GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

We’re heading into the heart of hot soup season, and this
cream of cauliflower will ward off autumn’s chill with the best of them. I’m a
big fan of the cauliflower in all forms, but this simple soup may be my
favorite application.

Of course, human nature being what it is, I wasn’t satisfied
with just the soup, and wanted to garnish with something new and exciting.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything, so I decided to follow that age-old
advice which says, “when in doubt, bacon.”

I’ve garnished soups like this with bacon before, but never
tried toasting breadcrumbs in the rendered fat. Not surprisingly, it worked
very well, and the additions of lemon zest and parsley elevated things even
more. The only problem with a recipe like this is the next time I’m served a
cream of cauliflower, no matter how good it is, I’m going to be a little sad
there’s no bacon gremolata floating on top.

By the way, I realize there are no breadcrumbs in a true
gremolata, but I thought it sounded kind of cool, and besides, I’ve never been
that big on respecting the sanctity of culinary terms. I was going to go with
“baconized breadcrumbs,” but that sounded a little too much like molecular
gastronomy, which is much worse.

If you’re not into eating animals, some diced shiitake
mushrooms and a pinch of smoked paprika would be a great substitute in the
gremolata. You’d also need to add some olive oil to replace the rendered bacon
fat, but you probably knew that.

Now that I think about it, that vegetarian version sounds
pretty amazing as well. Maybe next time I’ll skip the bacon and…oh, who am I
kidding? Anyway, I hope you give this delicious fall soup a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 servings:

1 onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic

salt to taste

1 large russet potato, peeled, quartered

2 heads cauliflower, trimmed

1 quart chicken broth

1 quart water

1/2 cup cream

cayenne to taste

For the gremolata:

4 strips bacon

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

Incoming search terms:

From what I hear, this could be the coldest winter in decades, and although that plush Snuggie does a decent job of keeping you warm (and fashionable), there’s nothing like a steaming bowl of soup when it’s freezing outside. Here’s a small, but comforting collection of my all-time frigid weather favs.

Of course, it’s absolutely gorgeous today in San Francisco, and isn’t even winter for half the world, but I always like to tailor these recap posts to the least fortunate (weather-wise) among us. So keep warm, inside and out, and as always, enjoy!

	Bumblebee Soup No actual bees were harmed in the making of this awesome soup.
	Spanish Bread and Garlic Soup More proof that when it comes to food, the Spanish are winning.
	American French Onion Soup I forget what makes it “American,” but it must be something great.
	Cream of Cauliflower with Bacon Gremolata Did we mention the bacon gremolata?
	Minestrone Soup First ballot “Winter Soup Hall of Fame” inductee.
	Cream of Asparagus Soup Might seem a little more spring-ish, but that’s the idea. It warms while it reminds.

Tag: Bacon Gremolata

Soup Weather

Bumblebee Soup

Spanish Bread and Garlic Soup

American French Onion Soup

Cream of Cauliflower with Bacon Gremolata

Minestrone Soup

Cream of Asparagus Soup