What's the fancier version of this family recipe?

December 5, 2014 6:14 PM

My grandmother took a microwave cooking class shortly after getting her first one many years ago and this was one of the dishes she learned. It's surprisingly delicious for being so humble and easy to make... is there a fancier dish that it is based on? Recipe inside.

Core a head of cauliflower and nuke with a little water in a microwave safe bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 9 minutes.

Frost the cauliflower with a mixture of mayonnaise, yellow mustard, dehydrated onion flakes and salt & pepper to taste. (I just go by ratio; mostly mayo to a little of everything else.)

Cover with shredded cheddar cheese and nuke a minute more until the cheese is melted. Spoon out portions to serve.

posted by annekate to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Cauliflower gratin?
posted by melissasaurus at 6:18 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

I just made this Winter Vegetable salad (with broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini.) It's similar and delicious.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:19 PM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's tagged as Cauliflower and Cheese here, I figure this is the non-microwave version... it looks like a variation on cauliflower cheese to me - cauliflower baked in the cheese sauce of your choice.
posted by Leon at 6:26 PM on December 5, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: The mayo mixture actually really makes it — it's tangy in this way that gratins are not. I've tried similar things with a white sauce base and it's not the same.
posted by annekate at 6:44 PM on December 5, 2014

Something like this, perhaps?
posted by ohmy at 7:06 PM on December 5, 2014

Best answer: I don't know about an original recipe, but the first part of the cooking is basically steaming the cauliflower. So if I wanted to make that without a microwave, I'd preheat the broiler. Then I'd core and cut a head of cauliflower in bite-sized florets, and set those florets in a steamer over simmering water for 7-8 minutes. While they were steaming, I'd stir together the mayo, mustard, onion flakes, salt, and pepper. (If it were me, I'd sub in dijon mustard for the yellow mustard and maybe fresh garlic for the onion flakes.) When the cauliflower is done steaming, I'd toss the steamed cauliflower with the mayo mixture, spread it in an oven-proof dish, top it with the shredded cheese, and put it under the pre-heated broiler for a minute or two until the cheese was melted and starting to brown.

It looks similar-ish to my favorite cauliflower recipe of all time. In the cookbook, Sarah Leah Case, the author, says it's a tribute to a favorite meal of MFK Fisher in the 20s or 30s, "a simple casserole of cauliflower, cream, and cheese, which she sadly discovered could never be duplicated back home in California since American cauliflowers were more watery and cream less thick than French counterparts." Chase then says an Italian friend recommends mascarpone rather than creme fraiche to correct for those differences, and that made the dish. I have no idea if any of that relates to your grandmother or early microwave recipes, but there you go.
posted by jaguar at 7:31 PM on December 5, 2014 [18 favorites]

That's a variant on cauliflower cheese, which is a popular dish in England. Well, I say popular --- it's a bit like green bean casserole, something many people associate with awful cafeteria lunches but which some chefs have started to reclaim in recent years. Alton Brown has a recipe in one of his good eats episodes that fancies it up a bit --- sounds rather similar to yours, although he uses heavy cream and an egg as opposed to mayo for his sauce base. I think the mayo variety may have been unique to your grandmother's cooking class ---every other recipe I've seen uses some kind of cream or creme fraiche.
posted by Diablevert at 11:40 PM on December 5, 2014 [2 favorites]

Jaguar, I just made your favourite cauliflower recipe for lunch and it's now my favourite too. A perfect low carb alternative to gratin dauphinois - thank you for posting it.
posted by hazyjane at 4:56 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yep, jaguar's recipe is it I think. Mascarpone is exactly what I was looking for. Can't wait to try it!
posted by annekate at 7:12 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yay, cauliflower love! The Pedaling through Burgundy cookbook actually has several of my favorite recipes. I do recommend getting a copy if you can find one (it looks like it's out of print). They are definitely Americanized versions of French recipes, but they're generally simplified in ways that turn out consistently well.
posted by jaguar at 7:21 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

And to clarify, the blog I linked to with the recipe is not my blog. It's just the only place I've seen that recipe online.
posted by jaguar at 7:26 AM on December 6, 2014