Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup

I have never in my life cooked with leeks before.  I've always glanced at them in the produce aisle and wondered what they tasted like, but had never actually encountered a recipe that called for using them.  They look like scallions on steroids, so I always just assumed they had an onion-like flavor.  Imagine my delight when Brenna selected the pureed broccoli-leek soup from The White Rachel Ray Binder as the next recipe to try. 

I will admit that leeks were kind of on the expensive side ($2.49 for the bunch of 3), but they were well worth it.  I loved the flavor!  They were much sweeter and milder than a regular yellow onion, but still had the taste of an onion.  Plus they don't make you cry when you chop them up.  Like the onion, they grow in soil, but unlike the onion which develops a bulb, the leek is made up entirely of bundled leaf sheaths.  The grit gets in between the individual sheaths so you have to make sure you clean your leeks very well.  Te recipe does not call for soil, sand, grit or any type of debris.

I chose to make the soup on a night my husband had a work event, so he didn't get the pleasure of sampling the leek, but knowing my husband, it's green and resembles and onion so he wouldn't have tried it anyway...and since I'm not his mom I can't make him try one bite.  Tyler wasn't a fan of the soup but finished his whole bowl.  Brenna and Aiden ate a few bites and didn't care for it very much, but they did get grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it so they were all still happy and fed.  I think it may have actually been the Gruyere cheese which turned them off more so than the leek because it has a much stronger flavor than the cheeses they are used to.  I think if I had substituted Cheddar the soup would have went over much better with the kids.  

Either way, this gentle giant of the onion family has indeed earned at least one new fan!

Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup

*Serves 4

1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets

4 tbsp. butter

4 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced (I had HUGE leeks so I only used the 3 and could taste the flavor just fine)

Salt

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. heavy cream

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (normally I hate nutmeg, but it actually worked in the soup so don't leave it out!!)

Pinch of cayenne pepper

4 oz. of grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 cup)

The Leek aka the gentle giant!

Cut off the root end and the green tops.  Halve the white part lengthwise and discard the outer layer.

Soak the stalks in cold water for 10 mins and then rinse under cold running water to remove the grit from between the layers.

The broccoli florets ready to be steamed.  Cook the broccoli until soft, drain and set aside.

Once the leeks are cleaned, cut them into thin slices.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Add the leeks and sprinkle with salt.  Continue to cook and stir until the leeks are soft, approximately 15 mins.  Stir in the chicken broth and cook until half the broth is absorbed.

Place the leek mixture and broccoli in a food processor.  Add the cream and blend until smooth.

Add the pureed mixture back into the skillet, season with nutmeg, cayenne pepper and additional salt if needed.

The spices!

Add the cheese and cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted and the soup is heated through.

Since the heat was so low I decided to let the Assistant Chef have a hand at "cooking for real".  She was quite happy about this!

Assistant Chef helping to make the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  I used one piece of American Cheese and one slice of Gruyere Cheese so I would feel more grown up and gourmet.  Slices of toasted baguette or other bread would be nice too!

Pureed Broccoli-Leek soup.

Recipe for: Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup

http://www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.com/
To prepare: Leeks must be cleaned very well so you don’t have sandy soup!  Recipe yields 4 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets. 4 tbsp. butter 4 leeks, white parts only, cleaned well and thinly sliced. Salt ½ c. chicken broth ½ c. heavy cream ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg Pinch of cayenne pepper 4 oz. (about 1 cup) Gruyere cheese, grated

1.       Steam the broccoli florets until soft.  Drain and set aside. 2.       In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Add the sliced leeks, sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring often, until soft.  This should take about 15 mins.  3.       Stir in the chicken broth and cook until half the liquid is absorbed. 4.       Add the leek mixture, broccoli and cream to a food processor and blend well. 5.       Transfer pureed mixture back to the skillet and season with the nutmeg, cayenne pepper and additional salt if needed. 6.       Add the cheese and continue to cook over low heat until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

One of my favorite vegetables is broccoli....I have always liked it and luckily for me, so do all of my kids.  Well, Tyler isn't a huge fan, but he'll eat it without too much complaining aside from the initial, "Oh man, not broccoli".  The "Mom Look" is usually the only "response" needed which telepathically sends the message, "Please do not complain about the meal I have spent an hour cooking you especially when there are kids in other countries who are starving and would gladly take your seat at this table" to him.  It's green which is not only my favorite color, but also means it's healthy (it has Beta-Carotene, Vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium and is a good source of fiber).  I probably make it at least once a week.  Whenever it's on sale I always buy fresh.  I think frozen broccoli is just as tasty as fresh, but the problem is that the bag of frozen cut broccoli is almost completely full of pieces of nasty broccoli stems with maybe a few florets thrown in.  My family doesn't like the stalk all that much because it has such a tough texture.  So I end up buying the more expensive bag of delicious broccoli florets.  Unfortunately, the florets are sold in 12 oz bags which is barely enough to give each person a serving.  Last week, the frozen florets were pretty much the same cost as the fresh, so I threw one in my cart. 

So, I bet you're wondering why buy the fresh when it has a huge stalk on it?  Didn't I just say that my family won't eat the stalk?  Well, let me tell you.  Up until a few months ago I found no use for the nasty stalks and would just sadly pitch them in the trash.  I HATE throwing food away.  I was watching the cooking channel and the lady was using some broccoli in a stir fry dish.  She cut the stalks off, set them aside and said, "I'll turn these into soup for lunch tomorrow".  Wow...why had I never thought of this before?!?!? GENIUS!! 

Although the stalk is tough on the outside, if you peel off the tough outer layer, the inside is nice and tender and still tastes like broccoli.  So, now I always turn my stalks into delicious broccoli cheese soup, which just happens to be in my Top 5 favorite soups of all time.  This time, since I had opted to eat leftovers the night I made spaghetti, I had the added bonus of some leftover florets thrown in!!  If you don't have any florets, no worries...it's still creamy and delicious!  This soup could easily be made as a cream of broccoli soup if you omit the cheese.  You could also easily substitute another vegetable if broccoli isn't really your thing.  Cauliflower, potato, celery, mushrooms or any combination of those vegetables would probably be quite tasty!!  So here's to you, Mr. Nasty Broccoli Stalk....thank you for shedding your tough exterior and allowing me to see your tender (and might I add delicious) side.

Broccoli Cheese Soup:

Leftover broccoli stalk, peeled and chopped

Leftover broccoli florets (if you have them, if not, that's okay too)

3 tbsp butter

1/3 c onion, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

3 c milk

1 c shredded cheese (I used colby-jack this time.  Really any cheese would work.  You could also use more or less cheese depending on how cheesy you want it, or like I said, none at all if you just wanted a cream of broccoli)

    

Using a potato peeler, peel off the tough outer layer of the stalk.  For the smaller pieces I used a knife to trim.  Using a peeler for this would have probably resulted in the removal of my skin, which is not an ingredient in broccoli cheese soup!!

Chop the peeled stalk into small pieces.

Boil the broccoli stalk pieces in a small pan of boiling water until soft.  Mine simmered about 10 mins.



Drain broccoli pieces and place in a food processor with 1 cup milk and, if you have them, half of your leftover broccoli florets.  I used a mini processor so I did it in 2 batches (half the broccoli and 1/2 c milk each time).



Puree until smooth, transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.

Chop remaining broccoli florets into small pieces.

I had a chunk of cheese I needed to use up, so I grated it using a box grater.  Feel free to use the pre-shredded kind, I won't judge, but I think shredding your own tastes better.  The pre-shredded kind has additives to keep it from clumping together as well as something to prevent it from molding.  If you don't believe me, next time your at the grocery store compare a package of chunk cheese with the pre-shredded kind.  You might be surprised!!

In a saucepan, melt butter.  Add the diced onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  Saute until the onions are soft, about 5 mins.



Make a roux by adding the flour and cooking another 3 - 5 mins, stirring constantly.

The finished roux.  This will make the soup nice and thick!!

Add the pureed broccoli mixture and remaining 2 cups milk.

Heat over medium-high heat, stirring until soup starts to thicken.  Add in the chopped broccoli florets at this time if you have them.

Stir in the shredded cheese, stirring until melted.

Lower heat and simmer, stirring until desired thickness is reached.  If your soup turns too thick, you can always thin it out with more milk.

Finished soup served with a piece of my leftover Irish soda bread.



Vegetable Beef & Barley Soup with Whole Wheat Bread

For the past two weeks or so we have pretty much had one type of weather here in Ohio and that has been rain.  What is better to have on a cold, rainy day than homemade soup?  And what is better to accompany soup than homemade bread? The plan was actually to make the soup and bread yesterday, but due to my last minute Mardi Gras dinner party, the soup got pushed back a day.  No biggie.  Usually I plan my dinners out a whole month in advance, which takes a lot of work, but is well worth the time.  It never fails that this month of menus actually turns into a month and a few weeks because I'll have an extra leftover to use or my husband will offer to cook (aka order a pizza). 

I love making soup. It's so easy....you can really just throw anything in a pot and TA DA...a delicious meal. When I say anything, I mean anything.  Any combination of  meat, vegetables, grains, beans, babies (not really babies...just making sure you're actually reading!!!) can be added to a liquid/broth base with whatever spices you like.  It's so amazingly versatile!  Soup has this magic quality to make your stomach and heart happy at the same time.  It warms you from the inside out and just makes you feel content.  Why do you think it's what people eat when they are sick?  It's comforting!!  Soups are great especially when you have small children because you can really cook it anytime of the day and just reheat it later.  You can cook your soup when the baby is napping at 10:00 am, that way when 5:00 pm rolls around and the baby inevitably starts crying you don't have to frantically try throwing a meal together with one hand.  Trust me, I've tried and it's no easy task!!  There is always a ton leftover (usually enough to eat for lunches the next couple days plus enough to freeze for a second meal) and soups are almost always guaranteed to taste better on day 2, or 3 or 4 in my house!!  I really do believe anyone can make a good pot of soup.

A friend of mine was over the other day and she told me she wasn't a "soup person".  What?!?  Who isn't a "soup person"?!?  Lucky for her I was making a pork and vegetable soup and I was determined to change her opinion of soups.  After the meal she happily declared that the soup was quite tasty and that she probably just didn't like soup because growing up all she had was soup from a can.  Ding, ding, ding....we have a winner.  Soup from scratch will always, I repeat ALWAYS, trump the pretend soup that comes in a can.  So, as promised I am including the recipe for the soup I made tonight.  I normally don't measure things and just throw stuff in as I go, but just for her, my very first soup convert, I will try to so she can duplicate it and pass on her new found love of soup to other naysayers who may be in doubt.  I'll just consider this my small gift to the world without the bows and wrapping paper.  The one note I will make is that usually you can never duplicate a good soup recipe because they always taste slightly different.  That is the beauty of good soup!

Vegetable Beef & Barley Soup

1 c. yellow onion, diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Leftover crock pot beef** 

1 small can diced tomatoes

32 oz. beef broth

46 oz can tomato juice plus 1/2 can water.

1 c. barley

3-4 potatoes, diced

1 can green beans

1 can great northern beans

1/2 c. frozen corn

1/2 c. frozen peas

Whatever spices you want to taste.  Tonight I used parsley, basil, oregano and black pepper...and no, sorry I didn't measure these.  I would never add salt since I think a lot of the canned stuff has plenty of salt for my liking.  If you are in love with salt though, add away...I'm not going to judge!!

**I almost always use the last of whatever leftover crock pot meat I have.  The night I cook the roast, I always strain the broth the meat has been cooking in all day through a fine mesh strainer and skim the fat off the top.  I then put it in a container and save it for my soup.  Once it cools in the fridge it turns into this scary looking, almost Jello consistency semi solid.  I'm sure there is a technical name for this, but I just call it Meat Jello and chase my kids around with it to gross them out.  I think it gives the soup a delicious flavor...plus I hate throwing ANYTHING away!!

Place the first 9 ingredients plus spices in a pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 25 mins.  Add potatoes, return to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer another 25 mins.  Add the last 4 ingredients, return to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer another 15 mins.  Taste soup and add any additional spices you might need.  That's it.  Eat and enjoy!!

I was cooking solo today since my Assistant Chef decided she would rather watch some ballet thing on TV than dump stuff into a pot.  I guess at 4 years old I really can't blame her!  So I approved her a vacation day.

Diced onion, carrots and celery are a MUST in all my soups!!

Cold leftover meat and the "Meat Jello".  Scary!

I love barley!

Normally I go with the russet potato in soups, but I had nothing better to do with the last 4 red potatoes.

Soup in the pot pre-cooked.

Cooked Soup.  Very tasty!  Thanks for the ladle again Mom!

My dinner (and my lunch for tomorrow).

Good for the soul! =)

I'm not sure there are many smells in the world that can fill your home like that of fresh baked bread right out of the oven or bread machine. My Uncle Billy will contest that making bread with your hands and baking it in the oven is the best way to go and honestly I can't argue this.  I can argue, however, that with 4 children I don't have an extra set of hands to spare or the time to knead the dough, let it rise, punch it down, knead some more, etc, etc, etc...especially when the bread machine can do it for me.  Bread machine...much like Charlie Sheen right now...is the WINNER!!  I bought my bread machine off Craigs List a few months ago for $10 and to date, I have only used it for dough and the french bread recipe that came in the manual.  No offense to the kind person who was willing to part from their machine at such a reasonable cost to me, but it is clearly obvious from the huge gouges in the Teflon coating they left by using a knife to pry their bread out, that they didn't really love the machine all that much.  I really do love the machine so I'm glad I could give it a second loving home.  I do have to admit that every time I have made the french bread it has stuck to the sides resulting in a complete massacre of the bread when removing the loaf.  This is okay though because when serving it with soup I don't really need slices.  Chunks work just fine!  Since the first of the year I have really been trying to switch over all white flour products we eat to whole wheat.  So I tried the whole wheat recipe and wouldn't you know, to my delight, the loaf popped right out.  After 15 mins of cooling I was even able to slice it.  I was so excited I had to do a small victory dance right there in the kitchen while holding my plate of sliced bread.  I love you bread machine!!

Whole wheat bread fresh from the "oven".

Trying to steal a piece before dinner.  Sneaky Tyler!!  You wouldn't blame him though if you were here to smell it.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT CAME OUT WHOLE!!

This is what made me happy the rest of the evening! 

I love to put Parmesan cheese on my soup.  Usually I use a generic store brand because it's cheapest.  I could buy the Kraft brand for a few dollars more, but who am I kidding?  It doesn't taste a few dollars worth better.  I will save my money for the King of all cheeses which can only be obtained by making a 6 and 1/2 hour drive all the way to a little store called Latinas in the thriving metropolis of Niagara Falls, NY.  Lucky for me, my grandparents live there so the drive isn't JUST for the cheese.  That would be silly.  They have THE best cheese...I am sure my readers from NF will vouch for me!  It's actually Pecorino Romano cheese imported from Italy, which up until about 2 years ago I had no clue was actually made from sheep's milk.  Once I got over the initial shock, I realized this cheese is what makes all my grandma's food taste so amazing.  It's that special ingredient that makes your own food have the label "It's not like Grandma makes".  And all these years I thought the special ingredient was love!!  So, if you are ever traveling to Niagara Falls, hunt down Latina's and get some cheese.  Then do yourself a favor since you're already there, walk next door to DiCamillo's Bakery and get some of the best Italian bread anywhere in the world.  This last paragraph was brought to you by the Council to Revive Pine Ave. Economy. Thank you. =)