Creamed Cauliflower —rsquo; The Side Dish That Belongs at Every Table Worth Gathering Around

Veterans Day Monday. I do not march in parades. I do not go to events. I have a Purple Heart in a frame in the hallway and that is the closest I come to public ceremony. Veterans Day for me is a day I drive Patrick to coffee at the Roundup diner where they have free pancakes for veterans, and Patrick — who served two years in the Air Force in the late 1970s, stateside, never deployed — sits with me in the booth and we have pancakes and coffee and the waitress thanks Patrick and thanks me and Patrick says nothing and I say thank you, ma'am, and we eat our pancakes and we go home. Patrick has never made a thing of his service. He thinks the men who do are men who needed more than they got. I do not entirely agree with him about that, but I do not disagree either. We have come to terms on Veterans Day. The pancakes are bad. The waitress is kind. The booth has a view of the highway and the grass on the other side and a few magpies in the parking lot. It is enough.

The book got nominated for a regional nonfiction award this week. Sarah called Tuesday with the news. The Mountain West Book Award, which is a small thing in the larger publishing world but a real thing in our world. Five finalists. The winner gets two thousand dollars and a small ceremony in Boise in February. I told Sarah, congratulations to her. She said, Ryan, this is for you, you have to come to Boise in February. I said, I will think about it. February is when Tara is due. Sarah said, Then you will have to think about it. I am going to think about it. Patrick will be alive. The baby will be born. I will be a thirty-year-old uncle of a girl who does not yet have a public name, and I might also, in February, be a finalist for an award, and these things are happening at the same time and the world does not stop layering events because you happen to be busy. I will probably go to Boise. We will see.

Three farrier days this week. The cold has set in and the work is harder — fingers go numb, the steel chills your hands through gloves, the horses do not love standing in cold corrals and the patience required of the farrier increases proportionally. I did the work. The new calf is doing fine. He is gaining weight. The cattle are settled. The hay is being eaten at the rate I had projected. The water tanks are heated and running. The well is running. The wood pile is at three cords and I am cutting another cord this weekend. The infrastructure of winter is in place.

Patrick had his first really bad day of November Friday. The medication shifted out of rhythm and the tremor was severe and he could not feed himself at lunch and he spent the afternoon in the chair with his eyes closed and his hands shaking so much that I went out to the shop and worked for two hours just to not have to watch. By dinner he was better. Mom had given him an extra dose two hours early at the doctor's instruction (this is allowed in case of breakthrough symptoms) and the medication caught and the shaking subsided and he ate dinner with one hand on a fork. The bad days are coming more often now than they were in the summer. The trajectory is what it is. We are still in the manageable phase. We are not yet in the wheelchair phase. I am holding onto the distinction because the distinction matters.

Saturday I cooked a turkey for the AA cookout. Eight men. The turkey was fifteen pounds, brined for twelve hours, roasted at three-twenty-five for three hours and stuffed with cornbread and sage and onions, served with mashed potatoes and gravy made from the drippings. Thanksgiving in advance. Marcus said, You did not have to do this. I said, We are doing Thanksgiving this Saturday because you guys all have Thanksgivings to be at on the actual Thursday. He said, This is a good thing you are doing. I said, You are the one doing it. You are the one not drinking. The food is just food. He looked at me for a long time and then he nodded and he ate his turkey. The fire was big and the night was cold and the men ate three plates each and there were no leftovers. Mom and I had cold turkey sandwiches Sunday for lunch on Mom's sourdough with cranberry sauce. Patrick had two. The fire helps. The turkey helps. The book nomination helps. The bad days are bad days. The good days are good days. The work is the work.

The turkey got all the attention that Saturday — and it deserved it — but it’s the sides that carry a meal like that, the dishes that fill the gaps between plates and keep eight hungry men warm when the fire starts to die down. Creamed cauliflower is the kind of thing I’d put on that table again without hesitation: plain enough to let the turkey be the centerpiece, rich enough that nobody walks away wanting. Marcus ate two helpings of everything that night. This would have been on his plate.

Creamed Cauliflower

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

1. Cook the cauliflower. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until just tender when pierced with a fork. Do not overcook — the florets should hold their shape. Drain well and set aside.
2. Make the cream sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture turns light golden and smells slightly nutty.
3. Add the dairy. Slowly whisk in the milk and heavy cream, a little at a time, keeping the mixture smooth. Continue whisking over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
4. Season the sauce. Stir in the salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan until melted and smooth.
5. Combine and serve. Gently fold the drained cauliflower into the cream sauce, coating the florets evenly. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with fresh parsley if desired, and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 280mg