Cauliflower soup

My version of cauliflower soup. It adapts well to other vegetables, e.g. broccoli or fennel, or even celery. This is a very thick, very flavourful soup. And easy to make...

Ingredients:

• 1 cauliflower (1 - 1.2 kg) roughly chopped (stem, green leaves, and all, if they're on)
• 100g butter
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 4 tbsp. brandy (or ouzo)
• 1.5 litres chicken stock (just use clear instant soup...)
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• black pepper
• Yoghurt, to serve (1 tbsp. per serving)

Method:

Saute the chopped cauliflower in the butter until nicely browned, soft, and crumbling at the floret tips. (You can do this in the pot you'll be cooking in later, and don't worry about size: if all the cauliflower fits now, it will reduce enough to accomodate the extra liquid later.) It should take around 15 minutes. In the process, add the nutmeg and a very generous grinding of pepper.

Add the wine, and simmer gently until it all absorbs and evaporates. That's another 15 minutes or so.

Transfer to the food processor, add a cup of water, and process until no lumps remain. Pour the stock in the pot (or just make the soup there, if you're using instant soup -- which you should!), return the ground cauliflower, and bring to a simmer.

Simmer another 15-20 minutes, until the soup achieves a soft and uniform consistency. You can add water now to thin the soup, but the heavy creaminess is part of the appeal. Stir in the brandy.

Serve with yoghurt. Just before serving, stir in a heaped tbsp. for each bowl.

(Gobhi Soup)

Cauliflower are not usually associated with soup. As such, this dish may surprise you. But it tastes good, looks good, & does you no harm!

Ingredients:

• 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1-1/2 (1.5) tsp. salt
• 600 ml. or 1 pint ye olde H2O (water)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled & chopped
• 50 grammes / 2oz. butter
• 1 tsp. chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Place the cauliflower and potatoes together with the salt and water in a saucepan. Cooke over a moderate heat for 20 minutes... Remove the pan from the heat, strain the liquid into a a large bowl, and mash the contents from the strainer in another bowl.

Now heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the onions until golden. Slowly pour the strained liquid and the mashed vegetables into the pan, together with the tomatoes and mix thoroughly. Cook for a further 10 minutes over a moderate heat.

Cut the [butter[ into four cubes, and add one, with coriander and a pinch of pepper to each of the four servings (oh, yeah, I forgot to say it does four), server piping hot.

Obviously, if you don't cook it hot enough, then you'll need more time

Here is the version of the recipie from The Thorough Good Cook

Soups: 36. Cauliflower Soup (Potage a la Puree de Chouxfleurs)

Boil three large white cauliflowers in slightly salted water until quite tender; chop them very fine; put a quarter of a pound of butter into a stew-pan; one leek, one head of celery (in slices), a quarter of a pound of ham, and two bay-leaves; pass them ten minutes over a quick fire; add the cauliflowers and three tablespoonfuls of flour; mix well; add three quarts of white stock, and one ditto of boiled milk; stir it until boiling; rub it through a tammy; boil, and skim well; season with a teaspoonful of sugar, half ditto of salt, finish with an "alliance" of two yolks of eggs, mixed with a gill of cream; pour the soup into the tureen; have a cauliflower boiled, and cut into twenty small sprigs; put these into the soup, but be sure not to break them.

I had a head of cauliflower sitting in my fridge, and nothing to use it in. I decided to experiment a bit, and came up with this:

Cauliflower soup

• A head of cauliflower
• A medium onion
• About 3-4 stalks of celery
• Some olive oil
• Some chicken stock, or better yet ham^† (or vegetable if you want it to be vegetarian)
• Ground nutmeg
• a little bit of paprika (I added this just because I like paprika)
• Salt
• Fresh ground pepper (any will do, but white is best)
• Parsley for garnish, Optional

Chop the cauliflower, onion, and celery into fine dice. Coat the bottom of a pot with some of the oil, and put it on medium-high. Add the veges, and add some more oil. Stir until they are all coated with oil, and brown them a little. Add the spices now, and enough stock to cover. Simmer until the vegetables are soft. Then remove about half the soup, place in a blender, and puree. Return it to the pot. Alternatively, you can use a hand blender if you have one. If it seems too thick, add more stock. Too thin, thicken with some flour

That's what I did. It probably would've been better with some potatoes or some cream added, but I had limited ingredients.

†: If you use ham stock, go very, light on the salt, as ham stock already has quite a bit.

When asked, my children thought that the secret ingredient was potatoes.

• One head of cauliflower, or equal portions broccoli and cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) diced onions
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, diced or coined
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) cooked butternut/acorn/hubbard squash/roasted pumpkin
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) spinach leaves/steamed zucchini
• 2 cups (16 ounces) chicken/beef/vegetable stock
• 1 cup (8 ounces) milk, non-dairy milks may be used although the final product may be thinner
• 1/8 cup (2 ounces) olive oil, butter, fat, or grease for frying
• Optional, yet nice ingredients: 1/4 cup (2 ounces) ham, 1/4 cup (2 ounces) fresh cream

Add oil or grease of your choice to a heavy bottomed stock or soup pot. Fry the onions, carrots, and garlic either separately, or together, over medium heat until they have reached your preferred amount of doneness, I like the carrots to be slightly crunchy, and the onions carmelized, however this takes time I don't usually have. Onions fried in bacon grease add depth to this recipe, I used leftover sausage drippings that gave the soup a more robust flavor than if I had used oil or butter.

When your carrots and onions are done, add your chopped cauliflower/broccoli. Pour your stock over your vegetables, and while you wait for them to boil over high heat, put your milk in a blender if you have one. If you don't have a blender, you may use a hand mixer, if you don't have either of these, put your squash/pumpkin on a plate, and mash thoroughly with a fork. Gently incorporate your milk into the squash/pumpkin, it should be thick and gloppy.

If your children are picky eaters that will freak at the site of spinach in soup, I recommend skipping it if you do not have a blender. If you have a blender, drop the spinach into the blender with your milk and orange vegetable puree. Scoop some of the cauliflower/broccoli mixture into your blender, and puree until the contents of your carafe are a delightful pale lime color.

Reduce the heat on your boiling soup, stir your blender puree into the stovetop ingredients, and heat thoroughly until your soup is serving temperature. I did not add salt, pepper, or any seasonings as the sausage drippings I used were very rich, if you do not have a flavorful oil or grease to use, salt and pepper the soup according to your individual palate. Children like to have choices, so I asked mine whether they wanted their soup in a mug or a bowl. I also diced ham for them to put into their soup. 

The girls were able to identify cauliflower, but neither of them guessed that I had also added spinach, and butternut squash. My family has trouble with a vitamin A deficiency, I created this recipe as a way to get more orange and yellow vegetables into my children disguised with ingredients that I thought they would eat. My oldest consumed it with relish. My youngest asked why it was green, incorrectly guessed that there were peas, cucumbers, and zucchini, and had one tiny lick off of her spoon.

Cream added at the last minute makes this soup richer, more flavorful, and offers fat which is necessary for absorption of vitamin A. This recipe is extremely flexible, feel free to add things you prefer, or subtract ingredients you don't care for. Pureed vegetables are a wonderful way to increase nutrient density without sacrificing taste, if you are new to this, I recommend starting out with bland or sweet orange/yellow vegetables, and gradually moving towards heartier, green varieties.

As always, your feedback is welcome, and appreciated.

Enjoy!