Cauliflower Gratin with Toasted Almond Crust
The past couple of weeks have been a little stressful for me. Between travel, social commitments and crazy things happening at work, I didn’t have much time or energy to cook. This is a problem. It’s a problem because shopping at the market, being in the kitchen and cooking actually relieves stress for me. The longer I go without doing those things, the more stressed I get.
I was so happy when the weekend finally arrived because it meant that I could actually do a little bit of each. Saturday morning, I got up super early, found a comfy spot in the corner of the couch, and proceeded to map out a meal plan for the entire week using all of the recipe clippings binders I’d piled up around me. When I came upon this recipe I’d torn out of Southern Living last winter, it struck a chord. Comfort food. I’d had a rough week and I needed comforting. Mmmm, I could almost taste the gooey cheese and the crunch of the topping.
Most of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen, so I only had to add two things to my grocery list- the cauliflower and the whipping cream. Although the original recipe called for Gruyere cheese, I had some Fontina on hand that I needed to use up, and since it’s also a good melting cheese, I figured it would work fine. And so it did. Oh my goodness, once the gratin was out of the oven, it was all I could do to restrain myself from digging in right away! But I was strong. I let it cool down before taking my first bite, because a burnt mouth is no good to anyone. However, once I did have a bite, I literally had to force myself to stop eating. That’s the reason I’ve changed the yield from “6” to “4-6” because if you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to resist a bigger portion either!
Cauliflower Gratin with Toasted Almond Crust
Serves 4-6. Adapted from Southern Living.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 lb) separated into florets and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp all purpose white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese (or Gruyere)
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cauliflower and next 2 ingredients; sauté 10 minutes or until golden and just tender. Sprinkle with flour and next 2 ingredients; stir well. Remove from heat.
Spoon cauliflower mixture into an 11" x 7" baking dish, and drizzle with cream. Sprinkle with Fontina cheese and next 3 ingredients. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until golden.
Gret looking new site, Beth Congrats! Go Purr! :)
Thanks for this recipe! I’m always looking for new ways to cook cauliflower and this one definitely makes my list. Cooking is my stress reliever, too! I can totally relate!
This looks so tasty!
Wow, your photos are beautiful. I’m making pork chops tonight and need a side dish. This will be perfect!
I totally understand how cooking relieves stress – I feel the same way. The way you get into the “zone” when you cook, forget about stress and remember what’s important in life (the little things, like cooking). Great post, thanks!
This looks amazing. Your site redesign looks great too. If I ever get a chance to cook again, I’m going to make this.
Oh yum.
Beth this looks yummy. Love the use of cauliflower here
Sometimes I have to remind Patrick that cooking does this for me also when he’s trying to be helpful and take the responsibility of dinner off my hands after a stressful day.
Question for you Beth – these ‘recipe clippings binders’ that you mentioned – I have a horrible, incredibly unorganized system for organizing the recipes that I clip off magazines or the internet – both before I’ve tried them (my “to make” pile) and after I want to add them to my regular rotation (my “tried and true” pile). I’ve almost given up dealing with the actual recipes and resorted to Word file lists + starred posts in Google Reader, but that’s pretty clumsy since I have to bring my computer into the kitchen without the actual clipping. Have you come up with a good system for recipe organization, particularly coming from a variety of sources?
Hey Cecelia- Well, as of right now, I pretty much do what you’re doing. I have some recipes stored as Word documents on my computer, and then I also have 4 binders (1 for main entrees, 1 for appetizers & salads, 1 for side dishes, and 1 for breads/breakfast/brunch/dessert) with magazine tearouts. I use plastic sleeves in the binders to protect the recipes from spills. I also have a huge loose stack of clippings that haven’t yet been added to the binders. I try to take at least one weekend every couple of months to add the new clippings into the binders (typically I add them before testing them out, and then if the time comes that I make it and don’t like it, I just remove it).
However, my systme could all change soon! We recently hired a new girl at work that has a culinary background, and she just introduced me to The Demy! She raves about hers, so I’ve been reading up and it’s sounds pretty good. Apparently there were some kinks when it first came out, but more recent reviews lead me to believe that most of those issues have been worked out. I think I’m going to have Ravi buy me one for our anniversary in a couple of weeks! Here’s a link: http://www.amazon.com/Demy-Kitchen-Touchscreen-Recipe-Reader/dp/B001T43NQO
If I get one, I’ll test it out for a while and let you know what I think!
YUM-O! I am making this next week! Glad you had fun in CA!
I am definitely interested in hearing updates how the Demy performs if you get one. I can’t believe this is the only type of this product on the market, since I’m sure there would be a huge market for it. I’ve actually thought about installing an old flat-screen monitor in the kitchen and installing a mini-OS (there are several tutorials online like this one – http://bluelinecity.com/projects/kitchenet/) since about 95% of the recipes I use are primarily online. If that becomes too much, maybe I’ll just get an ipad. :)
See, I knew there was a reason why I visited your website. Its because of cool stuff like this. Thank you for the article. Look forward to more. See ya!
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Made this for dinner last night. It was one of the most AMAZING recipes I’ve come across!! I used 1/2 Gruyere and 1/2 Fontina, but otherwise followed the recipe precisely! It was cheesy, creamy, with a hint of crunch. Oh my, I could have eaten the entire dish myself!!!
I am so happy to hear this!! It’s been a while since I’ve made this dish myself, but I totally feel the same way, so need to make it again very soon!
Made this tonight for about the 10th time. I realized that I accidentally bought the smoked Gruyere and thought I read that it’s not suggested. I am not fond of smoky cheese except for on grilled stuff. So, I used Fontina and Swiss. Turned out delectable, as well. LOVE this recipe!
I love this recipe and it’s been WAY too long since I’ve made it myself. You’ve motivated me to get it in on our dinner menu for next week!