Cheddarific Cauliflower

Take a look at this cauliflower from my garden! Yes, it is indeed golden yellow and the name of it is indeed "Cheddar." So why not make Cheddar/Cheddar Cauliflower Soup. I love cauliflower. I love it raw and I love it cooked. I love how nutritious it is. Cauliflower contains two major disease fighters: indole-3-carbinol, or 13C, and the photonutrient sulforaphane. These are known to lower cancerous tumor growth. Cauliflower also contains vitamin C and folate. Three florets of cauliflower a day will provide you with 67% of your daily vitamin C requirement. "Cheddar" Cauliflower has 25 times the beta carotene and vitamin A of regular white cauliflower. So it seems to me that it is worth growing. The soup I created was a result of harvesting some potatoes, onions, and cauliflower.



So, here is the recipe:
Ingredients
3 heads of "Cheddar" cauliflower
48 oz chicken or vegetable broth
4 potatoes
1 onion
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 and 1/2 or milk to thicken
1 Knorr vegetable or chicken bouillon cube
dash or two of hot sauce
sprig thyme for garnish

Directions:
In a soup pot, boil cauliflower and pealed and chopped potatoes in broth until both are soft. (Save some cooked cauliflower florettes for garnish) Chopped and saute onions and add to pot. Cool slightly and puree in blender in small portions. Put puree back in soup pot and heat. Add bouillon. Add cheddar cheese and let melt. Add enough milk or 1/2 and 1/2 to thicken. Add a dash or two (or more) of you favorite hot sauce to taste. Serve warm. Garnish with florettes and thyme sprig.

It is Cheddarific!!!!!!!

The Joy of Gardening

There is nothing more satisfying than realizing that all the hard gardening work is worth it. Our family often vacations this time of year. Coming home to a prolific harvest is both exciting and daunting. Ready and waiting were yellow and green beans, sugar snap peas, beets, yellow squash, cabbage, zucchini, cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, lettuce, kale, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Whew!!!!!!!!! It has been a challenge to to keep up with cooking or preserving this amazing bounty.

Preserving methods can vary. Freezing, canning/pickling, or dehydrating are the most common. This week, I froze 9 huge heads of broccoli. Make sure you soak broccoli or cauliflower in salt water to draw insects out. Then, drop in boiling water for three minutes follwed by ice water for three minutes. This process is called blanching. Blanching slows or stops the action of enzymes which cause vegetables to grow and mature. If you don't stop this process, the enzymes will be active during frozen storage causing off-colors, off-flavors and toughening. In addition to freezing, I have been canning beets, and pickling cucumbers. Mrs. Wages Kosher Dill pickling spice is what I have been using for years and is by far the family favorite. Making pickles are so easy. Just slice cukes, put them in a clean canning jar, add pickling spice, and put a new lid and band. Place jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove and enjoy after 24 hours. Mrs. Wages even makes refrigerator pickling spice for those who do not fuss with canning. Now this year, I am trying my hands at dehydrating.

The joy of gardening can be enjoyed by you, too-even if you don't have a veggie garden of your own. There are tons of local farms that you can pick your own. Try it. Make sure that you have a preserving plan so all your work does not go to waste. By all means, have fun and bon appetit!