Cauliflower & Comte Soup

Cauliflower and cheese. Two of the best partnerships that has ever been. I rarely eat cauliflower cheese, as much as I love it, because I always feel that its really unhealthy. It seems last Saturday, I decided that making it as a soup was healthier. I don't suppose it makes that much of a difference really.. unless you use mountains of cheese, of course.

This was simple and quick to cook. I shaved some pieces of raw cauliflower at the start, to save for a garnish - the texture along with some extra cubes of cheese is just lovely.

Ingredients:

1 whole cauliflower, chopped
1 white onion, peeled & chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large potato, peeled & chopped
1 tbsp. butter
400ml vegetable stock (cube is fine)
400ml milk
1 tsp. English Mustard
120g Comte cheese, diced finely.

Method:

Put the butter into a large pan and melt over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for about 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and potato and stir through quickly. Then add the stock, milk and mustard. Bring to the boil and then turn to a simmer for about 30 minutes.

Take off the heat and use a potato masher if you like the soup chunky, or if you want it smoother - use a stick blender. Put back on the heat and add most of the cheese (reserving a little for garnish) along with some black pepper. Stir and take off the heat. Serve with the raw shavings of cauliflower, the remaining cheese cubes and some snipped chives (if liked). Delicious!


Note: I considered putting cream in at the end. You can of course but I am glad I didn't - it wasn't needed. But it would add more richness if you would prefer that.

Indian Curd Chicken Parcels

This recipe came about because I had randomly bought some curd cheese. I knew about it being used in Indian recipes so I phoned a friend for an authentic idea. He suggested putting the chicken and curd in foil parcels with some spices - the curd makes the gravy. Here is what I did - it was oh so good.

 

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, skinless
180g curd cheese
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2  tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. chilli powder
1/2 tsp. garum masala
little salt & pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
few slices thinly sliced red onion
few slices thinly sliced pepper (green or red)

Method:

Firstly, slash the chicken breasts with a knife, so that the marinade works its way into the chicken. Put all the spices into a bowl and mix with the curd cheese and lemon juice. Mix well and add the chicken breasts, ensuring the chicken is well coated. Pop in the fridge for at least an hour.

Set the oven to 200 C. Get a large square of kitchen foil and place some slices of onion and pepper in the middle. Put the chicken on top with some of the marinade and season with a little salt & pepper. Pull up the sides of the foil to make a parcel and do the same with the other chicken breast.

Cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breast. Serve the parcel on a plate and eat out of the foil. Have with rice, chapati and some garlicky tarka daal. Delicious!