Cauliflower Soup

I have sung the praises of Pioneer Woman many many times. I love her web-site, I love her humor, I love that shes a fellow ginger, and I love love love her cooking. 

I love it because it calls for real ingredients like BUTTER and CREAM...

I love it beacuse unlike most recipes, I never have to double it...

And I love it because my family will always eat whatever it is.

I've been craving a lot of soups lately...I guess it's winter-withdrawals, since it's not actually cold in the Jungle. And Pioneer Woman has one I've been dying to try...her Cauliflower Soup.

I made it almost exactly as she asks, with a couple additions made out of necessity, not necessarily creativity. It came out delish and creamy and served up even better as leftovers. Here it is:

Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower Soup

• 1 stick butter, divided
• 1/2 whole onion, finely diced
• 1 whole carrot, finely diced (I actually used 2)
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced (used 2 again)
• 1 to 2 whole cauliflower heads, roughly chopped (again...I used 2...sense a theme here?)
• 2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 quarts (boxes) low-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 6 TBS all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 to 4 tsp salt, to taste (went with 2)
• 1 cup (heaping) sour cream, room temperature

 In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt 4 TBS butter. Add onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown.

Add carrots and celery and cook an additional couple minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.

All the delicious veggies...

Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. (Now...here's where I deviated. See, I used the Swanson Chicken Stock...but there's only about 3-1/2 cups per box, so I substituted what was missing with vegetable broth. Not a big substitution...but still....)

Good stuff, but a little short...

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 TBS butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to butter, whisking constantly.

Oh my...all that butter and cream...

Remove from heat and stir in one cup of half-and-half. Add mixture to the remaining simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes (I did 20).

Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Just before serving, place sour cream  in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

When someone says "heaping"...I generally take their word for it...

Serve immediately. (Yes, ma'am!!)

It was hard to take this shot because all I wanted to do was EAT!!

This really is an amazing soup. We served it with Colombian bread from the latin bakery on the corner...it was delicious. 

Pioneer Woman recommends making it right away.

 

I second that.

It feels winter-y and warm...my happy place is sated...

courtesy www.thepioneerwoman.com

Iron Chef Pembroke Pines: March 2011 - Traditional Shepherds Pie

Now see? THIS is what I wanted to make...I had my Irish on...and although I couldn't be TOTALLY authentic (where do you find rabbit in Miami...or cubed lamb for that matter?)...I did my very very best. I adapted this recipe off one from Danny Boome...making more than the recipe called for because i was going to feed the leftovers to my family for dinner AND I have a VERY deep casserole dish that is PERFECT for this...but below is the recipe in it's original form, just as Danny Boome shared it. Feel free to add and take away as you see fit...I did.

Traditional Shepherds Pie

1 TBS butter
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS tomato paste
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground lamb
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup beef stock
1-1/2 cups garden peas (I used the frozen variety)
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add butter and oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Saute onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until tender...about 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Once veggies have softened and start to brown a little, add the tomato paste and mix evenly. add the beef and lamb and cook until no longer pink...about 10 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the beef stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook and simmer for another 10 minutes. Mix in peas. Transfer to an oven-proof baking dish and spread evenly. Place potatoes on top of ground meat mixture and spread evenly. Once the top has been covered, rake through with a fork so there are peaks that will brown nicely. Place dish into the preheated oven and cook about 20 minutes. Spoon out Shepherd's Pie and serve.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered
4 TBS butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated mature white Cheddar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a large saucepan with cold water and a TBS salt. Add potatoes to the water and bring to a boil. Let potatoes cook until soft...about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are at a desired density, drain the potatoes and place them in a saucepan for mashing. Add butter and cream and begin to mash potatoes into a semi-smooth consistency. Once at a desired texture, add the cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Make this for St. Patricks Day or any blustery winter day you're yearning for the Emerald Isle...you'll be glad you did...

courtesy Danny Boome