Potato-Broccoli-Cheddar Soup, Without a Lot of Milk?
I'm looking for broccoli-cheddar-potato soup recipes. I'm having people over for playing games, it's frigid outside, and we are trying to use up some veg we have on-hand as money is tight.
The catch is, I'm looking for something rustic (aka chunky not pureed) and that has a minimal amount of milk in it (we can't have liquid milk but cheese and butter are OK). I have soy and rice milk, but would prefer to use a little of these as possible, as I find they give soups a weird flavor sometimes.
Thoughts? Recipes? Help?!
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7 Comments:
Hmmm, well, if you used a chicken or vegetable stock and mashed up potato portion really well, that would probably work nicely. You'd have a creamy potato / cheddar base with chunks of broccoli. Whirring either potatoes or rice can give more body, almost a "cream of" mouth feel to soups. If your are going more for like a chowdery kind of thing, can't help you there.
chisai at 5:35PM on 01/24/09
...seriously?
Simmer diced potatoes in stock until they're tender. Pull out enough for any lumps you want, and puree or mash the rest (roughly is fine). Throw in your cut-up broccoli, the reserved potato chunks, and your seasonings. Simmer until the broccoli is tender (the smaller the pieces are, the faster it goes). Add a handful of grated sharp cheddar.
thepictsie at 5:51PM on 01/24/09
@thepictsie yes, serious. A lot of time when I've tried to make something like this without adding a TON of cream or milk, the cheese just sinks to the bottom and makes a big blob and doesn't distribute through the soup well. Hence my asking the question. Thanks for the condescending remark.
EtherMaiden at 5:59PM on 01/24/09
EtherMaiden, you might try starting with a roux to get some body and thickening power. I've made broccoli cheese soup before that started with essentially a very liquidy Mornay sauce. If you use broth or water instead of milk, you might have a better vehicle for melting the cheese. Like a cheese gravy.
Also, you might try slowly melting the cheese into a smaller quantity of liquid and then adding the rest of your liquid and ingredients, rather than adding the cheese to a pot full of liquid all at once. I'm thinking of fondue here, which is thicker than the soup would be, but doesn't have dairy yet remains smooth.
renzata at 6:55PM on 01/24/09
@renzata thanks, that sounds very helpful. I totally didn't think of doing it fondue-like, but that makes sense!
EtherMaiden at 7:04PM on 01/24/09
I would steam/simmer broc florets in small pan, cook the potatoes with herbs in chicken stock in another pot, then use immersion blender to puree the potatoes. Drain broccoli well, toss with a little butter or oil and maybe some dill, and place in the middle of the now pureed potato soup. Hopefully, they won't sink. Top with fresh cracked pepper and a few sprinklings of cheese - but pass a bowl of shredded cheese to all for additional cheesy taste. Actually, you could cook the peeled broccoli stems in with the potatoes, now that I think about it.
kathall at 8:14PM on 01/24/09
I used to make this one:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx
And in a pinch, I have left out the half-and-half and/or the bacon.
I think the recipe is thick enough that finely chopped broccoli wouldn't sink.
pookywookyster at 9:53PM on 01/25/09