… is cauliflower cheese. You never see cauliflower cheese served with a Christmas Dinner. It's probably a good idea since cauliflower cheese deserves your whole attention, here's what I do :
Cauliflower Cheese
There's only one problem with cauliflower cheese – you always seem to finish up with watery sauce, which I hate!
I steam a whole head of cauliflower (medium to large), minus its leaves, until tender and then set it aside on a tray lined with layers of kitchen roll. This allows all the moisture to drain away from the cauliflower, ready to finish later on. Steam your cauliflower the day before you need it – replace the kitchen roll two or three times, then double wrap the cauliflower in cling film, bag and fridge for the next day. Next make a mornay sauce – which can be made ahead and fridged if more convenient. I also grate Parmesan cheese in readiness to garnish the cauliflower dish and plan to be generous and sprinkle liberally!
Pat the cauliflower dry with kitchen roll and remove the florets – keep them to a similar size if you can and place in your serving dish greased with unsalted butter. (23x23cms as a guide). Season the cauliflower with celery salt and black pepper, spoon over the mornay sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and add more black pepper.
It's all cooked so will only need 30 minutes at 180fan/200c/Gas 6.
Yum!
The moral of the mornay sauce is, simply, by making one sauce your options are endless.
Christmas comfort food doesn't have to be thrown onto a plate – it should be delicious comfort, preferably served in a pasta bowl which sits neatly on top of your lap with a spoon or bread for dunking. Not to be served until after you've walked the dog for two hours – you won't feel guilty.
My final treat for the shopping list … a small Camembert cheese - ensuring it's in a stapled box, ready to be baked for 15 minutes with some baked sourdough straight out of the oven, torn and ready to dunk. What's not to love.
More holiday comfort food coming up – now it's time for a dessert!
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