The recipe
Bake a head of smoked garlic, wrapped in kitchen foil, for 40 minutes at 200C/gas mark 6 until soft and fragrant. Break a medium-sized (500g) cauliflower into large florets, discarding the tougher stalks.
Put 500ml of milk into a saucepan over a moderate heat. Break the head of garlic into cloves and squeeze the soft dark flesh from each one into the milk. When the milk is hot, but before it boils, remove from the heat and leave it to infuse with the garlic.
Put a pan of water on to boil over which to steam the cauliflower. (You could boil it if you prefer.) Make a roux by melting 30g of butter in a pan then stirring in 30g of plain flour and cooking for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring constantly then slowly adding the milk. Season with salt and pepper. Add 200g of mature cheddar and leave over a very low heat to simmer, stirring from time to time.
Steam the cauliflower for 6 minutes until tender, then transfer to a baking dish. Stir a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley into the sauce then pour over the cauliflower and bake at 200C/gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. Serves 2.
The trick
Much depends on how you like your cauliflower – with crunch, or soft enough to eat with a spoon. I like mine crisp except when it is covered in cheese sauce, when I like it verging on the overcooked. This is comfort food after all.
The twist
You could happily tuck snippets of bacon, cooked until crisp, among the cauliflower. Roasted garlic, available ready cooked if you prefer, is an alternative to the smoked variety.
