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Cauliflower steak with Black Bomber cheddar, bacon and pickled walnuts
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The classic flavours of cauliflower cheese are ramped up to eleven in this beautiful dish from George Farrugia. Thick cauliflower steaks are served with an intense caramelised onion and pickled walnut purée, crispy bacon lardons and a mustardy cheddar sauce.
George uses an espuma gun to aerate the cheese sauce into a foam in this dish, but you can easily serve the sauce as is if you don't have one to hand. Simply omit the bacon to make this dish vegetarian.
First published in 2020
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Ingredients
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Imperial
Cauliflower
- 1 large cauliflower
- sea salt
- olive oil
Pickled walnut purée
- 350g of onion, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 30g of smoked bacon lardons
- 100g of UHT whipping cream
- 1 knob of butter
- olive oil
- 3 sprigs of lemon thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pickled walnut, chopped
- 1 dash of sherry vinegar
- sea salt
Cheese sauce
- 80g of unsalted butter
- 40g of plain flour
- 568ml of whole milk, (1 pint)
- 200g of mature cheddar, grated (George uses Black Bomber)
- 70g of créme fraiche
- 20g of Dijon mustard
- 10g of English mustard
- 1 pinch of ground white pepper
- fine salt, to taste
To serve
- 1 tbsp of black mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
- salt
- mustard cress
- Espelette pepper
- bacon lardons, or pancetta
- 1 pickled walnut, diced
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Blender
- Squeezy bottle
- Espuma gun
Method
1
Begin by making the purée. Caramelise the smoked bacon in a small saucepan until crisp, then strain off a little of the rendered fat. Add the UHT cream, bring to a simmer, then set aside to infuse
- 30g of smoked bacon lardons
- 100g of UHT whipping cream
2
Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil and the butter in a frying pan over a low heat. Add the onions, season well, then stir to ensure everything is coated in fat. Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes until the onions have completely collapsed and most of the water has evaporated
3
Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaf to the onions and cook until everything is golden. Drain off most of the fat, deglaze the pan with a splash of sherry vinegar, then add the pickled walnut and bacon-infused cream. Mix well, blitz until smooth, then taste for seasoning and set aside to reheat later
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 3 sprigs of lemon thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 dash of sherry vinegar
- 1 pickled walnut, chopped
4
For the cheese sauce, make a bechamel – melt the butter in a saucepan and, once foaming, whisk in the flour and cook out for a few more minutes. Season with the salt and pepper, then gradually whisk in the whole milk, ensuring there are no lumps. Bring to a simmer and thicken the sauce slightly, then add the grated cheddar and whisk until melted
- 80g of unsalted butter
- 40g of plain flour
- fine salt, to taste
- 1 pinch of ground white pepper
- 568ml of whole milk, (1 pint)
- 200g of mature cheddar, grated (George uses Black Bomber)
5
Add the mustards and crème fraiche, then whisk or blitz with a stick blender until completely smooth (you may need a little extra milk if it feels too thick). Taste for seasoning, then pass through a fine sieve. At this point, you can either keep things simple by serving this as a sauce, or if you have one, place the sauce into an espuma gun and charge with 2 gas canisters. Either way, keep the sauce warm until ready to serve
- 20g of Dijon mustard
- 10g of English mustard
- 70g of créme fraiche
6
Cut the cauliflower into 4 large steaks – around 2 inches thick – and season well. Steam the cauliflower steaks either in a vacuum bag or large steamer until tender (around 20 minutes). Once tender, fry the steaks in the olive oil on both sides until golden brown
- 1 large cauliflower
- sea salt
- olive oil
7
When ready to serve, fry the bacon lardons or pancetta until crispy, then keep warm. Gently reheat the purée and cheese sauce if needed, and fry the black mustard seeds in the vegetable oil until they pop and lightly season
- bacon lardons, or pancetta
- 1 tbsp of black mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
- salt
8
To serve, place a cauliflower steak on each plate. Pipe dots of the purée around it, along with the cheese sauce (or foam, if using an espuma gun). Garnish with the black mustard seeds, mustard cress, fried bacon and diced pickled walnut, then sprinkle with espelette pepper
First published in 2020
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