Creamy Cauliflower Soup

One of my favorite stores in Berkeley is Monterey Market. Its on Hopkins Street in the tidy little bundle of shops, butchers, fishmongers, bakers, and pizza at the corner of Monterey Avenue in North Berkeley. Monterey Market is basically a huge produce market, as well as grocery store, featuring some of the best local, seasonal fruits and veggies you can find outside of a farmer's market. It is not stylized, nor trendy, like Whole Foods or Trader Joes. It is simple, never insults your intellect or senses, and only begs of you to be adventurous and open minded when thinking about whats for dinner.
When I was pondering just this the other day, walking through the overflowing aisles, I was immediately drawn to the box boasting organic, fresh yellow "cheddar cauliflower" from Full Belly Farms. The color could be described as nothing short of cheddar, I agree. I love cauliflower, steam it, sautee it, add it to soup, its delicious and so good for you. Since I've discovered these crisp, yellow beauties a few years ago, I have been hooked. The yellow ones, especially if they are super fresh, are so much more tender, mild, and dare I say, almost cheesy?
So into the soup pot it went, and with the help of a little cream fraiche, onions, garlic, butter, chicken stock, and a hand held blender it became the most lovely and creamy cauliflower soup. There is no cheddar in it, and I swear you would never know.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 head of yellow cheddar cauliflower
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
3 to 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 C cream fraiche or sour cream, more to taste/garnish
1 bay leaf
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cayenne (optional)
Salt and pepper


1. Chop onion, garlic, and cauliflower into medium sized pieces.
2. Heat olive oil and butter in a soup pot. Add onion, garlic, cauliflower, bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg, and cayenne, and about a tsp. of salt and pepper. Sautee on medium heat until tender and golden.
3. Stir in enough chicken stock to cover vegetables by an inch or so.
4. Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes until cauliflower breaks apart easily.
5. Add cream fraiche or sour cream, stirring until blended.
6. Remove from heat and with a blender, puree soup to desired consistency.
Note: If you don't have a hand held/immersion blender yet, I highly recommend getting one – they revolutionize soup making and are really easy to clean. And not too expensive either, worth every penny.
7. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, and always feel free to adjust seasonings as you like, I am pretty moderate with recommended amounts of spice in recipes, but will always be adding a pinch or two more of spices to taste as I go. You should too.

22nd & Irving Market

So, recently we packed up all our stuff and moved from the very awesome,  super hip Mission District of San Francisco to what some folks call "the suburbs". It is also known as The Sunset. Now don't worry, it isn't REALLY the suburbs, it's still very much in the city, and there is plenty of graffiti, concrete, and sirens wailing off in the distance to make a girl feel right at home. We moved for lots of reasons, cheaper rent, more space, less noise, less crackheads, easier parking, and the list goes on & on. But we did not move because we don't absolutely love & adore the mission. In fact, both Matty & and I are still very homesick for our old hood & hoping that we made the right decision. Our new pad is fantastic though, and the kitchen is maybe my most favorite part. I had a list of criteria when we were looking at potential new homes,  one of them was a good kitchen, another was a market that I liked, or at least could tolerate, within walking distance. Well, I lucked out and got a market that I actually LOVE. Now, as I said before, the sunset AIN'T the mission. In the mission you have markets, deli's, coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, and ice cream stores that specialize in organic, local, free range, fair trade & artisan. All of these things within mere blocks of your apartment. But out here in the suburbs that isn't the case. There ARE actually quite a few grocery stores, markets, and delis near my house, and they are as diverse as San Francisco itself, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Mexican, Russian, Indian, Jewish, and Italian. But the best one, in my opinion, is the 22nd & Irving Market, located at, you guessed it, 22nd & Irving. 

This spot kinda feels like a mini international farmer's market. They don't have any frozen foods or meats, and you won't find a jar of mayo (I know because one day I went running out in a panic, needing tuna salad as if my life depended on it, and they couldn't deliver on the mayonnaise). But that's ok. What they do have is tons of fresh produce, and the largest selection of organic produce in these parts. Bulk nuts, beans, grains, and dried fruits. They have a good bread selection, jars upon jars of Italian speciality items (I get the feeling this joint might be owned by someone who either is Italian, or is just really into Italian stuff), a strangely huge selection of fancy preserves, jams & jellies, organic milk, organic butter,  lots of cheese, delicious Italian cookies, soymilk, and even organic peanut butter. 

I am kind of obsessed with grocery stores, small city markets, and farmer's markets, and this one is super cute and has all kinds of delicious and unique items. So the next time you are trying to figure out what to do on a Saturday afternoon, consider this...take the N Judah train to 22nd Avenue, walk down one block to the 22nd & Irving Market,  fill your picnic basket up with bread, cheese, fig preserves, Italian chocolate wafer cookies, heirloom tomatoes, and sparkling lemonade, then set out towards the Golden Gate Park, spread out your blanket in the sun, and smile...