# Cream of broccoli cheese soup



## forgetmenot (Oct 12, 2007)

Hello,
I just made cream of broccoli soup for the very first time.
It's really rather tasty for my first time cream of soup, if I do say so myself. :lips:
Problem: It's gritty/grainy.  Like the broccoli isn't *creamed* smoothly.
(Hope that makes sense! :crazy

I started with sauteed onions, then added fresh broccoli not frozen, with some chicken stock/broth. 
Boiled turned down to simmer about 10 minutes. 
Mixed with a hand blender. 
Added heavy cream, a little more broth, then some mild cheddar. Salt/pepper and nutmeg to taste.

What did I do wrong? Is the hand blender not strong enough? Or did I not cook the broccoli long enough? Does it need to cook longer? 

Help!
I'd like to make lots of soups this season (health reasons) and cream of broccoli cheese is dh favorite! I'd hate to spoil it for him lol!

Wendy Darling


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I find it just about impossible to puree the florets -- they always seem to stay sandy. So another possibility for the next time is to just use the stalks, not the florets. Peel the stalks, dice them, cook until soft, and proceed as you did. It's a great way to use up the stalks, if you and yours prefer the florets as a pretty veg.

And, forgive me, but dh isn't named Peter, is he? (Sorry, I'll bet you get that all the time. )


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## forgetmenot (Oct 12, 2007)

Nah... it's not Peter... Though I do tease him he is... 

Actually though not many people know who Wendy Darling is... :suprise:

I usually get the "How's my dad, Dave?" Wendy's.. fries with the shake sort of thing... :crazy:

Anyhow.. THANK YOU! I had no clue about the floret thing! And I LOVE love LOVE the stalks! I peel um and eat um like carrot sticks all the time! I will try it your way next time! 

One time I put the peeled stalks in a broccoli/bacon/cheese/raisin salad and everyone loved the "little square green things" they thought they were so sweet... "what vegetable *is* that??" :lol::lol::lol: Imagine their surprise to hear BROCCOLI! 

Wendy M. Darling


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## jigz369 (Apr 20, 2007)

I tend to make broccoli soup a bit differently. First, I peel the stalks and use the peel to make my stock. I mince the stalks and saute until almost dissolved to nothing, then add to the strained stock. Make your cream soup with the stock and thicken as desired. You can use your hand blender at this point if you still have graininess. Once you've cooked the starch out of the soup, lightly saute the florettes (small pieces) and add to the end for visual appeal. This should eliminate the graininess and give a great looking soup. I don't like to cook the florettes too much as they tend to turn grey when overcooked.
Just my opinion though....


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Aren't you Peter Pan's girlfriend?? :smiles:


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## forgetmenot (Oct 12, 2007)

Yes, I was once :blush:... a long while ago ... but he refused to grow up  but I do visit him often in Neverland...


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

It might be the cheddar cheese making your soup grainy. Cheddar doesn't melt very well, which is why I don't like it in mac and cheese because it has a grainy texture.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I'g go with what others said about using the stalks ...Have you tried sieving it before adding the cheddar? I find this helps sometimes. And if you want to use the florets, maybe blanch them separately for a few minutes, refresh in ice water, then add to soup to reheat just before serving.

Make sure you wash them thoroughly first - maybe some grit is coming into it from there.

Also as per what greyeaglem said you might like to play a bit and try a different cheese and see what happens.

DC


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## forgetmenot (Oct 12, 2007)

hmm... I like the idea that it may be the cheddar cheese.

Ok... I'm going to show just how kitchen dyslexic I am... :blush::blush::blush:....
:look: How do you sieve it?


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

In keeping with Cheftalk's policy of not reproducing any "copyrighted material" I'll make this post...... So it's not even close to the original. Yet.... then again......:look:

Peel 2#'s broccoli stalks and cut into 1/2 random pieces. add to 1 gallon chicken stock with 1 onion, cut in random pieces and cook until soft. Remove from heat and strain, reserving liquid for use later. Puree broccoli stalk pieces and onions in a food processor. Combine reserved cooking liquid and puree in stock pot and heat over medium flame. Add 2lbs cubed velvetta cheese with 2cups heavy cream and 2cups 1/2-1/2. make traditional roux (equal parts butter and flour) and add as needed until thick (Nape). 

Strain through sieve or chinoise and hold for service. 

Serve topped with blanched broccoli florets and shredded cheddar cheese.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

NIce tip! :lips:

Shel


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## thorkon (Oct 16, 2007)

I just made this soup today and kinda put sharp cheddar after everything else. I am just starting cooking anything and so far i succesfully made beef vegetable soup so far. 

My cream of broccoli is coming out like the person who made this topic said. Kinda gritty but i also think my "broth?" is not really....creamy. I used water and vitamin D milk. Any way to salvage the soup?


Thanks for any responses. 

PS: What should I try next to make, soup wise? (I'm up for anything)


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Forgetmeknot - pass the soup thru a sieve. Pour it into a sieve over a pot/bowl and stir the soup in a sieve with a spoon until it all goes thru. Get rid of the stuff in the sieve and continue. (Rinse out your soup making pot before putting the sieved soup back in).

Thorkon - Not sure how to rescue that one - maybe next time follow oldschool's suggestions above. You might try sieving it then blending with a processor/stick mixer again.

Add some cream 

Cream of pumpkin is usually pretty fail safe - would suggest that for your next one.

Lots of soup recipes if you search for them in this forum - there's a current thread that you might want to look at.

Good Luck!
DC


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## thorkon (Oct 16, 2007)

Thanks, I had it in the fridge over night and it thickened a bit. It's better than i remembered yesterday still yearning for more of a cheese taste so i will probably go out and by some to throw on top when i heat up a bowl of it. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably just leave it to the professionals next time on that soup and scout around for another one.


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## tinketto (Mar 13, 2011)

I just made cream of broccoli soup with cheese for the first time.  It came out grainy so I topped each bowl with some French fried onions, the kind that comes in a can.  It seem to mask the grainy taste successfully.  We could at least have dinner and not have to get take away.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Cheddar needs some starch to help it smooth out. Some flour in at the end of the aromatics will help give the cheddar something to bind with.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I read the first post and thought ooooo I want to make some broccoli cheddar soup!  But as I read on I got discouraged that it would be grey, or grainy, or not cheesy enough.  Now I'm bummed out.


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## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

Glad I found this thread.  Think I know what I will cook for dinner tonight.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

You don't need cream at all in soups like this. Reason nr.1; Cream is a real flavor-killer! 

How I would do it?

- roughly chop onion

- cut broccoli in chunks. Please, do cut and peel the stalk, that's where most of the flavor is!!

- peel and cut potatoes in equal parts, you need about 10-15% in volume of the broccoli. The potato will thicken your soup as if it were a cream soup...

- sweat onions on low fire for at least 5 minutes or longer

- add broccoli and fry for another 5 minutes

- add chickenstock, s&p and boil for 20 minutes

Want a greener result? Last minute, add a handful of spinach leaves

- let cool a little and mix with a handmixer 

You should now have a nice thick soup. Want it completely smooth? Put it through a sieve or, much better, put it through a foodmill.

No cream, or if you can't resist, no more than half a cup of light cream. 

*BTW, Reason nr. 2 why not to add cream; once you added cream, the soup can NEVER boil again, or the cream will get grainy!!!*

*Also when you reheat the soup with cream; NO boiling.*

*Same for ANY soup when adding cream; no more boiling!!*

My advice on this broccoli-soup; no cream at all. If you like some grated cheese on it, why not.

Enjoy!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

forgetmenot said:


> Hello,
> I just made cream of broccoli soup for the very first time.
> It's really rather tasty for my first time cream of soup, if I do say so myself. :lips:
> Problem: It's gritty/grainy.  Like the broccoli isn't *creamed* smoothly.
> ...


The problem was you boiled the soup to long and the butterfat and cream in the cheese broke and curdled . It will assume a grainy texture.. Make a cream of broccolli add cream and whip in shredded cheddar cheese after it is cooked. Put in steamtable but not over 160 F Try to make just what you need for todays service as tommorrow you CAN"T bring to a boil.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Chris - I'm never adding cream again.  J/K, I'll add cream almost every time.  BUT, it won;t get to a boil, and if I want to freeze some, I'll not add the cream or cheese first for best results.  They'll go in after defrosting and reheating.  Works well for me.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I have to use this point to vent about Gordon Ramseys pureed broccoli in broccoli cooking water broccoli soup. Just doesn't cut it for me, but I've seen it posted on a lot of cooking sites a revelatory insight into cooking.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

DC Sunshine said:


> Chris - I'm never adding cream again. J/K, I'll add cream almost every time. BUT, it won;t get to a boil, and if I want to freeze some, I'll not add the cream or cheese first for best results. They'll go in after defrosting and reheating. Works well for me.


We're exactly on the same page, DC.


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## pcieluck (Dec 9, 2010)

DId you use a roux? That is what i'd blame for grittiness.  Gritty soup can happen when you don't bring a liquid up to a full boil before simmering after it's been added to a roux.  And then, making your soup so it takes about a half hour of total simmering will make sure your flour is completely cooked and also decrease the chance of gritty.


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## deacon (Jan 13, 2011)

I like to cut off the florettes, lightly blanch and set aside until service. Place the stalks in a pot, add salt, pepper and bay leaves. Then boil until it looks like baby food and puree with an immersion blender then strain and use this as my stock. In another pot, onion and butter until transluscent and then flour to make my roux (blonde). Add broccoli stock, bring back to a boil and add 70/30 mix off cheddar and American (yes American cheese, this helps smooth it out) and now just enough heavy cream to bring it all together. I use the florettes at the end, place in serving bowl then pour soup over top.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

I got a inspired by this thread. We just made and ate this yummie cauliflower soup with Madras curry. And yes, no cream...

Here's the recipe, take a look; http://www.cheftalk.com/forum/threa...with-madras-curry-and-chicken-sat#post_344700


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

pcieluck said:


> DId you use a roux? That is what i'd blame for grittiness. Gritty soup can happen when you don't bring a liquid up to a full boil before simmering after it's been added to a roux. And then, making your soup so it takes about a half hour of total simmering will make sure your flour is completely cooked and also decrease the chance of gritty.


This is only true when the roux is not made correctly or the ratio of fat to flour is wrong


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## prairiechef (May 22, 2010)

Add your cheese when you are making your roux. Cut back on your butter as you will get a fair amount of fat out of the cheese. The process is exactly the same as making a roux, you're simply getting your milkfat from a source that isn't butter.

Do NOT boil your roux.

Do NOT boil your soup... though 35% cream is far more forgiving of heat than lower fat dairy (milk, half 'n half etc)

Do you have a blender? Not a hand blender... an actual blender. If so... go buy yourself a chinoise. If you are serious about soups, you'll love the combination. Cook soup, blend well, push through chinoise. I like my pureed/cream soups to be like liquid velvet. Garnishes are blanched and added to the bowl just before the bowl is filled. Hot bowl, hot soup... your garnish will be hot by the time it's eaten.

If you add flour at the end of cooking... you get floury, starchy soup.

If you add cheese to a hot soup.. you get oily, grainy soup.

If you add milk/10%/coffee cream to a hot soup, you get curdled milk.


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## sarahg (Dec 29, 2010)

Hi there,

I have found that starting with a nice mire poix, such as fine diced onions, carrots and celeray--or maybe use leeks in place of your onions or in addition--produces a fantastic result.  Let that cook nicely in the bottom of the pot...you can either simply sweat them or caramelize the onions.  It all depends on the colors and intensity of flavors you want.  While you are preparing all of your veggies, peel your brocoli stems, rough cut them and steam your brocoli.  This way all the nurients remain and they do not get soggy--just make sure they are really fork tender before adding.  So once the mire poix is almost cooked, add a roux.  Cook that down a bit and add your milk and cream.  Once it thickens, throw in your brocoli, reserving a few pieces for garnishing.  Now put it all in a blender and puree...that should render a beautiful brocoli cream soup...and garnished with pretty flourets...   I did not mention the addition of cheese because I was interested in just communicating the basic technique.  However, certainly add the cheese either before or after blending...


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