Domestic Tuesdays - Soup Is Good Food

Inane things that make me feel like a grown-up:

• having Netflix
• brunch
• pot lucks
• brunch pot lucks
• drinking wine
• not killing my houseplants
• owning a food processor

I had accomplished all of the above (some in great quantities) aside from the last one up until three weeks ago, when I called a man about a Kitchenaid Cuisinart he had posted on Craigslist. I waited, per instructions, in the parking lot of a popular Hollywood shopping center that housed people in the above lofts, and felt very much as I imagine one would feel before a drug purchase. Heart racing (from the excitement of owning a food processor) - check! Pocket full of cash - check! Fantasizing about all the things I'd do once I got my grubby little hands on the goods - double check!

When I drove away with a huge box in my trunk that proudly displayed my grown-upness, I raced home and quickly threw together my very first food processor dish: goat cheese lollipops rolled in crumbled bacon and pecans, for Lost pot luck. They were a hit. Make these next time you go to a pot luck and people will invite you back despite that huge rash covering your entire body...seriously, you should probably see a doctor about that.

Then after that, aside from a hastily thrown together roasted red pepper dip for a brunch pot luck (I go to a lot of pot lucks, these days), the precious food processor just kinda sat in my tiny kitchen in all its looming glory. Until last night, that is.

Soup: it's one of my favorite things in life. So comforting, and so many different varieties. Plus, it's a vehicle for another of my favorite in-life things: bread. Don't even get me started about soup IN bread (as in a bread bowl) or bread IN soup (ooooh french onion soup, how I love thee). Well I found a basic recipe for broccoli soup after spending hours scrolling around on this recipe site (which I'm going to warn you in advance: don't click this link unless you're willing to give up many hours of productivity): tastespotting.com, and thought I'd give it a go. I added a bunch of things to the recipe, and will show you how you can too through my usual nonsensical pictorial. You're welcome.

You could probably use any vegetable for this soup, as it's pretty basic, but I stuck with broccoli cause it's cheap and healthy (like you!). The recipe called for either onions or leeks, but I'm a sucker for leeks and onions make my eyeballs angry when I slice them (slice the onions, not my eyeballs...ew), so I chose leeks.


Do you know how to prepare leeks? I didn't until last night when I sliced the root off and then stared dumfounded at the remainder like "uhhhh". Here's a helpful tutorial I found.

You end up with this.

Add the leeks and some chopped garlic (I used three cloves, but you can use less or more) to a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

At this time, your apartment will start to smell super yummy.

Cook the garlic and leeks for about five minutes to soften the leeks, then add four to five cups of broccoli. The recipe I had said to use a bag of broccoli florets, but those bags are a fucking rip off and just stupid. Buy a head or two of broccoli, cut the freaking florets off (you're gonna puree the fuckers anyway, so who cares if they look pretty) and you're done. Pour in two cups of chicken or veggie stock, and cover the pot to cook for about 10 minutes. Don't peek or you'll let all the steam out! Trust me, my mom use to yell at me for doing this all the time.

This is a roux. Don't be scared of it. It's just a fancy way of saying "roux"...har har. Really it's just flour, milk, and butter whisked together until thick in order to thicken the soup. I use this when I'm making mac and cheese (oh my god, I haven't shown you my mac and cheese recipe yet!).

Once it's thick and the flour flavor is cooked out, pour that nasty looking stuff into the simmering broccoli/leeks/garlic/chicken broth pot, mix, and cover again for another five minutes or so.

Here's where the new toy comes in. You could use a blender for this, you just have to work in smaller batches.

I took the chute attachment out of the lid because I think I may have perhaps heard that you're supposed to do that somewhere so that the steam escapes? I don't know. I would recommend doing this either way because every time you hit the "pulse" button, a little poof of steam comes out the chute and it's kinda cute. I did this in two batches. The first I pulsed for only a few second, leaving it pretty thick, and the second batch I pureed for longer, so my soup wasn't too thick. After pureeing, add the soup back to the pot.

Then I started randomly adding stuff. Dried pesto tortellini? Sure!

Yum!

Corn? Sure!

Pancetta? Oh fuck yes.

I also added salt and pepper ("to taste", because I forgot to measure), a pinch of chili pepper (but you could add cayenne* or red pepper flakes), and some garlic powder.

*did I ever tell you that I have the hardest time saying "Kayne West"? I always have to fight not to say "Cayenne West".

While the soup was simmering, I put together my poor-man's garlic bread. Take a piece of bread, spread on a little butter, garlic paste, pepper, and grated Parmesan cheese, and throw that fucker into the toaster oven. Of course, if you wanted to get classy, you could make your own croutons by cutting up some crusty bread, tossing that in a bowl with some olive oil and garlic, and throwing it onto a baking sheet and into the oven for however long, you little show off.

I suggest making this soup for a loved one, because then you'll have someone to do the dishes and clean up the huge mess you just made. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I'm on my own...well, practically:

"Wut r dishez??"

Yum.

Edited to add: Parmesan cheese!!! You must grate Parmesan cheese on top of the soup or you'll diiiiieeee!

Okay, this last step is very important so pay close attention.

take these three ingredients:

and do this:

Come back next week to see my kitchen get thoroughly confused (think: shock & awe) when a Guest Domestic shares her favorite vegan recipe.
xo