That's Not Baked Macaroni & Cheese (it's better)
Confession: I've never met a baked mac 'n cheese I liked. They're never salty enough, I suspect, and the noodles are so bland and ... kind of everywhere. Such a disappointment.
Second confession: I've never liked cauliflower. It has this weird too-much-flavor mixed with not-enough-flavor that just really confuses my mouth and makes me want to eat something else.
That said, you'll surely understand my bemusement upon making a cauliflower au gratin and discovering that a) it's the best baked mac 'n cheese in the all of ever, and b) it makes me want to eat irresponsible quantities of cauliflower. I was going to fret about it, but then I had a second helping and decided that really, I didn't care.
Ingredients
1 big head cauliflower (if you double it, you can use 1 big head cauliflower and 1 big head broccoli and it tastes just as awesome)
5 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used soymilk and it was great)
Salt & pepper to taste (probably more salt than you'd guess)
1/2 tsp dried mustard
Dash nutmeg
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into florets. You don't want any really large pieces.
- Place in a steamer and steam 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven (or toaster oven, like I did) to 450*F.
Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce:
- Melt 5 tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add 3 tbsp flour. Whisk for a minute or so until it's all bubbly.
- Add milk. Keep whisking.
- Whisk until it thickens and starts to boil. Whisk another minute after that point.
- Add salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp dried mustard, and dash of nutmeg.
- Dump in 1 cup cheese. Whisk (or stir, I'm pretty sure I switched to a spoon here) until smooth.
Veggies are probably steamed by now, so:
- Grease a 9x9 baking dish (I used butter).
- Dump the cauliflower into it.
- Dump maybe 1/4 cheese sauce over the cauliflower. Stir that around 'til it's all playing nice.
- Dump the rest of the cheese evenly over the mess you've just made. Kinda smooth it around some.
- In a cereal bowl, combine 1/4 cup cheese with 3 tbsp breadcrumbs. Toss until everything's dusty.
- Sprinkle that kind of evenly over top the cauliflower mess (don't work too hard).
- Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the top's nicely browned.
- Let it sit maybe 5-10 minutes until it's no longer hissing like hellspawn.
I plan to double the recipe next time I make it and serve it with a side of vegetable soup so that it has a prayer of lasting more than one meal (the first one really didn't, we demolished it).
Second confession: I've never liked cauliflower. It has this weird too-much-flavor mixed with not-enough-flavor that just really confuses my mouth and makes me want to eat something else.
That said, you'll surely understand my bemusement upon making a cauliflower au gratin and discovering that a) it's the best baked mac 'n cheese in the all of ever, and b) it makes me want to eat irresponsible quantities of cauliflower. I was going to fret about it, but then I had a second helping and decided that really, I didn't care.
That's Not Baked Macaroni & Cheese (it's better)
Ingredients
1 big head cauliflower (if you double it, you can use 1 big head cauliflower and 1 big head broccoli and it tastes just as awesome)
5 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used soymilk and it was great)
Salt & pepper to taste (probably more salt than you'd guess)
1/2 tsp dried mustard
Dash nutmeg
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower into florets. You don't want any really large pieces.
- Place in a steamer and steam 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven (or toaster oven, like I did) to 450*F.
Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce:
- Melt 5 tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add 3 tbsp flour. Whisk for a minute or so until it's all bubbly.
- Add milk. Keep whisking.
- Whisk until it thickens and starts to boil. Whisk another minute after that point.
- Add salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp dried mustard, and dash of nutmeg.
- Dump in 1 cup cheese. Whisk (or stir, I'm pretty sure I switched to a spoon here) until smooth.
Veggies are probably steamed by now, so:
- Grease a 9x9 baking dish (I used butter).
- Dump the cauliflower into it.
- Dump maybe 1/4 cheese sauce over the cauliflower. Stir that around 'til it's all playing nice.
- Dump the rest of the cheese evenly over the mess you've just made. Kinda smooth it around some.
- In a cereal bowl, combine 1/4 cup cheese with 3 tbsp breadcrumbs. Toss until everything's dusty.
- Sprinkle that kind of evenly over top the cauliflower mess (don't work too hard).
- Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the top's nicely browned.
- Let it sit maybe 5-10 minutes until it's no longer hissing like hellspawn.
I plan to double the recipe next time I make it and serve it with a side of vegetable soup so that it has a prayer of lasting more than one meal (the first one really didn't, we demolished it).
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