My husband needs to eat less sugar and less carbs....basically his two favourite things. Whilst I believe I am healthy and in pretty good shape, I could do with a little more "clean living" however I love comfort eating, covering everything in cheese and I am addicted to milky coffee with sweetener.
Anyway the sun was shining yesterday so we decided to barbecue some beef to up our protein intake and then as a side I made these rarebit cauliflower steaks. This is a recipe from Olive magazine although I omitted the beer (!) and it took about 25 minutes.
Ingredients for 2 people:
1 large cauliflower
25g butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100g grated mature cheddar
1 tsp wholegrain or Dijon mustard
1 small egg yolk
A couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200C / fan 180C / gas mark 6.
Chop the cauliflower in two down the middle and then cut a thick slice from each half to make 2 steaks. You will have some cauliflower left over - we ate this dipped in hummus.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Season the cauliflower steaks and then fry on each side until golden. This took about 8 minutes.
Lift the steaks onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 10 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Next time I will cut the stalks off the the cauliflower steaks as they are pretty tough.
Meanwhile put the cheese, mustard, egg yolk and Worcestershire sauce (if using) into a bowl and mash together. Season once again. Spoon the cheese mix over the cauliflower steaks when they are ready and grill for 4-5 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
These were really good and could be a meal in itself. I love welsh rarebit, it is something we had at weekends for lunch during my childhood and using cauliflower here is certainly a healthier version. I reckon my daughter Arabella would also be a fan. A great alternative side dish.
I had been planning on cooking this recipe last Saturday night but I got carried away with the pic n mix selection in Sainsbury's and ended up just scoffing sweets for supper. I really need to give up sugar one day as my sweet tooth is out of control....but I am not ready just quite yet, especially when ice cream season is upon us.
Anyway I had to cook this tonight before the spinach went off and despite the rain, we served it with barbecued steak topped with blue cheese (my favourite). It took around 25 minutes in total.
Ingredients for 4-6 people as a side:
500g spinach, washed and chopped
25g butter
1 tbsp plain flour
200ml milk
150ml double cream
A few gratings/pinch of nutmeg
75g Gruyere, grated
75g Parmesan, grated
Put the spinach in a colander and pour over a kettleful (or two) of boiling water, to wilt, then cool and squeeze out as much excess water as you can.
Melt the butter in a pan. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Keep stirring and gradually add the milk to make a white sauce. After about 5 minutes, stir in the cream and season. Add the nutmeg and Gruyere and cook until the cheese has melted. Stir in the spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Tip into a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle over the Parmesan and heat under a hot grill for a couple of minutes until golden and bubbling.
I think the final picture speaks for itself....this was incredible. My husband Pascal was most surprised that this is the second dish he has loved which is made with a white sauce. It went perfectly with our steaks but I would say it would go with anything or you could even serve it on its own. Amazing!
