No Soup for You

Well fall has finally arrived in Victoria. After an extended summer with very little rain, the cool, damp wet weather has arrived.  I recently had to put away my sandals and pull out my real shoes to wear to work, which actually makes me very sad.  Last week was Halloween which I enjoyed with a bowl of chilli, a glass of wine and time with friends handing out candy to the local trick-or-treaters.  This weekend marks the end of daylight savings and brings us an extra hour of sleep, darker days, and well…. the official launch of soup season.  A few weeks ago, we made our first round of fall soup:  Cauliflower Potato Cheddar Soup.

This recipe takes me back almost 30 years to this lovely woman who I once worked with. Its a recipe she handed to me.  I wrote it on a big blue recipe card.  I remember the first time I made this.  My brother in law, who has done some time as a line cook, doctored it up with about a pound of butter and carton of heavy cream. While it was undoubtedly rich and decadent, I have never made it his way again out of sheer guilt for what it would do to my arteries. I start this recipe out with milk (usually 1%) and finish it off with the cream. Just not as much as Jack used.

You can zip it up easily and as much as you want with cayenne pepper or dried pepper flakes.  

There is forgiveness in the recipe with the ingredients so don’t sweat it.  Makes a nice pot of hearty soup great for lunch or to start off a weeknight dinner!

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Cauliflower Potato Cheddar Soup

Course Soup

Ingredients

• 1 med onion, diced
• 1 med head of cauliflower, broken into florets
• 4-5 med potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 4 c water
• 4 c milk (I use 1%)
• 1 tbsp each of oregano, basil and Italian seasoning
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/4 c butter or margarine
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 c milk
• 1 c table cream
• 2 c cheddar cheese
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp vegeta
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Dice onion and place in a large pot.
• Peel and quarter the potatoes and add to the pot.
• Break cauliflower into pieces and add to the pot.
• Add water, milk and oregano, basil, Italian seasoning and bay leaves.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.
• Cook until cauliflowers and potatoes are tender.
• Remove bay leaves.
• Puree soup with a hand blender to your desired consistency. I like it with few smaller chunks of potatoes and cauliflower. Reduce heat to low.
• In a large skillet, melt butter and add flour to make a rue. Cook, stirring until flour cooks and browns slightly.
• Add milk and cream to rue and whisk until mixture thickens slightly and comes to bubble.
• Add to soup mixture and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and add cheese. Stir until melted.
• Add vegeta and season with pepper to taste if necessary.

Notes

When adding rue to soup base, make sure that the rue with cream is hot to avoid the soup from breaking.  

Vegeta is an amazing seasoning, but is salt based.  I tend to add the seasoning a bit at a time to not over season with salt.