Cauliflower cheese

Is it in a pack, as a side dish, or made up as a meal, please?

I cheat, i buy Asda frozen cauliflower cheese.

No magical recipes for cauliflower cheese from me !

I'm full of admiration for anyone , who can make it taste delicious .
I was vegetarian when it wasn't as popular as it is today .
I regretted telling hosts that I was vegetarian as I contemplated another insipid , grey watery dish of cauliflower slop .

If I cater for vegetarians it's the one dish that I avoid .
I'll make Indian foods and enjoy them .

Romanesco

I haven't seen one in the shops for a long time.

RosiesMaw2

Do you mean Romanesco ?
I find it prettier than Broccoli and it is apparently closer to the cauli than to Broccoli.
But despite the popularity of Broccoli especially on pub and carvery (often unimaginative) menus, for me, nothing can beat the delicate flavour of a fresh young cauliflower. .

Yes. it is known by both names around here depending on which greengrocers you use. I love it.

Rosiebee

Lightly steamed florets and two pouches of M&S cheese sauce with added spoonful of English mustard. Top with breadcrumbs mixed with grated bits of whatever cheese. Bake it or pop it under the grill for a quick cheat's cauli cheese.

Our local M&S said they don't do the cheese sauce any more.

Lightly steamed florets and two pouches of M&S cheese sauce with added spoonful of English mustard. Top with breadcrumbs mixed with grated bits of whatever cheese. Bake it or pop it under the grill for a quick cheat's cauli cheese.

Stansgran

This is my favourite meal for Monday. The cauliflower was soggy and I like it to resist the knife slightly. The sauce was watery. I steam the cauliflower briefly and the cheddar was usual standard. White sauce I made with a panada and added plenty of cheese on top.
Are cauliflowers more watery these days or is cheese? What went wrong? Any ideas from fellow cooks?

One of our top treats too. I saw a guy on Instagram making his differently, and I never looked back. His cauliflower doesn’t see any water. After breaking up the cauli, he puts it on a baking sheet and roasts it for about 10 mins on quite high. You can have it more or less cooked as you wish and it really intensifies the flavour. If you get it a bit charred it’s even better. Tip into your dish then cheese sauce over and baked till piping hot. I haven’t made it any other way since.

JaneJudge

I think there is something going on with cheese. It seems to split much more easily and it isn't melting as well? I can't be the only one that has noticed this

You are so right! I posted about cheese ages ago, saying how it no longer melts properly when grilled on toast. It’s not stringy and melty like it used to be, but dry and hard.

MissInterpreted

It was the farm's own shop - cauliflowers grown on their own land. Yes, I don't mind paying a fair price for good quality produce, but even so, I thought £4.50 for one cauliflower was a bit steep.

It occurs to me that caulis are not actually in season yet and while can start spotting cauliflower at some farmers' market as early as June, t5e peak season runs September through November.
So perhaps these did cost double to grow and harvest as they were early.
I think supermarkets are very guilty of ignoring seasonal fruit and veg as they can source most things 12 months of the year, flying them in if necessary. The result is that many people are unaware of what is in or out of season.

Do you mean Romanesco ?
I find it prettier than Broccoli and it is apparently closer to the cauli than to Broccoli.
But despite the popularity of Broccoli especially on pub and carvery (often unimaginative) menus, for me, nothing can beat the delicate flavour of a fresh young cauliflower. .

Yes, I think the Romanesque brassicas are delicious and that's something (else) I'd rather cook than face the impossible task of Keeping Broccoli Hot....or even tepid....for the table. ☹️

I'm interested to see from GN that Cauliflower cheese seems to have had a great resurgence and is often enjoyed with roasts. Same with Yorkshires which - from my memory and certainly for Southerners - only accompanied roast beef.

Does anybody else like those beautiful prehistoric looking things called Romanesque? Bright green and like a beautiful shell. I have used those in a cauli cheese and it’s lovely.

I like cauliflower to be really soft and the cheese sauce not too thick.I only have the readymade tho, and just add this dish to a roast dinner.Wouldn’t want much of it.

I am all for farmers getting a fair price for their produce so I do hope £1.20 per cauliflower means they can cover their production costs, pay themselves a decent wage and make a profit which will be needed in case next year's crop fails.

It was the farm's own shop - cauliflowers grown on their own land. Yes, I don't mind paying a fair price for good quality produce, but even so, I thought £4.50 for one cauliflower was a bit steep.

Waitrose have an excellent recipe called Gunpowder cauliflower. One of the best vegan recipes I’ve ever tried (no I’m not one, but restrict meat more these days). It seems to freeze well (unlike cauliflower cheese).

MissInterpreted

I happened to be in a very nice farm shop the other day, and their fruit and veg looked lovely. They had beautiful cauliflowers, but when I looked at the price, I had to do a double-take - £4.50!

And the farmer may well not have had more than a fraction of that, despite having to cope with shortages of pickers, the worst Spring/early summer we have seen for years, (not to mention possibly flooded fields in the winter) increased fuel charges and increased just about everything else.
The era of cheap food is over so I am happy to pay a fair price and happier still,if most of that is not swallowed up by the supermarkets.

Callistemon213

Tesco cauliflower £1.19
Waitrose " " £1.20
Ocado £1.20
Aldi £1.20
Lidl won't be much different.

Steam in electric steamer first.
I might make one on Sunday.

That’s my experience too! Cauliflowers always look lovely and fresh. Though I did take a grapefruit sized one back to Tesco in the early Spring.

I don’t have cauliflower for a meal, just as an accompaniment. After it’s cooked to my satisfaction, I toss it in a little coconut oil, and curry powder.

Roast cauli florets, leave to cool whilst making sauce (fresh bread, grated garlic, coconut milk, mustard, salt, pepper). Pour all in ovenproof dish, bake. If our AC/GC are round I add cheddar and cream to the sauce, omit garlic.

I started to produce watery cauliflower cheese a few years ago. I put the cooked cauliflower in a dry pan over the heat now, to steam off any excess water. I guessed it might be the type of cauliflower just retained more cooking water, for some reason.

It sounds to me as if you boiled the cauliflower longer than you normally do. Could this be the case? Or was the cauliflower sold at reduced rate because it was on the old side?

I cannot make out whether you melt the cheese in the sauce before pouring the sauce over the cauliflower and baking it.

I always do, as I find it gives the dish more taste.

missdeke

I make my cheese sauce with cornflower and milk (like custard) then add the cheese, all done in the microwave. I always drain the culiflower well then leave it to dry out a bit before mixing with the sauce and baking with breadcrumbs and grated chees on top. It always turns out well.

TBH I really think the draining well and leaving to steam dry for a little while are key to a non-watery sauce.

I'm in Oxfordshire and have no difficulty buying perfect quality fresh vegetables. We have a good choice from the street market twice a week, or Sainsbury or Waitrose. Not much difference in price wherever I shop.