Tuesday, September 8, 2009

No Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup



I'm hot. As in overheating. Can I finally say I've slaved over a hot stove??


Here's how this soup came to be finished at 8:50pm today: Work all day, come home to change. Set off on scooter for trip to chiropractor and grocery store. Wage mental war with brain over how much chicken to buy if the future recipe calls for 1 lb but the bird bits are sold in kg. Debate whether to ask someone, decide to wing it rather than risk embarrassment. No pun intended. Price compare the rice, find $10 on the floor in the bakery area. Ride scooter home in spitting rain. Unpack groceries, eat quick snack, rush off in car to free Pilates class. Stop at grocery again on way home because my quick snack finished my carrot supply which was not plentiful like I thought it was. Home in pouring rain to start cooking. Make mental note to tell Kraft their prep and total times in their recipes are wildly fanciful. I always end up taking at least twice as long, not on purpose.


I'm getting a little better at chopping onions, carrots, and celery which seem to be in every soup recipe. Not great or very fast but I haven't needed stiches yet although I did alter the shape of my thumbnail with a different knife at the cottage last Saturday. I still harbour a mild fear of my trusty yellow paring knife and you can forget using the scary big knives!


Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. Cook, you mound of vegetables! But not too fast because I'm busy chopping endless amounts of broccoli. Bye-bye, end of the chicken stock from last week. Darn it, how does this stupid box of rice open? Oops, rice avalanche. Make mental note to sweep gritty floor and wipe gritty counter later.


This time when I blend, I know how much to put in the blender. I also have my trusty oven mitt on the hand holding down the lid, and I force myself into that patient thing so that the soup blends without leaving chunks of vegetables when I pour it into the bowl. Blend, pour, yawn, scrape, tell caller to give me 20 more minutes, blend, pour...


Back in the pot to add the dairy. Curse self for having to open new bag of milk. Can't find 1/4 cup measuring thingy, use 1/3 cup and figure not to fill it completely with cheese. End up not filling completely but then violently shaking end of parmesan cheese container directly into pot. Forget this stupid measuring!


Look mutely at pot which seems identical to previous pea soup attempt. Carefully venture taste, tell myself there IS a difference. Vaguely wonder how I am going to tell the soups apart in the freezer. Rearrange fridge, stash pot of soup, remove pot from fridge for photo opportunity, return pot to fridge, check email, yawn. I'll eat the soup for lunch tomorrow. I'm too tired to taste it right now.


Things I learned:

1) Don't cook hungry. This is not a new lesson.

2) If you use the entire broccoli like I did, cut the stem pieces up very small and peel them. Turns out the outer layer remains fairly hard and crunchy when your soup is supposed to be "simmering until the vegetables are tender". The blender will help but don't rely on it completely.

3) Don't make this recipe with camouflage broccoli. You'll be glad to know I used fresh this time.

4) Throwing pieces of carrot, celery, and onion into the pot with the hot oil to avoid getting burned like last time will still result in minor burns.

5) Even if you do a sinkful of dishes while your soup is cooking, you will still have another sinkful of dishes to do by the time you are finished. Don't do the second batch. Go to bed!

P.S - The soup is actually green. I took a crappy photo in crappy lighting.
P.P.S - The soup is good! Just make sure you blend the parmesan cheese in well. Mine's kind of lumpy...

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