Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Brussels Sprouts and Smoky Caviar

I like contrast in my food and usual combinations that may seem like they should not work well together but do. It's always exciting when a variety of flavours come together create such a surprising successful synergy.
This soup is a great example of this. It combines the creamy mellow flavour of cauliflower (which is a great blank canvas) with the punchiness of crispy-fried Brussels sprouts and the unexpected intensity of smoke infused caviar. Great for a dinner party as the colours of this dish really stand out.
This is adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe from the Food Network magazine.

Serves 6 to 8 people
Ingredients

• 1 oz or 30 g of caviar (whichever kind you want to use)
• a few drops of smoke oil
• 3 cups of cauliflower, in pieces (around 1 small head)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 6 cups of milk
• salt & pepper
• oil for frying
• 7 Brussels sprouts, separated into individual leaves
• Fleur de sel
• 1 tbsp of chopped chive

Step 1: Making your caviar smoky

I found this smoke oil at my butcher's. You can probably find something similar in some grocery stores. Just mix a few drops in the caviar until it tastes sufficiently smoky (this is very individual). Keep covered in the fridge until ready to use.

Step 2: Making the soup

Sauté your onions in a large pot with some oil on medium heat until softened. Add your cauliflower, milk, and thyme.

Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft. Discard the thyme sprigs. Let cool slightly and blend with hand blender or traditional blender until smooth. Season with salt.

Step 3: Preparing the Brussels sprouts

Fill a medium sauce pan with an inch of oil. Heat on medium to medium-high heat and fry the Brussels sprouts leaves for a few seconds until slightly crispy. Drain on a paper towel and season with the fleur de sel.

If you don't have fleur de sel just use regular salt. Fleur de sel just adds a nice crunchy texture to the Brussels sprouts but it's entirely optional.

Step 4: Assembling the soup

Once all the previous steps are done, ladle the soup in two the vessels of your choice and garnish with the fried Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle on the chives, smoky caviar and freshly cracked black pepper.