Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Florets

Cauliflower Soup

_DSC2602Around the same time that I came down with a cold, snow started falling last Thursday. It was perfect set-up to lounge around in pajamas and watch the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics, right? However our Optical Network Terminal shutdown, and as a result, our home phone, internet and television were dead, I just stare at the black television in astonishment, dang it! I suppose I could finish reading Catching Fire…nah – I didn’t want to do anything that requires thinking. _DSC2553

Luckily, my husband stayed home last Friday because of weather and fixed me a cauliflower soup with a recipe clipped from the newspaper and carrot bread of Five Euro Food. Although not roasting the cauliflower, so the flavor lacked some depth, it was a quick remedy and full of tenderness to heal my cold also cabin fever.

Ingredients and Instruction for 4 servings (Print recipe here)_DSC2574

Equipment – soup pot with lid, blender or hand-held immersion blender

  • 4 leeks, trimmed and finely chopped (white part only)
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped, about 1/2 cup
  • 1/2  head cauliflower, finely chopped 2 to 3 cups
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable stock for vegetarian version_DSC2579
  • 1 and 1/4 cup non fat milk heated Note;you may use unsweetened soy milk if you prefer.
  • 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or more to taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped pistachios or 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh chives for garnish
  1. Put leeks, onion,cauliflower and bay leaves in the medium size soup pot.
    _DSC2577
  2. Add chicken broth or vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, covered and cook until the cauliflower is tender about 10 minutes.
  3. Remove and discard bay leaves. Add the hot milk, salt and pepper._DSC2583
  4. Carefully transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth or use a hand blender and puree the soup right in the pot (see below pic)._DSC2585
  5. Serve hot with a chopped chives or pistachios._DSC2592_DSC2631
    I prefer to eat this carrot bread warm. Stick it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds.

I felt better enough to go outside on Saturday and made (tried) a Snow Totoro. Oh! It’s a cat isn’t it? said my neighbor. Ah, right, absolutely…it’s a…it’s a fat one! Ha ha ha.. I should go inside now to stare at the still black television.IMG_0964

My neighbor made cool Wicked Snow Witch. Snow transformed us into kids._DSC2645

I hear the joyful glee of (real) kids sledding on the slope just around the corner. I would love to join them if I hadn’t already sold my sleds at a garage sale last summer.IMG_0959

We were told by the dispatcher on Monday, ‘Cable technician may come by Wednesday but more than likely on Friday’ What!? I started to cry. My husband went out bought few electrical equipment to finally fix the ONT, whew! The money was well spent! With a cup of hot chocolate, I slouched down on the sofa and enjoyed watching the Olympics….with the still warm lemon cake my neighbor rushed to bring us in the heavy snow…so good!_DSC2544

For returning the favor, I made this strawberry short cake for my husband, one for my neighbor in a heart shaped ceramic pan a Valentine’s Day gift from a friend a few years back.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 comments:

  1. What a delicious and healing soup. Your snowmen are so cute!:)

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    1. Thank you so much. Your blog is gorgeous! And very educational.

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  2. That cold virus was a blessing...it certainly brought lots of good fun:)
    Snow normally brings out our kid's personality...but this year was a change for us, we all became grumpy old folks...Thanks for reminding us of the great fun...we'll have to remedy that for the next winter snow... I guess!

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  3. A delightful soup! I am a big fan of cauliflower.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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    1. Thank you Rosa. My husband loves cauliflower also. He likes this soup more than I.

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  4. I see no other dish more appropriate for such a weather! This soup is perfect!

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    1. I appreciate your kind comment. Your Greek style chicken sounds so good.

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  5. お隣さん(ご近所さん)とのお付き合いがあっていいですね!うちもそれなりにありますが、誰もケーキを焼いてくれないなぁ(笑)。自分が焼かないもんだから、やっぱりお隣さんはベイカーがいると嬉しいかも。へへへ。カリフラワースープやってみます。リーク大好きだし、これははまりそう!雪、いいですね・・・・。うちらは雪山まで行かないと雪で遊べないし。でも年取って寒がりになったので、雪降ったら困るかも。ケーキもおいしそうだし。楽しいポストでした。あ!そうそう、ケーブルにインターネット、ないと生活できないですよね。私インターネットなかったら、クレイジーになりそう。テレビはもう観る時間なくてみてないのですが。

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    1. そうなの大変だったのよ。なかなか修理に来てくれなくて、もうほんと泣くかと思ったわ。 このスープ、味がそれとなくポテトスープに似てます。私はもっとお塩が効いてた方が良かったかも。 ご近所さんも引っ越ししたりと変わっていくのが寂しいです。 出来るだけお付き合いを心がけてはいます。 忙しい中、コメントありがとう。

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  6. Without you I would never know cauliflower soup could look so beautiful and elegant! What a cute Totoro! (Actually it's a funny coincidence: I have been trying to watch simple Japanese films with English subtitles as a part of my Japanese language training, homework, etc. and have just started Totoro (I do it by small parts). It's not easy though...
    Have you ever seen My Neighbours Yamadas? I love this film! (Same director, but a completely different style, it's really funny and intelligent). I have already seen it twice... of course I do need subtitles but what a pleasant way to study Japanese ;-) .
    What a gorgeous strawberry cake! So cute!

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    1. Thank you Sissi. No I have not seen the My neighbor Yamada yet. I'm going to look for it. I have same method to learn to speak foreign language like Korean - Watch Korean drama. So fun and addictive.

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  7. Now that is sweet and love. Wonderful for your husband to make the cauliflower soup. It does look good, warm and comforting.
    I hope you are feeling better. The carrot cake looks real good too.
    Love the fun going on in your neighborhood. I would love to go sledding too!
    Though like you, I know longer have one.
    Nice of your neighbor to bring a cake.
    Such a lovely gift for your neighbor too. The cake looks beautiful.
    Blessings dear. Catherine xo

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    1. Thank you Catherine. If we have an another snow storm here then I might buy nicer sled. It was fun to watch children sledding the hill. I'm wishing you have much warmer weather soon.

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  8. Glad you enjoyed the carrot bread, and glad you're feeling better too! Did you try the bread toasted? It's really good that way - definitely recommend it!

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