By request: cream of broccoli, cheddar

Just for you Jess! This happens to be my wife's favorite soup...

---
2 large bunches of broccoli
2 quarts broccoli stock…I use a good chicken and boil the broccoli stems in it till its green
1 yellow onion, small dice
2 oz butter and 1 oz veggie oil
3 oz flour (variable)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream

Start by prepping the broccoli. Cut the flowers from the stocks and set them aside. Rough dice the stocks and add to your pot of chicken stock. Bring this to just a boil then reduce to simmer.

In soup pot, melt butter and add oil. Add to this the onion, sweat until translucent. Add the flour to make a roux (see carrot soup recipe…)

Cook the roux to a light brown (not more than flesh tan…really really light.) Add the strained stock slowly (again, see recipe for carrot soup…) and bring up to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Now check the flavor. I like seasoning salt or chicken base and black pepper. Some folks like white pepper…be careful with that stuff, it grabs you by the back of the throat. Once flavor is good, add your green flowers. I like to steam them to almost soft first.

Next, add the heavy cream. Consistency should be a little thinner than you want your final soup to be.

Finally, Remove from direct heat and add your cheese slowly, little by little. It is best to use a wire whip and make sure you have incorporated the entire previous load before adding more.

Serve with a chewy bread or better, grilled cheese on white!