Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year and Cheeseburger Soup

Happy New Year! I hope today finds you ready to make resolutions so that you can join us as we aim for a better life. I am excited today to share the results from yesterday's supper menu, Cheeseburger Soup.  Right now I am using the Wheat Belly Cookbook for recipes before I try to adapt any of my favorites from the myriad of cookbooks that I have collected through the years.  So let's see how it turned out!

Here is the recipe found in The Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis, M.D.:
Cheeseburger Soup (serves four)
     4 c. chicken broth                                             1/2 tsp sea salt
     1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets           1/4 tsp paprika
     1 tbsp butter or coconut oil                            1/8 tsp ground black pepper
     1 small onion, chopped                                    1 tbsp coconut flour
     1/2 lb ground beef                                            1/2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
     1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Combine 31/4 c of broth and cauliflower into large saucepan; cover and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cook 15-20min, or until cauliflower is tender.
Meanwhile, add butter or oil to medium pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring until golden.  Crumble in ground beef and cook thoroughly.  Stir in parsley, salt, paprika and pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside.
Transfer the cauliflower and broth to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Return to the saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk the coconut flour with the remaining 1/4 c of broth until smooth.  Gradually add the coconut flour mixture to the cauliflower mixture and return to heat, whisking constantly for about 3 min, or until slightly thickened.  Whisk in cheese just until it melts.  Remove from heat and stir in the reserved meat mixture.  Serve.

And now, my attempt: I doubled the recipe because I have a family of five and generally need recipes that serve 8-10. I chopped up the cauliflower and put it on stove using chicken bouillon instead of the listed broth.  

  
This is a full head of cauliflower since I am doubling the recipe. I set my timer and started browning my ground beef. I used ground chuck since it is leaner than regular ground beef.  I also used dehydrated chopped onions and dried parsley for the meat mixture.  I seasoned the browning ground beef with a spice mixture that is labeled as a steak seasoning.  It contains salt, pepper, garlic, and onion.  As the meat mixture cooked, the cauliflower started to boil.  WARNING: cauliflower is in the same vegetable family as broccoli and cabbage and will stink up your house as it cooks.  My children all made appearances in the kitchen asking what that smell was.  I had to fib a little and tell them I was cooking something for tomorrow's menu since I was afraid that if they knew they would be eating the stinky stuff for supper they would mutiny.  

So the cauliflower is fork tender and again I remember a bit late that my food processor is dead.  Hmmm...use a potato masher? blender? And then I remember that my mother gave me an immersion blender for Christmas.  Thank you Mama!!  I drained about 2 cups of liquid from the pot before I put in the blender.  It worked beautifully! Next, the recipe said to use a thickener with coconut flour.  My coconut flour hasn't arrived yet, so I didn't use any thickener.  That is also why I decided to drain about 2 cups of liquid from the cauliflower.  The mixture seemed just the right thickness so I added the cheese.  I also added about 1/4 c. of smoked Provolone, since that is one of my favorite cheeses, especially for a burger. Then I stirred in the meat mixture, as instructed.  This is my result:


In case the photo doesn't clearly express it, this wasn't the most appetizing concoction I have stirred up.  Since we couldn't use crackers, and the focaccia bread didn't exactly work out (see New Day, New Grocery List) we decided to use tortilla chips with our soup.  I double checked the tortilla chips for any added wheat or wheat flour and was pleased to see  they were just corn tortillas. Here are our bowls: 


Hope you got a chuckle out of our fancy paper plates that I use for the children's bowls. So we sat down, said prayer, and I have to admit that I had to make myself take that first bite. See, throughout all that cooking and stirring, I didn't taste test.  I generally don't taste test as I cook, so it really isn't that different.  My aversion to take that first bit I believe had a little bit to do with the cauliflower stench that lingered in the air.  (And by the way: The cauliflower stench is still in my house, even after burning scented candles and using air fresheners.) So I did finally take a bite and I was pleasantly surprised!  It was very yummy.  The cauliflower was completely disguised by the cheese.  The children ate well, especially using the tortilla chips so that it was like a cheesy beef dip.  

We cleaned up the kitchen and I put away the leftovers.  Then we spent our New Year's Eve at the skating rink trying out the new roller skates that Santa brought.  We were home by 10:30pm and finished out 2012 watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve.  I think it was the first time that all my yahoos made it past midnight.  It was a great way to wind up 2012 and I look forward to continued striving, God willing, as we aim for a better life.  

Happy New Year to you and yours.

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