Cream of Broccoli Soup

My cooking seems to be suffering from the mid-winter blues. I don't know what to cook, and I don't want to cook lately, and I especially don't want to blog. So, I am going to cook to force myself out of it. Really, it's just February, and gray and cold, and I'll be fine. This soup is a great one to help you feel a little better. It's from my Betty Crocker cookbook, my trusty, faithful cookbook that I bought when I was in college, so she's really old, and showing her age, but I love her. Truly, I've owned tons of cookbooks, and this is one of the few that has survived multiple purges over the years.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

1 1/2 pounds broccoli
2 cups water
1 large stalk celery, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
dash of nutmeg
1/2 cup whipping cream
shredded cheese, if wanted

Remove flowerets from broccoli, set aside. Cut stalks into 1-inch pieces (peel them first), discarding any leaves. (I buy my broccoli at Costco, in the big 3-pound bag, so it's only flowerets, no stalks.)

Heat water to boiling in large pot. Add broccoli, celery and onion. Cover and heat to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer about 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender (do not drain).



Carefully place broccoli mixture in blender. Blend until smooth. (This is where I decided I LOVE my Bosch. It took about 20 seconds to make the picture above into smooth broccolie puree.) Set aside.

Melt butter in the pot you cooked the broccoli in. Stir in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly, remove from heat. (This is called a roux, it is your secret to making a good sauce, gravy or creamy soup.) Stir in broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Stir in broccoli mixture, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Heat just to boiling, stir in whipping cream. Heat just until hot (do not boil or soup may curdle.) Serve with shredded cheese.