The other day when I walked up to the Lutheran Center for lunch, I opened the door and was greeted with a delicious aroma. I hurried and checked in, went to the dining area, only to learn there’d been a cooking class that morning for cheddar broccoli soup and I missed out.
They said “Doug that’s what you get for only looking at the lunch calendar—we have an activity calendar too, y’know.” I asked if there was a tiny mouthful left. “Nope, not a blessed drop!”
I suddenly felt like George Costanza on Seinfeld, after asking for free bread from the Soup Nazi: “No soup for you!” One of the ladies handed me a printout of the recipe, so I thought I’d try and make it myself. Here’s the ingredients:
Broccoli Cheddar Soup For Two (makes 2 servings)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup cooked, chopped broccoli
I’m sure there’s plenty of broccoli soup recipes out there, I think what makes this one special is it’s simplicity; you’re using broccoli you cooked beforehand and you’re only making a small pot. (But a little goes a long way, you’ll see.) Now let’s get started!
1. Saute the chopped onion with the melted butter until the onions are tender. I’m using a smidge more onions than 1/4 cup because that’s how us men roll.
2. Stir in the flour, salt & pepper until well blended.
4. You should have a tan, silky base. Add in the precooked broccoli and heat thru thoroughly.
5. Remove from the heat and slooowly stir in 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese until melted. 
I got myself a bowl and sprinkled some more shredded cheese on top. In hindsight, I wish I’d bought a sharp cheddar, not mild. It also needed more black pepper. I enjoyed this with a baked ham & horseradish sandwich, but the second day I heated up a bowl with half a strip of crumbled bacon stirred in, and it was DELICIOUS. By the way, this actually made enough for 3—just saying!
Wow, it looks and sounds great. I can't smell it though, wish I could.
ReplyDeleteThank you DJan, I wish you could too. 🙂
DeleteGigi Hawaii — wow, I am impressed! Looking good, Doug.
ReplyDeleteThanks Queen Gigi, much appreciated! :^)
DeleteLooks wonderful, Dug... and you're right...pretty simple. I may try it. Would use GF flour, but that's easy. Actually we buy Progresso's Broccoli cheese soup (gluten free) and it's good. I think they also have one with bacon. To be honest, here I can add onions, garlic, cheese, and bacon to almost anything and the guys love it. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteRian--you just made me chuckle because I JUST TOLD A FRIEND this morning that it's much simpler to buy Progresso Broccoli Soup and add a cup of broccoli, it's just as tasty! Haha anyway thank you my friend :^)
DeleteWow that is a great recipe!!! Most of my recipes make enough for an army and this seems like a manageable amount of soup for us. The bacon is a great idea!!! And personally, we like more onions in most recipes, too.
ReplyDeleteMiss Merry--you always know just what to say, I love your comments. Thank you. :^)
DeleteThat looks (and sounds) wonderful. How weird because when I saw the recipe I thought, "I hope he used sharp cheddar!" As a cheese lover, I have only sharp or extra sharp around.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, thank you and yes I feel JUST the same way regarding cheddar. The sharper the better and this soup did need that! My bad!
DeleteThe recipe alone sounded good, and then you added photos! It looks delicious and something I'll have to try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maebeme, you're very kind!
DeleteThat looks really good..I’ll have to try making it…I love to cook..my mom started teaching me when I was three. I took cooking classes at art institute..thank you for the detailed pictures..how did you take the pictures..it must have been hard
ReplyDeleteBeth
Thanks Beth. Wow, cooking at age 3 is starting out young... and that's cool about your classes at the Art Institute, I really wanted to go there. As for my photos here, I appreciate you asking, it was hard clicking the 'shoot' button one-handed.
DeleteI’m a maker of several different soups, but I haven’t encounters broccoli and cheddar soup before. I’ll have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I haven’t used broccoli in a soup, not even my vegetable soup (that I inherited from my mum, but considerably modified over the years – add lots of parsley at the end).
Speaking of parsley, my most enduring soup memory is having parsley soup in a restaurant here. It was so good I went back the next day and had it again.
Alas, the restaurant is long gone but I still try to make it as good as theirs. I haven’t succeeded yet.
You should always use sharp cheddar or aged cloth-wrapped cheddar, preferably from England or Tasmania (or anywhere else that makes excellent cheddar).
Peter my friend, thanks very much and you almost gave me a chuckle here. I'm surprised you never encountered broccoli soup, it's a pretty common thing here in the US. I have never heard of parsley soup! And I will take your advice about the sharp cheddar (this was a big mistake on my part) but Tasmanian?!! My local market isn't that international but I will definitely look!
DeleteI regularly have broccoli (and broccolini), just not in soup.
DeleteYou probably won’t find Tasmanian cheddar. Most of their cheese (and wine and seafood and fruit) is sent to Melbourne and Sydney.
There’s an English cheddar I like and is available here – Quicke’s Mature Clothbound Cheddar. You might find it in specialised cheese shops (avoid those run by anyone from Monty Python).
My gosh Peter, you always amaze me. Thank you for the tip!
DeleteI really enjoy your recipes and food posts. The pictures are always great!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Bobi. Well, I'm posting another food post in 2 days, hope I'm not overdoing it! 🙂
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