#Cauliflower bechamel macaroni and cheese plus#
Finally, I saw a version online in which the chefs had grilled pork sausages and sliced them up into the dish, baking them with the cheese sauce as well for more of a meal-in-one dish.ġ medium head (about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds) cauliflowerĤ tablespoons (55 grams or 2 ounces) unsalted butterĤ tablespoons (30 grams or 1 ounce) all-purpose flourįreshly ground black pepper or ground cayenneĢ cups (475 ml) milk, whole is best but low-fat will probably work just fineġ 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (about 155 grams or 5 1/2 ounces total) grated cheddar, the strongest you can get, preferably English or IrishĬhopped chives or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional) You could sprinkle some plain breadcrumbs on top for extra crunch. If you don’t have dry mustard, you can add two teaspoons smooth Dijon or an English mustard to the sauce along with the cheese. You could stir chopped parsley into the sauce for color. You could infuse the milk, warming it, with a bay leaf or minced clove of garlic. I think a dish like this could have endless variations. Six Months Ago: Lamb Meatballs with Feta and Lemonġ.5 Years Ago: Spring Vegetable PotstickersĢ.5 Years Ago: Bacon, Egg and Leek Risottoģ.5 Years Ago: Sour Cream Cornbread with Aleppo Seven years ago: Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup Six years ago: Pumpkin Swirl Brownies and A Deep Dark Salted Butter Caramel Sauce Three years ago: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumbleįour years ago: Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheeseįive years ago: Silky Decadent Old-School Chocolate Mousse Two years ago: Roasted Pear and Chocolate Chunk Scones ** with creamy horseradish sauce and perfectly roasted potatoes and straight-from-the-oven Yorkshire pudding and then a rhubarb custard dessert and is it any wonder I kicked and screamed the whole way back to the U.S.? * I honestly haven’t recovered from the time someone sent me a recipe for cauliflower pizza crust, which seems a very effective way to get people to dislike both pizza and cauliflower, though I’m apparently in a minority on this delicacy and am likely alienating every last one of you. And let’s say you’re shivering in the midst of the 11th cold rainy day of the 23 so far in October, well, I think you owe it to yourself to start right now, for dinner tonight. I mean, look what a valiant effort you’ve made in reducing the pasta count in your life! That means you can definitely have it more often. Do you know what cauliflower cheese really is? It’s basically low-carb mac-and-cheese. I can eat it roasted with just salt and pepper! Why would I bury it in a thick layer of cheese sauce?” But I think you’re going about this wrong. I understand you’re very likely thinking, “But I like cauliflower. Even if I had, the awesome names of national dishes - toad in the holes, bubble and squeaks, spotted dicks, singing hinnies, jam roly-polys and doorstop sandwiches - would have more than compensated for any failures in the flavor department. I realize that British food has long been a punching bag for other supposedly superior world cuisines, but I found this to be anything but the case.
This is a British dish, if the sharp cheddar, mustard powder, cayenne and charmed name didn’t give it away.
How could it be anything but, when cauliflower florets are draped with a sharp cheddar cheese sauce spiked with mustard and a bit of cayenne and then baked in the oven until bronzed and, wait, what were we talking about again? My heart may or may not have stopped beating for a moment, though I’m sure it was love, not fibrillations. The first time I saw it on a menu in the UK last fall, I thought a word was missing, perhaps “with” or “and.” I mean, you cannot make cheese out of cauliflower or vice-versa, or at least I hope not.* And then I tried it, bubbling and brown in a small ramekin aside my roast** at a tiny Inn in the middle of nowhere that looks like something you’d see in a Bridget Jones Diary (basically where I learned everything I knew about the UK before I got there, well, that and Morrissey songs) and I stopped talking. I realize this dish may sound strange if you’ve never heard of it. Okay, well, maybe just the cauliflower is. What, you’ve never had cauliflower cheese before? Why, it’s right up there on the American Heart Association’s recommended diet, above the kale and below the oat bran.
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