If it ain't broke don't fix it recipe – cauliflower cheese

This dish is always a labour of love and therapy too – the ultimate veggie comfort food that always hits the spot.

Here's the original recipe, as promised :

Baked Cauliflower Cheese

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. 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!

Mornay Sauce

Serves 4-6

40g unsalted butter

40g plain flour

600ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

150g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and gruyere)

celery salt and black pepper

½ tsp Dijon mustard - optional

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese, mustard and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly.

Pat the cauliflower dry and kitchen roll and remove the florets – keep them to a similar size if you can and place in your serving dish (with any additional veggies). Season with celery salt and black pepper, spoon over the mornay sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and add more black pepper to taste.

It's all cooked so will only need 30 minutes at 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Leftover cauliflower cheese is even better, re-heating gives you crispy, cheesy bits – always assuming you have any leftovers!

Just before I go, a thought - if you can try and look forward to food – if you're self isolating and alone I know that's easier said than done. Treat yourself to an ingredient you love – indulge.

If you're with family get them to pitch in prepping or cooking and make it fun – remember when we sat down at a table and shared not just a meal but a conversation too? If you love to cook how about teaching as you go?

Until next time … x

Musing – the running recipe

I mentioned previously that running helps clear my head and occasionally gives me ideas too, which is why the following is referred to as the running recipe.

Picture the scene … in silent exercise it occurs to me, I love cauliflower cheese but it can be a tad boring, so I've decided to modify what some may say doesn't need modification.

The running recipe – Cauliflower Bake

additions

225g of onion, finely diced

(1 medium onion)

Melt the butter from the recipe given for the Mornay Sauce and sweat the onions gently for about 10 minutes until they are soft, season with celery salt and black pepper. Continue with the recipe, adding the flour, cook gently, don't brown the mixture.

I have leftover cooked potatoes and so am adding 500g of cooked Charlotte potatoes, finely diced to add to the steamed cauliflower.

As a guide, I weighed the cauliflower after having removed the outer leaves – 730g approximately. You could add broccoli – steamed - or any cooked veggies you've got leftover.

If you don't have Charlotte potatoes but have baked jacket potatoes you could use steamed cauliflower and broccoli (plus any other leftover cooked veggies) together with the Mornay Sauce as a base and then add sliced cooked, baked potatoes as a topping, garnishing with grated Parmesan – a Cauliflower Cheese Pie!

If you'd like to introduce a meat element then you could add crispy chorizo and its delicious oil to the topping or, if you have a stash of boxed bacon bits they would be perfect too.

here's the result – for the record adding the onion

to the mornay was the best idea – double yum!

May be it's not a case of “if it ain't broke don't fix it” after all … here's the original recipe.

MiamMiam Musings III

MiamMiam

Musings

I hope you're enjoying the random ramblings!

To recap … remember “where has all the flour gone” - a red letter day, check this out :

 

It has become a ritual, down the aisle beginning with the eggs and then a great gaping whole where the flour used to live – I thought I was having a moment, as they say. It took all my self control not to shout with joy and run up and down whooping as I went – not a pretty sight!

I took this as a sign of hope in that very slowly there may be a chink of light? How strange that your mood is lifted by the sight of a bag of flour, a sobering thought – on a lighter note I think it's time to celebrate … with cheese scones!

Here's the musings menu for the week :

Ham hock stack – roasted leftover

cooked Charlottes or any new potatoes, cubed

as the base for the stack - use a ring to build the stack.

Add the ham hock and then complete with a poached

egg

Scallops and prawns, stir fried in teriyaki sauce

serve with egg fried rice

Slow cooked braised steak and onions

with mashed potatoes and parrots

Cauliflower cheese with optional

chorizo or smoked bacon for the meat eaters

Chicken curry, noodles and flat breads

Fish, chips & peas – my way

Baked cod loin with hoi sin sauce

potato wedges seasoned and mushy peas

Lamb with mint sauce

Stir fried shredded white cabbage and onion

with Balsamic vinegar

Roast potatoes

Petit pois

They say everything comes in threes – since the beginning of lockdown :

Number 1 - from nowhere our electrics tripped – resetting just knocked them out again. Long story short thank goodness my electrician is on speed dial, someone, somewhere was smiling, he answered the phone! Well that was an exciting couple of hours – it's process of elimination – the net result of which is … the dishwasher is no longer with us. A telephone call to Bosch, explained, quite rightly, that they were only responding to items deemed to be necessities – ovens, hobs, fridges and freezers. In a moment of madness we said, hey we'll just revert to the old fashioned way and do it by hand. It seemed like a good idea at the time … three weeks in and I'm saying – privately and in jest of course – I'd like to know who decided that a dishwasher isn't a necessity!

Number 2 – three days later and I'm about to start my favourite household chore – NOT – the ironing. Guess what … the electrics tripped again … the iron is no longer with us – can you see a pattern emerging? I'm beginning to twitch every time I go to switch anything on. Thank you Amazon although I suppose I could have justified leaving the ironing to pile up because I didn't have an iron … nice try!

Number 3 - the day after I'd done the weekly shop H went to move my car to get to his and … yep you've guessed - it wouldn't move, another long story short, the rescue squad were called and then a Volvo mechanic, who asked me have you put petrol in recently? Answer – yes, gulp! I can't repeat what I thought – suffice it to say my blood ran cold. A sprint indoors and a rummage for the receipt confirmed that I'd not done the unthinkable and filled my car with diesel … phew! The indignity of watching my car being towed away on a low loader was ridiculously traumatic, like losing a limb. For goodness sake get a grip!

The tide turned, I no longer have a pile of ironing, my garage re-opened its service department and the fault was fixed and I got my car back in time to do the next shopping run, all this excitement is too much.

Just before I go, I have an update on “Marmite Smooth Gate” … the quest continues. It helps when you have family in a different part of the Country. In my case my Sister, Whizzer and grown-up Nephews, Lucas and Nathan all live in the North West. Lucas is also my Editor and IT Consultant and like me a lover of both Marmite and Peanut Butter – I now have them all on the case – they love a challenge – watch this space. Of course it may be that we have visitors from outer space who have never experienced either delight and become addicted, commandeering supplies as they leave the production line! Well really.

Stay safe and well,

Love xxxx

P.s. I mentioned cauliflower cheese in the menu …

Muse to amuse …

...remember the Pilates class and inviting Rose?

Here's what she thought – in photo form!

Will I do or am I over-dressed?

This looks interesting … lets get this show on the road!

I love this, it's really good fun

Time for relaxation … more like a sea otter

than a Tibetan Terrier!

We didn't get too much done but we certainly had some fun and lots of laughs – hope she makes you smile too.

The musings menu …

… if you want a fast, faff free meal from the lockdown menu, here it is :

Kedgeree – the fastest ever

Serves 4

500g rice

400g smoked haddock

50g unsalted butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coriander

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half

half a lemon, cut into 4 wedges

small bunch of coriander, chopped for garnish

To serve - part baked French or Sourdough bread

I'm using frozen mixed vegetable rice, microwaved – it took 8 minutes – whenever you've time – set aside cool, cover and fridge ready for use later.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the onion, curry powder and coriander. Fry gently until soft. Add the rice and mix thoroughly.

Cook your smoked haddock – use fresh if you can get it – or frozen - whichever you find most convenient. Bake in the oven straight from the freezer at 170fan/190c/Gas 5 for 30 minutes or poach for 15 minutes in a medium saucepan, covered with equal amounts of milk and water. Set aside to cool and then box and fridge until ready to use. Break the fish into small chunks and fold into the rice.

Place the eggs on top, then add the coriander and lemon wedges.

Serve with bread of your choice.

If you like to prep ahead :

cook the rice, cool and fridge

bake the fish, cool and fridge

chop and bag the onion

hard-boil the eggs – cool, peel, box and fridge

You don't have to prep ahead - except for hard boiling the eggs - it's whatever suits you – either way is quick and produces a mid week supper faster than the speed of light – that may be a slight exaggeration!

If there's one thing that drives me mad it's fantasy timings given in recipes and so to back up my mouth I set my timer, based on all the elements prepped ahead. The bread took 10 minutes to bake - whilst it did its thing, using a large frying pan, I melted the butter, added the onion, curry powder and coriander and cooked for 2 minutes until the onion was softened and the spices “cooked” to release their deliciousness. I added the cooked rice, fish and finished with the eggs.

M&S sell bags of frozen rice with sweetcorn, petit pois and onions – very handy!

With an “optional” drizzle of curry sauce it was delicious. By the way you don't have to make your own Chip Shop Curry Sauce – you can buy it “off the shelf” - if you'd like to have a go check out the Sauce label 15th February 2020 … More treasure for the chest … freezer

Coming next … the Pilates Class!

MiamMiam Musings II

MiamMiam

Musings

… continued and still winging it!

Some days are good, some not so good.

On the days that are not so good it's really difficult to get motivated. This calls for drastic action and I have a cunning plan - give myself a “kick up the backside” or “get a grip” - whatever the phrase, therapy is required.

I'm lucky – I love to cook – which is great normally but producing food every day brings pressure. I'm still sick of food, in fact more so with every passing week.

I hate repeating myself but without doubt planning meals takes some of the pressure off.

Here's my menu for this week :

Kedgeree – the fastest ever

with a side of chip shop curry sauce

Time for another batch cook of Cottage Pie

bases

Frittata using up leftover veggies with a side

of bacon

Slow cooked venison – already in the freezer

lemon glazed carrots

New potatoes

Asian Spiced Salmon with roasted beetroot

and leftover new potatoes - sautéed

Pork loin steaks with apple sauce – slow

cook the steaks and freeze portions for

another day

Sage and onion stuffing with extra onion

Roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, all in the

same roasting tray

Orzotto with a side of crispy pan fried

diced chorizo – perfect for the meat eaters and

the veggies – the chorizo served on top of the meat

eaters portion drizzled with the oil from the chorizo

That's that sorted and I've decided to make two extras this week – one savoury, one a sweet treat.

I love kedgeree but don't like dry dishes, even if they are well seasoned – I want a “gravy” or “sauce”. It appeals to my sense of symmetry to drizzle curry sauce over kedgeree since both are Indian in origin – a small pot of curry sauce on the side ticks that box so Chip Shop Curry Sauce it is! It's not compulsory to use the curry sauce - it'll never be wasted - I'll freeze what doesn't get used, a perfect savoury extra.

The sweet treat is a batch of hokey pokey. It's easy peasy and very moorish. It'll be cut into squares, bagged and frozen – to pull out whenever I get the urge for a sweet hit or even to serve with ice cream and fresh fruit.

It's rant of the week time … can someone please tell me where the Marmite Smooth Peanut Butter is? I've been trying to buy it since Adam was a lad all I've ever seen is the crunchy version. It's advertised constantly and it's driving me up the wall – I think it's a plot deliberately designed to upset me … it's working!

It may be that it doesn't exist … or … I've just realised, there's someone out there with a Marmite Smooth Peanut Butter mountain – how rude!

The longer lockdown continues the more it appears that none of us know what day it is. I have to check on a daily basis so that I stick to my routine of shopping on a Wednesday. If I'm not careful I'll work every day in some form or another, on the blog, cooking or chores generally – including may I say the worst chore in the world – ironing!

Another part of my routine is running – normally twice a week and in the countryside with my mate - sadly that stopped some while back. I have a small treadmill in my garage – the best money I've ever spent. It's not just about exercise it's about getting my head straight too so a double whammy. If I stick to a routine it helps – this afternoon I'm giving myself a Pilates class and I've invited Rose, our Tibetan Terrier … should be fun!

This week's confession and guilty pleasure … watching an old film and my absolute favourite, giving my age away – Zulu -1964, yikes. I've watched it so many times I could recite the dialogue, for the uninitiated it's the true story of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879 and Michael Caine's “breakthrough role”. Such is my addiction the soundtrack is my ringtone …

uplifting … stratospheric!

Stay safe and well – until next time

Love xxxx

Flourless chocolate cake, the fotos!

Take a look :

Here's the tin, greased and dusted

The filling in the tin, ready for the oven

Out of the oven, leave to cool

A slice of cake, with raspberries

Here are the bits, pieces, hints and tips!

Once the cake has cooled use a round bladed knife and ease around the edge to loosen – take your time – if you don't you'll tear the edges of the cake – that would be a shame since you've achieved a brownie type crusty edge. If the cake won't budge then repeat the edging with the knife. Have a large sheet of foil ready to receive your cake, turn it - with care, then wrap and fridge.

The cake serves 8 – you may think the portion size isn't very generous – take my word for it – it's a rich cake.

Now for the choices – this cake is dense and intense. You can serve the cake cold with ice cream and/or cream or even clotted cream.

If you prefer soft, warm and squidgy then microwave for 20 seconds – take it from one who isn't bothered about chocolate, this is very good indeed.

It freezes well … don't forget to portion and wrap in cling film, then bag together.

You won't be sorry.

Now back to the everyday stuff …

Flourless chocolate cake, the fotos!

Take a look :

Here's the tin, greased and dusted

The filling in the tin, ready for the oven

Out of the oven, leave to cool

A slice of cake, with raspberries

Here are the bits, pieces, hints and tips!

Once the cake has cooled use a round bladed knife and ease around the edge to loosen – take your time – if you don't you'll tear the edges of the cake – that would be a shame since you've achieved a brownie type crusty edge. If the cake won't budge then repeat the edging with the knife. Have a large sheet of foil ready to receive your cake, turn it - with care, then wrap and fridge.

The cake serves 8 – you may think the portion size isn't very generous – take my word for it – it's a rich cake.

Now for the choices – this cake is dense and intense. You can serve the cake cold with ice cream and/or cream or even clotted cream.

If you prefer soft, warm and squidgy then microwave for 20 seconds – take it from one who isn't bothered about chocolate, this is very good indeed.

It freezes well … don't forget to portion and wrap in cling film, then bag together.

You won't be sorry.