What did I do wrong with cauliflower recipe?

[Karen92157]

I made the Creamed Cauliflower with Herbed Crumb Topping (CL Dec 2004) last night and for some reason I had an abundance of water in the bottom of the dish. I followed the recipe as written. I may have been alittle shy of the 10 cups of caufilower but that is the only deviation from the recipe. When I went to store leftovers I had to take care to just scope out the cauliflower and not the water. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone have any guesses as to why this happened? We liked the cauliflower but it looked pretty sad sitting in the casserole dish - especially after some had been taken out. I will have to figured out how to solve this before I serve to guests! Suggestions welcome! Thanks, Karen

[sneezles]

Did you drain the cauliflower really well? Soemtimes leeks have excess moisture from washing and need to be sautéed long enough for the moisture to evaporate.
Was your flour and milk mixture still thick after you added the cauliflower?

[Aubergine]

ouch! i hear your frustration. all the veggies in the cabbage family (and that includes cauliflower and broccoli) tend to be very watery. and i just bought some cauliflower to make this recipe.

i'd agree with sneezles, it might not have been drained sufficiently. it's so hard to say, because the water content in veggies is very high, esp. when they're fresh. there have been many times when i've cooked & served them, stashed the leftovers in containers, and pulled them out a day or two later with a small pool of water at the bottom.

[Karen92157]

sneezles, I thought my flour and milk mixture was thick enough, even after I added the cauliflower. Now, I didn't press out any excess water from the caulifower, but it did sit in the colander for quite awhile. I guess I'll just have to try again. Thanks for your help.

[VegasDramaQueen]

KAREN: In a earlier thread I mentioned that I made this dish but instead of using low fat milk, I used whole milk and added about 1/4 cup cream. Could it be that the extra fat in the milk and cream acted as a binder since low fat milk has a thinner consistancy? I didn't have any water in the bottom of the dish, so maybe you could give the whole milk/bit of cream method.