Wednesday, January 16, 2013

a soup day

Snow and ice on the car this morning - grrrrrrrr. Cleaned off the windshields and went off to visit the dentist and then the supermarket.  Stocked up on vegetables (why?? I am going to be away next week) and needed to make room in the crisper. That meant soup!
Since I had to be home this afternoon waiting for the mattress guys to come and deliver a new one, I figured I might as well cook.

I had seen Mark Bittman's recipes for Customizable Soups and coveted the Curried Cauliflower soup. Fortunately, a half-head of cauliflower was available - and using it left just enough room in the drawer for the eggplant I had just bought.  This soup is simply to die for -- I could have eaten the entire pot at one sitting.   He has it as a variation on the creamy spinach soup, but here's my version all in one place. Of course, amounts are variable.

3 cups water
1 medium cauliflower (he says 2 cups of florets but more is fine)
1 large diced onion
1 T of chopped ginger
1 tsp curry powder ( I started with a teaspoon and added more to taste, later)
salt & pepper
1/3 cup coconut milk
cilantro for garnish (optional)


Put all into a pot, except coconut milk, and cook till cauliflower is soft (about 20 min).
Purée until smooth (I use a stick blender), add coconut milk and correct seasoning.
(I added more salt and curry powder). Garnish with cilantro leaves. YUMMY!!! Perfect for a winter lunch and it didn't take much time to make.

I spent the rest of the afternoon making bouillabaisse (see Julia Child for the recipe)
and that was my dinner.

Tonight, I steamed a bunch of scarves I have been slowly printing for my college class reunion in May.  What was I thinking when I took on this commission?? I'm only 20% there.
Maybe on Friday I'll have a chance to go print another half-dozen, which won't make a dent.  And next week I will be in Scottsdale. Ahhhhh.....

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I had a moment of confusion with this post as i read it bleary eyed over breakfast. So you cooked soup, boullabaise and steamed scarves to go wth it. Scarves?. Is that some american word for shellfish or a veg like kale that we never see here? Oh. New paragraph. Now I see...... :)

Dianne Koppisch Hricko said...

Like Helen I had the steamed scarves right in the stock too... and of course thought I have some that might be best in soup too. I most have missed the post about the commission good luck on it.

Have a great time in Scottsdale... their weather has to be better than ours. Will we ever see the sun again? Richard and I are doing whirlwind NYC today, he has prints that open at the International Print Center tonight. Glad to get your post.

dianne

Gerrie said...

LOL! Love these comments. Thanks for this recipe. I am off all dairy and was craving a creamy soup. Here it is!! Love you!!

RHome410 said...

Have to admit, I'm right there with the rest. Steaming the scarves was an interesting transition to a whole other subject, but I swear I could taste moist cotton before my brain caught up. ;-)

patty a. said...

Cooking soup and scarves! Thanks for the link for the soups. I bought a Vita Mix and it is great for making soup very smooth.

soup weather in June and a little more

DISCLAIMER: Blogger is giving me grief tonight, which you will see by the varying sizes of the type. Ye p, soup weather and it's ...