lost cauliflower recipe

Hi all....
My grandmother used to make a dish with a whole head of cauliflower (head intact) and she would serve it with a cream sauce with tiny bay shrimp over the cauliflower.  Anybody heard of this.  My family is from southwestern Pennsylvania and I don't know if it was a regional dish.  It was delicious and I would like to make it.  I am not sure if she baked it or boiled it.

This recipe from 1964 sounds close. You will have to decide if the dill was part of your grandmother's dish. Cauliflower Cheese is a staple in British cuisine.

Hot Cauliflower with Shrimp House & Garden | February 1964

by Nika Standen Hazelton
Norwegian men have taken to cooking for fun, and this excellent luncheon entrée is from Derek Blixen, manager of the Pan American World Airways Oslo office.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6

  1 large cauliflower
2 cups milk
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 sprigs dill
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 cups cooked and shelled shrimp, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
12 cooked and shelled shrimp, whole
2 tablespoons minced dill

  Trim cauliflower, wash thoroughly and cook whole in boiling salted water. Meanwhile make sauce. Combine milk, onion and dill. Bring to a boil. Strain milk and keep hot. melt butter, stir in flour and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not brown. Stir hot milk into mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Cook 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped shrimp and cook over low heat until heated through. Fold whipped cream into sauce. Place hot cauliflower on hot serving dish and pour sauce over it. Decorate with whole shrimp and dill.

 

By gosh tc that is remarkably close!  Come to think of it she did put dill in it.  I think the baby shrimp were already cleaned and frozen.  Thank you so much I was googling myself crazy trying to find it!

Glad I could help! My reference to Cauliflower Cheese is that it is an old recipe where you cook an entire head of cauliflower, drain it, then pour a cheese sauce over it and bake it until browned and bubbly. Your grandmother's recipe sounded like a version of that, but with a cream sauce and shrimp. And as you know, a lot of English food recipes were brought here by our ancestors.

You are right in thinking that the baby shrimp were probably frozen or even canned. I'll bet you can find tiny canned shrimp in the stores to make it really authentic. But you can't find a substitute for a grandmother's love.

Teresa

Hi Teresa just came back from the farmer's market with a big ol califlower going to try your recipe tonight.  I will let you know how it turns out.  Sure nice meeting you!
 
Lori