Cauliflower mac & cheese with guinea fowl in a sticky lemon sauce

Posted by petra08 on April 12, 2016 · 9 Comments 

Spring came with beautiful sunshine. I even managed to sunbathe in the garden without being totally wrapped up, all for one glorious day. Sadly since it has become a bit colder again and I was instantly craving comfort food.

 

This weekend locally grown cauliflowers were on sale in the shops and I bought one. For some reason I didn’t end up using it and thought it would be perfect with mac&cheese, one of my ultimate comfort foods.

I had a lot of cheese in the fridge, all little bits so I thought I would mix them all up and use them.

 

Cubed mix of cheeses 

 

Cauliflower mac&cheese

preparation time 5 minutes 

cooking time 9 minutes for the macaroni + 25 minutes in the oven 

oven 180C or 356F 

serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 handful of macaroni
• 1 small head of cauliflower
• 10 gr or 0.35 oz of butter
• 4 tbsp butter
• 5 dl or 2 1/2 cups of skimmed milk
• 2 dl or 1 cup of cubed cheese
• grated nutmeg
• 1 chicken cube stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Garnish

• grated manchego (or any that you prefer) cheese
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• cracked black pepper

Cut up the cauliflower in to florets and cut the biggest ones in half. Cook the macaroni and add the cauliflower with 3 minutes remaining.

Drain and place in an oven proof dish.

 

Start the bechamel sauce by melting the butter in a pan. Add the flour and let it cook out a couple of minutes. Add the milk, a little at the time and the chicken cube. Stir the whole time to avoid lumps.

Bring the bechamel to a boil and add grated nutmeg and taste with salt and pepper. Be a bit on the shy side with the salt as the cheese will add some. When you are happy with the flavour take the sauce off the heat and stir in the cubed cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and pour the sauce over the macaroni and the cauliflower.

I had a small piece of manchego that I grated over the top together with cracked black pepper and chili flakes.

 

 

Bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden.

 

 

It smelt so good I had to have a taste even if it was so hot I knew it was going to be borderline possible to eat!

 

 

Whilst the bake was in the oven I had a guinea fowl to go with it. I cooked it with a sticky lemon sauce, see recipe here. Below is a slightly amended version.

 

Guinea fowl with a sticky lemon sauce 

preparation time 15 minutes 

cooking time 30 minutes 

serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 guinea fowl, cut in to 8 pieces
• salt and pepper
• vegetable oil for frying
• about 1/2 dl or 1/4 cup shaoxing rice wine
• 4 big garlic cloves, roughtly chopped
• 1 sliced chilli
• 3 good sized sprigs of thyme
• 4 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 thinly sliced lemons, use unwaxed and organic of you can
• 1 thinly sliced orange, use unwaxed and organic of you can
• 1/2 dl water
• salt and pepper to taste if needed

Salt and pepper the chicken all around and panfry until nice and browned. Do this in batches to make sure it is evenly cooked. When the chicken is browned add the garlic, flesh side down and add the rosemary. Let the oil infuse for a minute or two and then add the chicken back. Add the shaoxing rice wine and put the lid on and let cook for 10 minutes.

Add the honey, the soy sauce and the sliced lemon. Let cook for another 10 minutes or until the sauce is starting to thicken and become sticky. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary before serving.

 

Guinea fowl with sticky lemon sauce

 

The cheesy bake with the guinea fowl hit my comfort food spot. I thought there would be enough for lunch the following day but it turned out this wasn’t the case. Two happy dogs got some left over guinea fowl with their dinner and there was not a scrap of food left in either bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Filed under Allotment/Veg, Blue cheese, Camembert, Cauliflower, Cheddar, Cheese, Chilli, Endive, Garlic, Lemon, Main course, Manchego, Meat, Orange, Pasta, Recipe, Side dish, Uncategorized · Tagged with cauliflower mac&cheese, guinea fowl, Mac&Cheese, sticky lemon and honey sauce