I realized some years ago that I really enjoy making soup. Sure, I can make chicken noodle soup – which is not my best. I make a pretty great beef and hearty veggie stew, as well as soups that use either one or both cauliflower and broccoli. So on a chilly mid-April day I decided to make my somewhat creamy cauliflower soup and a 3-ingredient biscuit that I found.
When it comes to my cauliflower soup, I changed my methodology a few months back. I begin by sautéing some onions in butter, once they are ready, I add a bit of flower until I have a little ball. I then add some vegetable stock and stir or whisk – a lot. When the soup is not so thick I start adding milk – now I should say here that I don’t really measure when I’m making this soup. It’s all by touch. But I don’t add a lot of milk, no more than a cup – depending on how much cauliflower that I have. Sometimes I’ve added some half-and-half or heavy cream, if I have it, in addition to the milk – but just a few drops.
At this point I put my chopped up cauliflower into the liquid (I usually begin my soup-making by chopping the cauliflower up and have it sit and wait the 10 minutes or so that it takes me to get to this step). I let the soup with the cauliflower boil for a few minutes and then turn the heat down and let it simmer. I then usually let it simmer for 10-15 mins before I use my “smoosh” tool to break the cauliflower down into smaller pieces – and by so doing I am also thickening the soup. At this point I also taste the soup, and make sure that it is flavorful. Cauliflower doesn’t have a strong taste, and I don’t ever cook with added salt, so I rely on my veggie stock for flavor. If I find that the soup is lacking in flavor, I sometimes add a splash of beef broth, or a pinch of two of either veggie or beef stock.
Back to “smooshing” – depending on how small I initially cut the cauliflower pieces, I’ll smoosh 2-3 times and then the soup is ready to serve. All-in, this soup can take as little as 20 minutes.
On this day I had also found a great 3-ingredient recipe for biscuits. In one of my early pandemic shopping days, where the shelves were pretty bare, I had bought self-rising flour… because that was the only flour available. And so, after a few weeks of home-quarantine, I looked into what self-rising flour is and how it works. And so I found a really great recipe for biscuits that uses the flour, along with a stick of butter and some milk. I like simple.
Baker Bettie is my source for this recipe. I actually learned about self-rising flour from this site, too. Very helpful with the information provided. But anyway, the link to the recipe is here below, along with helpful info and instructions. But if you want to know what I did, keep reading.
The recipe calls for 2 ¼ cups self-rising flour, 1 stick salted butter (cold), and ¾ – 1 ¼ cups of milk.
At the time of this writing, I’ve made these biscuits twice. The second time around, I put too much milk. They still tasted great, but the biscuits were more difficult to deal with. So my recommendation is to be careful when adding your milk, you can always add more – but once you pour the milk in, you can’t get it out.
But anyway, measure your flour – and don’t pack it down! Then cut your cold butter into smaller pieces, add to the flour and I used a fork to break the butter down and mix it with the flour. It’s ok if it isn’t like 100% integrated. But this takes a few moments. Then you add your milk – again, start with less and then you can always add more. I found that having the biscuit mix be sticky, but manageable, is what you want. I then scooped the dough into my cast-iron pan with a spoon (trying to keep my hands clean), but helped form the round biscuits.
Then you throw that pan into the already-heated oven, which is at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and leave them in there for 16-18 minutes. But leave them – don’t be opening and closing that oven all the time – let the biscuits do their thing! Oh, and Baker Bettie says you can but some melted better atop the biscuits before putting them in the oven; I did that the first time I made them. It just makes them a little less crunchy ontop. But these biscuits are delicious! They are super easy, fairly quick, and are a hit with the whole fam.
And the combo of the soup and biscuits? A home-run, of course! Nothing beats dipping some freshly-made bread into a steamy soup. And the fluffy, yet slightly buttery biscuits are a perfect density to go with the soup. Enjoy!
