6. 6

   Monter au beurre

   Take the saucepan completely off the heat. Monter au beurre, finish with butter, by folding in the cold diced butter one piece at a time, waiting until each piece disappears before adding the next. The purée should become satin-smooth and gently glossy, never oily. If butter begins to bead on the surface, set the pan on a cool folded towel and beat steadily; if needed, add 1 teaspoon of the reserved cream to restore the emulsion. Taste and adjust the salt.

7. 7

   Fill the timbale

   Warm a deep 1-quart / 950 ml serving bowl with hot water, then dry it well. Spoon in the Dubarry, lifting it into a generous soft mound and leaving the natural sweep of the serving spoon across the top. The timbale is the serving vessel, not a mold to be turned out. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a cauliflower that feels heavy, with tight cream-colored florets and fresh leaves. Peel and use the tender central stem as well; once cooked and sieved, it contributes sweetness and body without changing the texture.
• •Bulk means volume here. Measure the sieved cauliflower first, level but not compressed, then add one-quarter that volume of firm creamed potato. Equal parts would smother the cauliflower and turn Dubarry into ordinary potato purée.
• •Work while both vegetables are hot. Their cells pass through the sieve more readily, and the two purées combine without lumps. A food processor is quicker but introduces air and encourages you to add liquid, neither of which serves this preparation.
• •Serve Dubarry with roast chicken, veal, lamb, or a plainly cooked white fish. With chicken or veal, a restrained white Burgundy has enough freshness for the cauliflower and enough body for the butter.
• •The finished purée waits poorly over direct heat. If dinner is delayed, cover the surface and hold the pan over barely warm water for no more than 20 minutes, then fold it once before serving.

Advance Preparation

• •The cauliflower and firm creamed potato may be sieved and combined up to 4 hours ahead, but leave out the finishing butter. Cool the mixture promptly in a shallow covered dish, refrigerate it, then reheat gently until fully hot before mounting with the cold butter.
• •Finished leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat over low heat with a teaspoon of cream, stirring steadily, though the texture is finest on the evening it is made. Freezing makes the cauliflower watery and the potato grainy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 235g)