Cream of Potato and Broccoli Soup

So, I have two copies/versions of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. One is an older version like my mom had and one is the updated version that the link points to.  My husband got me the updated version for Christmas two years ago.  That same year, my brother gifted me an immersion blender which I have mentioned in here once before.

The first thing that I made out of the cook book was cream of broccoli soup.  My husband and I thought that it came out really well.  It was yummy.

I had some potatoes to use up (in fact, I still have some to use up, but I have a lot less now), so I figured I'd make the potato version combined with the broccoli version.  I doubled the basic recipe and added to it.

Here is the basic recipe for the Cream of Vegetable of Your Choice Soup:

Desired Vegetables (variations listed include potato, cauliflower and broccoli)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 Tbsp butter or margerine
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
Seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper
1 cup milk, half and half, or light cream

Directions:
 In a large saucepan cook desired vegetables, covered, in a large amount of boiling water according to directions in each variation.  Drain well.  Reserve 1 cup cooked vegetables.

In a food processor bowl combine remaining cooked vegetables and 3/4 cup of broth.  Cover; process about 1 minute or until smooth.  Set aside.

In the same saucepan melt butter.  Stir in flour, seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Add milk all at once.  Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for one minute more.

Stir in the reserved 1 cup cooked vegetables, blended vegetable mixture, and remaining 3/4 cup broth.  Cook and stir until heated through.  If necessary, stir in additional milk to reach desired consistency.  If desired, season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

For the potato variant it says to use 5 medium potatoes peeled and cubed and a 1/2 cup chopped onion.  It also suggests dill or basil for the seasoning.

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Now that you have the starting point, here's what I did.

 Ingredients:

3-4 cups chopped potatoes (I probably used 14 small red potatoes and peeled half)

4 carrots

4 ribs celery

1 large onion

4 cloves of garlic

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups milk

2-4 cups of broccoli (I didn't really measure)

salt, pepper and dill to taste

butter and flour (approx 2 Tbsp each)

bay leaf

Directions:

I chopped the whole onion, 2 carrots, 2 ribs of celery, and peeled the cloves of garlic.  I didn't bother chopping the garlic at this point, but I did smash them a little with the side of my knife.  I sauteed all of these vegetables with some pepper in the dutch oven with a little bit of olive oil until they had softened somewhat.

Before and while these were cooking, I peeled half of my potatoes and chopped them into small pieces.  Once the mirepoix (which is the fancy cooking term for the "aromatics" that are onions, celery and carrots) had softened, I added the peeled and chopped potatoes, the bay leaf and the 4 cups of chicken stock.  I let this cook for about 10 minutes, then I tossed in about half of the frozen broccoli I was going to use.

Once I made sure that the broccoli had softened and the potatoes were thoroughly cooked, I took the pot off the heat and blended everything with my immersion blender until it was smooth.  You can see the consistency in the second picture.

I returned the pot to the stove and added the seasoning and the remaining vegetables except the broccoli (2 chopped carrots, 2 ribs of celery, chopped, remaining potatoes, chopped with skin left on).  I let this mixture cook on a medium heat, stirring often, until the potatoes were cooked through and adding the broccoli with just enough time for it to heat through.

In a small saucepan, melt your butter, then add the same amount of flour to make your roux (another fancy cooking term which usually refers to a fat and flour used to thicken something).  Once the butter and flour are mixed thoroughly, let them cook for about a minute.  You want to cook off the raw flour taste.  

Next, add all of your milk to the roux.  I used 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of skim milk for mine.  Whisk your milk and roux together, eliminating lumps.  Heat until your milk starts to thicken, but not boil.  You don't want to burn the milk. 

Add the milk to the soup mixture and stir to combine.

We served ours with some grilled cheese sandwiches made with the wheat bread I posted previously and sprinkled with a little shredded cheese on top.

When I was making this, my husband asked me if there was any meat in the soup.  It's not really a soup that needs meat in my opinion, and the nice thing is that most of the thickness is from blended vegetables, so it's pretty healthy.

Try it and tell me what you think.

Thanks and happy eating!