Cream of broccoli cheese soup

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.  

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.

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

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! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by forgetmenot 

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. :eek: 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

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.
 

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.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvc8Au4YO60

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC Sunshine 

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.

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.

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. 

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/thread/64643/cauliflower-soup-with-madras-curry-and-chicken-sat#post_344700

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcieluck 

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
 

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.

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...