More soup this week, not much to report except that you can use any cheese you want. The original recipe was ‘Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup‘ which is tasty enough but a tad strong. When an entire bottle of wine is consumed during the soup course you know you have a problem. OK, that problem may not be the soup but for the sake of illustration lets pretend the wine was to overpower the overpowering blue cheese and I’ve made my point.
On topics overpowering maybe we could have used some of JD’s “African Coffee straight from Africa”. Two teaspoons of this would be enough to incapacitate a small nation with enough left over to construct a fleet of light aircraft. Initially I thought maybe the shops weren’t stocking it for ethical reasons but after being sent some by JD I know the real reason. It’s bloody horrific. Thanks anyway JD. I won’t be calling for the next while as I expect the Drug Squad will have the Hillman Hunter stationed outside your gaff for a bit.
Back to the soup. I’ve adapted the recipe to include mature cheddar. The Killowen Cheddar from Newmarket in Cork is matured for two years and really gives the soup what it needs, you can get the cheese in most Irish supermarkets but Killowen don’t appear to have a web presence, if they had it’d linkey it. Upshot of the whole story is we now have wine left for the main course. Hurrah! Enjoy your week.
Apologies for the pic, I used the cheese before I wrote the article
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
Ingredients for two:
1 Onion, sliced
1 Clove of Garlic, crushed
2 Large Heads of Broccoli
3-4 handfuls of grated Mature Cheddar Cheese (or any type)
1 1/2 pints of Chicken or Veg Stock
Optional: 1 Tablespoon of Mascarpone cheese to thicken.
Method:
Slowly fry the onion and garlic in a little oil for 5-6mins. Chop the broccoli, add to the pot and stir. Add in the stock, I find a good measure for the stock is enough to just cover the broccoli. Cover the pot and simmer slowly for 10mins until the veg is soft. Allow to cool slightly and blend. Return to the heat and add the cheese. If you want the soup extra creamy add a spoon of mascarpone cheese before serving.
Tip: Better to make this too thick and thin it with boiling water after. It is far easier to thin soup rather than try and thicken it.
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