Cheese and Cauliflower Soufflé

I travel a lot to France for work and when I read their menu in a restaurant, the words sound so sophisticated, so beautiful, so incomprehensible.  The food is always light and rich in cheese and cream and usually very tasty.  Of course it is always difficult to choose what to eat, as we do not understand the menu and usually randomly choose something - so far no regrets.  Hmmm...maybe just one.  The one time I choose a starter which I thought was a warm soup but turned out to be a cold plate of minced meat.  I would not say the dish was not tasty, but my expectation was to have something warm, and getting something cold blew it off for me.

Soufflé is meant to be something that is usually light and fluffy and uses the egg whites to "puff up" the mixture.  Cauliflower is the least favourite of my vegetables...i guess because it looks so bland and can have such and over powering taste at times.  However, in this dish the cauliflower taste is evened out with the cheese.  It is a rich and heavy dish, but perfect for cold evenings when you want something quick and warm out of the oven.

Butter, flour, milk & stock

Preparation Time:  45 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

450 grams cauliflower

15 grams all purpose flour

15 grams unsalted butter

Egg yolk & Cheese

150 ml half fat milk

55 grams mozzarella cheese, grated

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Para boil the cauliflower in 1 cup salted water.  Keep water aside.
2. Drain and break the cauliflower into flowerettes.  
3. Heat butter in a pan.
4. When hot, add the flour and fry for a 2 minutes on low flame.  
5. Now add the milk and the cauliflower stock.  Mix well.  Cook on low flame till medium consistency.  Cool.  
6. Add well beaten egg yolks and grated cheese. to the white sauce.  
7. Beat whites stiff and fold into the white sauce mixture.  
8. Put cauliflower into a greased pie dish and pour sauce over.  Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees C) for 20 minutes and serve hot.