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

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Gordon Ramsay made these potatoes to go along with his Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb^[1] on The F Word^[2], Series One, Episode One.

His commies used a Mandoline Slicer^[3] to get uniformly thin slices of potatoes, but used a knife for the onion. You can use a knife or a slicer for both, but try to get the slices as even as possible.

Ingredients:

1 liter chicken stock (roughly 4 1/4 cups, or just over a quart)
1 sprig thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
3 crushed cloves of garlic
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
4 large Desiree potatoes peeled and finely sliced (on a mandolin if possible)
salt & pepper
olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (392 degrees if you have a digital oven)
Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add thyme, rosemary, and crushed garlic cloves. Simmer a few minutes and strain (remember, retain the chicken stock, not the herbs). Set aside.

Add olive oil to a hot heavy pan and saute the onions and finely chopped garlic until softened and lightly colored.

Coat the inside of a casserole dish or oven safe pan and layer the onions followed by the potatoes. Continue alternating potatoes and onions until finished. Don’t forget to season each layer with salt & pepper as you go.

Pour the chicken stock from earlier over the potato mixture until it’s about 2/3rds full. Press down on the mixture to help the potatoes absorb as much stock as possible. Drizzle a little olive oil on top.

Bake in the oven for approximately 20 – 25 minutes or until soft and golden on top.

References

^{^} Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb (gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} F Word (www.amazon.com)
^{^} Mandoline Slicer (www.amazon.com)

Gordon Ramsay Recipes

Tag: quart

Gordon Ramsay’s Potatoes Boulangère Recipe from The F Word

Ingredients:

Directions:

References

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