Cauliflower Cheese

 

When I was a little girl and money was a bit scarce, cauliflower cheese was something my mother used to cook regularly.  Indeed, it was one of the few vegetarian meals that we ate (two of the others being baked beans on toast and Welsh rarebit).  My father would get a piece of bacon or Ulster Fry with his - the man of the household couldn't go without his piece of meat!  Mum would put the cooked cauliflower into a dish, pour the cheese sauce over it and brown it under the grill.  She'd serve it with delicious chunky chips (usually managing to splash some hot fat on her hand in the process, while she sliced the chips directly into the pan!) It was - and remains - one of my favourite meals.

 

However, as a wannabe vegan, my mother's recipe would not suit, made as it was with milk in the cheese sauce and, of course, dairy cheese.  There are of course, vegan substitutes for both, readily available in supermarkets in some parts of the world.  I can buy plant milk, but only in 1 litre containers which are far too large for my needs and vegetarian cheese after a fleeting presence in some shops, is now unobtainable in my part of Aoetearoa New Zealand.   I love cauliflower so have done my best to recreate my mother's sauce, which I serve with either 'roast' potatoes, cooked in the frying pan, or chips (an oil filter keeps the sunflower seed oil that I use, amazingly fresh from batch to batch).

 

I make this using gram flour, white sauce, appropriately flavoured.  I've tried adding home-made nut milk to it, but it isn't really worth the extra work and washing up, in my opinion.  

 

It's a bit difficult to specify how much cauliflower to use.  It depends how far through the cauli you are.  I would suggest that two or three florets, about the size of a teacup, per person would be correct. Use the leaves, too, if you wish.

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

 half a dozen cauliflower florets

2 tbsp gram flour
1 tbsp oil, melted ghee or butter
1 cup water

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp tahini

1/4 tsp salt
good grind of black pepper

Method:

• Cook the cauliflower in a minimum amount of boiling water until just tender.  Set aside on a plate.
• Put any remaining water in a jug and make up to a cupful.    
• Put the gram flour into the same pan and knock out the worst of the lumps with your spoon. Now pour in the oil or melted ghee and mix in the flour very thoroughly, effectively making a roux, while eliminating any remaining lumps.
• Add a quarter cup of the water to the roux and blend into a smooth cream.  Mix in the nutritional yeast, garlic granules, Dijon mustard and tahini, stirring thoroughly.   
• Put the pan over a low heat and add some more water, blending everything carefully again. Raise the heat to moderate and keep stirring.
• When the sauce is showing signs of thickening, add the remaining water, the salt and the pepper. Bring the mixture to a slow boil, still stirring constantly.
• Now reduce the heat to low again, and carry on stirring while it thickens. Taste to see if more salt is required. Don’t taste it before it starts getting thick: raw gram flour is not nice. Keep stirring until it has stopped thickening.  
• Carefully add the cauliflower to the pan, cover and cook on a very low heat until the cauliflower is heated through.

Serve with fried potatoes.

 

Notes:

• When you get used to using gram flour, you will find you can be a bit more casual about mixing it.
• I am a less organised cook than I would choose, so I usually cook the cauliflower and make the sauce before adding the chips to the pan.  That way I don't end up over-cooking the chips while I'm still making the sauce!   

Variations:

• Use plant milk, instead of water, if you'd prefer.  If you don't have any on board, you can make some by grinding 1/2 cup of nuts (peanuts are a good, cheap choice) finely and adding them along with the bulk of the water.
• Sage is a good addition to the sauce.
• Of course, vegetarians can also use dairy cheese, cow's milk and/or butter if they wish.  If using dairy cheese, add it towards the end and skip the nutritional yeast.  

You will find many more recipes like this here.