Baked Broccoli and Cheese

I had bought a beautiful head of broccoli and after I bought it I began to wonder how I should fix it. Since the guys in the house aren’t too much for vegetables, I try to find recipes that jazz up the flavor of the veggie that I am cooking.

Everyone likes cheese in our house and since it goes well with broccoli I set up to find a recipe that included some cheese in the mix. I found a recipe that you bake the broccoli and cheese along with a few other ingredients. I was sure that they would love this one. Well I did manage to get a thumbs up from one of them, Mike said that he enjoyed this dish.

For me I thought it was awful tasty. There are two kinds of cheese, onion, garlic, bread crumbs; now tell me what is not to love?

Baked Broccoli and Cheese (Source: adapted from family.go.com)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 chopped onion
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large head of broccoli
1 slice white bread
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly whisk in milk, a drizzle at first, until the flour mixture is no longer clumping and becomes smooth. Whisk in the rest of the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add bay leaf, onion, salt, and pepper to taste. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, fill a large saucepan with water to about half way. Bring to a boil and add a generous amount of salt (or to taste). Add broccoli to the pot and boil for 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Mix cheese into the white sauce and stir until melted. Add cream and remove the bay leaf. Gently stir in broccoli and pour into a greased 8 x 8 baking dish.
3. In the bowl of a mini food processor (or blender), pulse garlic until finely chopped. Tear slice of bread into medium sized pieces and add to bowl, pulsing to make fine bread crumbs. Add parmesan cheese and pulse a few more times to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over mixture and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until topping is brown and cheese sauce is bubbling. Serve immediately.