Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Chou-fleur au Gratin
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2110, Chou-fleur au Gratin, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Chou-fleur au gratin proves that moisture, not complexity, decides a gratin: dry the cauliflower in butter, cloak it in Mornay, then give cheese and raspings fierce heat.
Side Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Holiday
20 min
Active Time
35 min cook•55 min total
Yield4 servings
Chou-fleur au gratin (cauliflower under a browned cheese crust) teaches the governing rule of every vegetable gratin: the vegetable must be dry before the sauce touches it. Wet cauliflower loosens Mornay beneath the crust, leaving a puddle where there should be a rich sauce clinging to every floret.
The original kitchen assumed a saucier with Mornay already warm, brigade-sized dishes, and a salamander fierce enough to form the gratin at once. Your kitchen needs neither a stock kept hot nor another pair of hands. A prepared Mornay sauce, a wide skillet, a shallow gratin dish, and the broiler give the same result for four people. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The separate stations and oversized portions were scaffolding, so they go. Drying the cauliflower in butter, moulding it into a dome, covering it completely, and finishing it with cheese, raspings, and melted butter are the dish, so they stay. Drain patiently, blot thoroughly, then keep the cauliflower moving in butter until the pan holds no loose water. That is the step that decides everything.
Chou-fleur au gratin belongs to French cuisine bourgeoise, especially the Parisian family table, where cooked vegetables were enriched with a finished sauce and returned to fierce heat as a substantial accompaniment. Grand kitchens codified that household practice through Mornay sauce and the family of operations collected as Gratins (No. 268). Au gratin names the crust-forming finish, not merely the presence of cheese, and the bread raspings give that buttered crust its crisp edge.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cauliflower
Quantity
1 medium head (about 2 lb / 900 g)
trimmed into large florets
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g)
for the cooking water
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
for drying the cauliflower
prepared Mornay sauce
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 500 g)
warmed gently
Gruyère
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 50 g)
finely grated
fine dry white-bread raspings
Quantity
1/3 cup (80 ml / 25 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
melted
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cauliflowertrimmed into large florets | 1 medium head (about 2 lb / 900 g) |
| fine sea saltfor the cooking water | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) |
| unsalted butterfor drying the cauliflower | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| prepared Mornay saucewarmed gently | 2 cups (475 ml / 500 g) |
| Gruyèrefinely grated | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 50 g) |
| fine dry white-bread raspings | 1/3 cup (80 ml / 25 g) |
| unsalted buttermelted | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot and colander
- •12-inch (30 cm) wide skillet
- •6-cup (1.4 litre) bowl for moulding
- •1.5-quart (1.4 litre) shallow broiler-safe gratin dish
Instructions
- 1
Cook and drain
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it with the salt. Add the cauliflower and cook at a steady simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until a thin knife enters the thick stems with slight resistance; the florets must be tender enough to eat but firm enough to survive moulding. Drain them crown-side down in a colander for 10 minutes, then spread them over a clean towel and blot every surface. Do not rinse them. Water carried into the pan is water that will later loosen the sauce.
Keep the florets large and their stems attached. Small pieces overcook, crumble in the skillet, and lose the proud moulded shape of the original dish. - 2
Dry in butter
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the cauliflower in one layer and turn it gently for 4 to 6 minutes, until the florets glisten with butter and no liquid remains on the pan floor. You are drying the cauliflower, not browning it, so lower the heat if the crowns begin to colour. If a puddle gathers, do not carry it into the gratin. Ça se rattrape: lift out the florets, let the liquid boil away, then return them to the butter for another minute.
- 3
Mould the cauliflower
Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the upper third. Spread 1/2 cup (120 ml / 125 g) of the warm Mornay sauce over the bottom of a shallow broiler-safe gratin dish. Arrange the cauliflower crown-side down in a 6-cup bowl, fitting the pieces together into a compact dome. Spoon 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 48 g) of Mornay into the spaces and press very gently to settle the florets without crushing them. Invert the bowl onto the sauced dish and lift it away. If a floret clings to the bowl, simply tuck it back into the dome.
- 4
Coat and crown
Pour the remaining Mornay sauce over the cauliflower, working it down the sides until the dome is completely covered. The sauce should cling in an even coat. If it slides straight to the dish, pause before topping: return it to a saucepan and simmer gently until it naps the back of a spoon, then coat the cauliflower again. Mix the Gruyère with the bread raspings, scatter the mixture evenly over the sauce, and bedew the whole surface with the melted butter.
- 5
Form the gratin
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the Mornay bubbles thickly around the rim. Move the dish beneath a hot broiler for 1 to 3 minutes to complete the rapid finish described in Gratins (No. 268). Watch without wandering: the top should turn butter-gold with patches of hazelnut bronze, not black. If it colours unevenly, rotate the dish rather than leaving the pale side under prolonged heat. Rest for 5 minutes so the sauce settles around the florets, then serve directly from the gratin dish. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a compact cauliflower with tight ivory florets and firm leaves. Size matters less than freshness, but keep the cut florets large and even so they finish cooking together and hold the mould.
- •Mornay must be warm and thick enough to coat a spoon before assembly. A cold sauce tears the florets as you spread it, while a thin one runs beneath them and weakens the crust.
- •Raspings are fine dry crumbs rubbed or grated from plain white bread. Their small, even texture mixes with the cheese and drinks in the melted butter; large coarse crumbs make a patchy top.
- •Serve beside roast chicken, baked ham, or a simply cooked pork loin. A dry white Burgundy has enough freshness for the Mornay and enough body for the browned cheese.
Advance Preparation
- •The cauliflower can be boiled, drained, and butter-dried up to 4 hours ahead. Cool it uncovered, then refrigerate it covered; bring it back toward room temperature before moulding.
- •The Mornay sauce can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated with parchment pressed against its surface. Rewarm it over low heat, stirring gently, and do not let it boil.
- •For the crispest crust, assemble no more than 2 hours before baking. A longer wait gives the cauliflower time to release moisture into the sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 325g)
Calories
445 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
20 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
15 g
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