Cheese Broccoli Soup..mmmm

[LindsayAnn]

First off, I posted this in the starters, general food topics forum as well...wasn't sure where it belonged...Both places seemed fitting to me. Incase people only visit certain forums...that way I get more advice! You can never have too much advice in my opinion. (See how much I value all of your opnions!)

Ok all - winter is approaching, and it sure was chilly in Chicago today.

I was at the farmers market early this morning, and let me tell you many of the vendors / farms did not come today

Anyhow - first time this year that I have seen fresh brocolli...I bought a wooden tub full.

With it, I decided to make brocolli cheese soup, or cheese brocolli soup - which ever you prefer. I had a craving big time.

I started with a can or cambels (so shoot me!) cheese brocolli soup... Actually first I steamed a ton of broccoli. I heated the can of soup with the left over water from the steamed brocoli and a little milk. I chopped up the broccoli to a pretty fine state, and added it. I added some crushed garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and powder cheese stuff I have. I ended up having to add another can of soup cause I used so much broccoli. I finished with a sprinkling (ok a load of) freshly grated parmesan cheese, and a handful of shredded extra sharp cheddar.

It was excellent with some crushed saltines on top - for real.

But, I would like to make this again....FROM SCRATCH. NO CAMBELLS CANS....recipes, por favor?

Much appreciation in advance...I really hope you guys have some good stuff. I LOVE LOVE LOVE cheese, love sharp/strong/stinky cheeses....I always think the more the better when it comes to cheese at least.

That being said, I love cheese brocolli soup....have never made from scratch and am itching to soon.

What do all you food fanatics have for me? I know you've got something, or at least some ideas.

Lindsay

[fannus]

Hi Lindsay,

So I noticed I had a ton of broccoli that I bought on sale in my fridge, so I decided to make some soup, and I really liked how it turned out.

I had about 7 heads of broccoli (with the full stems). I took 4 of them and peeled the skin off the stems, and cut the very end off of them (these parts tend to be string and don't break down as well). Once this was done, I diced up all the pieces and tossed them in a medium sized pot, added milk to just barely cover them, about 1tbl butter and 2 tsp salt. Covered the pot and put it on medium heat to simmer until the brocolli was just tender, then took the entire contents of this (which admittedly looked pretty nasty at the time) and tossed it in the blender (had to do this in 2 batches with the quantities I was using), then tossed it back in the pot and let it sit unheated.

Then I chopped and tossed the rest of the brocolli into a steamer, and started making a butter/flour roux in a saucepan. Once the roux had cooked a bit I started gradually adding milk, and when it was about pancake batter consistency added cubes of equal quantities sharp white cheddar and havarti cheese (really heavily aged white cheddar doesn't melt well for me, so I usually add a 'stabilizier' cheese that's less grainy/crumbly, like Jack or Havarti, or Gruyere). Once the cheese was melted in, I took the blended liquid and added that to the cheese sauce until it was sufficiently incorporated, and dumped the entire thing back into the unheated pot, finally I added the steamed chopped brocolli, stirred it up and let the thing sit for 5 minutes or so for everything to even out, then adjusted the salt balance.

It was the first time I've ever made brocolli-cheddar soup, and I just pulled the ricepe out of thin air, but I really liked how it turned out. It tasted very full and complete without any other seasonings/veggies added. Essence of broccoli

[merstar]

Here's one to check out:

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

http://www.cabotcheese.com/f1.php?left=/me...op=menu_top.php

[Shalmanese]

Not exactly what you wanted but here is a recipe I adapted off Gordon Ramsey which is stunning in it's simplicity and depth of flavor:

Seperate brocolli florets from stems and peel the stems.

Saute some shallots, add some thinly sliced garlic and deglaze with a bit of white wine. Add in the stems and steam for 5 minutes or until tender. Add in the florets and a bit more water if neccesary and steam for another 5 - 10 minutes. Add either water or chicken stock (I actually prefer 1/2 of each for this) and puree with a hand blender until smooth and then adjust the consistency and seasoning. Top with chunks of goat cheese, some almonds and some EVOO and serve.

It's really, really good considering it's pretty much just brocolli. Gordon takes the minimalism even further and just does water, broccoli and salt garnishing with goat cheese, almonds, pepper & EVOO but I've never taken it down that far.

You can also stick it under the broiler for a bit after you add the goat cheese for another level of flavour and texture.

edit: Gordon's recipe is here

Edited October 23, 2006 by Shalmanese (log)