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| Cauliflower Bacon Gratin |
New Year’s Eve is an organized bacchanalia, complete with
fireworks. It is the punctuation mark to
the end of the old year and an exclamation point to the start of the new
year. So I was expecting the final French Friday with Dorie challenge for
2011 to be a big, bold, colorful and exciting challenge. Instead we got a delightful, simple to
prepare dish that serves well as an accompaniment to a variety of more
flamboyant dishes.
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| Preparing Bacon - I like to use a little olive oil when browning my bacon |
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| Cauliflower taking a little bath |
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| Cauliflower placed in a buttered dish for baking and topped with the browned bacon |
Cauliflower Bacon Gratin is a variation of the classic
potato gratin, only the inclusion of egg results in a custardy quiche texture
and taste. Substituting cauliflower for
potatoes makes it seem like this dish should be part of the Weight Watchers
program. In fact, I felt like the Paula
Dean of Palm Springs since it is actually rich in all things that go straight
to the hips: cream, cheese and bacon. The result is a flavorful, creamy starch
substitute in which the cauliflower taste is nicely moderated by the baking process
and other ingredients. This is a dish I
would make again, although I will try my sous chef’s suggestion of mixing
cauliflower and broccoli to give more color and flavor to the dish.
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| Pouring the cream and egg mixture over cauliflower and bacon |
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| This is the exact moment I felt like the Paula Dean of Palm Springs - just look at all that cream and cheese |
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| Voila! Oh, and isn't the casserole beautiful - it's from my favorite bakery Clementines in Palm Desert |
And speaking of dishes, I used a round casserole dish
whereas Dorie used a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Since my casserole dish was deeper, it took almost 45 minutes to
complete the cooking process. So just
remember to adjust the cooking time if you are using a baking dish that is
deeper than the one Dorie uses.
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| Cauliflower Bacon Gratin with Rainbow Swiss Chard and Fennel Spice Rubbed Chicken |
This recipe is on Dorie’s website, and if you would like to
try it yourself the link is below.
To read other French
Friday with Dorie experiences with Cauliflower Gratin, or to join the
group:
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, safe and culinary New
Year!
The Paula Deen of Palm Springs, huh? Too funny.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
That's a beautiful baking dish. I think the broccoli would add some nice color. Mine looked rather blah, especially because I served it as the main dish on white plates. I've enjoyed cooking with your this year. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteYour dish looks like it turned out pretty fantastic. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteLOVE that round dish - beautiful and yummy looking results. Funny because I only realized how sinful this dish was when I started leaving blog comments and a few people spoke of how many calories might be involved in this adventure. Given the recent creme brulee marathon between Nana and myself, not to mention all the other holiday goodies...this almost struck me as health food. Phew. Time for a resolution :) Happy New Year from Nana and I !
ReplyDeleteHahaha you are so funny....an ounce on the lips forever on the hips...truly makes me smell....this gratin is rich :) but I love every ounce of it !!! Will burn out the calories later :) Happy New Year to you and I look forward to your posts in the year 2012 :)
ReplyDeleteI love your writing style! I also cook my bacon in a little olive oil too.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
This looks sooooo good! Thanks for the shout-out to Clementine's!
ReplyDeleteYou made me feel guilty about eating the gratin :-) I'm trying not to think about calories until next year. Your gratin looks great. It's perfectly browned and I love the casserole dish!
ReplyDeleteAll it was missing was butter:) Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteLola is right--dotted with a little butter, now that would have been Paula Deen! Thanks, Lola--now I feel better about eating this.
ReplyDeleteLovely blog and beautiful bakeware! Yummy.
ReplyDeleteHey hey hey Paula! lol. Great job! I just couldn't get this one done with the pre holiday melee going on but its slated for New Year's day brunch...seems like it would be perfect with a nice glass of champagne, no?
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed, too...I like the idea of adding broccoli, and if I make this again, I may roast the veggies instead of steaming/boiling.
ReplyDeleteHere's to many more weeks of cooking along with you on French Fridays! Happy New Year, Christy!
Very cute post! I love your round baker and the gratin looks beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!
ReplyDeleteVery nicely done! I agree - I would have thought something bigger & bolder, too! But we enjoyed this recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comments about my new blog design - I'm thrilled with it.
Looking forward to more Dorista adventures with you as well!
Happy New Year!
Lovely gratin in your round casserole, cozy Comfort food - Paula Dean probably would have added more cream and of course lots of butter!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed checking out your other posts, so many tempting recipes here.
Look forward to following you in the New Year;-)
Wow, I wandered through the Panna Cotta before I got to the Gratin. What a beautiful Post with the Blood Orange COnfit. Loved your Gratin, too, by the way. Happy New Year. More cooking together in 2012.
ReplyDeleteI'm so coveting your casserole dish, that is just beautiful! It would make any dish look photogenic. we enjoyed this one as well, but will be making it only for special occasions (a bit too much cream for everyday fare).
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Looks delicious and I love the dish you used!
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to you. Great tip, on extending the cooking time with a deeper dish. Your gratin looks great.
ReplyDeleteHaha! I made this one this week too! Love your dish!
ReplyDeleteoops ... i was looking at the wrong LYL day!
ReplyDelete