Cream of Broccoli... Splendublerous!

Hello Again!

I’m sure that today’s entry probably seems a little tame, but let me tell you… if you love creamy heart warming goodness you’ll like this one for sure! Pair it with a nice little sammich, or a side salad and you’ll realize what gold you’ve really got. If you don’t like broccoli well then maybe this isn’t for you but I’m quite sure after making this, that this recipe could be translated using many different veggies instead! Cream of Cauliflower maybe? Yum Yum! One of the best things about this soup is that it’s not too rich to eat it often. There is a little cream, but it could be substituted for a “dollop of crème fraiche, or even yogurt”. Another secret is that flour is added to promote a creamy texture. Don’t worry you’ll like it!

This recipe comes from “The Culinary Institute of America –Vegetables”. (One of the culinary world’s top schools in America)

Let’s begin shall we?

Here’s what you’ll need:

7 QT Dutch Oven

Emersion Blender or Food Processor

2 lbs broccoli

¼ cup vegetable or olive oil

1¼ cups chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

1¼ cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (1 leek is enough)

¼ cup all purpose flour

6 cups Chicken Broth

(This can be substituted for Vegetable Broth for all you Vegetarians out there… and don’t forget how easy it is to make your own!)

½ cup heavy cream, heated

Fresh lemon juice, to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by separating your broccoli into florets and stems. If you are using whole broccoli chunks instead of buying florets you’ll need to chop off a little of the ugly bottom, and then trim off the tough outer parts of the long stems…. Nothing worse than choking on the stabbing spears of tough broccoli stem my friends. If you’d like to make your life easier simply just buy the florets… but in reality that is a tad lazy, ANYWAY! Set aside about a cup of small florets for later. --- You are more than welcome to skip this part if you simply want to drink your cream of broccoli soup, but how boring is that! --- once you’ve set aside a cup of florets you can combine and continue to chop up your broccoli and stems keeping in mind that the more bite-sized you chop it the easier it will be if you are using an emersion blender.

Chop up your onion (1¼ cups chopped is going to be about ¾ ths of one LARGE onion), celery (I had some in my freezer—about 2 stalks worth and I dumped it all in without measuring it because I love a well seasoned meal), and leeks (Please note how to properly deal with leeks if you don’t already know: You must peel off at least 3 or 4 of the outer layers from the outside and then chop off almost all of the dark green you see at the top, stopping when you get to the light green!--- if you are looking to make that great homemade vegetable stock I mentioned earlier this is a great thing to add to your freezer baggie!--- please don’t attempt to throw this part in the pot while no one is looking kiddies unless you enjoy chewing on straw!).

Add the chopped onion, celery, leeks, and broccoli to the pot and sauté until the onions are clear, stirring constantly on a medium fire; if it starts to burn you need to turn your fire down…. Stir for about 5 minutes. Add in the flour and stir to coat, and continue to stir frequently. Now add in your stock. There shouldn’t be any lumps but if there are for some reason just whisk or break apart. Bring this to a simmer and cook covered for about 45 minutes at a simmering boil, checking every once in a while to make sure that you are not losing too much liquid.

I did some Yoga in the meantime. But hey, this would also be a great time to heat up some water to either give a quick 4 minute boil or steam to that cup of broccoli florets you set aside earlier. Once you’ve done that, set it to the side again…

When the 45 minutes is up take it off the fire and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. If you are using your emersion blender have at it right there in the pot. If not you’ll need to strain the contents of your pot to separate the solids from the liquids and puree it a little at a time using a food processor. First you’d put in your solids making sure not to overload (maybe only about half way) and then slowly add in the liquid through the feed tube until it’s creamy and pureed. If there’s more to be pureed keep going until it’s all done, switching out the pureed stuff for solids and liquids. When you’re done pureeing each batch add it back to the pot until its all done.

So if you’re trying to make a giant heaping mess of it so that you have it on hand this would be the point where you’d stop and let it cool off completely before freezing it in baggies. The recipe says 2 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer… soooo onward!

Return your soup to a simmer… while you’re doing that, take a small pot and put in your half cup of heavy cream, to warm it. Watch it because this only takes moments. When it’s warm add it into the pureed broccoli pot and mix to combine. Now add in your boiled/steamed broccoli florets that you set aside earlier!

Here is where I finally salted my soup. With my dutch oven one regular recipe creating anywhere from 4 to 6 cups of food usually takes once forth and back of a pot wide salting, remember too to take into account that 6 cups of chicken stock were added so that will affect your salt levels needed in the end. I’m sure I could possibly explain that better but I really don’t know how; I’m so visual! So just start out with teaspoon or two, taste and go from there.

Here is where you can also add the lemon juice. I omitted this part because to me it felt like it would interfere with the creaminess… this has alas left me ignorant to the taste of lemon juice - broccoli soup but at least I can tell you that it’s amazing without it right? You go ahead and make that decision for yourself, if you’re curious you can always dish out a small bowl and give a good squirt to simply try it.

So when I was at my favorite place on earth, the farmer’s market, I picked up some sandwich items: ciabatta rolls, cheese, deli meat, grape tomatoes, and field greens… planning ahead to slap together a sandwich or two to go with this soupy delight. Here’s my dinner, now where’s yours? Chow down ladies and gents!