Jan 10 2011

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Posted by Natalie | Perry's Plate in Step-by-Step Recipes

Cauliflower, to me, is a humble vegetable. It’s rarely the star of the meal, it doesn’t have a flashy color or a strong flavor, and let’s face it—its complexion could use some work. Despite its frumpy characteristics, cauliflower has a few tricks up its sleeve. Case in point: this Roasted Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Cheese recipe submitted by TK member hailskitchen. Pureeing the cauliflower creates the illusion of a creamy soup without the added richness from cream. Not only did this soup taste great, it was simultaneously light yet rich tasting.

Okay, it does have cheese, too. But if you use a sharp white cheddar, you might not need as much. (If you’re concerned with such things. I wasn’t one of those who swore off cheese-laden foods this year.)

For the soup you’ll need a nice, big head of cauliflower, shallots, fresh garlic, fresh thyme, shredded white cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil, and chicken (or vegetable) broth.

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Then prep the cauliflower. I like to turn it upside down and make a few slashes in the bottom to get the tough stem out and remove the leaves.

I also like to quarter the head before breaking it down into florets. It’s easier to manage than a giant head.

Once you have it broken down, toss it onto a large rimmed baking sheet.

Next, peel the shallots and garlic. If you lay your knife on the garlic and give it a whack with the palm of your hand, the peel comes right off. Don’t chop them too small. Quartering the shallots and cutting the garlic in half ought to do it.

Add the prepped shallots and garlic to the cauliflower on the baking sheet. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and stick it in that screaming hot oven.

After 40-50 minutes it should look like this. See those dark, caramelized pieces? Roasting should be a part of all vegetable preparation, in my opinion. That’s how I got myself to like Brussels sprouts. Try it.

Transfer all of that roasted goodness to a big pot. (I doubled the batch, which is why it looks like my cauliflower suddenly reproduced.) Pour in half of the chicken broth—it makes pureeing much easier.

If you have an immersion or stick blender, this will be a snap. Just stick it in and start buzzing it around. If you don’t have one, go buy one. If you can’t go buy one, you can ladle the mixture into a blender and process in batches, returning it back into the pot when you’re finished.

Back to blending. You can leave it a bit chunky if you like. I made it this way the first time and I liked a few chunks. But I found that the texture was really odd.

So this time I blended it even more until it was smoother. I liked it better that way.

Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup simmers away, get your thyme ready. Grab it at the top with one hand, and with the other hand, pinch toward the top and pull down the stem to remove leaves.

Give them a quick chop if you like. This is just my personal preference, but I found the soup to be really “thyme-y”, so I reduced the measurement by half the second time I made it. The thyme really sings in this soup.

When the soup is done simmering, cut the heat and add the thyme and shredded cheese. Season to taste with a generous dose of salt and black pepper.

Time to serve it up with crusty bread or biscuits and a fresh salad! One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the steps can be broken up to accommodate your schedule. Roast the vegetables a day or two ahead and when you’re ready to prepare the soup, it’ll be ready in under 30 minutes.

Thanks Hailey for a unique and delicious soup! Visit her beautiful blog, Hail’s Kitchen, for more of her great recipes.

Printable Recipe

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Cheese

by hailskitchen on November 16, 2010 in Creamy Soups, Soups

See post on hailskitchen’s site!

4.40 Mitt(s) 5 Rating(s) 5 votes, average: 4.40 out of 5

Description

This light soup is surprisingly rich and hearty. Perfect for the change in the weather!

Ingredients

1 head Cauliflower, Roughly Chopped
2 whole Shallots, Roughly Chopped
3 cloves Garlic, Roughly Chopped
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
4 cups Chicken Broth
1-½ cup White Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme, Chopped
1 Tablespoon Coarse Salt

Preparation Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a cookie sheet, drizzle the cauliflower, shallots and garlic with the olive oil and season with coarse salt. Roast for about 40 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork-tender.

Carefully place the vegetables in a food processor or blender and roughly puree. Texture is good, large chunks are not so good. Place the vegetables in a pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about ten minutes. Add the cheese, thyme and a good dose of black pepper. Season to taste with salt. Serve with warm, crusty bread and enjoy!

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Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

Jan 5 2011

How to Make Pressure Cooker Stock

Posted by patiodaddio in Kitchen Talk

Stock is an essential ingredient and a secret to great cooking. A good stock is necessary to make soups, sauces, gravies (among many other things) that really shine. Sure, you can grab a box or can of “stock” or broth from your local grocer, but it seriously pales in comparison to the real thing. Not to mention that they are almost always loaded with sodium.

It used to be that when I heard or read the word “stock” I would think, “Oh, come on! Who has that kind of free time? I can’t stand around all day tending a stockpot. I have a life, people!” It’s true that making stock the traditional old-school way takes many hours. Yes, the results are worth it, but that doesn’t change the fact that most normal folk don’t have that kind of time.

I recently stumbled upon a method of making stock that reduces the stock cooking time to a mere hour. At first I thought that this would be akin to making a great prime rib in a microwave. Then, once I researched and pondered it further I realized that it actually produces a better product. How’s that? I’m glad you asked.

Stock is literally all about creating a flavorful liquid by wringing flavor and nutrients from the ingredients. This usually entails simmering bones, veggies, herbs, and seasonings in water for several hours. You have to simmer it long and slow in order to allow all of the good stuff to be released. You should avoid boiling a stock because the violent bubbling breaks down the ingredients and produces an overly cloudy product.

Enter the pressure cooker. The magic of a pressure cooker is that the sealed environs allow the boiling point of water to be raised significantly above the usual 212 degrees. This causes foods to cook much quicker while retaining more of their nutrients. Additionally, because the water never boils, there is no violent bubbling. Think of it as turbo-boiling in still water. It’s a beautiful thing.

Here, let me show you how this works.

Caution: Pressure cookers can be dangerous, so please make sure you read and heed the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, I have a great tip at the end of the post that involves a stockpot, the oven, and no stirring.)

First, we need to roast the turkey parts. Sure, you can use a carcass of a previously-roasted bird, but I find this to be far easier, better, and more consistent. I use one package of wings (about three pounds).

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Using a cleaver or large knife, carefully cut each wing at each joint. I discard the tips.

Season the wing pieces with kosher salt and pepper.

Roast the turkey parts on a sheet pan for 90 minutes, then remove them from the oven and let cool to room temperature or refrigerate for up to three days.

In addition to the roasted turkey parts, you’ll need three large carrots, three stalks of celery, one medium (or two small) yellow onion, ten sprigs of thyme, two bay leaves, a tablespoon of minced garlic, half a teaspoon of black peppercorns, and three quarts of cold water.

Clean the carrots (there’s no need to peel them), celery, and peel the onions.

Rough chop all of the vegetables. The size doesn’t really matter, just chop them up.

Dump everything in your pressure cooker.

Add the water.

You want to just barely cover the ingredients, so add more or less water as needed.

Seal your pressure cooker per the directions and bring to 15 pounds of pressure.

Reduce the heat as needed to maintain a pressure of 15 pounds and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove the cooker from the heat and let it cool until the pressure is completely relieved.

Open the cooker and remove the large pieces of meat, bone and vegetables with a large slotted spoon.

You can see what a great job the pressure cooker does. The meat completely falls off the bone with almost no effort. Our dog really appreciates this part (the leftover meat, not the bones).

Filter the stock through a very fine strainer and cool immediately. If you want a clearer stock, filter it through a colander that is lined with a clean kitchen towel. I used this batch to make gravy, so I didn’t care about it being a little cloudy. Now that I think about it, I rarely care.

Once the stock is cold, you can easily remove the solidified fat from the top.

Store in the refrigerator for up to four days, or freeze for long-term storage.

Use as needed.

Enjoy!

Notes:
1. You can use this recipe to make other types of stock, like chicken or beef. Just use those meats and bones in lieu of the turkey. For example, you can use a cut-up roasted deli chicken to make chicken stock, or use cut-up beef back ribs (roasted just like the turkey) to make beef stock. When making beef stock, I would add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste for added richness.
2. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just use a large covered stock pot. Bring it just barely to a boil, then move the covered pot to a 180-degree oven for six hours. There is no need to stir or tend it at all.

Printable Recipe