Post by chrisg on Jul 1, 2015 20:35:23 GMT 10
I hadn't made this in ages but the cauliflowers last shop were just so good I had to.
To me it is damned nearly a meal in itself, it was when I was a kid, so it merits a bit of attention beyond that for a simple side.
I selected a medium sized deliciously white head and once on the bench removed most of the stalk, leaving just enough to hold all the flowerettes together then eased it right-side up into a just big enough saucepan and put in about two inches of a good chicken stock, homemade actually, a splash of vinegar and covered it tightly, put on to boil. The intent is to essentially steam the vegetable in the stock.
Meanwhile made a really, really silky roue with rice flower and mustard powder and browned it a little by cooking for a bit with it constantly moving in the saucepan. Then for my needs a half-lite of milk added gradually and up to the boil for a nice smooth white sauce. Off the heat, add three crushed anchovy fillets and progressively about 350 gms of good matured grated cheese, stirring in to create a moderately stiff cheese sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Set to one side, check the veg. nicely par-steamed. Remove it carefully from the pan to keep it intact and transfer to an appropriately sized casserole dish with a lid.
Add a little of the remaining steaming liquid to the cheese sauce, adds flavour and thins it just a little, pour the sauce over the cauliflower, put the lid on the casserole, into a 180C oven for 20 minutes, then give it a generous sprinkle of smoky paprika and cook a further 10 minutes.
Because the spring onions looked good as well I cut up a goodly amount of the green part pretty finely and sprinkled over before serving.
Absolutely delicious, and very filling, my folks used to serve it to growing kids with chips but it really was not needed last evening
Enjoy
Cheers
To me it is damned nearly a meal in itself, it was when I was a kid, so it merits a bit of attention beyond that for a simple side.
I selected a medium sized deliciously white head and once on the bench removed most of the stalk, leaving just enough to hold all the flowerettes together then eased it right-side up into a just big enough saucepan and put in about two inches of a good chicken stock, homemade actually, a splash of vinegar and covered it tightly, put on to boil. The intent is to essentially steam the vegetable in the stock.
Meanwhile made a really, really silky roue with rice flower and mustard powder and browned it a little by cooking for a bit with it constantly moving in the saucepan. Then for my needs a half-lite of milk added gradually and up to the boil for a nice smooth white sauce. Off the heat, add three crushed anchovy fillets and progressively about 350 gms of good matured grated cheese, stirring in to create a moderately stiff cheese sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Set to one side, check the veg. nicely par-steamed. Remove it carefully from the pan to keep it intact and transfer to an appropriately sized casserole dish with a lid.
Add a little of the remaining steaming liquid to the cheese sauce, adds flavour and thins it just a little, pour the sauce over the cauliflower, put the lid on the casserole, into a 180C oven for 20 minutes, then give it a generous sprinkle of smoky paprika and cook a further 10 minutes.
Because the spring onions looked good as well I cut up a goodly amount of the green part pretty finely and sprinkled over before serving.
Absolutely delicious, and very filling, my folks used to serve it to growing kids with chips but it really was not needed last evening
Enjoy
Cheers
