recipes: cauliflower goat cheese gratin (T-Day 1 of 3)

original recipe from: New York Times

changes: none to the ingredients, but prepped it the night before and left it in the fridge up until 1 hour before baking

result: flavor was really good and i love the idea of the this dish, but there was a lot of extra liquid in the dish after it was baked -- maybe this was a result of prepping it the day before, maybe there was too much moisture left in the cauliflower before i prepped it, i don't know. i'd try this again but will cut back on the milk and really drain the cauli before assembling it to see if that fixes the issue

picture from New York Times

ingredients: 
- 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 6 oz goat cheese
- 1 large garlic clove
- 5 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 




to make: 
preheat oven to 450 F degrees. oil a 2-quart gratin dish with olive oil.

place the cauliflower in a steaming basket above 1 inch of boiling water. cover and steam 1 minute, lift lid to allow steam to escape for 15 seconds, then cover again and steam for 6-8 minutes, until cauliflower is tender. remove from heat and rinse with cold water. drain on paper towels before transferring to the gratin dish. 

season the cauliflower generously with salt and pepper, then toss in the olive oil and half of the thyme. spread in the dish in an even layer. 

place the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a 1/4 tsp salt, and mash to a paste. combine the goat cheese and milk in a food processor, and blend until smooth. add the remaining thyme and pepper to taste, and pulse together. spread this mixture over the cauliflower in an even layer.

sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the dish, and bake 15-20 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the dish is sizzling.