food 4 tots

Cauliflower cheese


cauliflower, cheese, food for tots, toddlers, bechamel sauce


RECIPE FOR CAULIFLOWER CHEESE

Source: Adapted from Nora’s dinner (and breakfast, lunches and snacks for you to cook at home)

Serve: 4

Ingredients:
1 medium size cauliflower (an estimation of 400g) – refer to note 2
100g Cheddar cheese
50g Parmesan cheese
40g butter
3 tbsp plain flour
500ml milk
1 tsp mustard or mustard powder (refer to note 3)
2 tbsp crème fraiche (I omitted this item but it’s best to include it)
Salt and pepper

Methods:

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
  2. Grate the Cheddar and Parmesan cheese separately. Set aside.
  3. Prepare béchamel sauce (creamy white sauce)
  4. Melt butter in the small saucepan over a low heat.
  5. Add the flour and, using your wooden spoon/ hand whisk, stir well, keeping the heat turned down low – the mixture should start to look like damp sand. This mixture is called a roux (pronounced “roo”)
  6. Add the milk slowly, still stirring to make sure there are no lumps. If there are any, beat these out.
  7. Bring the sauce up to the boil, then turn down low and allow the sauce to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time until it starts to thicken. You now have a white sauce, also called a béchamel sauce.
  8. Take the sauce off the heat. Add the mustard, half the grated Cheddar cheese, all the grated Parmesan and the crème fraiche. Stir well, and add a little salt and pepper. Stir again and taste the sauce. Add a bit more salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.
  9. Prepare cauliflower (refer to note 4)
  10. Put the large saucepan of water on to boil. Add a good pinch of salt to the water.
  11. Wash the cauliflower, then use the sharp knife and chopping board to cut off the stem. Split the core in half so all the small florets fall apart. Add the cut-up cauliflower to the salted boiling water and cook for 4 minutes.
  12. It is important not to overcook it or it will go mushy.
  13. Drain the cooked cauliflower very well in a colander.
  14. After the cooked cauliflower it is fully drained, tip the cauliflower into a medium overproof baking dish (or 2 small baking dishes) and cover with the sauce in step (4).
  15. Sprinkle the remaining grated Cheddar cheese over the top (refer to note 5).
  16. Place in the pre-heated oven on the middle shelf and bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbling.
  17. When finished, remove from the oven.
  18. You can serve it as main meal, side dish or even as a snack.

Note:

  1. To make it a complete meal, you can add cooked pasta (ie macaroni) and other ingredients (ie canned tuna or cooked salmon).
  2. You can give this recipe a twist by substituting half of the cauliflower with broccoli.
  3. I used Masterfood fine wholegrain mustard. You can also use Dijon mustard.
  4. Alternatively, you can steam the cauliflower for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Adding 4 tbsp of fresh breadcrumbs will give this dish a crispy-cruncy top.
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63 Comments

  1. tigerfish says:

    Woooo..not a fan of it when I was younger too but now…I enjoy cauliflower very much. So yum!

  2. MaryMoh says:

    Lovely dish of cauliflower with cheese. Hope things get back to normal soon there. Take care.

  3. Alice says:

    Me too, not a fan of cauliflower during my childhood days until now. But, surprisingly my son likes it very much! Must try this! 🙂

  4. peanutts says:

    love cauliflower, but i dont like it when they are over cooked , your dish is a great way to feed cauliflower to cauliflower haters 🙂

  5. peachkins says:

    It looks amazing!

  6. Pei-Lin says:

    Thanks for bringing back so much memory! My American mom doesn’t make hers like this, but hers is definitely also a combo of cauliflower and cheese! Simple but down-to-earth yummy!

    Just wondering are you planning on participating in this:

    http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/2010/08/merdeka-open-house-2010-announcing.html

    I wonder if the renovation thingy at your abode is gonna affect you with that though … Haha! It’s OK. If you do plan on taking part, I’ll hop by to read yours!

    Take care!

    • food-4tots says:

      Pei Lin: Thanks for your sweet comments, and also informing me about the Merdeka Open House event. I would love to join the fun but am stuck now with the after reno cleaning up job. Will hop over to read other submissions. Hope to see yours there. 😉

  7. anncoo says:

    Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. I only know how to blanch the cauliflower and stir fry it.

  8. noobcook says:

    oh my, really messy. but look forward to bigger better toilets after the upgrading ya? love your cauliflower and cheese, two of my fave ingredients 🙂

  9. LCOM says:

    That certainly a nice way to enjoy cauliflower. I have cauliflower for this week vegetable too.

  10. Joanne says:

    The construction sounds absolutely horrendous! I have some going on outside my window…but thankfully it stays OUTSIDE.

    The cauliflower cheese gratin looks delicious. Cheesifying a dish is a surefire way to get people to eat it!

  11. mycookinghut says:

    I adore this dish! Looks really creamy and yummy.. hehe.
    I hope the work will complete soon!!

  12. I love cauliflower be it pureed, stir-fried, sautéed … this nice creamy dish is also one of my picks.
    Wish every thing finishes on time, and take your time.

  13. Good grief, you shouldn’t even bother replying. We will all understand. It looks so uncomfortable living with all that mess.

    PS: Love cauliflower & cheese!

  14. Oh my, what a mess! I hope the work finishes real soon!

  15. This looks yummy! I must try it out as my elder boy doesn’t like cauliflower too, but I like it! Thanks for sharing the info on gassy tummy, I never aware of that!

  16. Great way to get kids to eat cauliflower. This recipe could work on adults as well! 🙂

  17. Looks so cheesy and comforting!

  18. I am not a little tot but I will make this for myself! hehe

  19. Hope the project is finished quickly! Sounds like you’re being very patient during the process. And, your cauliflower dish looks delicious. The cheese on top looks great!

  20. You are a GENIUS being able to get your kids to eat cauliflower. And gosh that does look like a really uncomfortable arrangement! hang in there LK!

  21. Mika says:

    Oh my, what a gorgeous dish…I love cauliflowers, but I usually keep them as they are, I don’t want to contaminate their wonderful flavor…I tried some recipes but they always went out very bitter…I will try this one, it seems perfect…

  22. Love this creamy cauliflower with cheese dish. That’s also a clever way to get our kids to eat more veggies.
    How long would the renovation project take? It’s worth inconvenience for a while once you have everything installed though.

  23. Dora says:

    I used to like cauliflower but now like broccoli. This cauliflower cheese looks interesting!

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  25. kwpang says:

    what ever it’s call cauliflower or cheese rice is absolutely delicious to eat, can’t miss it..

  26. […] am also looking forward to trying Cauliflower Cheese by Food-4-Tots – it looks delicious and I think mixed with some macaroni it could be a kiddie […]

  27. What a vegetable this is. I love how versatile cauliflower is. I so tempted to try your recipe later this week (I have 3 heads of cauliflower waiting for me at home.) I will come back to your site and report on how your recipe turned out for sure! Would you like to take a look at my most recent cauliflower creation? http://cuceesprouts.com/2010/09/marinated-cauliflower-salad/

    • food-4tots says:

      Cucee Sprouts: Wow! I have never stored so many heads of cauliflower in my fridge. You must be a cauliflower lover. Your cauliflower salad is so delishh and healthy. Can’t wait to hear your feedback on my recipe. 😉

  28. woah…i want one of this. makes me hungry 🙂

  29. Piixie says:

    Hi, where can i buy crème fraiche?

  30. KY says:

    Hi there, just curious, what did you serve this cauliflower gratin with? I’m thinking rice and gratin is odd! Yummy looking dish though. 🙂

    • food-4tots says:

      KY: I think you can try macaroni with this gratin. Instead of serving it separately, you can add the cooked macaroni into this casserole before baking and turn it into a one dish meal. 😉

  31. Kelly says:

    Hi there, can i use a toaster oven instead? can i add tomato puree in before baking as well? like what we sometimes get in restaurants? thanks!

  32. I love this recipe and you’ve given me a great idea for something to make for Thanksgiving dinner that the children will enjoy since they don’t like brussel sprouts or green bean casserole.

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