Califlower & Broccoli Cheese

What a versatile dish this is. I love it so much that I am more than happy to have a bowl of this all on it's own for lunch or dinner. It is great served with Pork Chops as they can sometimes be a bit dry and of course it makes any roast dinner amazing. We often get together with friends for a Sunday roast and this is usually the dish I take along as our contribution to the feast. If needed you can prepare up to a day ahead.

Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 Medium cauliflower

1 Head of broccoli

75g Mature cheddar grated

25g Stilton cheese or other strong blue cheese, crumbled

600ml Semi-skimmed milk - heated

50g Butter

50g Plain flour

1 clove of garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp English mustard, Colman’s is the best.

3/4 tbsp panco breadcrumbs - this is not a necessity, just adds a little crunch to the top.

Salt and pepper to season

How to:

Get all your ingredients together, peel and chop your veg, grate your cheese and measure out the other bits and bobs.

Put the prepared Cali and broccoli into a saucepan and pour over boiling water, fill about a third of the pan. Bring back to the boil and then simmer with lid on for 5 mins. Drain and then immediately plunge into cold water. I do this at least twice as you are aiming to remove the heat from the veg as quickly as possible and stop it from continuing to cook. This will keep the broccoli a vibrant green and the veg from going mushy. Put to one side and let it dry. Doing this keeps your cali looking bright white and your broc bright green.

No melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and then add the flour. Mix together and cook for 2/3 minutes. It will be dry and lumpy at this stage, but you want to start to cook the flour. Add the milk, about 2/3 tablespoons at a time and mix until smooth before adding more milk. Continue to do this until all the milk has been added. Don’t rush this as you want the flour to cook completely and the mixture to be really smooth and glossy.

Add all the blue cheese and most of the cheddar, salt and pepper and the English mustard. Stir until the cheese has completely melted and the sauce is silky smooth again. Have a taste and then add more cheese, mustard or seasoning until its tastes as you would like it.

If you are cooking and eating immediately, put the califlower and broccoli into a oven proof dish, poor over the sauce covering all the veg , sprinkle over the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs and then cook in a pre heated oven at 200c/Gas 6 for about 25 mins. The top should be bubbling and golden brown.

If you are eating later or taking to a friends house, then let your sauce cool a little before making the dish up. When the dish is completely cooled, cover and keep in the fridge until you need it. If you cook straight from the fridge it may need an additional 5 or 10 mins cooking time.

Enjoy....