cream of cauliflower soup

having tasted some early successes in my creamy mushroom soup venture, I thought since I am already down the path of using the blender (which I had thus far mostly avoided to do) why not trail further and try other soups. after all whether it is blending mushrooms or blending potatoes, leeks, cauliflowers etc, it cannot be too far off. and so far my faith has been rewarded. 🙂

my next venture is this beautiful cream of cauliflower soup recipe, again from none other than Chef John of Foodwishes.com. I am falling in love with this guy.

I first sweated the celery & yellow onions for 5-6minutes in a soup pot with some olive oil over medium heat until the onions turned translucent. Then I cut the cauliflowers in small pieces, threw in a potato that has been peeled and quartered, then threw in the cauliflowers. I then added 5 cups of vegetable stock & 5 cups of water enough to cover the cauliflowers, bring to boil & turn down the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes. That’s when the potatoes were “smashable” – it would collapse when you pushed it against the wall of the pot. I let  the soup cooled down & then blended in batches and pureed to a smooth velvety texture. I then added sea salt to taste, and the soup was basically done. I added the heavy cream when I heated up the soup again just before serving. 🙂

bacon tip gremolata

for the bacon gremolata, I followed Chef John’s concoction – first frying cut bacon to crisp, then added fresh bread & toasted it in the bacon fat on low heat until golden & crisp  to make breadcrumbs. I then added lemon zest and mixed them as in above picture.

cream of cauliflower soup

I then served the soup with the bacon topping & few drops of truffle oil. My wife & daughter both liked this soup. I must say the bacon gremolata made quite some difference – the saltiness of the bacon & the crisp texture went very well with the soup and fragrance of the truffle oil. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a cauliflower (about 400g)
• 2 ribs celery chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1 potato peeled & quartered
• 5 cups of vegetable stock
• 5 cups water
• 2 tbsp heavy cream

for the bacon gremolata:

• 2 streaky bacon cut to small pieces
• 1 slice of fresh bread to make 30g of breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley (I did not use in the above photos)

Directions:

1. Cook the soup – sweat the celery & yellow onions for 5-6minutes in a soup pot with some olive oil over medium heat until the onions turn translucent. cut the cauliflowers in small pieces, throw in a potato that has been peeled and quartered, then throw in the cauliflowers. add 5 cups of vegetable stock & 5 cups of water enough to cover the vegetables, bring to boil & turn down the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes. when potatoes are “smashable” – it will collapse when you push it against the wall of the pot – cool down & then blend soup in batches in a blender and puree to a smooth velvety texture. add sea salt to taste, and soup is basically done. add heavy cream after heating up again just before serving.
   
2. Prepare the bacon gremolata – fry bacon to crisp. add fresh bread & toast in the bacon fat on low heat until golden & crisp  to make breadcrumbs. remove & cool. add lemon zest to bacon tips & breadcrumbs and mix them.
3. add the bacon topping & few drops of truffle oil when serving the soup