Meanwhile...

Don't you just hate recipes that have you stirring and watching a pot, and the next line starts out "Meanwhile..."?

Anyway, another set of recipes from Nigel Slater's Real Food.

Cauliflower Cheese and Mustard Soup


Such a simple soup to make, even if we're not exactly enjoying soup-necessary weather.
Cook some onions and garlic in butter (yes, butter; he's not shy about using cheeses, butter and creme fraiche, that Slater), Meanwhile, cook cauliflower in water till tender, about six minutes. Add bay leaves to onion-garlic, then cauliflower and cooking water. Simmer fifteen minutes. Take out bay leaves, and puree. Return to pot, add creme fraiche, a grain mustard and a turn of fresh pepper.
Serve with a nice grated cheddar and croutons (broiche cubes, sauteed in butter!).

Soup was...nice? But not spectacular. Cauliflower does not, on it's own, have much of a flavor (I often think of it as the tofu of the vegetable garden), so I shouldn't be surprised. If I were to make it again, I'd add something else to the base; more herbs, probably.

Prosciutto and Fontina Pastries

Our lovely pastries



Puff pastry, rolled out a bit. Spread with a nice English mustard, then top with thinly sliced Fontina, and prosciutto (mine was made with Morningstar Farms veggie bacon). Dab edges of pastry with olive oil, top with another sheet of pastry, chill for half an hour.
Coat pastry with oil, then grate Parmesan over the top. Bake about twelve minutes, or until golden.

Yum! As long as you know you're going to be eating fairly bad-for-your-heart foods when you begin, you can just enjoy this one. Melty cheese, and the prosciutto for Matt was quite lovely.
I will say I'd probably use a bit less mustard next time; it pretty much overwhelmed the cheese. Otherwise, nice.

And we also made Slater's Indian Spiced Baguettes the night before, but they were consumed too quickly to take pictures!