It’s been a few weeks since I wrote my last blog (my apologies & I hope my social media pics have kept you well fed in it’s absence). After a very busy October, filled with sugar art, baking & creating spooky treats for my friend’s little boy who was having a Halloween 
party, we have zoomed through a newly frosted November at warp speed & driven straight into December! If you’ve been following me on social media, you’ll know that our Son has graduated from University in November (cue lots of photos & two extremely proud parents!). Seeing him there in his cap & gown, clutching his well-deserved Degree, was one of those moments I won’t forget! He’s probably reading this, so I’ll just say it’s wonderful to see all his hard work (both studying & supporting himself working) come to fruition, so congratulations once again & we’re really proud of you!
Things have been busy here in the Hungry household, what with all the celebrating & such. Now the seasons have cooled drastically, the garden is looking a little tired & in need of some love. The pots of pretty pink & delicate white miniature Chrysanthemums were recently in full bloom, brightening up the patio with their petite blossoms, while some squirrels had a great time munching on the buffet of bulbs we planted & flinging their furry little selves around the garden with airborne abandon (that can’t be good for their digestion).
The chilly days of late November sunshine & sogginess have given way to a Wintry December, which could be why we are craving richer, rib-sticking dinners & delicious desserts. Anytime of year, we all have those days when we need something substantial to sustain our busy lives & keep us nourished, both physically & spiritually (because food should do both). Not necessarily a full-on girdle-busting roast dinner with all the trimmings (although very welcome at certain times of the year!), but sometimes we just need a hearty helping of heavenly comfort food to give us a boost. Some of the simplest foods can bring us such comfort, just by their fragrant aroma or even the thought of them, evoking happy memories of meals gone by.
One of my favourite indulgences is a large spoonful of creamy, crunchy-topped cauliflower cheese, enveloped in a silky smooth cheese sauce. Although I know you can get cauliflower all year round, it seems to taste better when it’s in season during these later months. Cauliflower is one of the most versatile veg we can eat & I’ve grilled, baked, steamed, boiled & pureed it, cooked it in curries & eaten it raw, dipped in lots of luscious pots of sauces, pesto & salsa (this came from when I was a little girl & loved to eat the stalk).
Usually, I like to serve a rich cauliflower cheese as a side dish with a roast dinner (especially with my spicy roast & baked gammon – recipe soon), but if I’m honest, it’s simply beautiful on it’s own as a luscious 
veggie dish. Pure pale cloud-like florets, steamed until al dente & draped in the most luxurious silky smooth sauce, created with a collection of cheeses & crowned with a deeply golden crispy crust – it’s spectacular as the main event, rather than just a mere side dish & this humble vegetable should be given a bit more kudos!
There are various ways to prepare cauliflower cheese & I have shared this recipe before, but I feel it deserves an article all of it’s own. It freezes really well & you know how much I like to have food prepared in advance (especially if it’s been languishing in your fridge & needs using up). If you have various bits of cheese that are loitering in your fridge, now is the time to gather them all together for this delicious dish! Half a bowl of bocconcini balls, odds & ends of Red Leicester & Double Gloucester? Grate, slice & shred them to go in this dish. If you are using smoked cheese, you might want to omit the Gorgonzola or any blue cheese (I find they are both strong flavours & probably best using one or the other). Ready? Aprons on, hands washed & here we go!
What you need:
1 large head of Cauliflower (2 if they’re small or you’re making extra to freeze)
1 teaspoon Sea Salt (for the cooking water)
For the cheese sauce:
1 pint of Semi-Skimmed Milk
3oz Salted Butter
3oz Plain Flour
6oz Cheese, grated (half for topping & half for the sauce)
Other bits of Cheese, about half an ounce each – I’ve used Gorgonzola Dolce, Grana Padana, Mozzarella, Bocconcini, Red Leicester, Cheshire, Ricotta & Cream Cheese – if it’s cheese, chuck it in!
Half an ounce of grated Parmesan (for the topping)
1 crust of bread (preferably a day or two old, but if you have to use fresh, leave it out on the side unwrapped)
Oregano (dried is fine)
Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper for seasoning
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 200*C, then fill the kettle & put it on to boil.
Prepare the cauliflower heads – trim off the leaves & remove the stalk, then separate into florets, keeping them as chunky as you can & wash them in cold water. Place all the florets into a steamer & sprinkle with a good pinch of sea salt.
Pour the boiling water all over the florets, dissolving the salt & washing everything (salt is a purifier). Put the lid on the pan & steam for about 8 minutes until al dente (poke it with a sharp knife & it should be still be firm, but easy to cut).
While your cauliflower is steaming, prepare your cheeses. Grate any of the hard cheeses, such as the Grana Padana, mild cheese, etc (if you’ve got a food processor attachment, use it & make your life easier – your knuckles will thank you!). Mix them well & set aside. Any cheese with a rind will need it removing, such as the Gorgonzola. Cut into rough pieces & set aside.
For cream cheese or ricotta, scoop a spoonful into a cup or bowl (leave the spoon in it) & place with your other cheeses. Once you start making the sauce, you’ll need everything to hand so it’s best to get this organised now.
Once ready, transfer the florets carefully into a large lasagne or pie dish. Make sure they are all floret-side up & pack them well into the dish. I find this easier to do with a couple of forks or spoons, so you don’t burn your fingers. Set to one side while you make the sauce.
Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan – this should be a plain or stainless steel pan, not a non-stick one as you’re going to use a metal whisk in it & you don’t want to wreck your saucepan (or get bits of non-stick coating in your sauce either!).
Remove from the heat & add the flour, put back on the heat & working quickly, whisk thoroughly to combine into a thick, shiny roux. Traditionally, you would use a wooden spoon, but if you want to make sure you don’t get any lumps I suggest using a good metal balloon whisk (nothing fancy, just a plain wire one will do).
Add about a quarter of the milk to the mixture & whisk in, until it loosens up & then add the rest of the milk carefully. Keep stirring with the whisk, getting to the bottom & around the edges of the pan to ensure nothing sticks.
As the sauce thickens up, you should start to feel some resistance with the whisk. Keep whisking slowly (swap hands if your wrist aches) & when you are satisfied with the thickness, add a couple of ounces of the grated mild cheddar & whisk until melted.
Add the other cheeses & whisk in again until melted. Turn off the heat.
Take a spoon & dip it into the sauce – it should coat the back of the spoon well & leave a trail in the pan. The consistency of the sauce should be like natural yoghurt.
Now taste it – depending on which types of cheese you have used, it might not need much seasoning as some cheeses, such as Parmesan, can be a little saltier than others.
Add a pinch of black pepper (half a dozen twists with a pepper grinder should be fine) & if you think it needs it, add a pinch of sea salt but go steady because once it’s in, you can’t take it out.
Whisk & taste again (with a clean spoon please!). If you’re happy with your cheese sauce, carefully pour all over the cauliflower florets, 
drizzling slowly into all the corners & working your way towards the centre. Make sure every floret is covered with the sauce & use a spatula to scrape out any remaining in the pan – you’ve worked hard to make this & shouldn’t waste any (or you could just dip a piece of crusty bread in & eat it – call it Chef’s perks).
Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese & the little bit of Parmesan all over the top generously, grating more if you think it needs it (I usually end up doing this). Every little creamy cloud of cauliflower should be covered in a good sprinkling of cheese!
Do the same with the breadcrumbs, ensuring an even coating all over.
Finally, add a good dusting of the dried Oregano across the whole thing.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until bubbling furiously & the top has turned the most gorgeous golden brown.
Remove carefully & place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes (trust me, it won’t go cold!). This will allow everything to relax, settle & generally calm for a few moments (because it will be hotter than the sun & you don’t want to burn your mouth).
Serve either as a side dish with a Sunday dinner or simply scoop some onto a plate, grab a spoon & indulge in a little luscious cheesy delight on these cold evenings. If you want to pimp it up a bit, scatter some chopped crispy smoked bacon pieces into the cheese sauce just before you pour onto the florets, or add broccoli to bring some colour to the dish. Try adding different cheeses (Goat’s Cheese is a lovely alternative to cream cheese or maybe try crumbling a little Cheshire cheese into the sauce), perhaps swap fresh Thyme for the Oregano & even add a few delicate dots of red chilli to give it some extra heat!
So that’s my very cheesy, creamy Super Cauli-Flower Cheese-ness, in all it’s lusciously gooey gorgeousness! Make it your own centrepiece for a vegetarian dinner, or even as an accompanying dish to go with your favourite Sunday roast. Next time you want a side with substance, reach for the cauliflower & create a little cheesy indulgence! Stay hungry! A 😉 x
the end of November, I had already chopped, mashed & stashed an array of side dishes in readiness, cramming pots of fluffy potatoes, gorgeous gravy & cauliflower cheesiness into my freezer. Most of us work & don’t have the time to faff around in the kitchen, so a bit of prep now will make all the difference. It’s like giving yourself the gift of time! Because I’m covering a few things here, you will need some strong coffee to keep you going & a few Little Helpers to share the load (bribes at the ready if necessary!). This also works for Thanksgiving too.
exception. A week or two before, I make a mountain of mashed potatoes & a giant cauliflower cheese (sometimes with broccoli), then freeze them in two-person portions (for the recipe, click on this link to my blog: 
completely & I started making my own from scratch. It’s so simple, you can make it in advance & freeze it until you need it! If you prefer it inside the bird, just make your stuffing the day before, cover it & leave in the fridge. Depending on the size of your dinner party or the size of your bird, just increase quantities as required (I say “bird” because not everyone eats turkey, my family included, as we prefer chicken). Hands washed, aprons on & here goes!
1 large Onion, finely chopped
Sprinkle the Sage & Rosemary into the pan with a pinch of Thyme, add the breadcrumbs & stir well. The residual heat from the pan will bring everything together nicely, so just mix well. Season with a little sea salt & black pepper, stirring well again. If you’re adding the roasted chopped chestnuts or lemon zest, do this now.
If you’re making stuffing balls, get yourself an ice-cream scoop (spring-loaded will make your life easier & will also ensure they are all roughly the same size). Put some of the mixture into the ice-cream scoop (you don’t want to damage your pan by scraping it!) & press it in gently. Release the ball from the scoop, shape it into a nice sized ball in your hand & place on the greaseproof paper. Repeat until you’ve used the whole lot.
oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top, turning halfway. Once cooked, either serve immediately with your roast dinner, or place on a cooling rack (still on the greaseproof paper) & leave to cool completely. These can then be frozen & reheated on the day you want them. That’s the stuffing stuffed!
Once you’ve got your sides sorted, Christmas Day becomes a doddle – just take them out of the freezer the night before, pop them into an ovenproof dish to defrost & that’s it, prep done! They can be reheated in the oven while the bird is resting & the veg are roasting. This is also handy when unexpected extras turn up for dinner, because you’ll have a spare pot you can defrost (making you look like the most organised person ever & score major Brownie points!).
quality one that you like, then pimp it up with a few little tweaks. Simply scoop the whole lot into a small saucepan & break up with a wooden spoon, heating very gently. Add a shot of Sherry or Port, stirring carefully into the cranberry sauce. Sprinkle a little orange or lemon zest into the pan, about half a teaspoon, & stir gently for a minute or two. Pour it into a small dish to cool, then cover & put in the fridge until you’re ready to serve!
a pint into a jug. To remove any fat from the stock (that’s the golden bubbles you can see here), get yourself a few sheets of kitchen paper & touch it gently on the top – the grease will attach itself to the paper, which you can then throw away (no faffing around trying to separate it).
Remove from the oven & tip them onto a cooling rack. Either pile them up onto a plate for your dinner guests or let them go cold, bag them up & pop them in the freezer. Then when you fancy a Yorkshire pud, put them on a tray in the oven for about 4-5 minutes to reheat & crisp up – I like to use the residual heat from the turned off oven after cooking dinner. They’re also rather nice with a spoonful of jam & a drizzle of single cream (or tinned evaporated milk).
also the time of year my Husband & I met, so we always celebrate our first date (it involved a large Harley Davidson Sportster, a couple of hundred bikers delivering Christmas presents & rather a lot of tinsel!). 
Christmas Day. Some of these multi-tasking munchies can even be used as a starter, so make a few extra (which is my mantra, as you probably know by now). One of my favourites (& apparently everyone else’s!) are baked cheesy biscuits – you can serve them simply on their own or with a dip, or even pipe some cream cheese on them & decorate with chopped chives. They are really easy to make & the recipe is in my blog called “Grate Expectations” – here’s the link for speed: 
Scoop spoonfuls of the breadcrumb mixture into each mushroom – be generous & keep going until every mushroom is crammed full, then sprinkle with a little more cheese. Any leftover breadcrumb mixture, chuck it in the fridge for later (someone always turns up late or you might fancy a midnight snack). Scatter a few pine nuts over the top (these are gorgeous & have a sort of popcorn taste to them).
If you’re preparing them in advance, cover in cling film now & pop them in the fridge until you need them (they keep until the next day at least). Otherwise, bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden & gorgeous. These are great hot or cold, either on their own or with dips, or just with a green salad as a starter.
prepped by one of your Helpers a few days before, then stashed in the fridge in airtight containers or bags, ready to be whipped out with a delicious dip anytime! If you fancy something different, try raw crunchy cauliflower florets (one of my faves), sliced peppers, sugarsnap peas & mangetout. Give them a good wash, trim the ends & stand them in a cup. One thing I don’t do at this time of year is make dips – I really cannot be bothered & what with all the other stuff to do, just buy some nice ones & store them in the fridge until needed. Simply scoop them into individual tea cups with saucers & dinky spoons (saving your table from splodges), rather than leaving them in a plastic tray – even if they do have one of those optimistic re-sealable tops, dips always disappear first!
Measure your spices into a cup & carefully mix together. (Sometimes, I only use half this mixture & sprinkle the rest over chunky raw potato slices, drizzled in olive oil, to make spicy wedges in the oven – bake at 220*C for 25 minutes & serve with a cooling dip, like Greek yoghurt mixed with a few chopped mint leaves).
Take a couple of pieces of chicken, coat them in the egg & shake off the excess. Chuck them in the breadcrumb mixture & pat this onto the chicken to ensure it’s coated well. Place them into the roasting tin & repeat until you have coated all the chicken. Drizzle more olive oil over the top (drizzle, not drown).
Spread them on a huge plate for people to help themselves – turn it into a starter with a salad, a couple of potato wedges & a yoghurt & mint dip, or leave them to cool before freezing them in a bag until needed. Job done!
Firstly, apologies for the delay in writing my blog, as we are in the process of having a new kitchen fitted (week three, yay!). As you’re probably aware, the kitchen is my sanctuary, my haven of foodliness & culinary creativity. It’s one of my favourite places when life gets stressful, where I go to take my mind off things & create sweetness when there is none (or knead the crap out of some dough for a bit to de-stress). When I can’t cook or bake, I tend to get a bit tetchy! I started the first week like SpongeBob on his first day at the Krusty Krab (“I’m ready!”), but rapidly transformed into Donna Corleone by the end of the second. It’s never straight-forward when you’re having building work done, even a small kitchen & no matter how organised you think you are, you’re not. As I discovered, even the most perfectly planned projects can go a bit awry & bring out your inner DeNiro.
Until Friday morning of the second week, there was no working sink, no oven, no hob, no washing machine in place & no wine, which even for the most patient of people starts to get a bit much. None of this was made easier by sharing our lounge with most of the large kitchen appliances (which was everything but the fridge), a dining table & six chairs, along with all the usual furniture one has in a lounge & everything the cat owns too (along with one rather disgruntled cat, who was having to share with “the staff”). The kettle, microwave, toaster & slow cooker were all perched rather precariously on the dining table & washing machine, just across from the sofa. It was very cosy!
midway into week three, with various as yet unresolved issues (such as a gaping chasm in the ceiling where the old oven fan used to be, no hob as yet & a couple of minor head injuries from the low oven vent, which has a tea towel on to cover the blood), you can imagine that we’re getting rather vexed & I’m suffering from serious Spaghetti alla Carbonara deficiency. Note to self: remember wine next time & double it, with a few whiskey chasers!
Before the chaos began, I prepared a few meals in advance & filled the freezer with lots of luscious treasures to keep us going. Firstly, I made my staple Italian favourite: an enormous lasagne al forno. This was 
baked 
of Parmesan & Cheddar, which works really well. To give it a crispy topping, roughly grate half a crust of bread over the top & spread liberally. It can be chunky or fine, it really doesn’t matter. Sprinkle a pinch of Oregano on top, some freshly ground black pepper & bake it in the middle of the oven at 200*C for about 20 – 25 minutes. It will be crispy on top, the cheese will go golden & all that gooey cheese sauce will plump up the veg, infusing them with cheesiness. Leave it to go cold, slice into portions & freeze in individual tubs. This tastes amazing on it’s own too & is quite filling (we had it with chips from our local Chinese takeaway – gorgeous!).
The next day, I prepared a couple of fresh chickens by filleting, skinning & cutting them into portions. This provides four chicken breasts, four legs & two carcasses with the wings on. Have a read of my article 
smoked bacon before being cooked, then frozen individually. The carcasses went into the oven with some veg, herbs & water to make stock (which was also frozen for future risottos when we have a hob). The chicken breasts were divided into two to make chicken pies & kievs, stuffed with homemade garlic & smokey bacon butter.
a month, I buy a big pack of smoked bacon, split it into 4 or 6 rasher batches & freeze them, so I’ve always got smoked bacon for risotto or cacciatore – now I have it for garlic butter too. I have also used Proscuitto di Parma when I have leftover slices – it crisps up perfectly when fried. It makes more sense to make a large batch of the butter, rather than faffing around with piddling portions just for two kievs. The measurements are general here, depending on how much garlic you like, so go easy if you’re unsure.
inch above the edge of the paper, leaving a couple of inches either side to twist together afterwards. Roll away from you & keep it tight, smoothing the paper with your fingers to make a sausage of butter, tucking the edge of the paper underneath it. Roll evenly until completely rolled up & twist the edges together. Wrap in clingfilm & twist the edges again. Pop it in the top freezer drawer & leave it to set for at least an hour. This will become firm & easier to slice. Once ready, cut a couple of slices & put to one side ready for stuffing, then put the rest in back in the freezer. When you need to use it again, leave it out of the freezer for about ten minutes to soften slightly before slicing.
Using the same hand you did for flouring, sprinkle & pat the breadcrumbs onto the chicken, ensuring it is thoroughly coated on all sides. Shake off the excess & place in a plate (sprinkle a few breadcrumbs onto the plate before you do this). Repeat this process for the other chicken kievs, then cover the dish with cling film & put in the bottom of the fridge for an hour or so – raw meat should not be next to cooked or be above anything else, so I always use the bottom shelf.
carefully, replacing them in the oven to finish cooking. Once cooled, pop a couple in a tub & freeze (pour over any escaped butter & crispy bits from the tin too). They reheat well once defrosted too – just put them in a dish in the oven at 200*C for 20 minutes or so. Make sure they are piping hot before dishing up – stick a metal skewer in the 
centre & if it’s hot to the touch, they’re ready. They go great with a huge salad & proper chunky chips. If you’re not keen on bacon or garlic, try using different stuffings in your chicken – maybe some sundried tomatoes, a couple of slices of Mozzarella & some fresh Basil leaves, or shredded spinach, Ricotta & chopped pine nuts.