Ramblings From Justin Penney

One of my favorite soups is the "Broccoli an Cheddar with Ale" from Souperman. I had a head of broccoli sitting around and thought I would make a variation. When I am trying a new dish, I look at a bunch of recipes, get the gist of the dish, and then wing it. This recipe came about like that.

Ingredients

• An onion, chopped smallish
• A few cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 4 T. of butter
• A quart or so of stock, vegetable or chicken
• A can or bottle of beer (I used Miller High Life, Souperman uses Boulevard Wheat)
• Salt, if your stock isn't salty enough for you
• A head of broccoli, cut up however you like
• 12 oz can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 c. of flour
• A half pound (or more) of shredded cheddar. The sharper the better
• Some turmeric

Steps

• Melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is tender.
• Add the stock, beer, salt, and broccoli. Boil until the broccoli is done enough for you. I like crisp veggies, some like mush.
• While the broccoli is boiling, whisk the flour into the evaporated milk.
• Once the broccoli is cooked, lower the heat and add the milk and flour mixture.
• Gradually mix in the cheese.
• If you like a really yellow soup, stir in some turmeric

I weas really pleased with the way this soup turned out. I had a mild cheddar, which needed to be sharper, and the High Life tang was pretty noticeable. Using a mellower beer (like Boulevard Wheat) would be better. I don't think a light beer would be very good, use the fully loaded stuff.

# posted by Justin @ 10:00 PM