CURRIED CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER AND APPLE SOUP
About the Recipe
This soup is amazing. Everyone asks for the recipe, goes home and makes it, and then reports back that they’re addicted. It’s loosely adapted from Daniel Boulud, but his version – though delicious – requires lots of heavy cream. My re-do is virtually fat free (but no one will ever guess). It’s rich, rich, rich in taste and sumptuousness while remaining super low in calories. I substitute raw Granny Smith’s for Boulud’s cooked apple garnish as their tang is an ideal counterpoint to the luscious “creaminess’ of the soup itself.
An ideal way to kick off Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, this soup is festive and seasonal yet won’t break the bank calorie-wise before you even get to the main event.
Make a double or triple or even quadruple batch. It freezes beautifully. Add cooked shrimp, chicken, turkey or duck and you’ve got a Sunday supper main course on your hands.
Highly recommended.
CURRIED CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER AND APPLE SOUP
Serves 4-6
For the Soup:
6 cups good, strong chicken stock or more if needed
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 teaspoons West Indian curry powder
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads or 2 pinches saffron powder
4 apples, cored and cut into large dice
2 large heads cauliflower, greens and stem discarded, head broken up
For the Garnish:
3-4 tablespoons minced chives
1 organic Granny Smith apple (leave skin on) cut into small dice
1-2 teaspoons crushed pink peppercorns (optional but beautiful and delicious)
A drizzle of heavy cream or plain yogurt diluted with a bit of milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add the onions, curry powder, and saffron and sweat for 2 minutes, stirring often.
Add the garlic and 4 large-diced apples and sweat for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the cauliflower and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Boil gently over medium heat until the cauliflower is very tender when pierced with a knife, approximately 20 minutes.
Transfer the soup in batches to a blender and purée at high speed until very smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Keep warm until ready to serve or refrigerate when cool and reheat just before serving.
Garnish with chives, apple dice and optionally with cream/yogurt and/or crushed pink peppercorns.