Milk | Lunch and Dinner

The Comfort of Cauliflower

Cauliflower Cheese is one of those gooey, moreish and comforting dishes that remains beloved by young and old – certainly in my house! Like a Tuna Pasta Bake, Cauliflower Cheese is a great budget meal that involves very little cooking or ingredients. I like to make it as a warming side dish for dinners of snags or steaks or serve on its own for lunch when only something warm will do.

The recipe below is a fairly traditional version of Cauliflower Cheese, made even tastier by the addition of a bay leaf and some parmesan – but if you don’t have these ingredients at hand it’s still an absolute delight. After all, the thing that makes Cauliflower Cheese such a winning dish is, of course, the cauliflower and cheese!

The star of the show: Cauliflower. Image by Muffet, Flickr.

Cauliflower Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower weighing approx. 1kg with stalk

Sauce

300ml milk
½ onion
20g butter
20g plain flour
100g cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
25g parmesan (optional)
1 bay leaf (optional)

Method

Begin by making the cauliflower cheese sauce. Combine milk, onion, a couple of whole peppercorns and heat on stove until it is just about to reach a simmer. Turn off heat. Rest for 30 minutes or so while you prepare the rest of the dish. Trim cauliflower by removing the chunky stalk and cut into large florets so they look like mini trees! Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, then submerge the cauliflowers and cook for 4 minutes. It should be soft but still ‘al dente’. Using a colander over the sink, drain cauliflower and return to pot (with lid on) so it remains warm. In a new saucepan, melt butter on low heat and add flour to make a paste and remove from heat. If the milk has cooled, quickly warm it and add slowly to butter/flour paste, stirring constantly with a whisk to create a smooth sauce. Return to heat and let the sauce bubble as you stir for a couple of minutes. Turn heat down to low, add about 2/3 of the cheddar and all the parmesan and keep stirring. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add cauliflower and gently stir through thoroughly. Scrape this mix into a greased oven dish, top with remaining cheese and bake at 190C for 20 minutes until the top begins to turn golden.

Here’s an absolute winner when I’m at my wit’s end and want some breathing space for me without sacrificing quality time with the kids. Chocolate.

Let’s face it, chocolate is always going to get a rapturous reception and here’s a quick ‘n’ easy guide to making chocolate puddings – and the beauty is, you can get the little ones to make it while acting as overseer!

First off take a quarter of a cup of sugar, the same amount of unsweetened cocoa powder, two tablespoons of corn starch and a pinch of salt and whisk together in a saucepan.

Gradually whisk in 2 cups of whole milk and bring to the boil, whisking constantly until the lovely chocolate mixture is nice and gloopy.

Now beat an egg lightly into a bowl before whisking in your chocolate mixture.

Finally, whisk in the chocolate chips until they have melted and the mixture is smooth.

Once you’re done, pop your chocolate puddings into any handy receptacles and place in the fridge – under armed guard in our house – until they have set.

Once ready, consume with delight and congratulate the kids on a job well done! For more recipe ideas like this, take a look at The Gourmet Cookbook.