Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Extraordinary Thanksgiving Leftover Cauliflower Soup


Thanksgiving Leftover Cauliflower Soup

I've revised this because I buried the lead i(n all the directions for the stock), as  journalists say.

I found this super easy way to make a great soup by mashing together  in equal amounts the left over cauliflower and the turkey stock I had made from the giblets, carcass and drippings. That's how simple. Below, in the rest of this posting, is just how I made the stock and some of the other ingredients I added to brighten the flavor of the cauliflower soup.  

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday when the whole family could gather together. For the most part I cooked a Paleo friendly meal using sweet potatoes and mashing cauliflower as another vehicle for an amazing mashed vegetable/turkey drippings gravy, I found when I looked up Paleo Gravy

Turns out, the recipe for the brined turkey in the article was already Paleo hacked from Epicurious, basically using ghee instead of butter for basting. Epicurious and the hacked one, didn't include bread stuffing, only veggies and lemon in the cavity and around the bottom of the pan. 

That recipe instructs you to gather the veggies and blend them for gravy adding some of the drippings.  No flow. It was thick and good.

So now It's Wednesday and I'm at that point of dreading another bite of turkey, and I still have a few leftovers and ingredients I didn't use up in the last couple days.  I don't like to waste food. Here's a really simple soup I made from the leftovers. t

First I made a turkey stock 

I turkey carcass in a big pot with enough water to cover it.
I added the following:

  • The contents of the little bag i took out of the turkey cavity. 
  • The other half of an onion used in the turkey brine
  • Carrots cut up and left over from the crudite' tray about 3 whole or a hand full of baby nibs
  • Celery cut up and left over from the crudite' tray
  • Stem of rosemary chopped fine - that I didn't use in the turkey
  • Stem of thyme chopped fine, also that I didn't use in my turkey
  • 1 lemon cut in half I took the seeds that were visible out (I threw a lemon stabbed into the cavity of my turkey with the same veggies and herbs listed above - it was a huge help in keeping the meat moist)
  • Black pepper (my turkey was brined and already was well salted)
I brought it to a slow boil and simmered it till rest of turkey fell off. I let it cool and spooned off the fat. 

Cauliflower soup

Put left over mashed cauliflower in a sauce pan. I had about 3 cups. Because I had some, I added a stem of thyme, a stem of chopped rosemary, a couple shakes of nutmeg and a few twists of pepper. If I hadn't brined the turkey, I would salt it too.
Pour an equal amount of the stock only into the cauliflower (no veggies or meat). You could use store bought stock. You won't know the difference.

Stir while it's heating till it blups and bubbles  Voila'! Really good, satisfying soup. 

6 cups 2 or 3 servings (it's really good, it's barely any calories. Don't judge)










Thursday, November 12, 2015

Plane Air - November 2015

My business travel for the year is over. These sketches were done  earlier this week on my way to, from my hotel and on the way home from Dallas. It wasn't till I saw them together that I noticed that I instinctively chose a Fall palette. Now to fly somewhere where I will intuitively use brighter colors.