Rainbow Soups - Green: Cream of Broccoli Soup

Origin

There isn't a lot to say about the origin of cream soups beyond the fact that they became mass produced by Campbell's in 1934 with broccoli soup being introduced to the lineup in 1990.

Ingredients
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2 medium sized broccoli heads
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
750 ml - 1L broth of your choice (I used chicken but veg stock or beef will do too)
1 cup cream
3 medium potato
salt and pepper to taste

Tools

Knife and cutting board
2 pots
Wet measures
Spoon
Peeler
Blender or stick blender

Directions

As with all of my soups up to this point were going to start with a variation on mirepoix (I’ll do a kitchen basics on this shortly) with your onions and garlic, diced and sauteed in oil preferably until they begin to gain some colour but transparent is fine.

Next will be the potatoes. Peel and cut these into 1 - 1 1/2 inch chunks. They don't have to be pretty as we’ll be blending them eventually. Toss these into your pot along with 750ml of the broth of your choice.

Bring to a boil and simmer until your potatoes are tender. While waiting, start preparing your broccoli. Start by cutting off the heads. Set them to the side for a moment. Take the stocks and peel or slice the thick skin off. Cut the tender inside into chunks and set this aside while you bring the florets back. Cut these into smaller bits (smaller then the picture) keeping the stems that you cut off and simply chop them the way you did the large stocks.

Add the chopped stocks and half of the florets to the pot, continue to boil for about 3-5 minutes, just until the broccoli becomes a bright green colour. While that is boiling take the other half of the florets and chop up finely.

Carefully and safely blend this mix either with a stick blender or in a blender. In both cases it is safest to let the mixture cool before blending. Return to the heat and add the finely chopped florets, salt and pepper tot taste and 1 cup of cream. Stir until combined and hot. Serve.

Serving

Not much to serving for this one, it's soup! I do enjoy garnishing with some shredded cheese and serving it alongside a sandwich. My favourite soup side sandwich is grilled cheese but to think the soup would rock beside a ham sandwich.

Short and Gritty

Ingredients

2 medium sized broccoli heads
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
750 ml - 1L broth of your choice (I used chicken but veg stock or beef will do too)
1 cup cream
3 medium potato

Tools

Knife and cutting board
2 pots
Wet measures
Spoon
Peeler
Blender or stick blender

Directions

1. Saute onions and garlic until translucent or slightly browned
2. While those are cooking peel and chunk potatoes
3. Add potatoes and broth to the pot and bring to a boil to cook the potatoes
4. While that is cooking prepare the broccoli:
    4a. Cut off the stems and peel them. cut into chunks
    4b. Cut florets into smaller pieces continuing to keep and cut the stems
5. When the potatoes are tender add the broccoli stems only and boil for another 5 minutes
6. Add half of the florets and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes or until they are a bright green
7. Blend the cooked mixture in as safe a way as possible (let it cool down!)
8. Cut the other half of the florets into basically a mince
9. Everything into the pot now, the blended mixture, cream and the second half of the florets
10. Stir, bring back to a simmer and serve