Cheesy Creamy Cauliflower Bake

Ok, this one is pretty easy, and it takes just about exactly the same amount of time as fried chicken to cook, so they go well together.

I took a recipe out of a Jamie Oliver cookbook and modified it *just a tad* -- like, i left out the anchovies, because they're gross, I left out the bacon because I was serving this as a side dish with chicken, and I didn't make my own bread crumbs because I already had some in the cupboard. I also used dried rosemary instead of fresh, because it's what I had, and added some other spices. ;)

Between half and two-thirds of a head of cauliflower
2 cups heavy cream (one of those itty-bitty cardboard cartons -- a pint, maybe?)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
rosemary
Nature's Seasoning
some kind of garlic blend (mine is McCormick and it's Roasted Garlic and Herb)
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ok, here's how I did this tonight. Later I will tell you what I might do different next time. Put a large pot of water on to boil, and rip up your cauliflower. It's up to you how small you want it, but I would use both the florets and the stalk. Keep in mind that the smaller the pieces are, the faster they cook, so if you make them small you may end up with pretty mushy cauliflower.

Boil your cauliflower with a pinch of sea salt (or kosher salt -- that's what I had!) for just a couple minutes -- Jamie says 5 minutes, but he's also doing a whole head. I boiled mine for 3-ish. While it's boiling, pour your cream into a large Pyrex measuring cup (or just measure the two cups of cream into a bowl). Add 1 cup of the cheese and your seasonings, and stir.

Once your cauliflower is done, drain in a colander and place in a casserole dish. Pour your cheesy cream over it and mix it up. Sprinkle the other cup of cheese over it, and top the whole shebang with a dusting (or more, if you like) of breadcrumbs.

Bake this for about 45 minutes. Like I said, I put this in the oven, and immediately dropped my fried chicken in the pan, and they were done at the same time. I love it when that happens!

As far as what I might do different -- I like my veggies pretty crisp most of the time, and this turned out pretty soft. Next time I think I'll omit the boiling of the cauliflower first, cause I'm pretty sure that it will cook enough in the oven. But I gave you the way that I did it tonight, because I KNOW that it's tasty this way!

Thank you, Jamie Oliver, for giving me the bones of this recipe -- I hope I didn't change it too much!

Stay tuned -- I have a fabulous pasta dish to share with you soon, also courtesy of Jamie Oliver's cookbook (which I got for Christmas, if you couldn't tell)! The pasta dish I did NOT modify. I'll post it soon.