Baked Onions

We've only done and gone it. We moved to our new home and are now living the dream. We left Vancouver December 22nd and arrived in Quesnel December 23rd. The journey was long yet exciting.

Our new home was freshly painted and waiting for our arrival. We drove up the drive and ran through the door like two hyperactive teenagers. The U-Haul was quickly unpacked. The Christmas tree was the first thing to go up followed by the bed and the positioning of the sofas. We finished the evening off with white zinfandel and a plateful of bacon sandwiches.

The following two days were spent organizing and turning our house into a home. My kitchen was perfect, there was more room than I had ever been used too and I was finding it hard as to how to organize it (so many cupboards). It soon became easier and my domain was set for the forthcoming Christmas dinner. We had planned to have a good Christmas dinner as we wanted to celebrate our moving in with a bang. We didn't go for the usual turkey as we had had a traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas eve round at our new friends house. We settled for Roast beef with all the trimmimgs.

Merry Christmas everyone. May 2011 be a fantastic year for us all

I had had my eye on a recipe by Nigel Slater... Baked Onions. I thought this would go perfectly with the medium rare roast. And it sure did. I was slightly put of by the fact that you have to boil the onions first. I thought the smell would be horrendous but to be honest they gave of very little aroma. After preparing them, in they went into the oven with a good splash of cream and a twist of salt and pepper and out came this dreamy silky vegetable....Yum.

Our Christmas dinner I have to say was one of the best I have ever cooked. It was a perfect meal to celebrate our moving in.

Baked Onions (Makes 2 portions)

2 Onions skinned

Cream

Salt & Pepper

Freshly Grated Parmesan (Optional)

Boil the onions until tender Then remove from pan and allow to cool slightly. Cut the onions in half from root to tip. Place in an oven proof dish flat side down. Pour over cream until well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over Parmesan and bake for 25-30 mins in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees until golden and bubbly.

Cauliflower cheese (known as brain!!)

Before I share my  cauliflower cheese recipe with you, I must let you know how the book is going.  I had become a little de-motivated with it, but now that motivation is back. I am lacking on photos predominantly  for the salad chapter so I am making it my mission to make a least two of the salads per week, so that they can get processed and entered into the book. I will then move onto the remaining meal photos. Bring it on!!!

Now for my cauliflower cheese blurb...I think I have said before that I am not keen on Cauliflower... well I take it back. I love it, especially brain style (No I'm not turning into Hannibal Lecter). It's a steamed head of cauliflower smothered in a mustard sauce and topped with melted cheese. Mmm mmm. A friend introduced me to brain (a name her boyfriend gave to it) last week and I have been keen to give it a go myself. The cauliflower was sweet and tasty and worked so well with the mustard. It knocked socks off any previous forms of Cauliflower cheese that I have had and it is so simple  to make which of course, I love.

Cauliflower Cheese (Brain)

1 head of Cauliflower

2 Tbs Dijon Mustard

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

S&P

1 to 11/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

You will also need a microwaveable bowl that can hold the whole head of the cauliflower.

To prepare the cauliflower peal off all the green leaves and trim the stalk so the cauliflower will sit level in the microwaveable bowl. Place in the bowl with a 1/3 cup of water and cover with clingfilm. Place this in the microwave and cook on a high heat for approx 12 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Be careful when you remove the clingfilm as the steam can really burn. Open it away from you pealing from the back forward.

Meanwhile mix the mustard, sour cream and mayonnaise together and add salt and pepper to taste. Leaving the cauliflower in the bowl drain off any excess water and then pour the mustard mixture over the cauliflower coating all the head and then sprinkle the cheese over top before putting it under the grill to melt the cheese. Once melted cut the cauliflower into pieces and serve.