Coral Broccoli Gratin with Chipotle Gouda cheese

As I promised here is the recipe for Coral Broccoli .

I don't have to go too far to find a decent way to cook my favorite veggies n stuff. Cheese is the number one ingredient on my list of ingredients to pair with something else.
Well I am trying to avoid it as I have seriously gained 30 pounds in 10 years of my living in US. Though my hubby refers to it as slightly overweight!!!!! He is truly in love hahahah!!
Yes I am sooooooooooooo in love with cheese. I love all kinds of cheese that isn't made with animal rennet.


All cheeses made with vegetarian rennet and culture is fine with me.

If someone would ask me to write a meme this would be the first random fact. And if someone would ask me about; if I were on deathbed, what would be my final meal, and I would say a block of cheese sounds perfect !!!!! I know some of you must be raising your eyebrows, but that is how I am. I am not sure from whom I inherited this trait, as my mom is kind of okay with cheese, and my Dad loves it but in a decent way, not going bananas like me.

So here is the dish with Chipotle Gouda cheese, it's a cheese that is mixed with smoked Jalapenos called Chipotle and hence the Chipotle Gouda cheese.

But the good thing about Gratin is that you can use any cheese from semi-firm to semi-soft and you can pair almost any vegetable.

Ingredients for Gratin vary from region to region. Like french gratin has creme fraiche and Gruyere, Emmental or Comte cheeses, where as English Gratin has single cream and cheddar cheese. Nowadays you can find all sorts of Gratins with flavored cheeses like pepper flavored,

smoked flavored, with bacon, salami etc.

To the recipe: (you can look at the pictures to follow the recipe)

One head of Coral Broccoli, about 2-3 pounds, trimmed and separated into florets

1 medium potato parboiled (optional)

Freshly grated nutmeg about 1/4 tsp

2/3 cup freshly grated Chipotle Gouda

2 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp flour

1- 1/3 cup milk

salt to taste

freshly ground pepper

1 to 2 tbsp bread crumbs

Prepare the béchamel (white sauce). Have the butter, flour, and milk measured and ready. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to sizzle, add the flour all at once and stir it into the butter with a wooden spoon Cook for 3 minutes without coloring, stirring continually until the mixture turns creamy. Pour in the milk and whisk it into the flour , making sure you don’t leave any clumps on the bottom and sides of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes, stirring with the wooden spoon or the whisk as the mixture thickens.

Set aside to cool for a few minutes.Season the béchamel with salt, pepper, and a whisper of nutmeg.

Sprinkle the Coral Broccoli with salt and steam for 15 minutes, until soft.

Preheat oven to 180°C 350°F. Now slice the parboil potato thinly and layer it in the greased gratin dish.

Transfer the Coral Broccoli in a medium gratin dish. At this point, you can add strips of brine-cured ham or leftover chicken, if you have some lying around in the fridge. I didn't as I am a vegetarian.

Pour the béchamel evenly over the Coral Broccoli, top with the Chipotle Gouda cheese, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and pop into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until heated through and well gratinéed at the top; you can switch to the broiler setting for the 5 final minutes. Let rest for five minutes and serve.

Warning!

Any effort on making or reproducing this recipe can cause a serious blogging disorder!

Enjoy folks!!