skinny girls & mayonnaise

All I can say is that I’m lucky I live in California.

We were in the early stages of Christmas dinner with our friends, Debra and Ernie, when the stove flickered off.

Frustrated, I moved the cauliflower and truffle soup I was preparing to a different burner, assuming that was the problem. But one after another, I tried all five burners and got no flame. And then a sinking realization washed over me — I rushed out to the propane tank, checked the meter. It read “0”. In other words, empty.

Cauliflower soup cooking on the Weber side burner

(For those of you big city dwellers who live your lives in piped-in natural-gas comfort and have no idea what this means, here’s a crash course: We country folk have big propane tanks outside our houses and have to have gas delivered. Usually this is no problem, as we pre-buy our propane and the propane companies are good about not letting their customers’ tanks run low. What a time for them to fail their charge!)

The oven would still work for the main course, but the soup was cold, the mashed potatoes unfinished. And what of the tempura asparagus I was planning for a side dish?

My wife phoned Delta Propane and followed the auto prompt. “Is it an emergency?” she asked me, reflecting on the menu options. “Our propane is out,” I replied. “It’s Christmas dinner, and we’ve got guests. It’s an emergency.”

She got through to a live operator, explained our dilemma, and was promised a call back. In the meantime, we pondered our options. We could scale back our plans for the dinner, or we could schlep all our ingredients down the mountain to Debra and Ernie’s house and prepare dinner there.

My carefully planned Christmas dinner was falling apart before my eyes. It reminded me of the time several years ago at my mother’s house in Sonoma, we had invited one of Dry Creek Valley’s premier wine wakers to dinner, I had printed out menus for the 8-course dinner I was to prepare, and a storm had knocked the power out an hour before the dinner. The kitchen was all electric. And I had to prepare the entire dinner by candlelight on the surface of a wood-burning stove, and on the gas grill outside.

And now, I was an equally desperate man. Then, all of a sudden, I had it — the eureka! moment. I put on the Scott Murphy hat, clicked the high beams, and got to work.

Santa Sean in the Scott Murphy hat, ready for action

The weather outside was plunging into the upper 60s — there was no time to lose. I had already shanked off a 1.5 lb. steak that was destined for the grill from the 8 lb. prime rib roast Ernie brought, so it wasn’t too great a stretch to add more components of the Christmas dinner to the al fresco kitchen. I clicked on the side burner — which I’d never before used! — heated up the grill, and got cooking.

In the meantime, Delta Propane called back. On the line was a driver who was on call, also trying to enjoy his Christmas dinner. He could drop everything and bring us propane right that minute if we needed it! He didn’t want our Christmas to be ruined. My wife covered the phone and looked at me sadly. And I shook my head — we’d solved the dilemma sufficiently, and I didn’t want anyone else’s Christmas to be ruined. The driver was grateful, my wife wished him a Merry Christmas and we carried on.

The dinner, despite the challenges, was of course a delicious success. Even the Weber grill-cooked asparagus tempura turned out perfectly, set proudly beside slices of Ernie’s prime rib and my Yukon gold mashed potatoes. Here is the recipe for the cauliflower soup, should you have some good chicken stock and a head of cauliflower around. It’s just about the most gorgeously silky, delicious soup on earth. Although, I recommend cooking it indoors on a regular stove… if you can.

Cheers!

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Creamy cauliflower soup
serves 4 – 6

2 quarts good, homemade chicken stock
1 large leek, white part only, cut in 1-inch-long segments
1 tbsp. butter
1 small head cauliflower (or 1/2 large head)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 oz. fresh white truffle (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute leek for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until beginning to soften. Add chicken stock and cauliflower, cover, and bring to a simmer. Remove cover and cook for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let soup cool.

Once soup has cooled to room temperature, place in a blender and puree. Return to soup pot over medium heat, and cook until soup begins to simmer. Add cream, adjust seasonings, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle into bowls. Shave fresh white truffle over the top of each bowl, if you’d like, and serve.