When we go grocery shopping, we always go with a budget and a list which means we generally have the week's meals planned out. Sometimes, things that weren't on the list sneak into the cart. This time I grabbed a cauliflower with no ideas for it... if nothing else, I knew it'd get thrown into the roasted veggie mixes (we eat baked chicken and roasted veggies once or twice a week for dinner).
I don't know why, but I decided I wanted cream soup, and I've never actually made a cauliflower soup, so it seemed like the thing to do. The cheese was a last minute idea since I remembered we had them in the fridge, and I'm glad I did! This soup came out great... I really liked it.
I can't even tell you why, but I've had Billy Joel running through my brain... which then, instantly makes me think of the Gimmes. So Me First and the Gimme Gimmes doing "Only The Good Die Young" (because they didn't eat their cauliflower). -jen
6 tablespoons butter + 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, separated
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
3 medium carrots, diced (about 1.5 cups)
2 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
1 poblano or green pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
1 medium head cauliflower, roughly chopped
3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
2 cups heavy cream
1.5 cups shredded Asiago cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar or Cojack cheese
2 teaspoons sherry
several dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
a few dashes of cayenne pepper or Sriracha sauce (optional)
In a large stockpot, saute onion, carrots, celery and pepper in 6 tablespoons of butter over a medium-high heat until vegetables are softened, 5-7 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, garlic, thyme, marjoram and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. (At this point, I like to use a stick blender or regular blender to blend about 2/3 of the soup, smoothing it out a little but I like to leave a few chunks. You can leave everything whole, or blend the whole thing, whatever you prefer!)
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, melt remaining 1 stick of butter. Stir in flour and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, to make a roux. Remove from heat. When the cauliflower in the broth is tender (and blended, if you're blending any), add the roux and the heavy cream. Bring back to a boil, then simmer, stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the cheese, one handful at a time, stir until completely melted before adding next handful. Add sherry, Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste, and cayenne or Sriracha, if desired.
I garnished mine with some of the shredded cojack and some diced scallions I had in the fridge.
As I've stated before, we are always looking for a better mac & cheese recipe as it is, in my humble opinion, the ultimate comfort food. If you were of the poorer persuasion as a child, then you undoubtedly grew up with the store bought stuff in a blue box (we all know what brand I'm referring to, hopefully) and while that is a suitable quick fix, I've got a recipe that doesn't take very long that comes out better by several orders of magnitude. This can be doctored any way you like. I decided to go with bacon and green onions at Jen's request and I believe it worked beautifully. But you could do roasted garlic, or leeks, or add green beans, or sausage or pepperoni, or whatever you like! Incidentally, you can use almost any cheese, or cheeses, you want with this so get creative if you feel like it. Just remember that the harder a cheese is, generally, the more oily it'll be when it melts. I went with some Colby Jack as it's a good all around cheese for flavor and meltiness and also used some Smoked Gouda to stretch the smokey flavor without overpowering the dish with bacon (is there such a thing?).
To accompany this musically, I went with an old favorite, Down By Law. Their album Punkrockacademyfightsong is a classic and one I've listened to so often that I know it by heart. My favorite song on there is without a doubt 1944 so I went with that, though I listened to most of the album again, just to be sure. It's that good.
Mac & Cheese Time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Easy Serves: 4-6
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pasta
4-6 cups water
1/4 cup salt
1 lb Rigatoni or Rotini pasta (these hold the sauce well but use whatever you like)
In large stock pot or dutch oven, bring water and salt to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and return to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 12 minutes or until your pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and drain in a colander. Place back in pot and cover till compiling the dish.
Sauce
2 strips thick cut bacon, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shallot, minced
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 cups heavy cream (if you like a thinner sauce also use an additional cup of whole milk)
12 oz cheese, grated
1/4 cup green onion, diced
In a small skillet, heat bacon over medium high heat until crisp, 4-5 minutes, stirring as needed. Drain off excess grease and set bacon aside. In a 2 qt saucepan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat and add shallots when the butter has melted. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until your shallots start to brown a little. Add the flour and stir in thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium low and brown the flour for 2 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and heavy cream (milk as well if you are using it). Return heat to medium high and bring the cream to a low boil. Add 8 oz of the grated cheese, reserving a third for later use, and the green onions and crisp bacon. Stir continuously until cheese has melted completely.
Add your cheese sauce to the drained pasta and mix thoroughly. Spoon the cheese sauce and pasta into a 2 qt, glass baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese, and place in the 350 degree oven for 5 -10 minutes or until the top cheese is melted. Serve immediately and enjoy the cheesy creaminess!
