Broccoli Cheese Soup: Now With Potato and Bacon!

A week or so ago, I was catching up on my Pioneer Woman episodes off of my DVR. In one of the episodes Ree made Broccoli Cheese soup. It looked so delicous! I was very excited to make this, as I have finally gotten the husband to eat soup, which he always claimed to dislike. The White Bean and Collard Green soup I made was the first one he really enjoyed.

Anyway, I decided to scale Ree's soup down, mainly because I did not want to buy as much milk/half and half as the recipe called for. I was also not toally certain that my pot would be big enough for the whole recipe (it would have been fine.) Turns out that this soup is so yummy that I wish I had made a whole batch so I had more to freeze for later. Oh well.

I also made some changes in the form of additions to the soup. The husband and I love bacon, and it goes so well with broccoli and cheese. I also like to add potatoes to soup to make them a little more hearty. Thirdly, I used only whole milk because I was on a budget and it was cheaper to buy three cups of milk than to buy milk and half and half. Aside from that, the recipe is the same.

Before I give you the recipe, here is a shot of my lovely soup in my homemade bread bowl:

Ingredients

Approximately 3 strips of bacon*

1/2 and onion, diced

3-4 Tbsp Butter

Almost 1/3 cup flour

3 Cups Whole Milk

2 Heads Broccoli florets, chopped

2 Potatoes, cubed**

1 1/2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot (I used a 7 quart stock pot) cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Place on paper towels to drain.

Add the butter, melt, then add the onions.

Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until translucent.

Sprinkle the flour over the pot and stir. Cook for at least one more minute until thickened.

Pour in the milk and stir to combine.

Add in potatoes and broccoli, stir.

Turn stove to low, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes*** or until vegetables are tender

In the last 10 minutes or so, add the bacon back to the pot

Add cheese and stir until melted. Taste and add salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls or hollowed out rolls.

*I bought bacon ends from Albertson's so I cannot give an exact amount of bacon

**I used red potatoes and they were only ok. I would suggest white potatoes

***My potatoes took forever to cook (one of the reasons I would not use them again,) just keep checking your vegetables for doneness

Albertson's had this bread called "Mini Boules" looks about what restaurants use for bread bowls so I bought them. they were very tasty, but I think it made it too much food. I might use Kaiser rolls next time so as not to have any waste.

I will leave you with a close up of this delicious soup and hope you will all make it in the near future!

Michael Symon's Collard Greens and White Bean Soup (Sort of)

Yes, I know in my last post I said I was hoping to blog more. I'm a bad blogger, sorry :( It has been more than five months since I last wrote a post. Before I get to the recipe I guess so updates are in order.

First, Santa Cruz is no longer my destination for completing my degree. I know, it sounded so great. Eventually I realized I really did not want to move 600 miles away from my friends and family. I have since applied to Cal State Northridge and expect to start in the fall.

Second, I still need to move. Some of this issues that I did not go into last time are no longer a problem, but living here is still stressful and aggravating. We are hoping to move with some friends who are in a similar situation and also need to move.

Third, I have updated my deviantART page and am now a semi-active member of that community again. I would hope that you all would take a look at my art. Some is good, some is eh, and some I don't know what I was thinking ;)

 

Now for the recipe. Have any of you been watching ABC's The Chew? It is the only daytime talkshow that I watch and I love it so much! For those of you who have yet to see it, the show has five hosts: Iron Chefs Michael Symon and Mario Batali, Clinton Kelly from TLC's What Not to Wear, Top Chef fan favorite Carla Hall, and Daphne Oz, daughter of Dr. Oz. Together they talk about what is going on in the food world, offer up so fashion and healthy living tips, and cooks amazing food! Check it out Monday through Friday at 12pm Pacific time.

The most recent recipe that I made from The Chew is Michael Symon's Collard Greens and White Bean Soup. Now, Brandon doesn't like collard greens so instead I used wild arugula. Then I decided it could use a few more vegetables so I added heirloom carrots and white potatoes. The original recipe calls for 12 cups of chicken stock. Originally the soup was suposed to be simmering for an hour to cook the dry beans. I used only canned beans and the potaotes didn't take that long so I only used 10 cups of stock. I also love sage so I threw some of that in the simmering soup as well. Oh, and I added cayenne pepper and chili powder. I think it is offically MY soup recipe and not HIS soup recipe at this point. The recipe that follows is my recipe, please check out thechew.com for Michael Symon's recipe.

 

Sausage and Arugula Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 1/2 yellow onions, diced finely

3/4 pound sausage (any kind, but I used Argentinian) casings removed and crumbled

1 teaspoon Red Pepper flakes

3 large heirloom carrots (I used 1 yellow, 1 purple, and 1 light orange)

4 large white potaotes

10 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 small bunch of sage

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon each, chili powder and cayenne pepper

2 cans cannellini beans

8 cups wild arugula

 

In a medium stock pot, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add the sausage and red pepper flakes and cook until the sausage is no longer pink.

While the sausage is cooking, chop the carrots and potatoes. Small pieces will cook more quickly and be easier to eat.

Add the vegetables, spices, sage and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Simmer until the potaotes are tender, about forty minutes.

Add the beans and simmer another twenty minutes.

Add the arugula and simmer for ten more minutes.

Test your seasoning and adjust with salt or pepper.

 

Serve with freshly grated parmasan cheese and some qualty french bread.

Here is a photo of the finished product.

 

This soup does take quite a bit of time to make, so it is not best for a busy night, but it does make a whole lot of soup, so feel free to make it on a weekend and freeze most of it for a later date!