[Sca-cooks] back to food by request :) was Re: Faith and chellenges

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On May 31, 2006, at 2:51 PM, Ana Valdes wrote:

> My grandmother (she was Italian) made a succulent cauliflower gratin
> covered with a thick Bechamelsauce and a lot of cheese and nutmeg.
> It was really elegant, the nutmeg was a hit.
> Ana

I was going to suggest something similar. The French equivalent would  
be Chouxfleurs (I think) Mornay en gratin. One of the cool things  
about classical French cookery is its modularity; you can plug in  
different elements as you wish. Start with a pint of medium-thin  
bechamel/white sauce made with about 2 cups of milk, 1/4 cup each of  
flour and butter made into a white or blonde roux, a small onion, a  
clove or two, grated nutmeg to taste, etc. etc. Reduce a bit, turn  
that into cream sauce by adding... cream. Reduce a little more, then  
add grated cheese. Classically, for Mornay Sauce that would be  
Parmagiano or Gruyere, but cheddar is good, too. Cut and blanch your  
fleurs till just barely tender, drain well, spread in a baking dish  
and top with sauce. Stir lightly to make sure all is covered...

The other big secret thingie is to use real bread crumbs from actual  
bread, not those dry, beige, toasted crumbs from a can. Put these in  
a pan with melted butter or good olive oil and toast them slowly  
until they begin to brown, like a roux. Good additions are much  
crushed garlic, black pepper, and chopped parsley after the crumbs  
have been taken off the flame. Cheese would not hurt, but I think  
we're treading close to the textbook definition of gilding the lily.  
In this case, literally. Probably making the crumbs first and letting  
them cool wouldn't be a bad thing...

Tops cheesy-sauced fleurs with crumbs, bake in a 375-degree oven for  
around 25-40 minutes, or until brown on top and bubbly in the middle...

Adamantius

>
> On 5/31/06, Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com> wrote:
>> on food
>>
>> ok, so I have a bunch of folks coming over and our recent CSA  
>> basket gave me a
>> yummy cauliflower.
>>
>> anybody have a favorite collie gratin recipe? I have this vision  
>> of a creamy sauce
>> with some sort of crunchy savory (parmasean/bread crumbs?) topping.
>>
>> any ideas? I know its not medieval but there's an amazing brain  
>> trust here...
>>
>> --Anne-Marie, who could fall back on the elizabethan collies with  
>> egg lemon sauce
>> if need be....
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>
>
> -- 
> "A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'Universe,' a part
> limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and
> feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical
> delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for
> us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few
> persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this
> prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
> creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to
> achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in
> itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."
> -- Albert Einstein
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"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04