Pistachio Dusted Cream of Cauliflower Soup from The Knowledge

Many of you may be familiar with Martha Grimes' series featuring Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent, Richard Jury, and her clever pub name titles.  The Knowledge  is one of those, her latest effort in the series.. Jury and his occasionally strange cohorts/friends are always fun.  I'd recommend starting at the beginning however, unless you already have.

From the Publishers:
"With their signature wit, sly plotting, and gloriously offbeat characters, Martha Grimes’s New York Times bestselling Richard Jury mysteries are “utterly unlike anyone else’s detective novels” (Washington Post). In the latest series outing, The Knowledge, the Scotland Yard detective nearly meets his match in a Baker Street Irregulars-like gang of kids and a homicide case that reaches into east Africa.

Robbie Parsons is one of London’s finest, a black cab driver who knows every street, every theater, every landmark in the city by heart. In his backseat is a man with a gun in his hand—a man who brazenly committed a crime in front of the Artemis Club, a rarefied art gallery-cum-casino, then jumped in and ordered Parsons to drive. As the criminal eventually escapes to Nairobi, Detective Superintendent Richard Jury comes across the case in the Saturday paper.

Two days previously, Jury had met and instantly connected with one of the victims of the crime, a professor of astrophysics at Columbia and an expert gambler. Feeling personally affronted, Jury soon enlists Melrose Plant, Marshall Trueblood, and his whole gang of merry characters to contend with a case that takes unexpected turns into Tanzanian gem mines, a closed casino in Reno, Nevada, and a pub that only London’s black cabbies, those who have “the knowledge,” can find. The Knowledge is prime fare from “one of the most fascinating mystery writers today” (Houston Chronicle)."

Mentions of food were often intriguing, some from one character's sojourn in Africa.  What especially caught my fancy though, was a Pistachio dusted Cream of Cauliflower soup.  Perfect for our chilly, constantly raining weather.  I swear, the rain hasn't let up here for more than a half hour at a time over the past  two weeks.  

But this soup hit all the stops and I would definitely make it again.  Particularly loved the freshly roasted and ground white pepper in it, and the dusting of toasted pistachios on top.

Pistachio Dusted Cream of Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower, separated into chunks

2 tablespoons butter

1 small potato, cut into chunks

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1/2 onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

4 cups broth

1/4 teaspoon white peppercorns, toasted and crushed

salt to taste and or fish sauce

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped parsley or garlic chives for garnish

1/2 cup pistachios, shelled, roasted and finely ground

Melt the butter in your soup pot and saute the onion until softening, then add in the garlic and cook a few more minutes.  Add the remaining vegetables and stir for another few minutes, using more butter if it looks necessary.   Add the stock and seasonings, bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft.

You can take it off the heat and wait to blend when it's cooled down a bit.  Blend until smooth, with the sour cream, adding milk or more cream if needed.   Re-heat.  Serve in individual bowls topped with the parsley and a dusting of pistachios.  Oh super yum!

I'm sharing this over at Beth Fish Reads, for her Weekend Cooking event, with Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for  Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, and with Heather for her January Foodies Read Challenge.  Be sure to visit everyone and enjoy all the good food and reading suggestions.