Well, the kitties have discovered my stash of Joker's toys in the basement. Joker, a feline family retainer since 1989, died a year or so ago. I had forgotten that I'd packed his toys into a box and put them in the basement. My little band of kitties (almost 6 mos old now!) are coming through the kitchen cat door, one by one, each carrying his or her prize as if it were a great treasure. The house is filling up with booty. Erik brought up the weasel ball (one of those battery operated plastic balls with a furry weasel attached which rolls around crazily, whipping the weasel behind it). The battery still works and the three of them are trying to corner it at the moment, so I'll take this opportunity to give you a recipe - instead of doing the work I brought home from the office with me yesterday.

After yesterday's installment in the project formerly known as my teeth (my dentition is a constant work in progress) I was advised to stick to soft foods for the rest of the day. Not in the mood for eggs, I scavenged through the freezer and fridge and decided to try a cauliflower soup. This is what I found and what I did with it:

From the freezer:
2 chicken legs w/thighs and 4 necks
4 scallions in a bag with a stalk of fennel

From the fridge:
a small head of cauliflower
2 small pieces of rutabaga
white wine

I put the chicken, scallions, fennel and rutabaga into a heavy pot and covered it with water. Added a splash of wine, a little salt and a bay leaf. Brought it to a boil and simmered, covered, for about an hour and a half. Strained it into a bowl, put the chicken aside for future reference (chicken salad comes to mind) and returned the liquid to the pot. There was about 3 cups of liquid and it was decidedly subtle, flavor wise. So I brought it up to the boil and threw in my cut up cauliflower and boiled the hell out of it, so that it reduced while the cauliflower cooked. When it reduced by half, the cauliflower was well done, so I threw the whole mess into the food processor, pureed it and put it back in the pot. After adding about a cup of heavy cream, and reheating, it was absolutely delicious. It was nice and thick, needing no vegetable gum to pump it up.

While I was enjoying it hot, I realized that this particular combo tasted very familiar. Sure enough, this morning I ladled some cold into a bowl and got some chives to snip into it. Vichyssoise! Not a potato in it, but it tasted exactly like my usual recipe. Now I've got a nice hearty hot soup to start a meal in winter and another cold soup for next summer!

I calculated the total carbs for the pot at 15 gms of carbs. That's being very conservative - including the total carbs for the scallions and rutabaga which I tossed after making the broth. I've had two very generous servings and there's easily 3 more in the pot. That makes it a 3 carb item. Tonight I'll have it hot again and, since my mouth is getting back to normal, I'll have it with a piece of toasted lc bread with melty brie on it and a green salad.

Life is good.

Maggie
5'1"
Atkins since '98 (160)
Maintaining nicely (110)

Redhead until further notice!

Maggie thank you so much for your recipe. I really miss making and having soup since starting this LOL. My favorite soup was potato I am almost sure I have all the ingredients in the house I look forward to making it tomorrow.

That sounds great!

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine" to be released in December

www.thelowcarbcook.com

Wow, Maggie....

That sounds pretty darn good! And coming from someone who only decided she liked cauliflower this week!!! I made cauli-tato salad, and LOVED it! So needless to say, my brain has been working on overtime (almost) trying to decide what to do with the other half head of cauli in my fridge. Thanks for the recipe!
I'm sure it has the "good housekitty seal of approval"

Shelley

sg
***********
"if it ain't broke
don't fix it"

I enjoyed the kitty chronicles as much as the new recipe idea! Thanks Maggie.

Connie

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho
Marx