Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese

This is Heston's perfect cauliflower cheese recipe as seen on Channel 4's "How to cook like Heston"

It is quite elaborate but definitely worth the effort. Cooking the cauliflower in three separate ways, vinaigrette, deep fried and boiled, gives an extra contrast to this dish.

The cheese sauce is sublime, but the cleverest idea is soaking some of the cauliflower in a vinaigrette. It adds a fantastic random taste

Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese

Servings:	Serves 4
Calories per serving:	428
Ready in:	1 hour
Prep. time:	40 minutes
Cook time:	20 minutes
Difficulty:
Recipe author:	Chef
First published:	2nd February 2013

Best recipe review Lots of taste 5/5 ..but it should be with that much cheese! Susie

Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese, the ingredients

for the cauliflower

Ingredients

Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩‍🍳 method for this recipe

• 50g caster sugar
• 100ml white wine vinegar
• 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets and separated into thirds
• Groundnut oil

for the cheese sauce

• 500ml chicken stock, reduced to 200ml and kept warm
• 300ml white wine, reduced to 30ml
• 120g grated gruyère cheese
• 20g cornflour
• 20g soft cheese
• Knob of butter
• Drops of truffle oil
• 25g extra grated Gruyère cheese or cheddar cheese for gratinating

Mise en place

• Reduce the white wine from 500 ml to 30 ml, or cheat and use dry sherry!
• Reduce the chicken stock from 500 ml to 200 ml
• Preheat the grill to maximum once the cauliflower has been cooked

Method

1. Using a small pan, stir the sugar into the vinegar and bring to the boil
2. Put a third of the cauliflower florets into a bowl, pour the vinegar mix over the florets and refrigerate for at least half an hour
3. Fill another small pan ¾ full with groundnut oil and heat over a medium high heat. When the oil reaches 180° C (350° F) add the second third of the florets and fry for about 3 minutes until golden.
4. Blanch the remaining third of the florets in boiling salted water until soft, about 4 minutes. These could also be steamed
5. Add the reduced stock and wine to a pan over a medium heat
6. Mix in the grated Gruyère and cornflower and mix well until the cheese is incorporated into the stock
7. Remove the pan from the heat and add a few drops or truffle oil
8. Place in an oven-proof serving dish, sprinkle with the extra grated cheddar and brown under the grill

Chef's notes

Anne does not like raw cauliflower so I steamed it prior to adding it to the vinaigrette.

Variations

A grating of nutmeg prior to grilling does not go amiss.

See also

• Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese - Normal recipe
• Heston Blumenthal's perfect cauliflower cheese (TM) - recipe for a Thermomix
• Heston Blumenthal's perfect cheese sauce - Just the cheese sauce
• http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/cauliflower-cheese-recipe

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