Cauliflower with a blue cheese sauce

Nutritionists keep preaching that we should eat more vegetables. Don’t roll your eyes. If you don’t eat your vegetables, the government may come in and mandate that you do. You might as well eat them every now and then, just to keep the government off your back. This recipe covers the cauliflower with enough flavor, that you don’t even notice that it’s in there.

I once had a dinner where one of my loyal readers exclaimed, “I’ve really never liked vegetables, but yours always taste so good!” Isn’t it amazing how some butter, milk, cream and cheese can make vegetables taste good. I mean, once you add enough fat, cholesterol and sodium, you’re good to go. In fact, I could have put ‘optional’ after the cauliflower in the list of ingredients. 

1 head of cauliflower, broken up

Salted water

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

2 cups milk

Cayenne pepper

African Smoke Seasoning (optional)

1cup whipping cream

1 cup shredded blue cheese

2 cups shredded gouda cheese

White pepper

Preparation

Place the cauliflower and enough salted water to cover it in a pot and bring that to a boil. Let that simmer about five minutes and then drain. Heat a large sauce pan and melt the butter. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Stir the flour for about five minutes as it sizzles. Add in the milk and stir that until it comes to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and sprinkle on a little cayenne pepper and the South African Smoke Seasoning. If you can’t find this seasoning, don’t freak out. I got mine at Trader Joe’s (in a little grinder, which I like because it becomes a pepper grinder when empty). If you don’t have it, use smoked paprika, or skip it all together. Add the cream to the milk. Once it returns to a simmer, stir in the blue cheese and once that dissolves, stir in the gouda. Remove from the heat.

Spray a casserole or baking dish with cooking spray and then add the drained cauliflower to it. Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower and stir. Grind a little white pepper over the top, and place the cauliflower in a 375º oven. Let that bake for about twenty minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is starting to brown.

Serving

The way I like to serve this is to place a big pile of it next to a giant porterhouse steak, which has been charred rare. Then, I would put two or three of my potato skins (broiled with bacon and cheese, and served with lots of sour cream) next to that. I would also serve homemade bread with lots of butter. For an appetizer, I’d serve an Asiago And Prosciutto Pizza. Finally, pop open a bottle of a good, spicy Zinfandel and ring the dinner bell.