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One of my favorite things to eat EVER is broccoli cheese soup. This version is much heavier on the broccoli than on the cheese, which actually turns out a really amazing mix of flavors. I use extra sharp cheddar, and have found an even richer extra sharp cheddar since I took the photos for this soup - Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheddar, which is what I use now.
I'll show you how to make the homemade croutons (ridiculously simple) and such a great garnish!
Okay, so please. Join me as this:
becomes this:
Step one:
Take two pounds of broccoli and chop the florets into 1" pieces. Peel the stems and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Roughly chop one medium onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
Step two:
Heat 2TBSP butter in large dutch oven over medium high heat. Let it foam and subside and then add broccoli, onion, garlic, 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder, a pinch of cayenne powder and 1 tsp salt.
Step three:
Cook, stirring frequently for about six minutes - you're looking for the mix to become fragrant. Then add 1 cup water and 1/4 tsp of baking soda.
Step four:
Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once.
Step five:
Prep 2 ounces baby spinach (roughly 2 cups) and 2 cups low sodium chicken broth.
Step six:
Add broth and two cups of low sodium chicken broth to soup and increase heat back to medium high. When soup begins to simmer, add spinach and cook until it begins to wilt - this will be fast - only about one minute.
Step seven:
Remove half the soup to blender and add 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove to medium bowl.
I only have photos of one half of the process here, so do this twice, with the exception of only adding the cheese in the first part.
I also don't have a photo of this, but return the blended soup to the dutch oven and return to a simmer. You can thin out the soup by adding up to one cup of water at this time.
Now for the croutons:
Start with this:
Get this:
Cut three slices good quality bread into cubes. You can remove crusts if you want. I don't bother.
Heat 2 TBSP butter and 1 TBSP olive oil in non-stick skillet.
Add bread, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Watch carefully. I make mine over medium high heat. Remove from pan with slotted spoon to paper towel and use to garnish soup or salads.
Combine the two for this serving of deliciousness and enjoy!
Without further ado, here are tonight's top comment nominees:
From blueoregon:
Hi- I would like to nominate the above thread for making me laugh. DawnG's comment set off a funny thread in Frankenoid's diary.
from
smileycreek:
in peregrine kate's diary, Monday Night Cancer Club: On Losing Body Parts ProvokingMeaning recognized Empower Ink's Top Comments brilliance in encouraging all women who have had hysterectomies to:
save them and start sending them off to these old white coots who want control of women's uteri (whatever the plural is), saying, "Now that you have a uterus of your very own, leave the others alone."
Top Mojo from 2/19:
1) FINALLY!! by Dave in Northridge — 193
2) I can hardly keep up with the ugliness coming by bkamr — 160
3) Yeah, I just read about this one. by BoiseBlue — 133
4) I Said it in Another Thread by shanikka — 132
5) Eliminating education means more Republican votes. by Troubadour — 111
6) And there's no faster way to win... by detroitmechworks — 109
7) Opus Dei- needs more sunlight. Brownback has been by peptabysmal — 107
8) It's funny how conservatives will argue that any by RfrancisR — 102
9) OMG. Tipped and rec'd for telling it like it is, by Diana in NoVa — 96
10) He's on Face the Nation right now. by CoolOnion — 95
11) This is an important perspective by matching mole — 94
12) I tweeted KO about this earlier today by Diogenes2008 — 90
13) You posted while I was writing on this... by stcroix cheesehead — 87
14) My Republican Neighbor Recently Said..... by snapples — 85
15) It feeds the President Obama as Hitler meme by bkamr — 80
16) I believe Justice Scalia is a member by maggiejean — 77
17) Santorum was involved in Brownback's conversion by BlueSue — 77
18) Ready! by kerflooey — 76
19) It's a two'fer. by Onomastic — 75
20) Wait'll you get old. by KelleyRN2 — 74
21) Sad cats are depressed pooties by Amber6541 — 71
22) Oh Hai Whoknu: Sekritarmy Tactics, Build Leaders: by leonard145b — 69
23) The same people who oppose birth control by BPARTR — 69
24) Wait, what? by Aji — 68
25) "Yes, the government can help" by Crashing Vor — 68
26) What she said. by allergywoman — 68
27) He's running for President of by stcroix cheesehead — 68
28) so glad this is working by Mnemosyne — 65
29) To be fair, remember what I said about how by OllieGarkey — 65
30) The final line is critical by kiel — 64
Jotter's super cool photo quilt brings us Top Photos from 2/19: