Recipe: Hearty winter warmer also is gluten-free
This hearty bowl of broccoli-cheese soup is creamy thanks to potato, not cream or flour. Debbie Arrington
Cream soups (particularly cheese soups) can seem like thinned sauce or gravy. That’s because they basically are just that. The ingredients used for thickening are the same: Cream, butter and flour.
Skip the roux and grab a potato. This recipe for broccoli-cheddar cheese soup uses one medium potato to give silkiness to the soup base and thicken it without adding flour. Another switch: 1% milk for cream.
Instead of putting all the broccoli in the pot at once, save out the tender florets and add them later. With less cooking, they hold their form.
The sharper the cheddar, the cheesier the soup (I used half medium, half sharp). The addition of Parmesan cheese accentuates the cheddar. Be careful not to boil the soup after the addition of cheese; it will separate and get grainy. Instead, gently reheat, if necessary.
Creamy broccoli-cheddar cheese soup
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter or margarine (½ stick)
½ cup onion, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1 carrot, peeled and julienned (about ¾ cup)
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed (about 1 cup)
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 large broccoli crown (10 ounces; makes about 4 cups, chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk, preferably 1%
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
In a large heavy pot or saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté onions until very soft, about 10 minutes.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Add carrot, potato and thyme. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Chop broccoli crown, separating the stems from the florets. Add stems to broth, adjusting heat as necessary. Simmer for 10 more minutes, then add florets.
Continue simmering broth and vegetables until the broccoli stems are tender and the potato is dissolving into the broth (about 10 more minutes).
Adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary.
Stir in milk. Bring back to simmer but don’t boil.
Remove soup from stove and stir in cheeses. Stir until the cheeses are melted and blended into the soup.
Return to heat briefly, if necessary, so soup is evenly warmed through, being careful not to boil.
Serve immediately.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.