Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

Ah the life of a food blogger. I must have taken three different sets of photos for this soup, to finally settle on this photo which needed more than a little Photoshopping (and yes, that’s a recognized verb in my browser) in the end. It looks okay… yet somehow I feel like I’m in a photography slump lately, and perhaps that’s the reason for the infrequent postings this last month or so. Work has been quiet and I’ve had more than enough daylight to take those lovely window-lit photos mid-afternoon that other food bloggers rave about… and yet I look at my plating and composition and feel thoroughly unsatisfied. Argh!

Some exciting news however is that I found a great eBay deal on a Canon Speedlite 430ex external flash for my lil’ Rebel—and while it has not revolutionized my photography literally overnight, sigh—I do look forward to having a bit more flexibility in the kitchen. There’s a lot to learn and I’m looking forward to it!

Anyway, this cheesy cauliflower soup is a Jamie Oliver-inspired dish from his Ministry of Food cookbook. It’s a brilliant thing! The average foodie might pick it up and see all the basic recipes and go, “What do I need this for?” but it’s just darn useful. A few of my favourite recipes have come from it—check out my basic steamed rice, meatballs, and carrot feta salad, all of which were inspired by Ministry of Food.

The bragging rights for this soup are a bit special for me. Our roommate Tom—a chronic carnivore and unfoodie—isn’t a fan of soups and is only borderline on stews. The poor boy has been at home the last couple weeks sick with mono—with a slight silver lining being that his throat has swollen so that he can eat nothing but soup! It’s hardly a pleasing situation, but at least I had an excuse to perfect some recipes.

Upon serving up a dish of this soup, he immediately turned to me and went, “This is bloody good!” …so there you go. A soup to please even the most discerning of soup skeptics. Enjoy! (more…)

Edited: August 7th, 2011

Traditional Tourtière & All Butter Pastry

Ahh, this thing was a masterpiece! I was inspired to make tourtière (pronounced tort-ee-AIR) for the first time this year in honour of Canada Day. My family on my paternal grandmother’s side is French Canadian, having arrived in Quebec in the 1690s. French Canadian cooking is the ultimate comfort food, I think—Quebec winters are bloody cold and it seems that even summer doesn’t last very long. Traditional dishes like split pea soup, maple syrup pie, tourtière, sugar pie, butter tarts, and all manner of other pastries and stick-to-your-bones baked goods and meats are actually pretty easy to cook, and I have plans on attempting a few other newer French Canadian treats too—croissants and bagels. Mm.

At its heart though, tourtière is a simple mince meat (usually pork) pie with some unique spicing; cinnamon and cloves. I grew up thinking this combination was absolutely normal, since that’s how dad always made hamburgers—turns out it’s a throwback to his Montreal upbringing.

The Australians to whom I served this thought it was fantastic, so I guess it goes to show that a delicious meat pie is going to be appreciated in any culture.

Also take note that I’ve used a new recipe for pastry—an all-butter one from Smitten Kitchen. I do quite love my basic pastry recipe, but it requires a few more ingredients and requires a careful hand. This all-butter pastry is very quick, ever-so-flaky, and hard to screw up! (And got compliments from boys who could care less about these things. Just sayin’.)

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Edited: July 10th, 2011

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

The weather here in Australia is blessedly taking a turn for the cool. The days are still wonderfully warm and beach-worthy, but evenings are beginning to beg for warm soups and casseroles again. Or at least, it doesn’t feel like such a heinous crime to want to turn my stove on! On the other hand though, we’ve recently moved house and are currently without reliable internet, so my posting has been a bit lax the last little while. Sorry guys!

So, until I’m able to properly update again, this is a recipe from the Three Cheeses Free Christmas Cooking eBook—chicken noodle soup is great for leftover chicken or turkey at Christmas, but of course we all know it as a great kind of comfort food any time of the year. You can use last night’s leftovers or roast a chicken or simply buy a barbecued chicken from your local grocery store on your way home from work. Whatever your method, this soup is sure to satisfy.

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Edited: March 7th, 2011

Steamed Moroccan Vegetables

Do I have an obsession with anything “Moroccan”? Sort of. Stick Moroccan in front of any kind of food and I’m going to be excited to try it. After my friends Alaina and Ashton (yes, one of the original Cheeses and her hubby) had a Moroccan-themed dinner party at their apartment to showcase their tajine and new recipes (from… you guessed it, Morocco!) I was so impressed by the combinations of unique spices and flavours—I mean, what North American would even consider putting cinnamon with meat? It blew my mind and my tastebuds and I’ve been gobbling up Moroccan recipes ever since.

This recipe is an alteration from Martha Stewart, so I can hardly claim any sort of authenticity. But darn, these baking paper-wrapped parcels of veggies are good! If you actually own a tajine, this recipe could be easily adapted.

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Edited: February 7th, 2011