Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup

I’m tired, and have absolutely no reason to be. It’s a perfectly good Saturday afternoon, and all I feel like doing is curling up on the couch with Roma.

Friday night was a good one. We met up with friends for dinner at Lardo East [liver pate, grain mustard, arugula, pickled onion, crispy chicken skin for me please]. It had great flavor, assuming you like liver, but the bread tore up my mouth like crazy. My one [of many] pet peeves about bread came to life. I washed it down with a Tieton Dry Hopped Cider, so it wasn’t so bad. Drinks were had at Rum Club afterward before heading to Hawthorne Theater to see Hot Water Music. I was home and in bed before midnight like a good girl. I live on the edge you guys.

Today is one of those cold, quiet, lazy days perfect for making soup or eating a breakfast burrito. Probably both. I’m one for two right now. There is so much of the day left to achieve said goal. This velvety soup comes from the lovely Amy at The Moveable Feasts by way of Super Natural Every Day [another cookbook I’ll get my hands on someday]. I missed the mark by not making the delish dijon croutons because I was too lazy to go to the store, but the soup is just fine without them. More than fine really. It’s a velvety soup, with a bit of tang from the cheese, but nothing overwhelming. It’s smooth, creamy, and hearty. Seriously, it’s surprisingly filling. I’m sure making corn muffins didn’t help, but damn it they were good.

Inspiration: The Moveable Feasts

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 1/2 cups broth [I used beef]
• 14oz cauliflower, cut into florets [I cheated and grabbed a bag of frozen cauliflower]
• 2.5oz aged white cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard

Preparation

Heat the oil in a soup pot on medium high heat. Add the onion, stirring to coat in the oil, sprinkling them with a healthy pinch of salt. Cook them, allowing them to sweat to the oldies it out. After about four minutes, they’ll start to look translucent. Add the potato, stir, and cover with the lid. Let them cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don’t get stuck to the pan.

They’ll start to soften, and then the garlic will join the soup pot party. Only give it a good 30 seconds of alone time with the heat so it doesn’t burn. Add the broth, stir, and bring to a nice boil so the potatoes and continue to cook. Once you can pierce them with a knife/fork, add the cauliflower until it becomes tender. The frozen stuff heated up in no time. Shocking.

Remove from heat and use a regular blender, immersion blender, or food processor to liquify the soup. Return to the soup pot if you’ve removed it to puree, and add half of the cheese and the mustard. Stir to distribute the now melting cheese throughout. Serve in bowls topped with additional cheese and a pinch of parsley if you’ve got it. Include carbs if they’re your thing. They’re always mine.