Make Ahead Freezer Mashed Garlic Cauliflower
Try this Make Ahead Freezer Mashed Garlic Cauliflower recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Make Ahead Freezer Mashed Garlic Cauliflower recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 0.0216033333333333 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.00108666666666667 g
- Fiber 0.00883333333333333 g
- Protein 0.00365 g
- Saturated Fat 0.000326666666666667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 cup (2g)
- Sodium 775.174666666667 mg
- Sugar 0.01277 g
- Trans Fat 4.66666666666668E-05 g
- Calories 0 calories
Step-by-step
- Place the cauliflower and garlic cloves in the bowl of a slow cooker.
- Add enough water to almost cover the cauliflower.
- Cook on LOW for 6 hours or until the cauliflower is tender.
- Drain the water in a strainer and place the cauliflower back into the slow cooker and blend using an immersion blender until the desired consistency is reached (or place the cauliflower in the bowl of blender or food processor and process until the desired consistency is reached).
- Add the salt and ghee and mix to combine.
- Serve immediately (add fresh herbs, to taste) or divide into portions for freezing.
- Allow the mixture to cool and pour portions into freezer bags (or use your preferred freezing method).
- Flatten the mixture and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To serve, thaw and heat in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through.
Can this vegetable mash be scaled indefinitely without altering the cooking time? Doubling the yield to twelve servings requires splitting the florets across two slow cookers rather than crowding one vessel, because overloaded cookers trap excess moisture and prevent proper softening. Slow-cooking cauliflower in water extracts moisture efficiently, but draining the cooked florets thoroughly through a fine-mesh strainer for at least ten minutes remains mandatory to prevent watery purees.
Scaling quantities down for smaller households is straightforward when maintaining the ratio of two medium garlic cloves per head of cauliflower. Immersion blenders offer superior control over texture compared to standard countertop blenders, allowing cooks to stop before the mixture turns gummy. Fat content regulates freezing stability, meaning the three tablespoons of ghee or butter must be thoroughly emulsified into the hot mixture before packaging to prevent separation upon thawing.
Flattening the cooled portions inside freezer bags to a uniform thickness of one inch ensures safe thawing within four hours in a refrigerator. Reheating frozen portions directly in a saucepan over medium heat requires constant stirring for seven minutes to evaporate residual condensation. Fresh delicate herbs like dill should be stirred in strictly after reheating, since prolonged heat degrades volatile aromatic compounds.
Kitchen workflow benefits from freezing these portions flat, as stacked bags maximize freezer real estate while cutting thaw times significantly compared to block-frozen containers. Portioning the mash immediately after blending utilizes the residual heat to help fats integrate evenly without requiring secondary mixing steps.
