Ham and Cauliflower Soup: Simply Delicious

Where I live, it’s still sturdy soup weather.  Mornings and evening send a chill to the bone.  I sport scarves and gloves, along with designer sweaters and Gucci winter jackets.  Baloney, I’m not living in Paris!

But, I do wear all those accruements, minus the labels. Ok, go ahead and call me a whimp.  I’ve been called worse by red-faced men wearing uniforms and carrying weapons.  Fortunately, the fine wasn’t much and now I always remember my driver’s license.

But, what I really want to introduce you to is the result of playtime in my kitchen, with limited ingredients.  Turns out you can do a lot with a little and in this case it turned out more than a little delicious.  Served this soup to a captive audience, but I did untie one hand so she could use a spoon.  ONLY KIDDING!  I untied both hands.  STILL KIDDING! 

This is another of my fave low carb recipes.  Too often low carb translates to very high fat.  Not in this case.  Lean protein, a dash of heavy cream, a bit of butter, and the rest is vegetables.

Here it is: Simply Delicious Ham and Cauliflower Soup

1 Pound sliced lean ham, roughly cut into 1/2 inch squares, more or less

½ Pound freshly sliced mushrooms

1 Stalk of Celery, diced

12 Oz frozen cauliflower

6 Cups of organic chicken broth

Several drops of Liquid Smoke flavoring (Careful!  This stuff is powerful.)

¼ Cup heavy cream (optional, but I had it handy)

Olive Oil

Butter

Salt and pepper

Several sprigs of fresh thyme (I used 6 small sprigs), or 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

Melt a pat or two of butter in a large saucepan, add a dash or two of olive oil, and sauté the diced celery and sliced mushrooms until they are soft.  Add a teaspoon of salt.

Add the chicken broth, sprigs of thyme, and Liquid Smoke.  Bring to a boil.  Add the cauliflower and half the ham.

Now comes the fun part.  When the cauliflower is cooked, pick out and discard the sticks of fresh thyme, then use an immersible blender to blend everything into a thick liquid.  Turns out I don’t have an immersible blender, so I put a couple of cups at a time in a countertop blender and poured the results in a bowl, until everything was liquid. 

There is a drawback to putting scalding soup in a countertop blender.  As I found out.  Stick to blending one or two cups (at most) at a time.  Safer and less scalding.

Put the liquid soup back in the large saucepan, stir in the cream and the rest of the ham.  Add a dash of freshly ground pepper, if you want.

Voilá!  Pour the wine, serve your guests.  Another warning.  You’ll dream about this ham and cauliflower soup and wake up wanting it for breakfast.  So, make enough!