I learned of Sheila Lukin’s death a few days ago and the news has been, personally, a difficult assimilation. I’ve spent teary hours thumbing through my tattered copies of “The Silver Palate” and “The New Basics” cookbooks, those great eighties cooking bibles, which she co-authored with Julie Rosso. Back then, those women were my muses, enormously influential in determining the radical swing my life would take.

In 1978, their shop, The Silver Palate on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was down the block from my apartment on Columbus Avenue. I passed the storefront every morning before catching the subway to my first "real" job at an East Side public relations firm; a great job, thanks in part to my recent U of M degree. As I schlepped to work in my neon plastic stilettos (aka: “Candies”), I noted those two women seemed to be having way more fun than I.

Their tiny doll house of a shop was packed floor to ceiling with colorful jars of chutneys, mustards and cornichons topped, with festive "babushkas" of red and white gingham cloth. The sparkling towers of Blueberry Vinegar inspired many a recipe for busy go-go New Yorkers. I was always late on rent because of my hunger for Silver Palate fresh patés and the meals-to-go I carefully selected from their tiny deli case. Reheating them in my kitchen closet, I concocted "my plan".

I wanted a store just like The Silver Palate, but New York was too big of an apple for me to bite. I ended up returning to my much-missed little college town and opened the Back Alley Gourmet in 1981; the store remains an Old West Side favorite today. Silver Palate condiments were the only item I initially carried. I can still taste the flavor of the finished chicken, which was rubbed with Silver Palate's Sweet and Rough mustard under the skin just before baking. I sold the store in 1999 but grease-stained photos and recipes remain, much inspired from the Silver Palate cookbooks.

There were so many Silver Palate recipes I enjoyed through the years and made at The Back Alley. I choose a particularly delicious "New Basics Cookbook" recipe for tonight's dinnerFeed honoring Sheila and Julie. I especially like this recipe for the unusual combination of spices. A whole baked cauliflower would not be practical for selling from a deli, but is a wonderful side-dish in a family meal, particularly delicious with roasted chicken. This recipe introduced my children, Greta and Zan, to the absolute delight of savoring one of many vegetables at their prime-time of harvest. Tonight's dinnerFeed is particularly perfect because cauliflower is now just coming into its prime.

The only thing I altered in this "The New Basics Cookbook" recipe was the cooking time, I decreased it by 10 minutes. Shelia and Julie's cauliflower was larger than mine. It's photographed on a bed of arugula. Those two pioneering legends showed me just how fabulous arugula tastes with cauliflower, don't 'cha know!

Yield: 4-6 servings Cost: apx. 4.50 Active Time: 10 minutes Baking Time: 1 hour

The New Basics Cookbook (p. 226) Baked Cauliflower

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 head cauliflower (about 3 pounds)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350Ëš. 2. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, dill, lemon zest, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Blend well and set aside. 3. Trim all the leaves off the cauliflower, and cut the stem flush with the bottom of the head so it will sit steadily. 4. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the top and sides of the cauliflower. Place it in an ovenproof casserole just large enough to hold it, and cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil. 5. Bake until fork-tender, 1-1 1/4 hours. Then transfer the cauliflower to a heated platter, spoon any pan juices over it, and bring it to the table whole for a dramatic presentation.