City Chick Cooks

got a new immersion blender 🙂

a very simple soup. got the idea from AK 😉

i actually used a couple of small potatoes in the soup because i just had them lying around and they were going to go bad. what a great decision… that little bit of potato really made the soup!

cook down 1 small onion, 2 baby potatoes and a couple cloves of garlic (chopped) in some olive oil and butter.

add a bay leaf. cook for about a minute longer, until onions are a little translucent.

sprinkle in some flour, just enough to soak up the extra fat in the pot. 1-2 spoons should do it. honestly, i don’t even know if you need to do this step to thicken it, but that’s what i did. should make a pasty coat on the veggies.

pour in a box of chicken broth, vegetable broth, mushroom broth, whatever tickles your fancy. i like chicken.

also add a bag of frozen broccoli florets. you can use fresh if you want, but quantity-wise, 1 bag of frozen works.

season with salt and pepper. i added some garlic salt as well.

bring to a boil and then let simmer until broccoli is soft and potatoes are all cooked through. everything should be soft enough to puree easily.

then, turn off the heat and get out your immersion blender 🙂

pulverize it until its smooth. alternately, you can throw it in the blender. but, from personal experience, i advise you to wait until the soup cools down or make sure there’s some spot where air can escape from the blender. otherwise you will get soup all over your kitchen.

then, turn the heat back on and stir in a handful or 2 of your desired cheese. i just used some shredded cheese i had on hand.

warm through, taste, adjust seasonings.

if you want to make it creamier, add some heavy cream. i did not add cream, i was trying to be healthy 🙂 (for once)

broccoli and cheese (and potato) soup

olive oil

butter

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 baby potatoes, chopped

1 bay leaf

1-2 tablespoons flour

1 box chicken broth

1 bag frozen broccoli florets

few handfuls of shredded cheese (can use any cheese here)

1. coat a soup pot bottom with olive oil, melt in a pat of butter over medium heat
2. saute the onion and garlic until aromatic
3. add potato and bay leaf, cook until onion are a little translucent
4. sprinkle in flour to make a pasty coating on the vegetables
5. cook until the raw, floury taste is gone
6. pour in the broth and broccoli, season with salt and pepper
7. bring to a boil, then simmer until everything is soft and pulverize-able
8. turn the heat off, then blend using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender
9. warm the soup back up and add cheese.
10. taste, adjust seasonings
11. serve with additional cheese sprinkled on top