cooking Archives - The Curated House

Foodie Friday | Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Baked Prosciutto: A Simple Autumn Comfort Food

I must confess that I have a love-hate relationship with this time of year. I love that Graham and I were married on the first day of Fall, so for me it will forever be a season of romance. I love the changing colours, the crisp air and the warmth of the sunshine. I love the harvest vegetables and the season of hearty, heart-warming cooking and natural gatherings with friends and loved ones. I love pulling out all the blankets and cozy sweaters and spending evenings snuggled up by a roaring fire. I strongly dislike the fact that winter is on Autumn’s heels. Every year. Without fail.

Rather than focus on what I don’t like {note that I didn’t actually say “hate,” because I actually hate the word “hate”}, I am increasingly aware of the power of focusing on what I’m grateful for. It’s possible in any season – weather it be a calendar season or a season of life – to find gratitude that outshines the proverbial “winter of our discontent.” Some days it may feel like a stretch. OK, lots of days it does feel like a stretch to sort through the struggles to find those gratitudes. But it’s the right kind of stretch, like an amazing yoga class or Pilates session after a stressful week. It stretches me in the right direction. I need to stretch more.

Today’s soup is a gratitude for me. A gratitude because of the flavourful comfort of simple and delicious ingredients. A gratitude because it’s something I can make on weekends and have in mason jars in my fridge for quick and easy lunches during the week. A gratitude because I have friends and family to share it with. And a gratitude because my 10 year old really, genuinely loves this soup. It’s a mama win, and I’ll take it! After all, have you tried getting a kid to eat cruciferous vegetables recently and be happy about it? Exactly.

I made a few of batches of the soup in my “test kitchen” before posting this recipe because I wanted to get the balance of flavours just right. My first batch produced a really pretty photo using red onions, and while I loved the slightly blush colour of the puréed soup, the sweetness of the roasted red onions added to the subtle sweetness of the roasted cauliflower was just too sweet for me in the end. I wanted more of an earthy, savoury undertone to compliment that naturally delicate sweetness of the roasted cauliflower. So, a couple of simple tweaks, and here’s the recipe!

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP

with baked prosciutto

THE INGREDIENTS:

1/2 head of cauliflower, sliced into 1/2″ thick wedges
1 large vidalia onion, sliced into 1/2″ thick wedges
8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 c. butter, cut up into knobs
salt + pepper
1 c. organic whole milk
2 c. organic chicken broth
1/4 c. Greek yoghurt
2 c. finely and freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh or freeze-dried herbs
2 slices of Parma prosciutto per person for garnish

THE METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Place the wedges of cauliflower and onion and the garlic cloves on a baking sheet and distribute knobs of butter on top. Finish with salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. Once you’ve pulled the veggies out of the oven, bake the prosciutto slices {laid flat on a cookie sheet} for 5 minutes until crisp.

Place roasted veggies, milk, broth and Parmesan cheese into a good quality blender {I use a Blendtech} or add everything to a large soup pot and combine using an immersion hand blender. After blending, reheat gently, being careful not to let the milk and cheese burn.

Garnish with freshly chopped chives or freeze-dried herbs and break up the prosciutto into pieces to garnish. I like leaving the pieces big enough to crack with my spoon because it reminds me of the experience of breaking the surface of gorgeous crème brulée {which I can no longer eat}. Sometimes it’s the little things, right? You can also crumble it up into tiny bits, which Noah loves to do. Either way, that caramelized salty goodness is the treasure hunt in this creamy soup, providing the perfect contrast to the natural, savoury sweetness.

It really is fast, easy and super delicious and I hope you’ll try it in your own kitchen sometime soon!

Wishing you time with friends and loved ones over a bowl of something comforting this weekend. And more than anything, I’m wishing you the awareness you need to gather the gratitudes and recognize the meaningful moments that punctuate the season you’re in right now. They are there if you look for them. I promise.

xo
s.

Foodie Friday | The Little Paris Kitchen

It should come as no surprise to you by now that I have an ongoing love affair with Chronicle Books. I discovered them last year while I was in San Francisco, and it was as if I had stumbled upon a publisher who had been quietly crafting beautiful volumes just for me. They most definitely have my number, and this latest discovery is no exception.

I confess this cookbook had an instant shortcut to my heart, parceque j’adore Paris. I have only been twice, but it is now the city against which all of my other travels are compared. It is the city where I imagine my most romantic getaways with my husband will forever take place. The architecture, the culture, the art, the people, the food. Lord help me, the food. Parisians know how to transform eating into an artform, from the simplest of unpretentious dishes to the most decadent in haute cuisine. From eating cheese from a local fromagerie {enjoyed with a nice bottle of red} in the gardens of Les Tuileries, accompanied by the melodious greetings of “bon apetit” as locals walked by, to indulging in gastronomic creations in restaurants, some of my favourite “food memories” are from Paris.

For those of us who are longing to recreate our French foodie fantasies in our own little kitchens here at home, Rachel Khoo – who didn’t speak a word of French when she courageously enrolled in the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris – has immersed herself in the language and art of French cooking and now translates French classics for real life foodies in her newly released cookbook The Little Paris Kitchen.

The “test kitchen” for Rachel’s cookbook was indeed a little kitchen in Paris. Tiny in fact. With just a two-burner stove and seating for “up to two,” Rachel began accommodating guests who came to experience her modern twists on classic French dishes from around the country. The 120-page volume is filled with modern and accessible recipes for quintessentially French home cooking to share with your family and friends.

Given that Spring seems to have finally sprung, I thought I would share a recipe that invites a bit of time outside working on the grill. As you already know, I love Coq Au Vin, and I can’t wait to try this uniquely fresh twist on the French Classic!

Serves 4 as a Main Course
Coq au vin on skewers

Cockerel stewed in red wine for several hours is traditional coq au vin. I thought I’d shake that
on its head and make a barbecue version with a red wine dipping sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• a knob of butter

• 4 small sprigs of thyme

• 3 bay leaves

• 2 cups red wine
• 1½ lb boned chicken legs, with skin on*

• 5 oz lardons or cubes of smoked bacon
• 2 large carrots, cut into large chunks

• 8 small new potatoes
• 8 small button onions, peeled and left whole

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tbsp sugar

• salt and pepper
• 8 small button mushrooms, brushed or peeled

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 barbecue skewers—if they’re bamboo, soak them in water for at least an hour before using

METHOD:
To make the marinade : Fry the garlic and onion in the butter until golden brown. Add the thyme and bay leaves and cook for another minute before adding the wine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

Cut the chicken into large chunks, place in a large plastic container with the lardons, and add the cold marinade. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours (best overnight).

Lift the chicken and lardons out of the marinade, then strain through a sieve. Measure 1 ¼ cups marinade, pour it into a pan and set aside. Put the carrots, potatoes and onions into a large pan of cold salted water and bring to a boil. Parboil for 5 minutes, then drain the vegetables into a sieve and hold under cold running water for 2 minutes. Leave to cool.

On a high heat, reduce the marinade by half before adding the vinegar. Mix the cornstarch to a thin paste with some water, whisk into the sauce, and boil for 5 minutes or until the consistency of heavy cream. Add the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down in direct contact with the sauce. Keep the sauce warm until needed.

Thread the chicken onto the skewers, alternating with the lardons, parboiled vegetables and mushrooms.
Brush with the olive oil before cooking on the barbecue (or indoors on a griddle pan) for around 5 minutes, turning regularly. To check the chicken is cooked, cut a piece open—the juices should run clear, not red or pink. Serve with the sauce (reheated in a pan or microwave if necessary).

* Chicken legs have more flavor and tend to be juicier than breast, or you could use boneless chicken
thighs (skin on) instead. Breast meat will be fine too, as long as you are careful not to overcook it.

Preparation time: 1 hour

Resting time: 4 hours–overnight
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Thank you, Rachel, for this delightful little cookbook from your delightful little Paris kitchen.

Bon apetit!