Curried Cauliflower Soup with Red Pepper Purée and Honey Pear Cheesecake
The phone rang at 8 this morning. I had been up for awhile, and was helping W make oatmeal. (To sum: no no no I can do it myself I CAN DO IT MYSELF! Insert dramatic throwing of self on the floor when I absentmindedly added the raisins. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It’s a good thing there was still flax seed that needed to be added is all I can say.)
Want to know who it was? It was Michael Smith. I can’t really tell you this story without name dropping, so there you go. It was Michael, losing his mind a little bit upon discovering his identity had been stolen on Twitter. Turns out some guy (or girl, as the case may be) has been posing as Michael, twittering about his family and even offering up the chance to meet him and come on set, since May. It only became obvious when the fake began bashing the Montréal food scene last night – so not cool – and so not Michael.
(To clarify: it’s not like I’m Michael’s wingman, the problem solver he calls when he needs things fixed. It’s just that I twittered him -aka the impostor- last night and he -the impostor- answered, and so I came up on the radar. Also, he doesn’t call every morning so that we can coordinate our outfits or to see what I’m having for breakfast.)
So it was damage control in PEI today, and I myself peppered my followers with alerts to Unfollow! RT! Fake! The good news is the real, actual Michael has been thrust into twitterland by all of this, and you can now follow him at @chefMICHAELsmth. (Yes, that’s him. NOT the other one.)
So Michael has been on my mind today. He really is a fantastic guy, just as he is on TV (not everyone is exactly like their on-air persona, I’m sad to say). I get to see him a few times a year, usually, and every November when we get together at the Jasper Park Lodge to eat and drink for a week. (You should come!) So I was perusing his website, looking for info on his (beautiful!) new book but distracted by recipes, and stumbled upon one for cauliflower soup.
Which made me pause only because I have a pot of cauliflower soup in my fridge, destined for dinner tonight. I made it yesterday to bring to my parents’ house, where my aunt and uncle are staying and where we all converged for dinner. It was good, but plain, like vichyssoise – I planned to stir some Boursin cheese into it, but then had none. Instead we crumbled blue cheese into the bottoms of the bowls before ladling the hot soup over.
I was wondering if it might benefit from some curry paste to liven it up tonight when I came upon Michael’s, which is curried, and made with orange juice. Mine was made with apples. I hastily threw the cauliflower directly into the pot; he roasted it first. (The only problem with this scenario: I’d eat so much of it straight from the pan that there wouldn’t be enough left for the soup.) So tonight, when I reheated the soup I stirred in a small glob of curry paste, and I simmered a withering red pepper with a splash of V-8 and took his advice to puree it (a hand-held blender worked fine – it was chunky, but delicious) and spoon it overtop. It was sweet and made a nice foil against the spicier soup. Halfway through my bowl I went back to the stove and dumped the rest of it overtop and swirled it in, the way I used to swirl chocolate sauce into ice cream.
Curried Cauliflower Soup with Apples & Red Pepper Purée
AuthorJulie
Heat a drizzle of oil in a largish pot and sauté the onion until soft; add the garlic and curry paste and cook for another minute or two. Add the cauliflower, apple and chicken stock, plus a little water if it needs it to barely cover the cauliflower, and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is very tender.
Remove from heat and purée with a hand-held immersion blender, right in the pot (or do it in batches in the blender); add the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat a drizzle of oil in a largish pot and sauté the onion until soft; add the garlic and curry paste and cook for another minute or two. Add the cauliflower, apple and chicken stock, plus a little water if it needs it to barely cover the cauliflower, and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is very tender.
Remove from heat and purée with a hand-held immersion blender, right in the pot (or do it in batches in the blender); add the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.
And after, rifling through the fridge I found a forgotten slice of cheesecake – one Cheryl gave me from her BT appearance yesterday morning. It’s from a Honey Pear Cheesecake – made with puréed and chopped pears – and it’s wonderful. She has the recipe posted on her blog, so you’ll have to go get it. It would make a great Thanksgiving dessert I think, made with a gingersnap crust. (See Cheryl, I plated it? And garnished it with a flourish of honey, just like you said? Sorry I didn’t have the gumption to slice a pear fan – I just wanted to eat.)
And by the way, I apologize for the encroaching left sidebar – I had to widen it just for a week, as tomorrow we launch an online charity event sponsored by Quaker that runs until October 8th. And, well, you’ll just have to check in and see tomorrow!
One Year Ago: Chicken Fajitas
I found you as part of the Quaker promotion, and came over to check out your blog. It looks great, and although there is no longer any cheesecake in my life, there is LOTS of soup, and this looks like a perfect fall dinner paired with a green salad and a hunk of whole grain bread. I’ll be back!
Ooh, roasting the cauliflower first? Fantastic idea, but I would have the same problem as you. Still worth a try. Just not quite soup weather yet.
But oh the cheesecake… if you want more I still have some.
That soup looks like the most beautiful fall soup! I have to admit (and I realize most will HATE me for saying this) but I’m ready for fall weather! This is one of my favorite cooking times every year but it has been getting so hot I don’t want to turn my oven on!
One more thing, I just added Michael Smith on Twitter (I’m such a big fan) and noticed that you are one of his 5 people he’s following … pretty cool!!!
Hi Julie
Completely off topic, but I’m sitting here reading your blog while eating my Greek yogurt parfait from Starbucks, and I’m wondering where I could by Greek yogurt myself, in Calgary. I thought you might know. If you do, could you please pass along? Thanks.
Michael Smith?! oooooooooo I would be stumbling over my tongue, teeth and lips trying to talk with him! I’ve learned lots of good tips and ideas from his TV shows.
Corine – go to Kalamata Grocery on 11th St SW (my the Galaxie Diner) or- make your own! Wait, have I not posted homemade yogurt yet?? I’ll get on that!
Christina – I’m totally ready for fall too. It’s my favourite season. Mike pointed out last night that I always manage to make soup when it’s 30 degrees outside.. Calgary weather!
Barb – yes, that was me too about 7 years ago.. the first time we went to dinner I could hardly string a sentence together! But he’s really comfortable to be around and not intimidating at all. And he listens.
Oh my word there was someone with the nerve to impersonate Michael Smith? She should be ashamed (and so should her parents for raising such a rotten kid).
Finally felt like Fall this morning – I could see my breath when I dropped the girls off at school. It’s still supposed to get warm (22-23) but the leaves are falling so it’s time for soups, apple this that and the other…. Love this season 🙂
That soup looks outstanding! We’ve been blessed with warm weather this past week down here in the Great Lakes but it’s suddenly cooled off. That’s definitely on my weekend menu right before my annual What-do-I-do-with-the-60lbs-worth-of-apples-we-went-crazy-picking dilemma.
As for Michael, it seems like he’s just that kind of guy…he’s called me before, too, thanking me for something out of the blue. Very nice and, I like to think, very Canadian.
Yum!! This sounds delicious, not to mention simple and flavourful =D.
Julie, I was on Twitter when all that broke. You totally saved the day. Great job!
Corine,
A passable alternative to Greek Yoghurt is Liberte Mediterranean yoghurt. Their plain one is thick and creamy. It isn’t as tangy, but still pretty good. You can buy it at Safeway and Sunterra.
I’ve been following your blog for awhile and trying out your recipes. It was interesting to read about your connection to Michael. I met him this summer at my cousin’s house in PEI. They are good friends. I used to babysit his wife when she was little. Small world!
Jill C – I have two words for you – Apple Butter. It takes a ton of apples, is dead easy (you bake it in your oven)and tastes fab on toast (or pork tenderloin)
just made this soup and its really good. omitted the cream to make it fat free. 🙂
I was just browsing and came across this recipe. It made me want to make it immediately. Luckily, I had everything I needed on hand. It took no time at all to make and was absolutely delicous! I didn’t make the red pepper puree; maybe next time, as I will make this again many times I’m sure.