1 Large Cauliflower
1 Onion
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
4 Tablespoons Creme Fraiche
Nutmeg
Chervil
Sea Salt
Cut off the stem of the cauliflower and any green leaves. Break up into flowerets. Wash them in cold water. Reserve a handful of small flowerets to garnish the soup.
Peel and slice the onion thin. In a soup pot, stew the onion slices and cauliflower florets in the butter with a little water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, without letting them brown. Add water to cover and cook for 25 minutes, covered, over medium heat. Meanwhile, parboil the reserved flowerets in boiling salted water for 8 minutes or so, keeping them crunchy.
Puree the soup in a blender, add the creme fraiche and season with nutmeg and salt to taste. Reheat gently to just under boiling. Serve the soup very hot, garnished with the whole flowerets and a few sprigs of chervil.
Serves 4 to 6.
Notes on the batch I made; It was heavenly....
I didn't have any creme fraiche so I used some plain jersey yogurt from a local dairy (Silver Springs Creamery, E Hemmi RD Lynden, WA)..very yummy. I also couldn't find any chervil in the stores so I used fresh chives from the herb bed. Funny thing is that when I decided to make a cauliflower soup I thought of chervil then wondered why I wasn't growing any. When I found the recipe in the Chez Panisse Vegetable Cookbook and it called for chervil I was kind of shocked that I'd thought of it..I just bought some seeds to plant!
