Difference between revisions of "Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese (TM)"

Revision as of 18:51, 29 May 2012

Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese (TM)
Servings:	Serves 4
Difficulty:
Overall recipe rating: 65/100 out of 100, based on 24 votes  You need to enable JavaScript to vote

Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese (TM) - about this recipe

I love cauliflower cheese and this one is probably the best I have ever made.

Ingredients

• 50g white caster sugar
• 100g white wine vinegar
• 2 small cauliflowers, broken into florets and divided into three
• Groundnut oil
• 500g vegetable stock
• 300g water
• 1 bulb garlic, peeled
• 300g white wine, reduced to 30ml (10-15 minutes / Temp. Varoma / Speed 1)
• 120g Gruyère cheese, grated
• 20g cornflour
• 30g cream cheese
• Knob of butter
• Extra grated Gruyère or Cheddar for the topping

Mise en place

Add the sugar and vinegar to the bowl and set the TM to 100°. Once it has reched this temperature, pour the mixture over one-third of the cauliflower. Allow to cool somewhat and leave in the fridge overnight.

Method

1. The next day, grate the cheese for cooking and topping separately in the TM and coat the cooking cheese in the cornflour (I used Gruyere for cooking and a mixture of that and mature Cheddar for the topping) and set aside.
2. Put one-third of the cauliflower into the internal steaming basket with the vegetable stock and water 16 minutes / Temp. Varoma / Speed 1.
3. Meanwhile, deep fry the remaining third of the cauliflower at 180º C until golden brown.
4. Drain the cauliflower on kitchen paper and deep fry the garlic until golden brown, but make sure it doesn't burn.
5. Remove the steamed cauliflower (keep the liquid), mix with the others and place in a baking dish or casserole.
6. Reduce the stock / water mix to 200ml 18 minutes / Temp. Varoma / Speed 1 and leave in the bowl.
7. Pre-heat the grill to high.
8. Add the wine, cornfloured cheese, butter and the fried garlic to the TM bowl with the butter 5 minutes/ 90º / Speed 4.
9. Add the cream cheese and cook at the same setting for a further 1 minute.
10. Process 15 seconds / Speed 5-10 progressively, so that the garlic is well pulverised.
11. Mix the sauce with the cauliflower, sprinkle over the grated chase and grill for several minutes.

Recipe source

• Lightly adapted and converted for Thermomix from a Heston Blumenthal recipe

Chef's notes

The timings for the reduction of the wine and stock may vary as it will depend on the temperature of you kitchen and your ingredients.