You know I really love Donna Hay Challenge. I was pretty excited about this month’s challenge. It looked quite simple. I knew that I would have lighting issues, but this Sunday was such a bad day for me. And I don’t mean only taking photos. Tears were streaming from trivial reasons, things I needed weren’t there, everything was falling down or breaking down. So you see, there was no way I could do it. I mean I stood there with my tripod and a few photos that I took, and it wasn’t the way it should. I wanted to get this impression that you are very close to a bowl of a soup. But I was stuck, angry, and sad, so I decide to give up this time. So I gave up tweaking, trying, looking for the best dark background, diluting the soup, trying to make paper napkin nicer. I just gave up and ate a bowl of the soup.
It was good idea. Sometimes it’s just not the right time.
But the soup is very good. Even my boyfriend liked it, and he is actually fed up with creamy soups (especially one, that we were eating almost for a whole week). You would think that a cauliflower soup may be little bland, but this one is very balanced, mild but not bland, a little bit tangy (probably from crème fraîche I added). Enjoy it.
Creamy cauliflower soup
- 25 g butter
- 1 brown onion, chopped (I used red one)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1,5 head cauliflower, chopped (leave 100 g for crumbs)
- 500 g potatoes, starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 750 ml chicken stock
- 500 ml milk
- 125 ml single cream (I added crème fraîche)
- sea salt cracked
- white pepper
- 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
For parmesan cauliflower crumbs
- 100 g cauliflower, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 20 g parmesan, finely grated
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.
Add the onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 5-8 minutes or until onion has softened.
Add the cauliflower, potato, stock and milk, increase heat to medium and cook for 25-30 minutes or until cauliflower and potato is tender.
Remove from the heat and using a hand-held blender, blend until smooth.
Stir through the cream, salt and pepper.
While the soup is cooking, make the parmesan cauliflower crumbs.
Place the cauliflower, oil and parmesan in a bowl and toss to combine.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Put the cauliflower, oil and parmesan in a bowl and toss to combine. Fry the cauliflower, stirring for 2 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Top soup with cauliflower crumbs to serve.
Magda's Cauldron 