I love watching cooking related shows. All kinds of shows…those that are teaching me how to make particular recipes as well as those where chefs (and regular folks) compete! I love it all! Ha ha ha! For me it started years ago, when my husband and I lived in south Florida. We worked at Motorola as software engineers and, at one point, lived just 2 miles from work. We would go home for lunch, heat up frozen entrees and watch a food cooking game show called “Ready, Set, Cook!” Two audience members would get selected to be the sous chefs and bring forth their paper bags of ingredients for the two chefs to use as a base upon which to create a meal. At the end, the audience would vote on the best meal.
And yes, we did attempt this once at home…in our teeny tiny apartment kitchen! Um…it was a disaster, I had to kick my sous chef out of the kitchen because I ran out of space trying to create a meal out of the disparate ingredients he selected and had to use the floor to stash some dirty pots and pans out of the way. Ha ha ha! Great memories! We still love to tell that story and laugh at ourselves!
One of my favorites on the weekend is “The Kitchen”. I love how the chefs interact and engage with each other and the audience, and I always learn a new tip, technique and/or recipe…sometimes all three! Recently, I saw an episode where Jeff Mauro create a broccoli cheese soup that wasn’t heavy nor overly cheesy. I am trying to get more veggies into our diet in new ways, so I decided to try this broccoli cheese soup. Oh…delish! you will love it!
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 head broccoli stems and florets chopped and separated
- 1/2 small onion or 1 large shallot diced
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 Tbsp dry sherry
- 1 cup chicken stock / broth *
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup grated cheddar sharp or extra sharp
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- croutons optional
Instructions
- Melt butter in pan over medium heat.
- Add broccoli stems, onion, dry mustard and salt & pepper to the pan, sauteing until onions are translucent, around 5 minutes.
- Deglaze pan with sherry.
- Add the broccoli florets and chicken stock.
- Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Allow liquid to cool slightly.
- Carefully ladle into blender.
- Add spinach, cheese, cream (start with 1/4 cup), and hot sauce to blender. **
- Blend until smooth.
- If too thick, add more cream.
- Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.
- Garnish with croutons, if desired.
Notes
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