Cauliflower Soup?

Cauliflower. Soup.

Not two words I typically think to put into the same recipe. I got an immersion blender for Christmas and have spent the last two weeks trying to find as many recipes as possible with the word "puree" in them. Today's find was a recipe from the self-published and completely amazing S.O.U.P.S cookbook written by the Hopvine's Michael Congdon.

I honestly can't say enough good things about this cookbook. I'd heard about it for a while, and stumbled on it in a now-defunct used bookstore. Every recipe I've tried has been phenomenal. As though the soups weren't good enough, his cookie philosophy is that there should be just enough dough to hold the chocolate chips and hazelnuts together. That right there? That's logic I can get behind.

The Curried Cauliflower Soup was no exception to the awesome. It's a pureed curry cauliflower base that's mixed with cauliflower florets, blistered jalapenos, and potatoes and then served with cilantro and diced tomato. This soup was so. very. good.

There was one rather large-ish 'however.' The soup? It took 2 hours to get it all together. I don't know how much of that time could be cut off by streamlining the process, but that's a long time. (Confession: I only read halfway through the recipe. If I had read the entire thing, I probably could have worked out that it was time consuming.)

Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Would I make it again? Maybe. But not for a while.

Curried Cauliflower Soup
(adapted from S.O.U.P.S) The original recipe called for five jalapenos, and after a misadventure with some habaneros last week, I'm a little pepper-shy.

2 T garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
1 onion, diced
1 head cauliflower
2 T curry powder
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4 potatoes, diced
1 can coconut milk
1 quart stock
cilantro
tomato

1. Saute the garlic, ginger, and onion in vegetable oil until golden. Add the curry powder, cauliflower stems and leaves and saute 5 minutes. Add 2 cups stock and simmer 20-30 minutes, until the cauliflower is softened. Puree and set aside.
2. Sautee the jalapenos in vegetable oil until just blistered. Add the potatoes and cook 10ish minutes. Add the cauliflower florets and cover, cooking 5-10 minutes. Add the coconut milk, the puree you made in step one, and enough stock so the consistency is to your liking.

Serve with cilantro and diced tomato.