"Cauliflower & Cheddar Cheese Gratin" in Le Creuset Casserole

The moment I returned from my visit to the "Cheddar" village last month, I wanted to make a yummy bake with the Cheddar Cheese bought from the village. As I had already posted a Tuna Pasta Bake in my blog, I wanted to make a quick Gratin dish. There was one more reason to make a Gratin because I wanted to use my "Le Creuset oven cookware" which was lying in my Kitchen shelves for about 2 months now. Now you must be thinking, look at her flaunting things what she has got but NO..This mini casserole set was given to me by my best friend Shakthi during my last visit to her place. And that was very sweet of her, so I wanted to show her that I am indeed using these Casseroles and not kept to let the dust settle on them. :) Not promoting any brand over here but I recommend Le Creuset if you want to buy a good quality Oven Cookware.

Now some good things about the Gratin, I made a "Traditional English Cheddar Cauliflower Cheese Gratin". There are many other names given to this dish like Cauliflower & Cheese bake, Cauliflower Noisette, Cauliflower Gratin or simple Cauliflower Cheese. I have used the original Cheddar cheese of the Cheddar Village & that makes my Gratin indeed very very traditionally English. You can use any mature Cheddar Cheese for your Gratin recipe. Its very easy, quick & delicious for your early supper along with some boiled or grilled vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cauliflower (cut into florets)
• 2 cups milk
• 200 gm cheddar cheese (finely grated)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 50 gm butter
• 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
• salt & pepper for seasoning

Method:

1. Take a large saucepan & boil water. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
2. Put the cut cauliflorets to the boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
3. Drain the water and keep the florets aside. Season well with salt & pepper.
4. Heat a saucepan & add the butter, flour & milk to it. Click on Bechamel Sauce to get the detailed steps.
5. Whisk well with the spoon until the sauce is little thick and smooth. Switch off the heat.
6. Now add 3/4th of the grated cheese, nutmeg powder, required salt & pepper to the sauce and stir well.
7. Take a baking dish or casserole & grease well with some butter. Place the seasoned cauliflorets in it.
8. Pour the Cheese Sauce over the califlorets until fully covered. Top the sauce with the left over cheese & place the dish inside the oven.
9. Cook for 15- 20 minutes or just until it turns golden brown & starts bubbling.
10. Serve hot with some boiled veggies.

Courgette (Zucchini) & Lemon Linguine (V) with Grilled Drumsticks

I realized that I have not posted any linguine recipe yet in my blog, so here goes another tasty healthy pasta recipe which is very easy, simple & is specially made for the vegetarians. Pardon me but I had to compliment it with some chicken, so I made a quick grill to go with it. So Veggie lovers, please ignore the Chicken part alone. Linguine and lime go hand in hand & with a generous amount of grated courgette, it becomes a wholesome healthy meal.

Courgette & Lemon Linguine

Ingredients:

• 250 gm linguine
• 1 medium sized courgette (zucchini) (coarsely grated)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• large pinch of crushed chillies
• handful of basil leaves (can use dried basil too)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
• salt & pepper for seasoning
• grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Cook the linguine following the pack instructions, then drain quickly so some cooking water is still clinging onto the strands.
2. Tip them back into the cooking pan with the grated courgette, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, juice, crushed chillies & torn basil leaves.
3. Season generously & toss everything together with the help of tongs.
4. Top it up with some more basil leaves & grated parmesan cheese along with a drizzle of EV olive oil. Serve as soon as you have made.

Grilled Drumsticks

Ingedients:

• 4 chicken legs (skin removed)
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp olive oil (or cooking oil)
• salt & pepper for seasoning

Method:

1. Preheat the oven.
2. Score the chicken legs with a knife on both the sides.
3. Rub the chicken legs with required salt, generous amount of freshly ground pepper, lime juice & olive oil. Use your hand for it and let the marinade go inside the scores. Marinate it for atleast 20 minutes.
4. Turn the oven settings to "Grill", 220 Degree Celsius.Place the chicken legs on an oven tray & keep it inside the oven for 40minutes.
5. Turn the chicken every 10 minutes during the 40 minutes.
6. Serve hot with your Linguine made above.

Spicy Cauliflower Pasta

Lazy Saturday & Pasta comes to your rescue again!! I tried to make it as much veggie as possible and successfully cooked a cauliflower pasta...The unique combination of chilli, lemon, nuts & sultanas makes this pasta & cauliflower surprisingly tasty. Try to use a tubular pasta so that the cauliflorets, nuts and raisins trap inside them and u get the crunch at each pasta bite!! :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium cauliflower (cut into small florets)
• 250 g pasta (tube shaped)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp pine nuts (can use chopped almonds)
• 10 sultanas or raisins
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Cook the cauliflower in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop it cooking further. Drain.
2. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to he packet instructions.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the cauliflower and fry for 3 minutes until light golden. Reduce the heat, add the garlic, chilli flakes, nuts & cook for further 2 minutes.
4. Add the drained pasta, the raisins, lemon zest, juice & parsley. Season & toss together with the parmesan cheese.

Linking this recipe to ameessavourydish.blogspot.com where she is hosting a link party "Fit & Fabulous Fridays".

A "CHEESY" day out to "CHEDDAR"

Of all the cheeses in the world, which is the most popular one?? "Cheddar" Cheese of course!! And what if I tell you that I recently visited the village from where it first originated?? Wow!! Right?? Some of you must be already knowing the history of a Cheddar Cheese but I recently came to know. Cheddar, is a small beautiful, quiet little village situated in the south west of England in the county of Somerset. Cheddar was our last weekend's long drive destination. When I "googled" about the place, I then came to know that it is the birth place of "Cheddar Cheese" . That made the trip more interesting. I just want to share my experience with you all thus here goes a small travelogue of the Cheddar Village famous for its CHEESE!!

This small scenic village attracts many tourists firstly because of the CHEESE which it produces, secondly the Great River Gorge on the base the village is located & lastly the dark, mysterious yet beautiful caves within the gorge. For the thrill seekers, they can go for a Rock Climbing adventure and hiking here at Cheddar Gorge. But we opted for a safe Double deck bus drive to the top of the Gorge. :) This Cheddar Gorge is a place of wild grassland nature reserve and home to many rare species of plants and animals like the endangered horse shoe bat and the ram.

After a ride in the bus, we then went inside the caves formed in the gorge. The Gogh Caves are famous for its spectacular stalactite & stalagmite formations (remember reading in geography??) whose beautiful colours are mirrored in the pools of water here and there. It was truly a treat to the eyes.

And then we saw a separate section up in the caves where blocks of cheese were stored in wooden racks. It seems that these caves provide the required temperature for the cheddar cheese to mature for certain months. This started off 100 years ago and they still follow it. Although, nowadays Cheddar Cheese are now made all over the world, Cheddar village seems to produce their pioneered cheese even now and in the authentic way.

We then visited the only Cheese Factory in Cheddar, the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Factory, where they showed us how they make a CHEDDAR CHEESE. This company is unique because they still make the cheese with their own hands. The process of making a big block of cheese takes 7-8 hours and then is kept for maturing. Some as I said is kept to age in the caves.

We got to taste different types of cheese, from mild to strong, some stuffed with chillies and herbs & of course the Cave cheese. I just couldn't resist and bought a few different cheese slices home. I made Cauliflower & Cheddar cheese Casserole after a few days, recipe will be soon be put up. :)

After the cheese shopping, we strolled in the streets of Cheddar going in and out of different shops including the Cheddar Sweet shop where candies were made openly for the public to see. Not a big fan of candy so didn't buy anything!! :) We climbed the 274 steps of Jacob's Ladder to see the entire village & the massive Gorge from the view tower.

It was indeed a CHEESY experience!! :P

Marinated Cucumber

We don't always get excited about cucumber, because it isn't always served to its best advantage. This refreshing salad takes just a few minutes to put together, but does a cucumber full justice.

Ingredients:

• 1 large cucumber
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• handful of mint or coriander leaves (finely chopped)
• a pinch of sugar
• salt & pepper (for seasoning)

Method:

1. Peel the cucumber, halve it length ways & scoop out the seeds.
2. Slice into thick half moons. Place in a dish along with the vinegar, olive oil, mint or the coriander leaves & season it with salt, sugar & pepper. Toss together thoroughly.
3. Leave for 15 minutes & serve.