Zambolis apartments

Zambolis apartments
For your holidays in Chania

Friday 13 November 2009

Cauliflower soup (Κουνουπιδόσουπα)

It's almost Christmas and the Greek Orthodox winter fasting season is about to begin. The cold weather has set in; despite many sunny spells, I can't remember so much rain so early on a regular basis, all these years I've been living in Hania. It's the perfect time to be thinking about soup, a kind of food I can't even stand to think about in the warm weather that we are used to in Hania. The winter garden is growing but it isn't ready for harvesting. The freezer needs to be emptied of last year's stored winter products, one of which was cauliflower. This soup used up the last of my frozen cauliflower florets, and it was a winner for taste. It also used up some leftover ingredients in my fridge, helping me to clear it of little bowls of this and little bowls of that. Soup is a really good choice for helping the cook to clear out the kitchen; now you know what 'soup of the day' might entail on a slow Monday evening in a bistro or cafe.

autumn garden
Showing off Mr Organically Cooked's garden: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce

You need:
1 tbsp of butter
4-5 tbsp of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
half a cauliflower cut into florets
a few sprigs of Greek celery, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth (I had none available but I did have one lonely cooked chicken drumstick from a leftover meal, which I threw into the soup for flavour)
2-3 tablespoons of cream (this can be omitted if you want to keep the soup light in taste; I had an open carton in the fridge and used it up in this soup)
a fistful of strong flavoured grated cheese (I used regato, but Cretan graviera would also have been a good choice)
salt and pepper, paprika to garnish

cauliflower soup cauliflower soup
This creamy soup was very spicy without the heat, perfect for our first truly chilly day just a little while ago.

Heat the oil and butter together and lightly saute the onion and garlic. Add the celery and cauliflower, mix everything to coat in olive oil, then add the stock, thyme salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked through (about half an hour). Let the pot cool a little, then puree it to make a creamy soup. Add more water or stock to make it more runny, if preferred. Add the cheese and cream, and mix in well. Heat the soup (but don't let it boil), serve and sprinkle some paprika over each individual dish.

The recipe is based on a post in Katie's blog, where you'll find lots of other tastes from rural France, as well as plenty of French bureaucracy tales; if you substitute the word 'Greece' for 'France', and all the derivatives of both words, you will find that pretty much the same applies in Greece for most aspects of the Francais lifestyle. 'Ti Ellinas, ti Gallos?' a Greek might say...

winter crops
The winter garden, three weeks later

How the garden does grow quickly in this weather: humidity and sunshine are perfect for leafy greens. We're already planting a second lot of lettuce.

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

11 comments:

  1. Your veggies are growing quicker than mine! My first ever attempt at a veg garden at age 44 - all in containers. The zucchini is doing well and may even have some tine flower heads forming.

    Caulifower and broccoli make wonderful soups, especially with your favourite cheeses included. Your soup looks delicious.

    Care and hugs from Wellington with its as usual contrary weather,

    Michelle xxx

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  2. Absolutely no sign of a winter veggie garden here in Canada. Snowboarding started this weekend up in the mountains:D

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  3. We need FREZA before we can plant anything. And, the tortoises need to be contained because they eat my lettuces!

    This soup looks so good...!

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  4. I always admire your garden Maria as you tend to it so well. For our first time we didn't do half bad this summer; we grew some zucchini, small eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers. But I still need to work on my green thumb ;)

    The soup looks and sounds quite warming and flavorful. I adore soups like this. My husband's favorite is broccoli made this way but I enjoy the cauliflower much more.

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  5. I don't think I've ever made cauliflower soup...looks great! And having worked in a number of restaurants in my youth, "the special of the day" was usually stuff that havdn't moved during the week!

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  6. Maria,
    Did you change your into about kiwis? Anyway, I like it and that you are doing your blog so that your children will have it. Your new banner looks great, too.

    Mr. Organically Grown's garden is wonderful. You have a long growing season compared to ours.

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  7. I love velvet caulifower soup. I add a small piece of leek instead of celery and 1-2 hondros' cubes... it's a very tasty franco crétois dish!

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  8. I have never eaten cauliflower soup, but yours looks so ggod! We have cooler weather coming this next week, so a pot of warming soup will be just what we need.
    Your garden looks great; I'm afraid all that I have growing now are some herbs.

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  9. Another cauliflower fan over here! :) Love your soup - and the beautiful garden!

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  10. Cauliflower is such an under appreciated vegetable. I love it so much though! Especially in a creamy soup.

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  11. I love cream of cauliflower soup (with little cream). Your soup is tasty (no doubt), healthy and filling.

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