Elle's Kitchen: Cauliflower and Cheese

We tried a new recipe last night as

a vegetarian entree, serving it with

beets, salad and a pretzel roll.

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower

salt and pepper

2 cups milk

2 cloves

1 small onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

5 tablespoons of butter

1/3 cup flour

1 2/3 cups grated firm cheese,

(I used gruyere)

freshly grated nutmeg

Remove the green leaves from the cauliflower

and break into even size florets.  Add florets to 

a pan of boiling salted water and boil until almost

tender (keep checking, this doesn't take too long).

Drain the cauliflower and lay out on a dish 

towel over a cookie sheet to allow more 

moisture to leave the cauliflower.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Put milk, cloves, onion and bay leaf in a 

saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook for

a minute or two, then cover and leave to infuse

off the heat for 10 minutes.  Then strain the milk

for the next step.  Discard the bay leaf and cloves

but keep the onions for later.

In another pan, melt the butter and stir

 in the flour.  Cook over low for a few minutes.

Add the strained milk all at once and

whisk together.  Stir until sauce begins to

thicken and become smooth.  Continue to

cook on the lowest setting you have for

10 minutes (I didn't wait that long).

Add the cheese and stir until fully melted.

Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Put the cauliflower in a greased casserole.

Add the reserved onions and stir, then add 

the cheese sauce and stir to make sure it 

coats all the veggies.  Sprinkle with a bit more

cheese and some grated nutmeg.  Bake for

25 to 30 minutes until bubbly and the top

begins to brown.

Enjoy!

This was tasty but it took a lot of steps and

a lot of pans to just get a cauliflower with

cheese sauce casserole.  If I ever write

The American Homestead Cookbook, it

will be filled with good but simple recipes...