Easter lunch April 2011

Here's what we had for Easter lunch:
grilled ribeyes and chicken breasts
Roasted new potatoes with garlic, rosemary and olive oil
Cauliflower Au Gratin (recipe follows)
Bill's Angel eggs (recipe follows)
Homemade pimento cheese stuffed celery sticks

Here is the recipe I used for the Cauliflower, but I'm not going to use the flour roux next time. I will just heat the milk and add a spoon full of corn starch stirred in a bit of cold milk and added to thicken the milk. I like to thicken with corn starch better than flour. I think some bleu cheese crumbles on top would be good too.

Cauliflower Gratin
1 head cauliflower cut into large florets
5 tablespoons butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 c grated Swiss or other white cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 of a small onion or 1/4 of a large onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

Blanch cauliflower florets in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes and then drain and set aside.

While the cauliflower is cooking melt three tablespoons of butter on low heat. Remove two tablespoons of the melted butter to reserve for your topping. Then stir in flour to the remaining butter in the pan and continue cooking on low heat for 1-2 minutes to get the flour taste out of the roux.

Add milk and gradually increase the heat stirring constantly and continue cooking until the white sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Stir in pepper and nutmeg. (Do not add salt. There is enough salt in the Parmesan cheese for the entire recipe).

Remove from heat and slowly add about ¾ c of the Swiss cheese and about ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese a little at a time making sure the cheese is all melted before going on to the next step.

Pour half of the white sauce into the bottom of either a 9X9 baking dish or a 8X13 depending on how many florets you have. Place the cauliflower florets on top of the sauce and sprinkle the onions on top. Pour the remaining half of the sauce on top of the cauliflower.

Top with the remaining Swiss cheese, the bread crumbs, and the remaining Parmesan cheese, in that order. Drizzle the top with the butter you had set aside.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the top is nicely browned.

Bill's Angel eggs
This is one of those "no measure" recipes but it's a great flavor combo.

Boiled eggs-yolks removed to a mixing bowl
about 5 slices bacon fried and crumbled
shredded pepper jack cheese
chopped jalapenos
mayo
green onion sliced fine
mix all, stuff egg whites, sprinkle with more shredded pepper jack

Ranch Potatoes

This is an easy one and one of my favorites. I first had these at a funeral. I am pretty good at identifying ingredients, but thought it was sour cream. Come to find out it was bottled ranch.
Dice and boil several potatoes. Drain and put in a casserole dish in a single layer while they are still hot. Drizzle ranch dressing over them generously. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, bacon bits and green onions or chives. Cover for a few minutes to melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

Mexican Rice

This is SO easy and very good. Browning the rice first gives it a nice texture and nutty flavor. I added diced chicken one night to make a whole meal.

Brown 1 cup raw rice in 3 T oil until golden brown
Add ½ cup onions and ½ cup bell pepper-green, and/or red, 1 clove garlic minced
Add ½ can diced tomatoes and ½ the juice or 1 whole fresh tomato diced
Sauté until onions are clear-stirring to keep rice from burning
add 1 can chicken broth, salt and pepper and a dab of chili powder
cover and simmer until rice is done and liquid absorbed—about 20 min