顶级大厨教你做"平民"浓汤(有声)

本期大厨Carla Hall是最受欢迎的烹饪真人秀Top Chef（第五季）的决赛选手。作为位于华盛顿的Alchemy Caterers的老板和主厨，她融合了自身擅长的南方菜与法国的学习经验，形成了她独有的个人风格。此时刚好是准备圣诞大餐的最后阶段，可爱的Carla将与我们分享一些经典、美味和简单的食谱，就让她来教你做这款“平民”浓汤吧。Bon appétit (祝您好胃口)！

We're back with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

Right before Christmas, I met up with Carla Hall at a safeway Supermarket here in Washington, D.C. Carla is a well-known caterer in this area, but you might know her better as a finalist from season five of the TV show "Top Chef." And we gave Carla Hall a challenge. We wanted her to make something using a seasonal vegetable, and it had to include ingredients that could be found in just about any supermarket, and it had to be something easy enough to make for dinner - say, after work.

And so what did she come up with?

Ms. CARLA HALL (Chef-Owner, Alchemy Caterers; Finalist, "Top Chef"): I'm going to make a cream of cauliflower soup.

RAZ: Cream of cauliflower soup?

Ms. HALL: Yes.

RAZ: Okay. Why are you making cream of cauliflower soup?

Ms. HALL: For one, I love pureed soups. Two: cauliflower's in season, and we always think of it being around because we have the...

RAZ: It's always around.

Ms. HALL: ...because it's always around. But it's actually grown at this time of the year, and local farmers are growing it.

RAZ: Carla says you want to look for a nice, bright-white cauliflower without any black splotches. The rest is pretty easy - a carton of chicken stock, some leeks, garlic, fresh thyme, butter, cream, and a few staples from the pantry like salt and flour. Now, don't worry if you missed that. All of this is at our Web site, .

Anyway, we spent about $21.80, and that will make enough soup for about 10 people.

(Soundbite of cutting)

RAZ: I asked to be Carla's sous chef, so back in her kitchen, she sharpened a santoku knife for me.

(Soundbite of sharpening)

RAZ: All right.

And put me to work on the leeks.

Ms. HALL: So, we're going to get - I - while you're doing the leeks, I'll get up on the cauliflower. I like that little squeaky sound. You know, when they're really fresh, they squeak.

RAZ: Yeah.

(Soundbite of cutting)

Ms. HALL: Oh, you know, I love when you do cauliflower like this, you would just cut it straight down.

RAZ: Oh, that's beautiful.

Ms. HALL: And then you can grill them.

RAZ: Oh, yeah.

Ms. HALL: Oh, it's so yummy.

RAZ: It's like a cross-section.

Ms. HALL: Why don't I do that for - I know.

RAZ: Yeah.

Ms. HALL: It's like the heart of the cauliflower.

RAZ: Yeah.

Ms. HALL: All right. We're looking good. So, you have your leeks all cut up and they're washing. You're agitating them in the bowl.

RAZ: Now, I do a lot of cooking with leeks, but here's a trick I didn't know. Carla Hall says don't wash them first. Chop them up, and then throw the chopped bits into a bowl of room-temperature water, swish them around a bit, and watch as the sand and grit sink to the bottom of the bowl. The clean, chopped pieces of leek float right to the top.

(Soundbite of swishing)