According to what I read online, cauliflower was the “it” vegetable for 2014.

Where was I?

Don’t get me wrong. I love cauliflower. I just didn’t get the memo.

No problem that I missed the big party, though. Cauliflower continues to be “hot” in the culinary world. In fact, cruciferous vegetables of all sorts– from broccoli to brussels sprouts to kale to cauliflower–are enjoying a surge in popularity.

That is very good news! This is a group of healthful vegetables that was pushed to the side of the plate (or passed under the table to the eager pup) for far too long.

It’s been quite a remarkable turnaround, too. Remember when President George H. W. Bush went on that infamous petulant rant about broccoli? “I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” He subsequently banned broccoli on Air Force One.

And, cauliflower (the subject of this post) hasn’t always gotten a lot of respect either. Mark Twain famously quipped: “Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” That’s pretty harsh.

Here’s your history lesson. Cauliflower is related to wild cabbage and is believed to have been cultivated as early as the 6th century B.C.  It was introduced into Spain in the 12th century via Syria where it had been cultivated for a thousand years and eventually became popular in Northern Europe. In the 17th century, France’s Louis XIV reportedly was so taken with the vegetable that he pressured his celebrity chef La Varenne to prepare “chou fleur” regularly and often for his table at Versailles. His successor, Louis XV, continued the Bourbon love affair with cauliflower—literally. His chefs were instructed to showcase cauliflower à la du Barry at royal functions–cauliflower napped in a mornay sauce and sprinkled with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and browned. It was a nod to his mistress, the voluptuous Madame Du Barry. (Call me sentimental, but what could be more romantic than to have your special guy name a cauliflower casserole after you?)

Cauliflower has gotten more beautiful over the years, too. Modern growers now produce a kaleidoscope of cauliflowers in addition to the basic white. The colorful ones–orange, green and purple cauliflowers–are more nutrient-rich than white cauliflowers. Orange cauliflower, for instance, has twenty-five times more vitamin A than white cauliflower. Purple cauliflower is rich in the same antioxidants that are found in red cabbage, red wine and blueberries. Interestingly, for the home cook, the colorful cauliflowers hold their color when cooked. (By the way, the “flower” sections of the cauliflower are called “curds.” )

Whatever color you choose, cauliflower is low in fat, high in fiber and a half-cup serving provides 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement. Cauliflower also provides vitamin K which is believed to have anti-inflammatory benefits and B vitamins as well. The Centers for Disease Control ranks cauliflower among the thirty top powerhouse vegetables (nutrients vs. calories).

Cauliflower is versatile, too.  In an article in the Los Angeles Times in 2014, food writer Russ Parsons extolled cauliflower’s virtues: “…cauliflower has two distinct personalities. Cook it quickly and you’ll see its aggressive, brassy side; it’s a vegetable that you can pair with all sorts of big flavors–garlic, capers, chiles, anchovies. Cook it slowly and you won’t believe how sweet and mellow it becomes, with a hint of something that smells very much like white truffles.”

It’s that good.

And, whatever you do, don’t let anyone try to pull that “I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more cauliflower” stuff on you.

This cauliflower soup has gotten excellent reviews from my friends.

This is my adaptation of a Food Network recipe by Ree Drummond. The link to the original recipe appears at the end of this post.

Ingredients: Cauliflower Soup

1 stick butter
1/2 large onion (finely diced)
1 carrot (finely diced)
1 celery stalk (finely diced)
1 head of cauliflower (cored and roughly chopped)
2 T. finely minced fresh parsley
8 C. vegetable broth
6 T. all-purpose flour
2 C. whole milk
1 C. half-an-half
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper
1 C. sour cream (at room temperature)
Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions: Over medium heat, melt 1/2 stick of butter in a heavy pot. Sautee onions in butter until translucent (about 3 minutes). Add diced carrots and celery and briefly saute. Add cauliflower and stir into butter-vegetable mixture. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Add parsley and vegetable broth. Simmer soup for 10 minutes.

While soup is simmering, melt 1/2 stick of butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. When the butter is melted, whisk in flour and cook flour-butter mixture for a few minutes. (Don’t let it burn.) Whisk in milk. Remove this white sauce from the heat and add half-and-half. Pour the milk-half-and-half mixture into the soup. Your soup will thicken slightly but will stay relatively thin. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer the soup for 20-30 minutes.

Stir in (room temperature) sour cream.

Garnish with chopped parsley.

Here is the link to the original Ree Drummond recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cauliflower-soup-recipe.html

Today is my friend Norma’s birthday. You go, Norma!

Norma is a talented gourd artist whose gourd dolls and masks have consistently won ribbons at the Orange County Fair. Her jewelry is exquisite, too. She is one creative lady!

Norma also is an excellent cook.

On more occasions that I can count, Norma has delivered a tray of enchiladas on my doorstep when the going has gotten rough in my life. I am forever grateful to her for that kindness.

In honor of Norma and her affection for Mexican food, here is an adaptation of a soup recipe from Rick Bayless’ best-selling Everyday Mexican cookbook.

Recipe: Mushroom Potato Crema with Roasted Poblanos
1 1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves (peeled and halved)
6 C vegetable broth
1 large poblano chile
8 oz. mushrooms (sliced 1/4 inch thick–about 3 C. sliced)
1 C. fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 C. heavy cream or sour cream
Salt
1/4 C. cilantro (chopped) for garnish

Directions:
Cook the chopped potatoes and garlic in 1/2 the broth over medium high heat until the potatoes and garlic are soft.

While the potatoes are cooking, roast the poblano chile under the broiler in your oven (or over the flame of your gas stove) until it is blistered. Remove from oven and put into a paper bag for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes, remove the chile from bag and peel the skin off the chile. Rinse to remove seeds. Chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside.

Remove half of the potatoes from the broth and set aside. Use an immersion blender to puree the remainder of the potatoes in the cooking broth. Add extra broth to the potatoes if you need to to puree the potato mixture. Add the remaining half of the broth along with the reserved chopped potatoes, mushrooms, poblano, and corn to the mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.

Just before serving, add cream to soup and stir. Taste and season with salt. Garnish with cilantro and grated cheese.

Cook’s Notes: Bayless purees all the potatoes in his recipe. I chose to keep half the potatoes whole to give the soup a more chowder-like quality. It’s your call. I used fresh corn for my soup. The corn I bought at this week’s farmers market was sweet and complemented the flavors in this soup. Also, I sprinkled a few strands of cotija cheese on top of the soup at serving time along with a sprinkle of paprika.

“Ever notice that Soup For One is eight aisles away from Party Mix?”

                                                            —Elayne Boosler

Soup humor. It never gets old.

I’ve always been in love with soup. Hot soup. Cold soup. Funny soup. It’s all good. 

I’ve been making (and enjoying) this soup for a very long time. (The recipe printout I have tucked away in one of my recipe notebooks is dated 1998.)   The source of the recipe is not clear. My printout says something about geo-cities and Napa Valley. So, thank you Napa Valley!

This soup, made with butternut squash rather than pumpkin, is beautiful. The color is a vibrant, warm orange. I’ve been sitting here trying to think how to describe the pretty orange color. I’ve decided that it is “Creamsicle Orange.” (Anyone else wax nostalgic about the orange creamsicles of yore? )

Cream, added to your taste after pureeing the soup, gives this soup an extra boost and a velvety texture. I’ve served it many times as a first course at dinner parties and I often enjoy a big bowl of the soup all by itself for dinner. Today, Tony, my handyman, and I enjoyed a steaming bowl of the soup as we discussed repair projects at my home.

Incidentally, I photographed this soup in a post-WWII-era soup tureen that belonged to my grandmother. I’m named after her. She was the most positive loving influence in my life. I inherited her china many years ago. The bottom of her china pieces identifies her pattern as “Victoria” made by Fuji China in “occupied Japan.” I was amazed to find pieces of her pattern on the Replacements, Ltd. site and I was able to make a complete set. I’ll never know how my grandmother came to have this set of china. A set of china of whatever quality would have been a huge extravagance.

But, I digress. Back to the soup and the butternut squash.

Here comes the history lesson. Winter squash, a new world native vegetable, is a member of the same family that gives us cucumbers and melons.  According to food expert Harold McGee, winter squash was probably domesticated in the Americas around 5000 BCE. A number of varieties of squash developed over time and the forebearers to the butternut squash we eat today have been around in South and Central America for a very long time– typically with lots of seeds and little edible flesh.

Today’s fleshy butternut squash was developed in the 1940s in Massachusetts by a man named Charles A. Leggett whose primary occupation was selling insurance for the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. An illness in the family caused Leggett to buy a house in Stow, Massachusetts, with 94 acres of land. Leggett’s subsequent efforts to earn a little extra money growing corn were less than successful, and he turned his attention to growing squash. Looking for a profitable cash crop, Leggett crossed a gooseneck squash with other types of squash and eventually came up with the butternut. “Smooth as butter and sweet as a nut,” the butternut squash was born.

Leggett’s squash is good for you. It is rich in beta-carotene, magnesium, manganese, calcium and potassium. It is rich in dietary fiber. It is low fat, too. A cup of butternut squash has only 82 calories. Talk about a super food!

It is versatile, too. This sturdy squash holds its shape when sautéed but when cooked in soups can be pureed to a silky fine consistency. Roasted, the butternut takes on a rich sweetness. Steamed, it preserves most of its inherent nutrients. Because this squash is moderately sweet, it can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. This soup recipe, for example,  is a wonderful example of the use of pureed butternut squash, but I also have had a spectacular chili with chunks of butternut mixed with the beans and spices. In writing this, I also came across references to butternut squash custards spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. I’ve  put squash custard on my to-do list.

Then again, you could make a centerpiece out of it.

If, like me, you have a tendency to buy food ingredients in anticipation of cooking, something that may or may not happen quickly, butternut squash is a good deal. While it is at its peak in the fall, it lasts for months stored at around 55 degrees F. and kept dry. Choose a butternut that is heavy for its size and large. Heaviness is an indication of high moisture content. A large butternut is likely to have a more developed flavor. The squash you choose should also be hard. When nobody is looking, press your fingernail into the butternut’s flesh. If your fingernail penetrates the flesh, look for another squash. The one you’ve just tested is immature. (As it is with men, immaturity is not a good thing.)

So, make this soup even if you are the only guest at your table.  You won’t regret it and your soup-for-one may just turn into a party.

Recipe: Israeli Pumpkin Soup
4 t. olive oil
2 lbs. butternut squash (peeled and chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
1 chile (seeded and chopped)
2 tomatoes (chopped)
8 C. vegetable broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cream (to your taste)
Paprika and Chopped Cilantro to Garnish

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Saute squash, onion, garlic and chile in hot oil until it just begins to brown. Add tomatoes and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook for an hour until the solids in the soup are soft. Cool and puree. Add cream to your taste. Serve hot garnished with chopped cilantro and paprika.