Usually when I try to cook, I'm following a recipe. And if not a recipe, then at least a guideline that will have assumed success.
Sometimes, though, prompted by a complete lack of ingredients and funds or extreme curiosity, I'll go out on a limb. Cobbling together vague memories of actual foods, I'll come up with something divine (cheese-filled crescent rolls) or regrettable (the infamous jelly chicken, of my pre-blogging days).
Last night the stars aligned to divine, with Cauliflower Soup.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb (16 oz) frozen cauliflower (you could use fresh)
- the following spices haphazardly thrown in, in visual ratios: salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, ground sage, ground red pepper
- butter, about 2-4 tbsp or to taste
- a splash of milk or cream (I used 2%)
- about 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
Preparation:
Put frozen cauliflower pieces (if using fresh, cut your cauliflower into smaller pieces) into a 2-quart pot and add about 1/2-3/4 C water. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Add salt and pepper.
Boil until pieces are tender, about 8 minutes. Add in other spices as it occurs to you. By visual ratio, I mean dump them on top of the cauliflower in approximately even bands of color across your pot. Probably, it's between 1/2 and 1 tsp of each spice, but when you stir it all together it should look a little like this:
Continue boiling several more minutes, breaking the cauliflower pieces down with a wooden spoon. Cook until very little water remains in the bottom of your pan.
Transfer the contents of your pot into a food processor, and add milk and butter. Pulse until ingredients reach a puree-like consistency. You may need to add more milk or butter to get proper creaminess.
Pour into bowls and toss with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Serves 2-4.... or one person who has a hankering for a pound of cauliflower in one day.
Notes:
I expect this would be much better with fresh cauliflower and herbs, and with a splash of cream substituted for milk.
I think it would lend itself quite nicely to the addition of lobster, shrimp, or the perennial stand-by bacon.
This soup was so good that yeah, I really did eat a pound of cauliflower yesterday and I really wish I had more.
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