Cauliflower Soup

A while back, Matt and I decided we needed to eat more cauliflower. Or any cauliflower. At all. It's way under-used and it's really good for you, we really like it, but we never eat it.

So last time I was at the market, I picked up a head of the stuff.


And began wondering what to do with it.

I didn't want to just steam it or boil it, because let's face it - that's pretty boring. I eventually decided on a gratin, but with the advent of a new batch of crab mac'n'cheese, my gratin dish was suddenly unavailable. So for days, I'd eye the thing wearily every time I opened the refrigerator, hoping it didn't go bad before I could come up with a solution. Then, suddenly it dawned on me:

I should like to try some cauliflower soup.

I searched the web for a few minutes until I found a recipe I thought I could work with and took off. Here's what I ended up with (measurements of the spices are approximate, as I was eyeballing most of them):

1 large head of cauliflower, stemmed, cored, and broken up into medium-small florets
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 TBS dried thyme
1 TBS ground ginger (maybe a little more)
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the above in a pot with a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil. Stir to coat the veggies with all of the yummy spicy goodness. When things start sizzling, lower the heat a bit, cover, and let things sweat for about 10 minutes.

Then add: 1 quart of chicken stock.

Allow to come to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.

When boiling, add: 2 cups whole milk

Allow to come to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.

Transfer everything to a food processor (or blender, or use a stick blender thingy), then FREAK OUT MUCHLY as you watch all of your carefully crafted broth leak swiftly out of the bottom of the machine.

Salvage the situation by quickly placing the entire machine over the pot that held the broth in the first place. Recover from heart attack, clean up the leaked liquid (which turned out to be not that much, all things considered), then try again.

Puree soup until smooth.

(Unless you have some sort of monster industrial machine, you'll likely have to puree in multiple batches.)

Return soup to pot.

Add: 1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirring to fully incorporate.

Bring soup back up temperature and adjust seasonings, which may include but is not limited to a small amount of malt vinegar, for brightness.

Serve, garnished with some shredded white cheddar cheese (popping under a broiler, optional) and a drizzle of good olive oil. In my case, some really good olive oil. More on that later.

It's really hard to take an appetizing pic of white food.
I think I did a pretty good job.