Say "Broccoli"!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 cu butter
1/4 cu flour

1 small onion, diced fine
1 small carrot, grated very fine
2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch salt
a few grinds black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch cayenne pepper

1 cu half and half
1 cu milk
1/2 cu buttermilk
2 cu chicken broth

12 oz cheddar cheese

Cut broccoli into small florets, and blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Rinse with cold water to stop cooking and set aside. This step keeps the broccoli green.

Grate cheddar cheese, then hide it from your wife in the fridge until time to add it to the soup.

Warm milk, buttermilk, and half and half together in microwave until very warm.

Heat butter on medium low in large, heavy pot until melted, then add flour. Stir frequently until a light brown roux forms, about 4-5 minutes, then add the onions, carrots, and pinch of salt. Stir 2-3 minutes, then add garlic and cook a few minutes more. Add nutmeg, pepper, and cayenne. Then add milk, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring smooth between each addition. Add chicken broth, broccoli, then heat until steam and a bubble or two begin to form, but not to boiling. Turn off heat, add cheese by the handful, stirring to avoid clumping. Stir in until the cheese is melted, then check for saltiness.

I managed to mess this up by adding the milk before the onions, carrots, and garlic. So the onions didn't get 'done'. It was pretty good otherwise, though.



Kid ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac	X "ninety-nine"
Annette	X "twenty-nine"

Tonight's bread was whole wheat with honey. The recipe:

Whole Wheat Honey Bread
(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 1970-something edition)

1 beaten egg, room temperature
1/4 cu butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 1/2 cu lukewarm water
1/2 cu honey

2 tsp kosher salt
4 cu whole wheat flour
4 cu all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

Sift dry ingredients together thoroughly.

Beat together egg and butter in a medium bowl, add water and honey.

Add liquids to dries and stir together until thoroughly mixed and a dough forms. Rest 15 minutes, then knead for 10 minutes. Let rise until doubled in bulk, then punch down and divide into four parts and form into loaves. Let loaves rise again, about 2 more hours. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 F for another 25-30 minutes.

Instead of four free-standing loaves, you can divide into thirds and put in 3 5"x9" loaf pans.

This old edition of the Joy of Cooking is my most-used cookbook. Most of the recipes are great, and it's an excellent resource if I ever want to know how to cook something I don't usually cook. Like, say, Raccoon (pg 454). The bread recipes tend to use caked yeast, but I've had perfect results with instant yeast