SOUP
1 head cauliflower, sliced or chunked
1 onion, cut in 1/2" slices
1/2 lb mushrooms, thickly sliced
1/2 head garlic, cloves separated BUT NOT PEELED
2 T butter
50 g red miso paste (about 2.5 T)
1.5 T olive oil
2 c whole milk
4 c chicken stock (or 4 c water and 5 t Better Than Bouillon)
salt, to taste
1 t liquid smoke (optional)
TOPPINGS are a nice touch! Here are some suggestions:
pan-fry a few slices of sausage or summer sausage or salami until crispy (our choice for first time)
chopped green onions or other fresh herbs
grated Parmesan
fried onions
croutons
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Put veggies on large baking pan (I left onion slices whole to improve contact with the pan).
Melt butter in the microwave in a small bowl. Stir in miso. Stir in oil. Pour over veggies and mix with one hand, getting a little goodness on all of them. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip veg and back in the oven for another 30 minutes to brown/caramelize*.
Meanwhile, start heating the milk & chicken stock in a large pot on the stove.
When the veg are done DON'T FORGET TO PEEL THE GARLIC. Once you've peeled the garlic**, put everything from the pan in the broth, including any golden scraping from the roasting pan. Hit it with an immersion blender. Add liquid smoke and salt to taste. Let simmer a little before adding toppings of your choice and serving.
*I stirred them a couple more times fearing that I'd burn the miso-y roast-y liquid collecting in the pan. It didn't burn... but the veg didn't completely caramelize either... I'm going to look for some middle ground/watchful roasting next time.
**If you forget to peel the garlic until you stick a spoon into the just-pureed soup to taste it and wonder what those funny things that kinda have the texture of corn silk are doing in your soup, you CAN remove most of them with a food mill. However, I would recommend that you just REMEMBER TO PEEL THE FLIPPIN' GARLIC. (Not that I would know, mind you. :-/)
