Christmas (and Thanksgiving, but we don’t celebrate that here) is right around the corner.

I’m still surprised how fast these Christmases come and go and how much changes over a year. Seems that the older I get, the more changes. Or maybe that’s just me?

When I saw a basic recipe for cauliflower and potato mash in a supermarket magazine, I wondered what it would be like to mix that recipe with my mom’s mashed cheese potatoes. No dramatic changes or anything. I simply reduced the amount of cheese, added cauliflower and some coarse mustard.

It became the perfect side dish for us. Even Leonardo da Vinci said: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication“. He was right.

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes
1 medium head cauliflower
3 oz cheese (I used aged Gouda)
2 tbsp grainy mustard
1 oz butter
2/3 cup milk
salt and pepper

 
Directions:

Cut the cauliflower in small florets. Peel and rinse the potatoes.

Cut the cheese in small cubes and add it to the milk and set it aside.

Add salt to the potatoes and boil them for 15 minutes (depending on the size). Add the cauliflower, bring them back to a boil and give them another 8 to 10 minutes.

As soon as you add the cauliflower you put the milk on the stove. Add the butter to it and warm it over really low heat, until the cheese melts. Do not let it boil.

 
This way the cheese will release its fat and flavor the milk so you’ll get a more prominent cheese flavor than you would by just adding cheese to the mash.
 

As soon as the cauliflower and potatoes are done, drain the vegetables.

Pour the cheese milk in there, add the grainy mustard and mash it up. Add a little more milk if you think it needs it.

 
Season with salt, pepper and optionally a pinch of nutmeg. The nutmeg is really a Dutch thing.
 

Simple really is what works best.