cauliflower cheese
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. Okay, well, maybe just the cauliflower is. I realize this dish may sound strange if you’ve never heard of it. The first time I saw it on a menu in the UK , 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 ) and I stopped talking. I stopped thinking. My heart may or may not have stopped beating for a moment, though I’m sure it was , not fibrillations. 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?
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
What these numbers assume — 11 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cheddar Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 113 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Chives | 1 tbsp (3g) | 1 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 medium head (about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds) cauliflower
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper or ground cayenne
- 2 cups milk, whole is best but low-fat will probably work just fine
- 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons grated cheddar, the strongest you can get, preferably English or Irish
- Chopped chives or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)