watercolor via courtney khail
photograph via kim taylor
For this month's Kim and Courtney Cook (see how it started here), I picked cauliflower (mostly because I had a head of it in the refrigerator and really wanted to try out a new soup) but little did I know how hard it is to actually paint and/or photograph cauliflower. Seriously, I'm lucky Kim is my friend because otherwise she probably wouldn't be speaking to me now otherwise.
Note to self, never pick a white food for an art project.
That said, I think we both did pretty well despite how difficult the subject matter seemed. Kim's photos rock as usual (see them all here) and the recipes are awesome. (I made this soup for two days straight, and then made another batch when the hubs had a dinner meeting. It's really that good.) Let us know what you guys think!
Cauliflower Soup
Cauliflower Soup
2 strips of bacon
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 carrot
1/2 stalk of celery
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Tbs parsley
1/2 Tbs thyme
2 cups stock (I used beef, but chicken would be fine)
2 Tbs butter
2 cups half and half (or milk)
3 Tbs flour
1/4 cup Parmesan
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Cut up bacon and cook in soup pot (I used a Dutch Oven, but anything that can hold soup would be fine.) Remove and wipe out the pan. (You don't have to wipe it all out, you just want to get some of the fat out so you can feel like this is "healthy.")
2. Dice onion, carrot, and celery
3. In the same pot as the bacon was cooked in, cook the onion in olive oil until translucent.
4. Add carrots and celery and cook another 5ish minutes
5. Add cauliflower, parsley and thyme and cook for 15ish minutes
6. Pour in stock, bring to a boil and then simmer.
7. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan melt the butter.
8. In a small bowl, whisk flour into 1 cup of half and half, then whisk the mixture into the melted butter.
9. Remove from the heat and whisk in remaining cup of 1/2 and 1/2.
10. Once it's all whisked together an there aren't any lumps, add to the soup
11. Simmer 15-20 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
12. Pour into bowls and serve with toasted Italian bread and a side salad
If you like silky soups (or have a sore throat and just want something soothing) you can blend it until it's the consistency that you'd like. Promise it tastes just as amazing both ways.
Enjoy everyone!