Seasonal local food recipe No 96: Cauliflower cheese with Lord Dalrymple’s top
An Edwardian dish (great name!) that Sarah Raven says was included in her aunt Fortune Stanley’s 1974 cookery book, English Country House Cooking. Sarah reproduces it in her Garden Cookbook. She says that with a crunchy salad of bitter leaves – our own Camel CSA-grown salad leaves would work well – it’s perfect for a light main course.
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1 large cauliflower
175g butter, plus a little more for the dish
3 tbsp flour
6 tbsp single cream
250g strong cheddar cheese
salt and black pepper
1 tbsp mustard
6 eggs, separated
Method
Preheat a moderate oven (180C/gas 4). Divide the cauliflower into chunks and steam it for 3-4 minutes. Put the cauliflower in the bottom of a buttered souffle dish.
Melt the butter, add the flour and stir over a gentle heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the cream and cheese. Season and add the mustard and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens to the consistency of double cream. Take off the heat and stir in the egg yolks.
Whisk the egg whites and fold in. Pour the souffle mixture over the cauliflower and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the top is browned and risen.
