It's Halloween...and the perfect time for a Parallel World Cooking Adventure!

This is a lovely Baked Devil's Brain in Blood Sauce...vegetarian style, of course!
(Sorry, Vampires, you'll have to pass on this one.)

There are amazing physical similarities between a common cauliflower and the human brain...
(See data at "PLEASE PASS THE CAULIFLOWER - A RECIPE FOR INTRODUCING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TO BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION" at http://advan.physiology.org/content/24/1/22.full.pdf )

Besides, the cauliflower is known to be great food for the brain, and have other health benefits, in spite of it's "cauliflower brain" bad rep!

It follows that the cauliflower is an essential part of a truly "gruesome" Halloween meal ;)
So follow me as I enter a Parallel World where "Brain Food" has a whole new meaning...

We will be under the psychic protection of a powerful Brane-Power Double Black Diode amulet as we cross over into Other-World Cooking, so as not to offend the Devil there whose brain we borrowed...

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients:

Cauliflower "Brain":
1 Med-Large Cauliflower

"Blood" Sauce:
2 Beets
Onion
1 Tbsp curry powder
garlic (lots!)
dash of Hot sauce
Cayenne
Paprika
Basil
Oregano
Veg Salt
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Quart of Water

Use a Pyrex Baking Dish or Pan

For optional glow-in-dark capability, see comments Step 5
Use Non-toxic highlighter fluid, or preferably, edible glow fluid found in This Instructable

Step 2: Prepare the Blood Sauce

Prepare the vegetarian Blood Sauce:

Quarter two peeled beets, add to a quart of water and bring to a boil. Add spices to taste, such as veg salt, basil, oregano, paprika, ceyanne, hot sauce, red peppers...anything red and hot is fair game!

An onion and garlic for flavour is recommended. Simmer the beet mixture for about an hour, then shut off heat and allow to cool. Coconut oil can be added when the beets are warm as a thickening agent.

Blend the Blood:

Put the cooled beet mixture in a blender and blend at high speed until totally smooth and creamy. Pour this blood-like mixture into the baking pan.

Step 3: Prepare Your Brain

Prepare the Cauliflower Brain:

Trim away all green shoots and leaves from the cauliflower, then cut the bottom of it flat with a large knife. Then use a small knife to cut a V-shaped groove from the front to the back of the cauliflower "brain". This simulates the divide between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.Trim the brain's groove so it is more rounded and brain-like.

Those who wish to model the intricate details of the brain with their cauliflower, check out this university brain course taught using cauliflower...
http:// http://advan.physiology.org/content/24/1/22.full.pdf

Step 4: Place Your Brain in Blood Bath and Bake

Poor the blended "blood" mixture into the baking pan. Place the cauliflower "brain" in the pan. Bake at 350 deg F for one hour. Baste the brain occasionally with the blood sauce, and avoid excess browning.

Allow your brain to cool slightly, and enjoy it with other gruesome goodies!!

Bonus: Add feta-stuffed jalapeno peppers for devil horns! (hold them on with tooth-picks)

The "Baked Brain" may be shown whole for display, or cut in thin slices to show "preserved" cross-sections.

Step 5: Your Brain on Highlighter Fluid...with Better Alternatives!

This step is about optional black-light Glow-In-The-Dark capabilities that your brain can have.

You can use diluted Sharpie highlighter fluid poured on the "brain", and mixed into the "blood". Then use a black-light for glow-in-the-dark fun! (here is the MSDS safety sheet on Sharpie highlighter fluid.)

Whether the highlighter glow fluid is edible is debatable, but apparently many people have ingested the non-toxic variety of highlighter fluid with no effect other than strange-colored, uh, pee and poo...;)

However, here's a better way to make non-toxic, and edible, glow-in-the-dark fluid !!
It's a new instructable that "highlights" this topic (so to speak!) with natural ways to get the effect. See https://www.instructables.com/id/TRON-inspired-glow-in-the-dark-drinks/

See this older instructable for a simple way to get a glow-in-the-dark fluid using non-toxic highlighter pens.

I noticed that just the beet juice alone poured on the cauliflower seems to give a beautiful natural purplish glow under the black-light.

Step 6: Cauliflower Brain Links

Here are some Cauliflower/Brain/Brane links:

"Eating cauliflower can help boost energy and efficiency in your frontal lobe. This is the region in the brain that is responsible for memory, and decision making."
http://healthytraditions.blogspot.com/2009/05/cauliflower-has-brain-power.html

"It is our observation that the ridiculous nature of the analogy between the brain and the cauliflower effectively engages students and demystifies neuroanatomy and pathophysiology content. http://advan.physiology.org/content/24/1/22.full.pdf

"Cauliflower Brain Actually Running White House"
http://wonkette.com/411876/white-cauliflower-brain-actually-running-white-house

"Nutritional Content Of Cauliflower"
http://www.livestrong.com/article/520414-nutritional-content-of-cauliflower/

Brane-Power: The ability to work with Branes between Parallel Worlds...like at Halloween!
http://www.brane-power.com/ and http://www.yoyodyneindustries.com/