Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Food And Drink's Cauliflower Soup With Spiced Pear Chips~




They always have unique..lovely recipes.. I collect the magazines when I can..we missed The Holiday Issue..but I found the recipe online~You can also find so many of their wonderful recipes there..The magazine is free..French and English publications.. offered at the LCBOs with purchase..I think I would be mortified to walk out without a purchase considering the quality of these books and the friendly people at the branch we go to~:)




I love looking at cauliflower:) A little marvel of nature to me~The cream..the green..the white..the shape..the bouquets:)



No matter how you look at it..it's gorgeous..
I was happy to find a new cauliflower soup recipe in The LCBO's Holiday Issue online..

The pears did me in:)




They are sliced thin and baked between parchment and cookie sheets with paprika, salt,pepper and cinnamon sprinkled atop..... they crisp up..then soften in the soup..and the spices add a perfect soupçon of surprise flavors..



La Recette~
Courtesy of Holiday 2008 Food And Drink Magazine/LCBO

Dressed up with a touch of orange and
snappy,
spiced pear chips, cauliflower
becomes fit for company in this easy
soup. Make it a day or two ahead of time
and you only need to reheat and finish it
with a fresh burst of orange just before
serving. The pear chips can be made
days ahead of time and stored in a cookie
tin but you might need to hide them so
they don’t disappear before it’s time to
serve the soup.
SOUP
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 all-purpose potato, peeled and diced
4 cups (1 L) vegetable or chicken stock
(approx.)
2 cups (500 mL) water
7 cups (1.75 L) chopped cauliflower
(approx. 1 head)
½ tsp (2 mL) grated orange zest
1 tbsp (15 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
SPICED PEAR CHIPS
1 firm ripe Bartlett or Bosc pear
½ tsp (2 mL) sweet paprika
1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 For soup, melt butter over medium
heat in a large pot. Add onion and sauté
for about 5 minutes until softened but
not browned. Add garlic, bay leaf, ½ tsp
(2 mL) salt and ¼ tsp (1 mL) pepper and
sauté for 1 minute or until garlic is softened
and fragrant.
2 Add potato, stock and water; bring to a
boil, scraping up bits stuck to pot. Stir in
cauliflower.
Reduce heat to medium-low,
cover and boil gently for about 15 minutes
or until cauliflower
and potatoes are
soft. Remove from heat.
3 Discard bay leaf. Using an immersion
blender in pot or, transferring soup
in batches to an upright blender, purée
soup until very smooth. Soup can be
cooled, covered and refrigerated
for up
to 2 days.
4 For spiced pear chips, preheat oven to
275°F (140° C).
5 Line a large baking sheet with parchment
paper. Cut pear lengthwise into
paper-thin slices. Combine paprika, cinnamon,
salt and pepper to taste. Lightly
sprinkle over both sides of pear slices.
Place on baking sheet in a single layer.
Place another sheet of parchment paper
on top and set another baking sheet on
top of paper to keep pears flat.
6 Bake for 45 minutes or until pears are
very soft and starting to dry around the
edges. Remove top baking sheet and
carefully peel off top piece of parchment.
Bake for 15 to 30 minutes longer, checking
often, until pears are dry and firm.
They will crisp more upon cooling. Carefully
peel pears from parchment while
still warm and place on a wire rack to
cool completely.
7 To serve, return soup to pot if necessary
and reheat over medium heat until
steaming, stirring often. Stir in orange
zest and juice and season with salt and
pepper to taste. Ladle
into warmed bowls
and float a pear chip on top of each. Serve
extra pear chips on the side.
Serves 8

My notes..I added some snips of fresh chives~
I halved the cauliflower..used one whole potato..and 4 cups of stock..no water~

Taste and season..Taste and season:)

38 comments:

  1. Oh I would love to make this to taste the flavors. And you make it look incredibly beautiful!

    I AGREE, Food & Drink ... it is one of the most beautiful food magazines I have ever seen.

    I never would have known if it weren't for you. The recipes and photography are incredible. You could be a contributor you know.

    Other magazines come and go, but those you have sent stay on the book shelf with my cookbooks. I treasure each one.

    Merci, merci, mon ami. Your images are gorgeous.

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  2. wonderful pictures monique and the recipe sounds great, i love the pear chips... this is so inspiring!

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  3. I have a confession. I don't like vegetables and am always at a loss when it comes to cooking with vegetables. Hence, one of my reasons to get the juicer is to force myself to take in more fruits and vegetables. Your soup has provided me with another option...:) for it looks really good. Beautiful pictures again!

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  4. Your soup looks fantastic and the pear chips -- wonderful!

    The chicken dishes are candy dishes which I picked up a number of years ago at places like Wal Mart and Target -- they were all of $5 each I think. They've been made for a long time and come in other colors -- milk glass, green, amber. You can also find them in flea markets. Because they're candy dishes, they don't hold hot foods -- but they are great for chicken salad!

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  5. I have not seen the magazine but it sounds as though it is excellent. This is a unique combination of flavors....goodness, you must have spent hours preparing the pears! They do look so nice, though.

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  6. Only you can make a cauliflower look beautiful, Monique. :) I don't mind making the soup but the pears! They require so much more attention and effort! I am sure the combination tasted stunning. :) Pretty soup. Just so pretty!

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  7. Just gorgeous Nana. Cauliflower is my favourite vegetable. Ok, so it's only one of my favourite vegetables, but I love it just the same! xxoo

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  8. Cauliflower and pear. Now that's a combination I've never tried, but sure sounds fantastic. What a treasure of a magazine!

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  9. oh the pears are beautiful Monique!imagne that ..crisp pears ! n the soup looks delish too! beautiful!

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  10. Bonjour Monique, que de parfum sublime pour un seul potage, ça me plaît beaucoup.

    Passe une super journée.
    Josée xx

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  11. Your cauliflower looks like exotic blossoms... soup sounds delicious too! I wonder how it would be with cauliflower pancakes... hmmm???

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  12. Good morning..Thank you. everything is easier than it looks..Ju I loved your double post with Zurin this am..so sweet!
    Mary I am glad you still enjoy the magazine..sometimes it's the associations too:) Martha..you did well on those covered dishes..are are much $$ now..I Googled..very cute!

    Have a great day.

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  13. Oh boy this looks absolutely delicious!
    I would love a bowl....NOW!
    L~xo

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  14. I am so far behind! It's been such a busy week with the girls and my precious little guy :)

    What a beautiful bowl of soup! I love cauliflower - especially when I can get the big beautiful heads from the Farmers Market in the summer.

    Beautiful photos!

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  15. This looks so incredibly good. What a great combination of flavors and textures.
    Mimi

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  16. Qu'est ce que c'est beau !
    Des photos absolument sensationnelles !
    Et le goût de ce velouté ... hum
    Bravo, bravo

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  17. You've made the cauliflower look like a queen. Gorgeous photos. Wow.
    Sam

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  18. I think I'd like to just nibble on those pear crisps!

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  19. The cauliflower looks like it is reaching out to say hello. Your pics are so amazing and this flavor combination has me intrigued. Thank you, thank you...

    Diane

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  20. I have been missing..computer probs again..grrr that DELL!
    The soup looks beautiful...And the pear chip..who knew??
    Soup weather here..got very cold again!

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  21. Your pictures are fantastic. That is my next project - better pictures. Love the pear chip idea. How long will they keep?

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  22. Beautiful pics. As usual!
    I think I'll make this soup Saturday night for my dinner party guests.
    I wish we had the magazine here.
    Thanks for the recipe.
    Pam

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  23. I have missed so much!!!


    I promise to catch up.


    Missed you most of all.
    Everything looks so wonderful.
    It is just as I remembered it,
    only with more...

    that's how it feels coming home.

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  24. your soup look like really treat !!

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  25. Hello! So nice to see you:) The pear chips..they were gone the second day.. They are easy to much one.. I think they would certainly peep a few days..~
    Coooold here also..Have a wonderful day~

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  26. This cauliflower soup is stunning-very elegant. This would be perfect for Valentine's Day.

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  27. I'm gone one day and look what I missed !...Love cauliflower soup...but the pear chips..how genius, that must just be like a party all over the taste buds!!!
    Great shot of the sliced buds!
    xoxo~Kathy @ Sweet Up-North Mornings...

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  28. OMG!! I have to try this one! I have a cauliflower and some pears in the fridge right now... it looks scrumptious!!
    Glad you liked my Ann and Andy!
    Monica.

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  29. I've never seen such pretty cauliflower photographs Monique! You've made cauliflower into art.

    Laura

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  30. This looks delicious, Monique. I love cauliflower - and I agree with you - it's one of nature's marvels! The touch of orange in this soup and the pear crisps - what unusual and I'm sure tasty additions! I want to try this soon!

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  31. I never saw cauliflower look as good as in your photos. Bravo. I'm in the mood for this recipe right now!
    Maureen

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  32. That looks so cool!!!! I love the pear chips. I'm in awe. You always make such beautiful dishes. Thank you for sharing that.

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  33. Another bookmark! And more gorgeous photos. LOL, cauliflower cut in half always looks like brains to me...too much neuroanatomy class, I guess. Butr they TASTE veryvery good.

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  34. It's not me..It's the LCBO that is responsible for this ingenious recipe..Thank you !

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  35. I finally made this soup today - it is delicious! It was ingenious of YOU to make this and share it with everyone! :-D I will definitely be making this many more times, especially as 'soup season' is in full swing. Thank you, Monique!

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