My Favorite Vegetable (and My Brother-in-law's Favorite Broccoli Soup)

Spring, Schming. It's cold, wet and raw outside, and I say the hell with it. I just made a batch of one of my favorite soups, and thought other people might like to see the recipe again.

This time I made it with GF baking mix instead of wheat flour, and it's still awesome. I actually just did the Wile E. Coyote "GAD, I'm SUCH a genius!!" thing :)

For those observing a medieval Lenten diet (vegan + fish), I have no idea whether you can make bechamel-analogue with almond / soy / rice milk and some tasty oil, but I'd love to hear if you try it.

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(The essay below was posted on two social media sites three years ago)

I have a volatile history with broccoli  (stop laughing).   When I was a child, it (along with cauliflower and asparagus) marched in a dreary rotation across my dinner plate, most often prepared by my father with a cheese sauce, and I hated all three.     I have accused my dad of boiling broccoli and cauliflower until they were the same color.    I'm not kidding.   Much.  Sometime after I grew up I began to be able to eat it, and a few years after that I had done a complete 180 and loved it.    I've had / made salads (with red onion, mandarin orange, golden raisins and peanuts or sunflower seeds), stir fry , soup, steamed with lemon juice and a bit of butter (very quick and simple with a microwave), or roasted with olive oil and garlic until it starts to brown.    That last one is inspired by an Italian restaurant which offered "burnt broccoli", more brown than burnt, which brings out broccoli's sweetness.     From a family member at a home care case, I learned how sweet the stalks are if you peel them and use the inside, which I'm sure my foodie friends already knew but others might not.  

I don't actually remember the first time I made broccoli soup at my sister's house.     I do know that she's an awesome cook and uses plenty of fruits and vegetables.      Sometimes I just get the urge to cook, or my body sends me a message like "I need broccoli!" or "I need strawberries!"   I try to encourage those messages, so on a particular weekend I made a batch of broccoli soup and offered to share.    We all like broccoli pretty well, but I was completely unprepared for my brother-in-law's rapture, generous praise and enthusiasm.     Eventually I felt the need to ask him, "Do I need to leave the two of you (him and the soup bowl) alone?"    

Recently, I had occasion to make a larger batch to take to a party, and received a couple of requests to share the recipe.    I'll be glad to--bear with me.    I don't always make it the same way every time, and I've never tried to write this one down.    It's sort of a thinned-out version of creamed broccoli, pureed and thickened (on the other hand) with a white sauce / bechamel.

I start with a bunch (the two or three stalks they usually sell together at the supermarket) of broccoli, cutting off the florets with the little stems and then peeling the large stalks--you have to cut off the bottom just above where it was cut for harvesting.    Chop everything into 1 or 2 inch pieces.    I sautee the pieces (medium heat) with a pat of butter or a spritz of cooking spray, in a big pan with black pepper, garlic (cloves, minced, or powdered--whatever you have and like to use), and a little salt.     When the broccoli is tender, you add about a cup of broth or boullion (I usually use chicken broth from packets or boullion cubes, canned or fresh should be fine), stir to pull everything off the surface of the pan,  and pour the whole thing into a soup pot.      Then put the pan back onto the heat (turn it down to medium low) to make the bechamel:    melt half a stick of butter (this is sort of a rich soup);   add an equal amount (1/4 cup) of flour to the melted butter and stir, cooking until some of the flour has just started to turn tan.    Then add 2 cups of milk (whole milk, lowfat or skim will work), stirring all the while, and keep stirring and cooking until the sauce becomes thick (five or ten minutes--you can stir a bit less once all the lumps are gone), then take it off the heat.     Mix the white sauce and the broccoli (I ladle some of the broccoli and broth into the pan to get all the sauce out), ending with everything in the soup pot.    Puree everything   (I use a stick blender) until it's as smooth as you like it.    You may need another cup or two of broth to thin the soup out to how you like it, and once it's pureed and thinned, I taste to see if it has enough garlic, pepper, etc.   Keep it on low heat for five or ten minutes to "marry" all the ingredients, and then it's time to eat.   Top with cheese or mix in, if desired.   Sharp cheddar or Dubliner are awesome  :)