Thanks, everybody. Had it with chicken last night. Damn good, and the cauliflower will keep your innards running clean.
Sam, I'll bet that Cauliflower soup is awesome. I've seen recipes around, but haven't tried it yet. A lady near my house has a little bistro where she makes it homemade and some of her diehard customers will track her schedule to make sure they come in on days she has it on the soup and sandwich menu.
Here's how I made this batch, as best I can remember it. I almost never follow a recipe off the internet exactly.
Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower (about 2-2 1/2 lbs. recipe called for 2 lbs)
1 large onion chopped
1/4 red bell pepper minced
2 pats of butter
8 ozs shredded cheddar cheese
8 ozs shredded Asiago cheese (recipe called for Monterey Jack. Liked the Asiago idea better.)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano (I used Kirkland brand)
3/4 cup sour cream (recipe called for 1 cup, but I didn't have that much. Made it up with a little more cheese.
)
1 cup 1/2 & 1/2 (recipe called for whole milk)
1/4 tsp cayenne powder (would have probably used the smoked paprika I ordered, if I'd had it by then.)
small handful of fresh parsley
1 clove garlic mined
salt & pepper
Directions
Steam roughly chopped cauliflower for 1/2 hour to 45 mins. (the larger pieces will break down further when you combine everything before baking.)
Saute onion and red bell pepper briefly in the butter, only until the onions become translucent
Remove cauliflower from steamer
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
Place in large Corningware dish
sprinkle top with sweet paprika
Bake in oven at 350 for 45 mins, removing cover for last 15 mins
sprinkle top with parsley
Serve
Voila.
In the picture I posted, you'll see the bottom left corner of the casserole has a little indentation. That was where I was dipping out excess water after baking (and getting a taste, of course).
Feel free to tweek everything as you wish. As I mentioned, this was my first time making it. Nothing was left on our plates.
