Great Recipe
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup half-and-half cream
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 1/2 white onion finely diced
- 1 whole carrot finely diced
- 2 stalk celery finely diced
- 1 whole cauliflower heads (roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoons fresh or dried parsley (chopped)
- 2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth or stock
- 2 cups whole milk or skim
- salt to taste i used 1 teaspoon
- 2 cups chopped chicken
- greek style yogurt for garnish *optional
- 1 tbsp. white cheese grated
- Carbohydrate 62.865345000976 g
- Cholesterol 2369.14 mg
- Fat 829.346967500122 g
- Fiber 5.45242510983567 g
- Protein 105.282657500458 g
- Saturated Fat 501.18061950002 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1879g)
- Sodium 6289.60450000864 mg
- Sugar 57.4129198911404 g
- Trans Fat 58.7253240000369 g
- Calories 8002 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown.
- Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.
- In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup and add chopped cooked chicken, Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.
- Season if needed with more salt garnish with * greek style plain yogurt if you like. Serve hot!
Throwing flour directly into hot liquid creates stubborn lumps because starch molecules gelatinize instantly on the outside while keeping dry powder trapped inside. Whisking flour thoroughly into cold milk before introducing it to warm fat disperses those starch grains evenly, creating a smooth thickening base without using commercial thickeners. That separate milk and flour mixture must then be combined properly with butter and cream off the direct heat source to prevent scorching the dairy proteins.
Cauliflower breaks down structurally through a two-stage cooking process that relies first on covered sweating and later on simmering broth. Steaming the chopped florets under a lid for fifteen minutes softens cellular walls gently before liquid is added, allowing the vegetable to absorb savory flavor without turning watery. Rushing this initial softening phase leaves the core fibrous, which ruins the velvety mouthfeel expected from a puréed style soup base.
Controlling thermal application protects the dairy components from curdling throughout the final twenty-minute simmer. Keeping the Dutch oven at a gentle bubble rather than a rolling boil ensures the half-and-half and butter emulsion remains stable. High heat breaks fat bonds rapidly, separating milk solids and leaving an oily film across the surface of the broth.
Managing this sequence requires keeping two burners occupied simultaneously. While the primary soup pot develops flavor with the aromatics and broth, a separate medium saucepan handles the dairy roux. Synchronizing these two elements prevents the thickener from cooling down too much before merging with the main pot.
