Baked Broccoli and Cheese

My Husband bought some broccoli heads just few days ago, but I total forgot about that and bought few more today. Seven broccoli heads in the fridge...what to do? That's when I decided to make this quick casserole for dinner tonight.


Her is the Baked Broccoli and Cheese from my kitchen:

Ingredients
3 broccoli heads
1 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup of cream (or 3/4 cup cream + 3/4 cup chicken broth for a lighter version)
3 strips of bacon
2 tbs. of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. of fried garlic or fresh minced garlic
1 tsp. of all purpose flour
salt

How

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size and thinly slice the stalks. Wash and drain.
   
3. Thinly slice the bacon.
   
4. Add flour into the shredded cheddar cheese and mix well.
   
5. Fill up a pot with about 1" of water. Add 1 tsp. of salt and bring the water to a boil. Add broccoli. When the water boils again, turn the heat down to medium and cook the broccoli for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove the broccoli and rinse it with cold water. Drain and set aside.
   
6. Heat up a pot and cook the bacon on medium heat. Stir occasionally and cook for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir for another minute.
   
   
   
7. Add cream and use the spatula to scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir until the cream is heated up but not boiling.
   
8. Add cheese and quickly mix the cheese into the cream using a whisk. Keep whisking and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
   
9. If you substitute half of the cream with chicken broth, whisk it into the cheese mixture now and heat it up.
10. Add broccoli, mix well then turn off the heat.
    
11. Transfer the mixture into a 9"x9" baking pan. Spread the mixture evenly and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top.
    
12. Bake in the oven uncovered until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbling, about 15 -20 minutes.
13. Serve hot with pasta or baked potatoes.
    

Note:

• I like the broccoli to be super soft so I boiled it for 5 minutes. Reduce the broccoli cooking time if you want them crunchy.
• Mixing flour into the cheese makes it easier to melt into the cream without turning into lumps.
• Using cream is a must. Any other liquid with lesser fat content will not be able to mix well with the cheese. If uding broth, only add it after the cheese is well combined with the cream.