No. 2685

Artichoke Bottoms with Baked Cauliflower

Fonds d'Artichauts aux Choux-Fleurs Gratines

Have some artichoke bottoms cooked and prepared as for la Villars (No. 2682); drain and fill the hollow centers with flowerets of cauliflower; cover with bechamel sauce (No. 409), bestrew the top with bread-crumbs and grated parmesan, baste over with butter, and range them at once on a buttered baking sheet; bake in a moderate oven and dress in a circle on a dish; pour bechamel cream sauce (No. 411) in the center, or else a brown half-glaze sauce (No. 413).

← No. 2684 Artichoke Bottoms Stuffed-Lean Artichokes & Asparagus No. 2686 Artichoke Bottoms with Cream Bechamel, Baked →

For the Modern Kitchen

A cross-referenced assembly recipe of the kind that fills The Epicurean: Ranhofer assumes you have already made the components. The whole dish hinges on both vegetables being fully cooked before they go into the oven, since the bake is only long enough to set the sauce and brown the top.

Artichoke bottomsTrimmed globe artichoke bases with the leaves and choke removed, cooked until tender in acidulated water (a blanc of water, lemon juice and a little flour) so they stay pale. Frozen or jar-packed bottoms are an honest substitute; drain and dry them well. Six to eight large ones for four people as a vegetable course.
"As for la Villars"The cross-reference is to No. 2682, the artichoke bottoms à la Villars; it is cited here for the cooking and trimming of the bottoms, since the filling in this recipe is supplied separately.
CauliflowerBreak into small florets and boil or steam until just tender, then drain thoroughly. Raw florets will not soften in the short bake and the water they release will thin the sauce.
Moderate ovenRoughly 350-375F. Twelve to fifteen minutes is enough to heat through; if the crumbs and parmesan have not coloured, finish under the broiler rather than leaving them in longer, or the artichoke bottoms collapse.
The three saucesNo. 409 is bechamel, No. 411 the same enriched with cream, and No. 413 a brown demi-glace, as the recipe's own wording indicates. Use a thick bechamel for the coating so it clings, and a looser cream bechamel or demi-glace for the pool in the middle.
Basting with butter"Baste over with butter" means dotting or drizzling melted butter over the crumbs before baking, which is what browns them. Skip it and the gratin stays pale and dry.
ServingRanhofer's ring arrangement with sauce in the centre is a service dish, not a casserole: bake on the sheet, then transfer with a spatula onto a warmed platter and pour the second sauce in the well. Assemble on the sheet close to serving time so nothing sits and weeps.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book's numbered, cross-referenced structure reflects a professional kitchen where sauces were made in quantity each morning and dishes were composed from them to order. Artichoke bottoms were a staple of that system, laborious to trim and then filled with whatever garnish the menu required — here cauliflower under a gratin. The book carries a run of nearly identical entries (Nos. 2684 through 2686), each differing only in stuffing and sauce; the name gratinés refers strictly to the browned crumb-and-cheese crust, not to any baking dish.