Turning leaves and cold rain calls for soup...

Looking out my window at the beautiful turning leaves, dripping from the rain, makes me feel cozy and contented.  I love fall, my favorite season, and watching the leaves out front turn red gives me such a nesting feeling.  With me, besides staying warm and cozy, means cooking something from the comfort food family, soup.  My family thinks I am little weird, well actually I am but you never heard that from me, because I can eat soup everyday from now to springtime and not get bored.

After searching through my vast collection of recipes in books, magazines and lots of little cards I have decided this weekend would be perfect for the warm and creamy, and one of my most favorites, Cream of Cauliflower Cheese Soup.  This recipe I found once in the Taste of Home Magazine (it's their photo also) and it quickly became a family favorite.  There are so many Cream of Cauliflower recipes out there and many are fabulous and I love them too, but today I want the cheesey one.  I love this with some green salad, crusty bread and a couple glasses of merlot and I am very content.  Try it, it is good for warming your soul.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 medium head cauliflower, broken in florets

1 medium onion, chopped,1 can  14 1/2 oz chicken broth   

1 chicken boulillon cube

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 cups milk

2 cups (8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon each cayenne pepper, curry powder and white pepper

Directions

In large saucepan, combine cauliflower, onion broth and bouilion. Cover and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk.  Cook and stir until bubbly, and thickened, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat, add cheese and seasonings. Pour into the cauliflower mixture. Simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Do Not Boil.  Makes 6-8 servings.  Taste of Home says a 1 cup serving has 220 calories but I make it with 1% Milk and it is still great and the calories and fat are lowered.  I have also left out the curry powder before and I liked it just as well.  I would rate this a 10 when it comes to comfort food and I love having left overs the next day for lunch.

Try it, I know you'll love it too. 

Southern Gold...

A couple of days ago, while riding alone in the car with my Dad, we had the opportunity to talk about his problems with his garden this year. It seems he can't get much to grow and of course he blames the weather, as we all do when a garden isn't putting out. It is either too much rain or not enough. Too many bugs or none around to pollinate. As he was complaining about his lack of yellow squash he said "oh well, we always have cornbread." I wasn't really sure about what cornbread had to do with the poor garden but I got his point anyway and that, no matter what, we can always have cornbread. Cornbread is the golden jewel of a southern meal no matter what you are serving. Whether it be a mess of greens, squash and onions, sliced fresh tomatoes or smothered pork chops, corn bread is the one thing that can make a meal terrific. I love mine slathered with butter and broken in pieces to get small bites with everything else I'm eating. Dad loves his just straight from the old pan and right into the middle of his plate to soak up all the good juices. He always makes sure to take an extra piece for the end of his meal and with that he breaks it up into a tall glass of buttermilk that he eats with a spoon as his dessert. Sometimes he can be found later in front of the TV with milk glass in hand spooning up the last of the corn bread so not a drop is wasted.

He loves it that way, but over the years I have starting making it quite different at my home. I use the same cornbread recipe as usual but I add some extras to give it my favorite kick. After mixing the cornbread batter I stir in 1 cup of drained yellow kernel corn and then add 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I always use my round black skillet for baking. To prepare my skillet I have added 2 tablespoons of corn oil and put the skillet with the oil in a hot 450 degree oven until the pan is very hot and the oil is starting to bubble. I remove the hot pan and pour my wet corn bread batter into the middle of the oil. The hot oil spits and spatters as the cool batter spread out into the hot pan. The oil slides up the sides of the cornbread, that besides keeping it from sticking, it starts to make a wonderful crunchy fried style crust along the top edge. So good I may have to go stick one in the oven for lunch. When it is golden brown and crusty on top I remove it from the oven and slice it into squares or pie shaped wedges. The extra ingredients give it a taste so special and unique. I have added some crumbled bacon to the top of the batter or even chopped peppers stirred in when I am in the mood for something a little different and that is fabulous too. I guess you can add anything that's your favorite to this southern gem and come out with a slice of your own heaven. Dad's right you know, don't matter what you got to serve for dinner since we always got cornbread.