If you watched the news at over the last few days, you’re probably aware of the snow storm that hit the north east yesterday. We were projected to get 10-18″, so schools were closed and people were racing to the grocery store and buying generators. Why does everyone act like they won’t be able to open their front doors for a week after a foot of snow? I’m always baffled by that. Anyway, so it was a snow day. It was me and the boys all day.
Playing games…
…watching the snow, eating Popsicles and wearing jammies all day…
…building Legos…
…getting a car ready for the Awana Grand Prix…
…and making some creamy cauliflower soup. I make this soup a lot. Well, I make soup in general a lot during the winter. I can make a huge pot and eat it for lunch and/or dinner for several days, which saves time. I’ve been thinking about starting a Miss Mustard Seed’s Kitchen page, so I thought I would make a recipe tutorial for this soup on a whim and share it to put my toe in the water of food blogging. (Don’t worry. This will always be a DIY/Home Decor blog, but I love cooking, too…)
If you’re someone who needs recipes with very precise measurements, my recipe tutorials are going to drive you bonkers. I rarely measure, except when I’m baking. I just eyeball everything. I just wanted to give you a head’s up.
I usually start this soup with one medium sweet onion and about four stalks of celery. (Preheat the oven to 425 at this point if you’re going to roast your cauliflower. It’s optional.)
Chop them all up. Everything’s going to get blended, so they can be chunky. Cut up the celery leaves, too. There’s some good flavor in there.
Heat up some extra virgin olive oil and a pat of butter in a heavy soup pot. I bought this enamel-coated cast iron one at Kohl’s years ago and use it often. It’s like a LeCreuset, but was only about $30 vs. a couple hundred.
Drop the veggies (these are known as aromatics) in the hot oil.
Let them get soft and lightly browned over medium heat. While that’s happening, break open a head of cauliflower.
Chop it up, so it cooks faster. (Smaller pieces = faster cooking time.)
At this point, you can drop the cauliflower into the pot once the liquid is added, but I decided to roast it today. Roasted vegetables = more flavor. More flavor = better soup. Spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet. (I line mine with foil for easy cleanup.) Drizzle a little olive oil on top.
…add a clove of chopped garlic…
(I use the stuff in the jar mostly.)
…and while you’re adding it to the cauliflower, throw some into the onions and celery. Just make sure to keep an eye on it, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Burnt garlic = not tasty.
…add a pinch of coarse kosher salt to the pot and cauliflower. As an aside, I always use low sodium/unsalted broth and butter, so I have full control over the amount of sodium in the soup. I would also suggest just lightly salting the ingredients in the early stages of making soup, because it will thicken as it cooks and the salt will concentrate. If you add too much, it can sneak up on you and become over salted. Also, I always use kosher salt when cooking. I keep it in a cute little crock by the stove and add pinches of it with my (clean) fingers.
…add some ground pepper to the pot and cauliflower. Yes, ground pepper is much, MUCH better than regular table pepper. It’s worth buying a grinder and peppercorns. (I also suggest trying freshly ground nutmeg sometimes. It will change the way you see nutmeg forever. I promise.)
…mix up the cauliflower with your hands to spread the ingredients around and coat the cauliflower.
…throw it in the oven. Mine was set at 425, because I was making a pizza for my boys.
At this point, the onions, celery and garlic should be soft and a little brown. Add some flour, probably about 2 Tbs.
Stir it around and let the flour cook a little to take away the raw flour taste. Then add about 1/2 cup white wine. Use the kind of wine one would actually want to drink, not cooking wine.
Stir it into the flour/veggies. It’ll make a bit of a chunky paste. Add a box of low sodium vegetable broth. I also add some milk. Probably about a cup. (Skip the milk, evaporated milk and butter to make this recipe vegan. It’ll still be really yummy and creamy from the pureed cauliflower)
…toss in a bay leaf. I love bay in soups.
Keep an eye on the cauliflower and take it out when it looks like this…
…slightly browned and a little tender. It’ll cook the rest of the way in the soup. Another reason I use tin foil is so I can roll in up in a U shape and slide everything into the soup. Make sure to get all of those brown bits off the foil. There’s some great flavor in those little nuggets.
Let the soup come to a bubble over medium heat. Don’t be tempted to crank up the heat to high. It might curdle the milk. If you’re scared of that happening, just use broth and bring it to a rolling boil. Allow the cauliflower to finish cooking until it’s fork tender.
And this is my secret weapon for creamy soups…evaporated milk. Open a can and pour it in.
Bring the soup back up to temperature.
Fish out the bay leaf…
Puree the soup. I like to use an immersion blender/stick blender for this. Trying to puree an entire pot of soup in a traditional blender is a mess. With a stick blender, you can just drop it in the soup and give it a whirl. If you like chunky soup, skip this step.
Salt and pepper to taste. Top with chopped flat leaf/Italian parsley. If you haven’t tried flat leaf parsley on soups…DO IT! It’s not just a garnish, but adds a fresh flavor to soup. I’m a big fan of raw greens on cooked foods.
After shooting this tutorial, I had to step back and show how I achieved the soup beauty shots…
…and a little look at the rest of the kitchen/family room while the soup making was going on…
Just keeping it real. Anyway, this soup is so creamy and yummy. I hope you’ll give it a try. By the way, about the recipes I’ll share here…like this soup, they will always be my recipes (or versions of recipes) and family recipes.
Now, if you saw the news today, you might have heard that this snow storm that got everyone in a tizzy was actually a bit of a dud (in my area, anyway.) We got about 6-7″, but it got very slushy and a lot of the snow was washed away by the afternoon. It stopped around 2 pm, so I was able to sneak down to the basement and apply the third coat of finish on my counters.
Yes. In my plaid flannel jammie pants.
It was a snow day, after all.
Ooooo, yum!! This looks sooooo good!!
I have been wanting to make cauliflower soup for months…I keep buying heads of cauliflower and eating them…raw;-) Last time I went to the store, I bought 2 heads of cauliflower…guess what’s for dinner tonight? YES, I’m finally getting my soup!!! (sans evaporated milk)…Looks really yummy!!!
This looks good – I love soup, especially during the colder months! Can’t wait to see the counters installed!!: )
Happy snow day, Marian: )
Leah
So excited about this recipe! Thanks for sharing it. I love cauliflower and soup. I will prob make this this weekend. You are the best 🙂
Marian, I love seeing your gorgeous home covered in Legos, just like my not-so-gorgeous home!
Soup looks yummy – now if I could just make it without my men seeing what I’m putting into it! LOL
Looks really yummy and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
Yum! I love it! It’s exactly how I would have explained it; measurements and all. I have really been enjoying your blog and hope to buy milk paint soon (closest retailer is 2 hours away, I’m in the boondocks too). Looking forward to what you post next 🙂
Thanks for all of the inspiration!
That looks so yummy. If I weren’t doing chicken & biscuits for supper, I’d try it tonight. Maybe next week. Thank you!
Now THIS is my kind of food/recipe tutorial! Love it! …and the photo’s were perfect! Thanks for sharing : )
This looks amazing! I have all the ingredients and will definitely be trying it out tonight. And thank you for keeping it real… it always makes me feel better about myself when I see other bloggers doing that. 🙂
Yum! This soup looks delicious!! I love to make soup and eat on it for days too. I made a pot of vegetable beef Tuesday evening because we were supposed to get the snow also. We didn’t get much but I have eaten soup three days in a row. 🙂 I love you real life shots of your messy kitchen and your boys playing!! 🙂
I make this soup all of the time using a very similar recipe, roasting the veggies adds so much flavor. I don’t add flour to mine and I use about a half cup of heavy cream, cause I’m bad like that LOL. My immersion blender died and I’m looking for a new one. Any suggestions?
I don’t measure when I make soup, or casseroles, for that matter. What do you do with one more piece of cauliflower after you measure out “so many cups”? Nice you took the day “off”. I would enjoy a recipe from you every now and then. Of course, the remodeling and refinishing tutorials are a lot like recipes. Everything you do is pretty good. I just wonder when you sleep.
I was in awana. I love cheese soup’s.
Ohhh I despise cauliflower but the recipe and photos were making me drool!!! I’ll be making potatoe soup this weekend!! Can’t wait to see counters installed!!!
this sounds so good, the pics so fun love real live with boys. this Saturday we are going to Dallas for my oldest grandsons birthday,to Lego Land! he is so into lego and so darn smart.
I love snow days!! I remember when my girls were in Awana, we use to make cars for the Awana Grand Prix. Your soup looks yummy, I’ll have to give it a try.
I think you are a very good recipe “teller”. I think a section like this would be a nice addition when you think the time is right. It will have the MMS touch I am sure. I love your comment about people freaking out about the snow. Growing up in Northern Michigan I know snow! I have become a wimp now that I’ve been away from serious snow for 20 plus years. However, it is hard for people in the states that don’t have the resources (trucks) to keep the roads plowed. A few weeks ago we got 6″ (?) here in MO and they didn’t even have one lane on the main road cleared! The highway was shut down….ugh! As for your home–I am so glad to see someone else who has a TON of preserved boxwoods as decor. I thought I had gone overboard and still want more when you show how to make them! Sounds like you had a good, productive, and balanced day:)
I grew up in Southern California. We once got a light dusting of snow (very rare) and everything was shut down. It was less than half an inch. They had nothing at all.
A snow day- what fun! We don’t get those too often in Texas, but a day off in your jammies is always nice. 😉
The soup looks good…and having you share more recipes on your blog would be a fun addition! I think food & DIY definitely go together. 🙂
Hugs,
Gail
I would love to try that soup, but if Mr. Z. knew what was in it, he would not eat it. He loves potato soup and we have that often. But you bet, I will try this. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Audrye Z. @ Timeless Treasures
wow! That soup looks really yummy and your boys look incredibly adorable! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve never heard of cauliflower soup but this looks delish! On another note, I missed your Furniture Feature party tonight. Hope all is well there!
Thank you for the real shots! You have an amazing home!… with boys (I have two also) it just makes me appreciate you more because you seem like a normal mom! Thanks for the continued inspiration!
Thanks for the heads up on the enamel pot. I have been thinking about getting one and wondering if I would really like it, especially since with out family size, I usually need my 12-quart pan in order to make soup, and the largest enamel pans are not usually that big–and the biggest ones ate the most. I don’t usually find Kohl’s to be a great source for kitchen prices, but you’ve got me wondering what other brands of enamelware exist that are not going to cost me $400 for a pot.
Flat-leaf parsley is wonderful. It grows year-round for me; I have some growing in my garden right now. I just made plans this week to grow even more in my garden.
Marian, Even though we won’t be having snow day here in New Orleans, we are going through a “cold” snap ( 45ish ) :)! Love cauliflower, for holidays I bread it and deep fry it, always first thing to go and during the summer I defrost a couple of bags of frozen cauliflower, make a really good Italian marinade and make marinated cauliflower salad. In hopes this will be one of our last cold snaps, I think I will make your soup recipe. While roasting the cauliflower, I’ll roast a big batch (probably 4 or 5 heads of garlic) and use that in the soup instead of the minced jar stuff. Roasted garlic keeps forever (well maybe not forever, but a long long time). After roasting, put in a plastic container and pour olive oil over it and store in fridge, you have it whenever you need it, with the added benefit of the great garlic oil you are creating! Thanks for the recipe! And of course you need a recipe page!
Love it! You don’t need to be a full blown foodie to share some recipes here and there! And thanks for the “real” shots, they’re always enjoyed 🙂
More soup recipes please! I can’t wait to try this one.
Sounds great, I make a broccoli soup almost the same way, not the evaporated milk, though.. I have been making or trying to make Panera Tomato soup every week……Finally I think I got it to perfection….My husband loves a bowl of soup before his meal, takes the edge off of being soo hungry and over eating….or so they say HA….I love that you are so real, we all have messes, it is part of life, thank you for being you..
Looks delish! It’s NICE to see you cooking for a change! Think a kitchen page would be great….next thing you know you’ll have a cookbook!
Thanks for this! We love roasted cauliflower and cauliflower mash so I know we will love it. Soups are our favorite in winter, too. Sometimes chili or split pea, often refrigerator and freezer soup. That’s the one you make out of all the bits and pieces of leftovers you’ve been saving.
Marian, have we told you lately how much we love you?
This post was a slice of heaven. From the swirling snow outside to the
Warm flannel jams to the bubbling cast iron pot on the stove’ you twirled us
Around your creative little finger. Thank you for such a warm sweet post
And making my day..I feel all is right with the world.
Peggy
I love whatever you do on your blog!
I’d love to know the size of your pot! I’m looking on the Koh’ls website now!
Yummy. Im adding this to my list of ingredients to get at the grocery this weekend.
Just for future reference – my sister found a great plug-in for posting recipes that makes it super easy to print them and they are easy to read. You could add that at the end of your post with all the pics just for printing purposes! Love the idea of you doing food too. If you want the info on the plugin let me know!
This sounds amazing…I never measure anything accurately either…it’s no fun! I posted this on my facebook page for all to enjoy! YUM!
Your soup sounds amazing, I am going to put it on my list of things to make someday. I appreciate how you do show us how your house is not always picture perfect, makes the rest of us feel better about our realness (is that a word?)
I always have to laugh at snow days, there weren’t any when I was a child. If there had been we would never have gone to school. I grew up in Montana and there was always snow. If it was below 0 the buses wouldn’t run, but my mother would take us anyway. So when I moved to Northern California and my kids had their first snow day I laughed and laughed. But it is nice to have a fun day at home once in awhile. Glad to see you and your boys enjoy the time off.
I am inspired by your painting, but I am even MORE in awe of your writing. Marian, you make me smile. As you said, “Just keepin it real!”
I love soup and like you I make it a lot in the colder months. I made fresh homemade mushroom soup yesterday. Yum! Can’t wait to try your recipe next. Thanks!
OH the soup sounds delicious! I have cooking lessons with our middle son and this sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the 4 hr baguette he is making Sunday afternoon…. yep the perfect after church activity. I love the your photo set-up!
So Sparks or T&T? I have to check the calendar but I think we have the Grand Prix this coming Wednesday night. If not then, it will be the following week…. between the beginning of high school track season, the end of middle school swim season, the final details for spring break activities, the 8th grade trip… well AWANA’s schedule gets a little lost.
Thanks for sharing the recipe! (i had to laugh because that is how i cook and it drives my mom crazy… she needs exact amounts even though she is a great cook!)
Once again have a wonderful day!
Sounds good, I love making soup! I would highly recommend the Apple and Rutabaga Soup from the Inn At Little Washingtons’ restaurant…it’s on their website. It’s worth all the chopping!
Hey, how did you know I have a head of cauliflower in my fridge that needs to get used up like NOW?!? That looks yummy. Definitely going to try this — just hope I haven’t let my cauliflower go too long. :/
I love creamy cauliflower soup! The first time I tasted it was at Tivoli in Pacific Palisades, California, and I craved it during my first pregnancy! I can’t wait to try your recipe this weekend.
Here’s a tip for your enameled stock pot: a Mr. Clean dry eraser will keep the inside nice and white!
Marian, I just wanted to say how much I like the photo taken from the back of your couch where your two boys are sitting side by side. That’s a keeper, and I think it deserves a place in a frame showcased somewhere in Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Very cute.
Thanks for keeping it real. my children are grown now so it’s only me and the man. And you can’t cook and clean the house at the same time. Love your blog!!
You might want to create videos for your recipes. It would work well with your cooking style. Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food is a great example.
Looks and sounds yummy! I have a broccoli and/or cauliflower soup recipe that I haven’t made in a long time – I think I will have to try yours instead. Love the “keepin’ it real” – my real house with boys looks much like yours 🙂
Yes! I love the way that you post your recipes. That is the way that I do mine. I am an “eyeballer” too. 🙂 Don’t give me tons of detail….just give me the gist. 🙂 Your soup looks yummy…and your snow day looks cozy. k.
Yes, In Like A Lion…March Madness! it was a beautiful snow day! THINKIN’ SPRING!
It seems as if you have been food blogging for years. This was an excellent post.
Well done, keep it up, don’t change a thing. Thank you.
that just made me wanna cook…
I hope you’ll sprinkle a few food posts in here and there! And if you know good substitutes for alcoholic ingredients in your recipes, please share 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE that you’re sharing the “behind the scenes” shots and keeping it real! It certainly helps us fellow antiquers/diyers/stay-at-home moms relate! I too love to cook and can completely relate to having a piece I’ve got a first coat on and running into the kitchen to check on the homemade pizza in the oven! Thanks so much for sharing all that you do and for being such an amazing inspiration! 🙂
Marion,
I love how you show us how your house really looks, not just when it’s photo ready. There’s hope for me yet. I’m definitely going to try this soup. It looks deeeelicious.
Hi:
Yummy soup, but we had 14″ of snow, wind, ice, black ice, and its impossible to go out.
I live 10 blocks from the ocean, and believe me,, it is bad here. You are lucky you don’t get all the snow, but please be sensitive to the rest Northeasterners that suffer through storm after stom, including one week without lights, heat, or phones, its very cold, and everything is closed. All of our food is ruined and the only restaurant open is a chinese one with long lines.
Sorry but our snow storms are very real in Ct, Ma. and other places, I guess over in PA
is not that bad.
Our kids and families are in their PJ’s also but its not fun to loose your electricity and just seat for hours in front of a fireplace.
Kate
Sorry to hear you are having such a tough time. I was just writing about my own day and certainly didn’t mean any offense.
Kate, don’t be so sensitive girlfriend. Marion would never deliberately offend anyone. Come to Eastern Canada where I live. We get that kind of snowfall every other week. Blessings to you and all your snowbound friends.
i love to serve soups over a bed of fresh spinach!
question: will my husband and i like this if #1: we don’t like celery and #2: we don’t know if we like cauliflower?
lol! thanks! would love to see recipes from you! i love cooking and baking and trying out new recipes. also love your behind the scenes photo. our apartment only looks perfect when company is coming over. the rest of the time, it looks like that. 😉
-sierra
Sierra,Before you go all out for the soup maybe you could boil some cauliflower, mash it like potatoes with olive oil and salt to see if you actually like it. 😉 I think you’ll love it. It’s yummy!! And Marion, I can’t wait to try this soup. I’m only allowed to make soup if my husband has no warning first. lol He usually loves them though and I am pretty sure he will love this one! Thank you for sharing.
Keeping it real. I love it. Thanks for sharing . . . Our snow days have often included power outages, so that means pioneer days (cooking on our woodstove) board games and evenings by candle light. Different but fun . . . for a short time!
Wow! I tried this soup last night. I did roast the cauliflower. It was delicious, and my husband loved it! Many thanks for a great recipe.
Catching up on your blog posts and had to share that we bought a pot like that (enamelized cast iron) for one very specific dish…true chicken and sausage gumbo. Cast iron is one of the best vessels to make a dark roux and we go so dark it’s a blink before burning (dark chocolate). lol! Anyway, just thought to share in the event you hadn’t tried it before and were so inclined.
I finally got around to making this and in is truly delicious! Ok I will have to be honest…. I did not follow the recipe to a “T”.. I used it “more as a guideline” (can you tell we watch pirates of a carribean?) Didn’t have wine or celery so a touch of bacon fat was added plus homemade chicken stock and celery seed. CAN NOT STOP EATING IT!
Thank you for sharing!
Marian: Thank you for sharing this hearty yet health conscious recipe. I look forward to making it, and YES, YES, YES, please continue with the food blogging- we love it!