Creamy Cheddar Cauliflower Soup (Instant Pot)

This Creamy Cheddar Cauliflower Soup is the perfect savory bowl, made with extra sharp cheddar and chicken broth. And it’s quick to cook in an Instant Pot! 

One of my husband’s all-time favorite dishes is baked cauliflower cheese so I knew this soup would be an instant hit. I was not wrong. The best part is that it is simple and, cooked in an Instant Pot, it takes hardly any time at all. 

I like to serve it with extra extra sharp cheddar on top, which endears it even more to my cauliflower cheese loving spouse. 

Creamy Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

This easy Instant Pot recipe is super flexible. If your cauliflower is a bit bigger or smaller, no worries. I give the weight of mine below, just as a guide. This recipe is adapted from one on Faith Hope Love and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice.

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower (about 2 lbs 7oz or 1100g, whole)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 large onion, peeled

2 small stalks celery

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

5 cups or 1185ml chicken stock, divided

1 teaspoon Colman’s mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 1/2 cups or 360ml milk

1/2 cup or 120ml heavy cream

6 oz or 170g extra sharp cheddar, grated, plus extra for serving, if desired

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Optional for garnish: chopped green onions

Method

Trim all the green leaves off of the cauliflower and cut the head into small florettes. Finely chop the stalks. 

Finely dice the onion and celery. 

Place the butter and olive oil in your Instant Pot on the sauté normal setting. 

When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery and chopped cauliflower stalks to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the flour to the pot and stir well to mix it into the softened vegetables. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Slowly pour in half of the chicken stock, whisking constantly to avoid creating lumps. Whisk in the mustard, salt and both peppers. 

Add the cauliflower florettes to the Instant Pot and stir to coat with the stock and seasonings. 

Add in the rest of the stock.

Set the Instant Pot on for manual for 15 minutes. Immediately release the pressure by covering the valve with a towel and opening it carefully so you don’t get burned by the steam. 

Add the milk and cream into the pot, stirring well. 

Turn the Instant Pot on the sauté low setting and toss the grated cheese for the soup with the cornstarch to coat. 

Add the grated cheese a handful at a time, stirring well in between. Cook until the soup is warmed through and slightly thicker.

Serve with extra grated cheese for topping, if desired, and chopped green onions for garnish. 

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes made with cauliflower and broccoli, two of my favorite vegetables. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe. Check out the links below:

• Buffalo Cauliflower Quinoa Bowls from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Cauliflower Cheese from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cauliflower Curry Pathare Prabhu Style from Sneha's Recipe
• Creamy Cheddar Cauliflower Soup (Instant Pot) from Food Lust People Love
• Stirfry Chicken, Broccoli, and Cauliflower from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tandoori Cauliflower Steaks from Mayuri's Jikoni

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts

Marinated chicken hearts are tender, meaty morsels but added bacon kicks them up a notch to make crispy bacon-wrapped chicken hearts! These are so good. 

At least a couple of times a year, we celebrate what we call Brazil Night, usually for our daughters’ birthdays. The meal starts with caipirinhas to drink and includes grilled chicken hearts and picanha (the cap of the rump, a popular cut in Brazil that has finally made its way stateside, much to our delight), black beans, rice, farofa (toasted manioc flour) and molha, which is very similar to pico de gallo. 

While I wouldn’t mess with the simple marinated chicken hearts we grill on skewers for a Brazil Night, I’ve long wanted to try wrapping them in bacon, similar to one of our favorite Christmas Eve appetizers: Angels on horseback aka smoked oysters wrapped in bacon. 

I am here to report that they were wonderful! Tender inside with crispy bacon on the outside. Definitely going on the “would make again” list!

Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts

This makes a bunch of chicken hearts, about 50. My husband and I munched on these for a couple of days since we weren’t throwing a party needing appetizers and it’s just the two of us at home. Still, no regrets. They are that tasty.

Ingredients

1.15 lb or 500g chicken hearts

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lb or 450g thin cut smoked bacon

Method

Use a sharp knife to trim the fatty ends off of the hearts. This first step is optional and I totally skip it for the skewered chicken hearts we will grill over hot coals because the fatty ends get crispy. 

However, when wrapped with bacon and roasted in the oven, those fatty ends can’t crisp up as much, so I did trim mine somewhat. You don't have to get every last piece of fat off, just the majority, if you choose to trim. 

In a mixing bowl, stir the hearts in the lime juice, olive oil, salt with a few generous grinds of black pepper. 

Cover and refrigerate for one hour. When the hour is up, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Cut the bacon slices in three and wrap one piece around each chicken heart, securing it with a toothpick. A little tip: If one end of the bacon piece is fattier than the other, roll up from the meatier side so the fat is on the outside and can crispy up more. 

Place them on a large lined baking pan. I hate cleaning baked on grease so I line mine first with foil, then a silicone liner. 

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and golden.

Drain on paper towels.

Transfer the hearts to a plate to serve. A glass of chilled rosé goes beautifully with them.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 9th edition of our 2024 Alphabet Challenge being brought to you by the letter H. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the H sponsored recipes below:

• Sneha’s Recipe: Homemade Hollandaise Sauce
• Culinary Cam: Halva with Fiori di Sicilia
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Panna Cotta With Hibiscus Berry Sauce
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Corned Beef and Cabbage Hash 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Spicy Hashbrown Waffles 
• Blogghetti: Grilled Hawaiian Ham Skewers 
• Palatable Pastime: Batter Fried Halloumi Cheese 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Harissa Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner 
• Food Lust People Love: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts 
• Magical Ingredients: Hummus Herb Paratha
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Sweet Honey Deviled Eggs with Fennel Fronds

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Fluffy Multigrain Pancakes #BreadBakers

Made with whole wheat flour, cornmeal and rolled oats, these fluffy multigrain pancakes are nutty and nutritious, as well as delicious.

A few months ago my doctor told me that my bloodwork numbers weren’t great, in fact, she diagnosed pre-diabetes. Which frankly didn’t sound so much like a diagnosis as a warning. Shape up or pay the consequences later! 

Recipes like these fluffy multigrain pancakes are my small attempt to do better but the amazing thing is that I actually like them more than normal all white flour pancakes. They have so much more flavor! Not surprising, really, since I’ve always loved whole grain bread more than white. 

Fluffy Multigrain Pancakes

This recipe made 16 (4 in or 10cm) pancakes. Any leftovers can be reheated in a normal toaster which makes them a great option for busy weekday mornings. This recipe is adapted one from New York Times Cooking.

Ingredients

1 cup or 120g whole wheat/ wholemeal flour

¾ cup or 94g all-purpose flour

½ cup or 85g cornmeal

¼ cup or 30g rolled oats

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 3/4 cups Greek yogurt 

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

3 large eggs

¼ cup or 60ml canola oil 

For greasing the pancake griddle: butter

For serving:

Butter

Your favorite syrup

Method

In a large bowl, mix together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt and milk. Whisk in the eggs and canola oil. 

Pour the yogurt/egg mixture into the flour mixture and fold well until fully incorporated.

Heat a griddle or large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. You can check to see if it’s hot by sprinkling a few drops of water on the surface. They should sizzle and evaporate immediately.

You'll notice that the batter starts to get fluffy in the bowl as the yogurt reacts with the baking powder and baking soda. When you scoop it out to make the pancakes, try not to knock the air out by stirring. This ensures that the pancakes are lovely and light. 

Add a little butter to the griddle and let it melt. Use a 1/3 cup measure to make pancakes with the batter, leaving enough room between them so you can turn the pancakes easily.  The batter is very thick so you may need to use the edge of the measuring cup to pat it out gently into a circle. 

Cook until about 2-3 minutes or until the last pancake added to the pan is browned on the bottom. Flip the first one first and so on, then cook the pancakes until they are golden on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Either transfer to a plate as they finish and serve immediately with syrup and more butter on top, if you like. Or, if everyone wants to eat together, fashion a large pouch out of foil and pop the pancakes in as they are done. Fold it closed to keep them warm until the next batch is ready. 

Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the griddle or pan as needed. 

We are syrup heathens from the south so we use the Pearl Milling (used to be Aunt Jemima) butter light syrup instead of real maple syrup. You can use your favorite syrup and I won’t judge. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers to share their creations. Our theme today is mixed grains bread! Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below: 

• Aromatic Multigrain Bread with Coriander and Fennel from A Messy Kitchen
• Dhapate - Multigrain Flatbread from Sneha’s Recipe
• Easiest Multigrain sourdough Bread from Zesty South Indian kitchen
• Fluffy Multigrain Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Multi-Grain Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Roasted Potato Multigrain Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Spelt, Barley, and White Wheat Rustic Loaf from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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My Ideal Birthday “Cake” (is Meatloaf!)

A savory dish made with ground meat, my ideal birthday cake is meatloaf! This one is filled with curried carrots and covered with buttery cream potatoes. Happy Easter to all who celebrate and an early Happy April Fool's Day to all!

We all love a good prank for April Fool’s Day but I can’t remember the last time I actually pulled one. Probably when our girls still lived at home and that’s was a very long time ago – COVID days excepted. 

If you’ve been reading my posts for a while, you probably know that I’m not much of a sweet eater so when our Sunday FunDay host for this week challenged us to make a dish that looked like something else for April Fool’s Day, I knew I’d make a savory dish. 

I also wanted to make a fun recipe that we could actually enjoy for a main course. I created this meatloaf recipe to fit the bill. Doesn’t it look like cake?!!!

My Ideal Birthday Cake is Meatloaf

I used two 6-in or 15cm round “smash” cake pans to bake the meatloaf layers. A tradition that started well after my two girls had turned one, smash cakes are little cakes baked so the birthday baby can put her whole face in. I presume there’s another cake for the rest of the guests at the birthday party.

Ingredients

For the “cake” layers:

2 slices sandwich bread (brown or white)

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion

1 lb or 450g ground beef

1/2 lb or 225g ground pork

2 eggs

1/4 cup or 60ml ketchup

2 teaspoons dry mustard powder (like Colman’s)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the cream potato “frosting”:

4 medium Russet potatoes (weight peeled: about 1 lb 6 oz or 625g)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt to boil, plus extra after mashing, if needed

1/2 cup or 120ml whipping or heavy cream

1/4 cup or 57g butter

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

For the savory carrot filling: 

3 medium carrots (weight peeled: about 7 3/4 oz or 215g)

1/4 medium onion

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt  

For decorating:

1 teaspoon paprika

Large piping tip

Piping bag

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Cut the bread into small squares and pour the milk over it in a small bowl, pushing the pieces down into the milk. Soak until all the milk is absorbed.

Mince your onion finely. I usually use a small food processor for this to make sure there are no big bits because no one wants to bite into a big bit of onion.

In a large bowl, add your onion, ground beef, ground pork, eggs, ketchup, mustard powder and salt. Mash the soggy bread with a fork till it falls apart and then add it to the large bowl with all of the other ingredients.  Mix well.

Divide the mixture in half and press it into the smash cake pans. My whole mixture weighed 1062g so each pan holds 531g.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the meatloaf is browned nicely and cooked through to a safe internal temperature of 160°F or 71°C.

While your layers are baking, make the filling and "frosting." Peel your potatoes and cut them into chunks. Boil them until tender with the teaspoon of salt. 

Warm the cream and butter together till the butter is just melted. I do this in a microwaveable vessel, with quick zaps, watching carefully so it doesn’t boil over. 

Drain the potatoes and mash them right away. I find they mash with fewer lumps while still hot. Add in the melted butter/cream and the white pepper. 

Stir well till combined. Taste and add more salt if needed. 

Peel and cut the carrots into chunks. Finely mince the onion (or use a processor) for the filling. 

Boil the carrots until very tender then drain and mash them right away. 

Transfer the carrots to a heat -proof bowl and melt the butter in the pot you used to boil them. Sauté the curry powder and chopped onions in the butter until the onions are translucent and very soft. 

Add the carrots back into the pot with the 1/4 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Set aside.

When they are done, remove the meatloaf layers from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Run a silicone spatula around the edge to loosen. Carefully remove them to plates.

Top one meatloaf layer with the carrot filling. 

Carefully put the second meatloaf layer on top. 

Cover the “cake” with the cream potatoes. 

You should have plenty left over so don't be shy.

Add the paprika to 3/4 cup or 170g of the cream potatoes and mix well.

Fit a large tip on your piping bag and use a spatula to add the paprika potato down the insides of the bag in stripes. Spoon the rest of the cream potatoes in the middle of the piping bag. Decorate the “cake” by piping on little rosettes or stars.

I did a row around the bottom, then a row around the top. And because more is more, I piped rosettes to cover the top. You do you. 

(You will probably have potato leftover at the end unless you choose to cover the whole cake with rosettes. Eat it as is or follow these instructions to make baked Marquis potatoes with the rest. 

I must confess that by the time I finished assembling the “cake” it was closer to room temperature than hot so we sliced it up and warmed it by the slice in the microwave. Delicious! 

If you make one to trick your family, I’d love to hear about it!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and, as mentioned above, we are sharing April Fool’s Day recipes. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Cam. Check out all the illusion recipes below:

• April Fools Calzone Donut by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• April Fools' Day Chicken Nuggets & French Fries by Sneha's Recipe
• Big Ice Cream Taco by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Grogu's Frog Egg Dessert by Palatable Pastime
• Hot Beef Sundae by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• My Ideal Birthday "Cake" by Food Lust People Love
• Potted Plant Cremeux by Culinary Cam

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Grape Juice Jigglers

Grape juice jigglers are a healthy treat your children will love, made with vegetarian gelatin and naturally sweet grape juice. Maybe make some for Easter? 

When my girls were growing up, I was a bake-from-scratch-type mom, but the two exceptions to that were boxed chewy brownie mix and Jello®. I guess I have to include Jello® pudding in that category as well. I had to help with brownies and Jello® because of the hot oven and the boiling water but instant pudding was sooo easy that my girls could make it by themselves from when they were very little. Cold milk, whisk in the powder. Done! How did it thicken? It was like a creamy sweet miracle. 

I don’t know who the genius behind jigglers was but I put him or her right up there with the marketing person who first thought of “lather, rinse, repeat” on shampoo bottle labels. After all, jigglers get you to use two boxes of that powdered, sweetened gelatin to make the same size pan and it’s probably eaten just as quickly. Or maybe even more quickly since jigglers of all flavors are kid favorites. A cold jiggly treat you can eat with your hands? Yes, please! 

A little research reveals that jigglers were first touted in a cookbook given away by the makers of Jello® in the 1930s. The recipe was rediscovered in the ’70s when, as sales declined, the company looked for ways to reinvigorate the market for their jiggly product, thumbing through their old cookbooks for inspiration. And another generation of jiggler lovers was born. Count me and my girls in that number.

I know a lot of moms try to limit their children’s intake of sugar with no nutritional value and I did too. So drinks and sugar-full Jell-O® were a special treat on weekends. I was not a fan of sugar-free versions because sugar seemed less harmful than the chemicals that made up the unnatural sweeteners. And what about all the coloring additives? Let’s not even go there. So what’s a mom to do?

 

Make grape juice jigglers from pure, naturally colored, naturally sweetened grape juice! Or frankly, any juice of your choice, as long as it is not very acidic, which inhibits the gelatin from firming up.

 

Grape Juice Jigglers

Most gelatin powders are still made from animal products, but vegan/vegetarian friendly gelatin is now widely available as well. Just read the labels if that is a concern for you. I will tell you that if you use the non-animal gelatin, you need just a bit more than usual to get your juice to set. 

Ingredients

4 1/4 cups cups or 1 liter no-sugar added grape juice

4 1/2 teaspoons unflavored vegetarian gelatin powder 

Method

Sprinkle the vegetarian gelatin powder over the grape juice in medium-sized pot.  Stir thoroughly until the powder is completely dissolved and the liquid appears to thicken just a little.

 

Put the pot on the stove and, over a medium flame, heat till just boiling. (About 200°F or 93°C by my candy thermometer.) Tiny bubbles will start appearing. 

Pour the hot liquid into a heatproof rectangular casserole dish about 9x13 in or 23x33cm. 

Leave to cool, then cover with cling film and chill for at least 2 hours or until firm. 

Cut into squares to serve.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 8th edition of our 2024 Alphabet Challenge being brought to you by the letter G. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the G sponsored recipes below:

• Sneha’s Recipe: Gavar Sabji 
• Culinary Cam: Aïgo Bouido (Provençal Garlic Soup) 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Shrimp and Grits 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Guacamole Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Grape Juice Jigglers 
• Palatable Pastime: Grilled Vegetables with Hot Bacon Dressing 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Gyoza Wrapper Pizza Bites 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Garlic Butter Gnocchi with Green Beans 
• Blogghetti: Easy Baked Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Creamy Simple Stovetop Gouda Mac & Cheese 
• Magical Ingredients: Green and Red Salsa Paratha

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Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

These cheesy spelt mini muffins are a great little one/two bite snack that will disappear in record time. Leave them uncovered at your peril! It’s so easy to pop one in your mouth as you go by the plate.

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means my Muffin Monday friends are sharing muffin recipes. It somehow sneaks up on me every month and that makes me wonder how on earth I ever managed to do Muffin Monday every week for almost three whole years!

I was just counting and I have, including this one, 241 muffin recipes on this blog. Crazy talk! Most are sweet with only 54 falling into the savory category. I just love baking muffins and how quick and easy they are. Muffin Monday is an effort to tell the world! 

Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins

You could also bake this batter in a six-cup muffin pan but the minis are so cute, why would you, except if you just don’t own a mini muffin pan? Plus they will take longer to bake. 

Ingredients

Canola or other light oil for greasing the muffin pan

½ cup or 60g spelt flour½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 56g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

3 tablespoons or 43g butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to 400F° or 200°C and prepare a 12-hole mini muffin pan by greasing it with canola or another light oil. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Set aside a small amount of the grated cheese for topping, then add the bigger pile to the flour mixture and toss to coat.

In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and milk. 

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones, until just mixed. Divide the mixture between the muffin cups. 

I like to use a little scoop. Add a good pinch of the reserved grated cheddar to each muffin.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in your preheated oven or until golden brown on top.

Cool on a wire cooling rack for a few minutes and then run a spatula around the edges to loosen the muffins. 

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it's Muffin Monday. Check out all the great muffin recipe links below:

• Blood Orange Yogurt Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cardamom and Orange Sourdough Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Cheddar Cheese Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Spelt Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Irish Soda Bread Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Hot Cross Buns from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sourdough Multi-grain Grape Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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