Last night, my friend started the first cooking club, where each guest would bring in a dish for the theme. Last night's theme was French food. There was a lot of good wine and food, especially two of his dishes, Coq au vin and Beef Bourguignon. Although his dishes were a blast, mine was loved by many as well. It is Julia Child's Chou Fleur a la Mornay Gratine (Cauliflower au gratin with cheese).
It turned out pretty good, especially it was the first time I've made bechamel. The recipe is pretty easy: boiled cauliflower, bechamel with cheese (Swiss and parmesan), and bread crumbs. I guess it was just a little time consuming with the bechamel sauce and trying to get it right. I should have cooked the cauliflower florets ahead of time, because things get messy when you try to do everything at once, like in Mrs. Doubtfire when she tries to make a gourmet meal and ends up setting her bossoms on fire. At least I still have my eye brows.
Also surprisingly, the recipe doesn't call for that much butter or heavy cream. I only used 3 tablespoons of butter, but I did double up on the cheese.
Here's a quick recipe for you:
Cauliflower (Chou Fleur)
1 8 inch head of Cauliflower, florets removed
6-7 Quarts water
2-3 Tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (Optional - to keep cauliflower white)
Boil salted water, add cauliflower and bring to boil. Continue to boil 9-12 minutes until cauliflower is fork tender. You can leave it as is if you plan to use it right away, or you can rinse it in ice water to stop it from cooking.
Mornay Sauce (Bechamel with cheese)
2 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
salt/pepper
nutmeg
1/2-1 cup cheese (Swiss and parmesan, mix it up if you like)
Add 1 tsp of salt to the milk and bring to a boil. In a sauce pan, melt butter on low heat until melted, add flour a little at a time while stirring. When flour is mixed in well, turn off heat and continue to stir until it stops bubbling. Add hot milk to the flour-butter mixture all at once, and whisk fiercely to get the lumps out. Add salt/pepper/nutmeg to your taste. Turn the heat back on, bring sauce to a boil for 1 minute. The sauce will get thick. Turn off heat and add cheese and stir.
Assembly of Chou Fleur a la Mornay
Spoon a third of the Mornay sauce into a baking dish. Add the florets and arrange them on the sauce. Salt and pepper the florets. Spoon the remaining sauce over the cauliflower. JC separates the bread crumbs from the butter. I lightly toasted the bread crumbs in the butter before sprinkling them over the cauliflower. Bake in a preheated oven (375F) for 30 minutes before serving.
Enjoy,
TH
It turned out pretty good, especially it was the first time I've made bechamel. The recipe is pretty easy: boiled cauliflower, bechamel with cheese (Swiss and parmesan), and bread crumbs. I guess it was just a little time consuming with the bechamel sauce and trying to get it right. I should have cooked the cauliflower florets ahead of time, because things get messy when you try to do everything at once, like in Mrs. Doubtfire when she tries to make a gourmet meal and ends up setting her bossoms on fire. At least I still have my eye brows.
Also surprisingly, the recipe doesn't call for that much butter or heavy cream. I only used 3 tablespoons of butter, but I did double up on the cheese.
Here's a quick recipe for you:
Cauliflower (Chou Fleur)
1 8 inch head of Cauliflower, florets removed
6-7 Quarts water
2-3 Tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (Optional - to keep cauliflower white)
Boil salted water, add cauliflower and bring to boil. Continue to boil 9-12 minutes until cauliflower is fork tender. You can leave it as is if you plan to use it right away, or you can rinse it in ice water to stop it from cooking.
Mornay Sauce (Bechamel with cheese)
2 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
salt/pepper
nutmeg
1/2-1 cup cheese (Swiss and parmesan, mix it up if you like)
Add 1 tsp of salt to the milk and bring to a boil. In a sauce pan, melt butter on low heat until melted, add flour a little at a time while stirring. When flour is mixed in well, turn off heat and continue to stir until it stops bubbling. Add hot milk to the flour-butter mixture all at once, and whisk fiercely to get the lumps out. Add salt/pepper/nutmeg to your taste. Turn the heat back on, bring sauce to a boil for 1 minute. The sauce will get thick. Turn off heat and add cheese and stir.
Assembly of Chou Fleur a la Mornay
Spoon a third of the Mornay sauce into a baking dish. Add the florets and arrange them on the sauce. Salt and pepper the florets. Spoon the remaining sauce over the cauliflower. JC separates the bread crumbs from the butter. I lightly toasted the bread crumbs in the butter before sprinkling them over the cauliflower. Bake in a preheated oven (375F) for 30 minutes before serving.
Enjoy,
TH
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