For your Halloween Safety: Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup

Oh EM Goodness!

I saw this recipe pop up on my reader and I knew it was in my future. I happened to have some cream in my fridge with which to make it. YUM!

Beware: there are 3 heads of roasted garlic (no, that wasn't a typo- 3 heads of roasted garlic!) Luckily for me I have no boyfriend, so I won't be doing any kissing...


Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup
by Oven Love, via Martha Stewart Recipesserves 10-12
This recipe is for a crowd (think holidays)- but can be easily halved and it's freezable, too.
Ingredients

• 3 heads garlic

• salt and pepper

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 3 white onions, peeled and thinly sliced

• 4 heads cauliflower, 3 cored and thinly sliced and 1 broken into florets

• 8 sprigs thyme, tied with twine, plus one tablespoon chopped (you can sub. 1T dried thyme)

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 6 cups chicken stock, plus more to thin, if desired

• 2 cups heavy cream, plus more to thin, if desired

• 2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I just used 1 1/2 cups, what was in the bag)

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (and I didn't have any of this)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut off the tops of garlic heads. Place each on a piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap tightly in foil, and bake until garlic is very soft, about an hour. Let cool. Squeeze garlic from peel; set aside. Increase oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft but not browned. Stir in sliced cauliflower, thyme and wine. Simmer until wine is reduced by half. Add stock, bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer until cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

3. Remove thyme bundle and stir in cream and 2 1/2 cups Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in garlic. Puree with a stick blender or in batches until smooth (One reason a stick blender is on my Christmas list!). Thin with more stock or cream, if desired. Return to pot; keep warm on low heat.

4. Heat remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat in a saute pan until almost smoking. Add cauliflower florets, stirring until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to oven and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. (DON'T GRAB THE PAN HANDLE WITH YOUR BARE HAND! OUCH!)  Stir in thyme, parsley and remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan. To serve; ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cauliflower florets.

I'll update with pictures later, but oh my YUM!

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

We made this soup in my foods class last Wednesday (7 days ago) and since then I have made or helped make 2 batches. This stuff is DELICIOUS! The recipe is alterable to use whatever vegetable you'd like (we did carrot, zucchini and cauliflower in class) and the Cauliflower was my favorite hands down! I've got a head of cauliflower in the fridge just waiting for me to make a batch of this-- then they'll be pictures.

Soup Base:
1/4 c+2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp Chicken bullion granules
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
3 cups milk

1.Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat,
2. Blend in flour, salt and pepper bullion and other sauces
3. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
4. Remove from heat and wisk in the milk.
5. Return to heat and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
6. Let sit on warm heat in pan till veggies are ready to add

Vegetables (other veggie options listed below)
4 cups (about one head) of cauliflower
1 tsp curry powder (add with spices)
1/4 cup onion chopped fine, cooked with cauliflower.

7. Place cut veggies in a medium saucepan, add enough water to barely cover the vegetables.
8. Bring the vegetables to a boil on high heat. Cover the sauce pan with a lid and reduce the heat to simmer. Cook the veggies in the saucepan until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Don't let the water boil out.
9. before mixing the veggies into the cream base, puree part of the vegetables in a blender with some of the cooking water. (I used my food processor last time and the first time at home I used a potato masher, which also worked but made for a thinner soup)
10. Combine the remaining veggies, pureed veggies and white sauce together. Add enough veggie water to make the soup the desired consistency. Serve hot with rolls or french bread.


Other vegetable options:
**Cream of Potato**
4 diced spuds, washed and peeled
2 stalks diced celery
1/4 cup onion
**Cream of Asparagus** (which I want to try when asparagus is cheep)
4 cups asparagus
2 tbsp lemon juice
dash of nutmeg or mace
**Cream of Green Bean**
3 cups green beans
1 tsp crushed savory
** Cream of Broccoli**
4 cups broccoli
1/2 tsp dry leaf thyme
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves-- add to white sauce and remove prior to serving
**Cream of Carrot**
2 cups carrots (about 6 large)
1 Tbsp dry parsley
1/2 tsp dry basil
**Cream of Zucchini**
3 cups zucchini
1/8 tsp nutmeg
**Cream of Mushroom**
3 cups mushrooms
1/8 tsp nutmeg