From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Super-spicy cauliflower soup

This is soup that made my lips hurt.

Before I went to boarding school (my choice, I wasn't a juvenile delinquent...at least, not much :) I had a really good tolerance for spice. I ate Thai food at Seattle Thai restaurants, where the stars were in Asian terms and not ours: 4-star Asian is like 40-star American. But at a boarding school, they can't spice things very highly, or add particularly engaging ingredients, due to allergies and moderate palates. I made do with Tabasco, but it's just not the same.

So after four years there, and four years in college, which was nearly as bad, my palate had degraded. A lot (but not alot). I've been a wuss ever since.

Lately though, in part thanks to my husband, who really enjoys some heat in his meals, I've been rebuilding my tolerance. And this is the rather extreme result.

I got a medium-sized head of organic cauliflower at Atkinson's, our local market, and steamed it until it was soft...too soft, actually, I got distracted by coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I put that, and two-ish big chipotles (the dehydrated ones, in adobo sauce) in my Cuisinart.

In a separate nonstick pan, I sauteed one medium white onion and four large cloves of garlic, fairly finely chopped, with some olive oil, salt and black pepper, and about a tablespoon of white sugar. Once they were browned, I added about half a cup of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Broth (which, incidentally, I have fallen in love with) and cooked that down so the onions and garlic were soft. That mixture went into the Cuisinart with the chipotles and cauliflower, and was pureed until the mixture was nearly smooth. I added another cup or so of broth and about a tablespoon and a half of lime juice, and heated it all back up again.

What's in the picture above is the teeny bit that remained once I realized I needed to take a picture to tell y'all about this awesomeness, with a side of Chenin Blanc and some sourdough baguette slices. And all that's left of the soup is my still-burning lips and a portion I froze for my husband, who's out of town...because I know he'll love it!

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Super-spicy cauliflower soup