As the temperature gets cooler, I decided to try out a new concoction that Ive been thinking about. Last march I experienced cauliflower bisque for the first time, and ever since Ive been wanting to try making it for myself.
So on a crisp fall Sunday I marched myself down to the grocery store and picked up a good size head of cauliflower, thyme, lemons and shallots. Back at home I broke down half the head of cauliflower into equal size small pieces and put them into a pot 3/4 full of water with a quartered lemon and a bit of salt. I set that to boil on the stove, and then added a small pat of butter, a little salt, pepper and a sliced shallot to a sauce pan. After the shallots had gotten a bit soft I added a few stems of thyme and allowed them to heat through. Then I added about a half a bottle of white wine, and left it alone to boil and reduce.
Once the cauliflower had boiled through and was fork tender, I pulled it off the heat and strained the water from it, also removing the lemon wedges. Then came the fun part. I received a Cuisenart last year for Christmas but hadn't gotten to use it just yet. Now was the time. I set it up and added my boiled cauliflower to it- I set it to pulsing and my cute little florets began to puree into a liquid consistency. To make it a bit creamier I added some butter to the blend as well. Then I transferred the contents of the Cuisenart to a second saucepan.
The wine mixture had reduced a fair amount at that point so I strained the herbs and shallots out, and then added that to the cauliflower puree. My thought on that was to add flavor first of all, as well as to thin it out some to make it more soup consistent. Unfortunately, I didn't make enough of the wine so it didn't quite do the job I wanted, though it did add fantastic flavor. A little more fresh thyme, and some cracked black pepper and my soup was complete- and delicious.
When I make it again though I think that Ill add vegetable stock as well as the wine reduction to thin it out some and boost the flavor, but otherwise I really enjoyed the flavors of lemon, wine and thyme all together in the beautiful backdrop of cauliflower. I think that this may become my newest obsession...
So on a crisp fall Sunday I marched myself down to the grocery store and picked up a good size head of cauliflower, thyme, lemons and shallots. Back at home I broke down half the head of cauliflower into equal size small pieces and put them into a pot 3/4 full of water with a quartered lemon and a bit of salt. I set that to boil on the stove, and then added a small pat of butter, a little salt, pepper and a sliced shallot to a sauce pan. After the shallots had gotten a bit soft I added a few stems of thyme and allowed them to heat through. Then I added about a half a bottle of white wine, and left it alone to boil and reduce.
Once the cauliflower had boiled through and was fork tender, I pulled it off the heat and strained the water from it, also removing the lemon wedges. Then came the fun part. I received a Cuisenart last year for Christmas but hadn't gotten to use it just yet. Now was the time. I set it up and added my boiled cauliflower to it- I set it to pulsing and my cute little florets began to puree into a liquid consistency. To make it a bit creamier I added some butter to the blend as well. Then I transferred the contents of the Cuisenart to a second saucepan.
The wine mixture had reduced a fair amount at that point so I strained the herbs and shallots out, and then added that to the cauliflower puree. My thought on that was to add flavor first of all, as well as to thin it out some to make it more soup consistent. Unfortunately, I didn't make enough of the wine so it didn't quite do the job I wanted, though it did add fantastic flavor. A little more fresh thyme, and some cracked black pepper and my soup was complete- and delicious.
When I make it again though I think that Ill add vegetable stock as well as the wine reduction to thin it out some and boost the flavor, but otherwise I really enjoyed the flavors of lemon, wine and thyme all together in the beautiful backdrop of cauliflower. I think that this may become my newest obsession...
No comments:
Post a Comment