Heartier than it may sound! *Notes: I added diced ham to my batch of soup. I also used more salt and pepper than listed, plus added a half cube of chicken buillion (in addition to the chicken broth called for in the recipe), plus a sprinkling or two of cayenne pepper which is one of my favorite kicks in order to spice things up a tad. *Next Time!- I am going to add a splash of white wine just prior to serving the soup, use thicker slices of the swiss cheese (i got it pretty thinly sliced at the deli this time) AND... I think toasted slices of rye or pumpernickel bread would top the flavors off nicely. Whichever way you choose to go... Enjoy! Ingredients: 2 medium onions 4 whole cloves 4 cups water 2 (10.5 oz.) cans condensed chicken broth, undiluted 3 medium leeks, sliced 3 medium carrots, sliced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/2 teaspoon dried celery seed 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon white pepper 1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets (about 6 cups) 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 egg yolks, beaten 1/2 lb. sliced swiss cheese, cut into 4-inch x 1/2-inch strips 6-8 thin slices of italian bread Directions: Quarter one onion; stuff the cloves into the second onion (whole). In a large saucepan, combine water and broth; add onions, leeks, carrots, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add cauliflower; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cream until smooth. Stir in egg yolkes. Stir in a small amount of hot soup into cream mixture, return all to pan, stirring constantly. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. (Discard the whole onion.) Lightly toast thinly sliced Italian (or other style bread) slices. Ladle soup into individual oven-safe ramekins. Top each ramekin of soup with a lightly toasted slice of bread, then layer with swiss cheese strips. Broil 3 minutes 4-6 inches from the heat or until cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

A colleague of mine raises free range poultry on his 5 acre ranch outside of San Diego, and when a fellow colleague visited and brought back two "fresh" chickens, I couldn't resist the offer to receive one of them. Here you see the chicken ready to go into the oven. I stuffed the cavity with a half-head of garlic, 2 halves of a juice orange, half a head of sweet onion, parsley, and sage. The skin was prepped by separating it from the flesh, and in the space I pasted the insides with some pieces of Parma ham and a herb butter made with saffron, parsley, and sage. The herb butter was also pasted onto the outer skin, and then covered with more Parma ham as you could see in this photo. This procedure was to cripen the skin while keeping the flesh moist throughout the cooking, as well as give it a lot of flavor. As the Parma ham is so thin, it is expected to crisp up as the chicken roasts and provide added texture. The outside was was then lightly seasoned with coarse black pepper and sea salt before placing it into the oven, first on broil to get the carmalization started, then followed by a slow roasting at 425 degrees. Also loose in the pan is the chicken heart and neck, another 2 halves of a juice orange, 3/4 of an onion, and half a bulb of garlic. This should all carmelize nicely, adding lots of flavor to the pan sauce. 1. Oven-roasted herb chicken with Parma crackling and pan sauce Sunday, April 09, 2006