Yikes! What do you do when you've over purchased and now have an abundance of red grapes? This is not the type of item that has a long freshness life. Before they went all mushy and moldy on me, with the inevitable destination: Garbage Pail, I decided to make my own grape jam. Now full disclosure here, I don't really like grape jam. That may be because the kind I've had in the past was usually made from concord grapes and was that super sweet, purply stuff. But I had an abundance of regular red eating grapes and didn't see why they wouldn't work. So I experimented. I found a few strawberries and I thought the grapes might need a friend, plus they looked like they were destined for the garbage soon, too.

Ingredients:

1 c red grapes, whole
4 strawberries, quartered
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp orange or tangerine zest
1/4 c juice of an orange or tangerine

In a saucepan, cook all the ingredients together. Simmer until the grapes breakdown and the liquid becomes thicker.

Let cool and spread it on whatever you want. I pulled out my favorite gluten free cracker, Mary's Gone Crackers, spread some whipped cream cheese and added a dollop of my freshly made red grape jam.

I have to admit that this made me like grape jam. You can do this with any fruit, really. So, next time that piece of fruit seems like it might not last another few days, breath life into it and make it JAM...again

Post script: After making this jam last week, I went searching the fridge so I could smear some on a cracker only to come up bare. Juan Carlos confessed to using it everyday and finishing it off. Lo and Behold, I found another bag of red grapes (I must have really overbought) and made a new batch.

Cauliflower soup with crispy cauliflower florets and drizzle of olive oil

Seriously, this is one of the easiest soups EVER!, yet it continues to ‘ohh and ahh’ our guests, and my mom, too. Whenever they ask how I make it, I almost feel guilty about its simplicity. Then I notice that they are barely listening because they are too entranced in licking the bowl.

So even though this is a super easy recipe, I decided to christen this blog with my first post dedicated to my mom, who is one of my culinary inspirations.

She has been cooking and baking up a storm, inspiring me and guiding me to this day. She has been begging me for my "creamy" cauliflower soup recipe. But first a little cruciferous family history...

When I was a kid my mom made cauliflower with an Italian spin to it, but also one that she knew as kids we would eat. She would trim off all the leaves and take the toughest part of the core out, then boiled the entire head in tact until fork tender. In a separate small saucepan, she melted butter and stirred in bread crumbs until they were all coated with butter. Like a mad scientist with a fresh brain (well, as least that’s what it looked like to me as a young budding cook), she took this mixture and jammed it onto the top of the cauliflower head as if giving it a brown derby. I have to admit, this method was ingenious because we all fought for a hunk; coveting the parts that had the most breadcrumb covering. It was delicious, and she got us to eat cauliflower! Brava to my mom. Then and now, she is my guiding light.

In these health conscious times, some of us look to foods that have less fat and carbs. Which leads me back to the easiest soup ever. One cold winter day a few years back, I wanted something warm and comforting. Since my husband has eliminated dairy and I eliminated wheat, we needed something that would fit our restrictions. I opened the frig and all I found was cauliflower. Well, you can certainly make soup with that!

Here’s how it goes. (I warn you, you will read it and say, ‘Is she kidding? It’s THAT easy.)

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, broken up
just so it fits in pot (size not important)
olive oil (approx. ¼ c)
2 medium onions, cut in quarters
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions:

In a medium stock pot pour in enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot. Add onions and garlic and sauté until lightly caramelized. Add salt, pepper and cauliflower and stir. Add enough water to cover most of the cauliflower then cover and lower heat to simmer. Cook until the cauliflower is super soft.

Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove cauliflower and place in a blender. You probably won’t be able to get all of it in, so do it in batches, remembering to get all the onions and garlic pieces too. Add some of the water to get the blender going. Please note: be sure to vent the lid to let the steam escape as you slowly blend.

One of the versatile aspects of this soup is that you can add as much water as you like to reach the consistency you want. The more water, the more blending the thinner, smoother your soup will be. If you prefer it chunkier and thicker, less water, less blending. You get it. You will definitely not need all the water because that would be way too much and completely water down the soup. You can reserve it and use it for the base of another soup, or use it as a base for a sauce for pasta.

That’s it. Once all the soup is blended to your liking, taste to see if you need more salt or pepper. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

fancy it up Variations

But there's more. You can enhance it a bunch of different ways with flavorful toppings.

Oh, the possibilities: Grilled shrimp, caramelized shallots, roasted cauliflower, crispy Serrano

Vegetarian Toppings:

Roasted Cauliflower Florets: Reserve some florets before adding to the stock pot. Roast these with some olive oil, salt and pepper at 425 degrees. Once nice and crispy, drop them on top your soup.
Caramelized onions or shallots, a nice topping in the center. I have also used both the onions and roasted cauliflower.
Oven Roasted tomatoes: adds a sweet note to the soup
Nuts: Toast some pinnoli (pine) nuts and sprinkle on top.

With crispy shallots and a drizzle of olive oil

For less vegetarian options:

Grilled Shrimp: Grill or sautee some shrimp. Cut into bites size pieces and adorn the soup.

with grilled shrimp and olive oil drizzle

For serious meat lovers:

Crispy Ham: Using prosciutto, Serrano ham or bacon. Roast until super crispy. Crumble and sprinkle like you were in hog heaven. If you love Serrano ham, please visit Despaña for an amazing variety of hams, dry cured meats and so much more delicious Spanish fine foods.

Serrano ham to oven roast. You can use prosciutto, too.

As you can see, it’s limitless. Please try this soup. Try your own topping ideas and let me know how it turns out.

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