Mom's Cream of Cauliflower Soup

The Date: 1 November 2011

The Occasion: I bought cauliflower on a whim when I saw it at ALDI and figured I'd find a time to make this childhood favorite. Tonight worked because Pete's not a huge vegetable fan, and since he ended up finally catching my flu, all I made for him was a can of condensed Chicken and Rice Soup. Poor Husby. So I whipped up some Cauliflower Soup for me.

The Recipe: Mom's (via a seven-line email. Yep, it's that easy.)

How it Went:
My food processor recently went kaput. Went to process some walnuts the other day, dumped them in, pushed the button, and... nothing. I have put a new one on my birthday list. Since this recipe calls for finely processed cauliflower, I used my blender. This worked, but was not ideal. I could only blend 4 or 5 florets at a time, and then had to scrape the processed cauliflower out from around the blades with a spatula.
Also, I somehow missed (in the seven-line email) the instruction to cook the cauliflower "until very tender." I dumped the cauliflower and broth together, let it get hot enough to become bubbly, made the roux, added it in, and then served myself a bowl. While it was certainly edible, it did not taste like Mom's. Gotta let that cauliflower cook down. Oops. I dumped it back in and let the whole thing cook for another 20 minutes.

What You Need:
cauliflower
chicken or vegetable broth
butter
flour
milk
Perfect Pinch
black pepper

Your Turn:

Cauliflower confetti

Chop one head of cauliflower into small florets, then chop fine in a food processor. You're going for cauliflower confetti.

Dump cauliflower into a large soup pot.

Add just enough chicken or vegetable broth to cover the cauliflower (about 2 cups broth). Add a few dashes of Perfect Pinch and black pepper.

Now, cook 15-20 minutes until cauliflower is tender.

Make a roux by melting 3 T of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then adding 3 T of flour. Stir well while it bubbles. Add 1 C of milk (or a little more if you like your soup less thick) and whisk continuously until it thickens.

Add the roux to the cauliflower. Stir.

You can let it simmer a bit longer, or serve immediately. I remember Mom serving it with some shredded cheese on top, but it's good without it too.

Mmm...

Want the seven-line version?

chop the cauliflower fine in a food processor

cook it in chicken broth until very tender (just enough broth to cover it)

add some perfect pinch too  

make a roux using melted butter and flour, maybe 3 tablespoons of each

add about a cup of milk or maybe 2 cups whisking the whole time as it thickens

mix it into the cauliflower mixture

now you have soup