5.23.2011

dinner for 3

Thursday night we had one of Caleb's our friends over for dinner (thanks for making the trip Matt). He was Caleb's best man in our wedding, so now he's technically our friend. (what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours, right?)
Matt is a great guy and he's always there for you to back you up or if you need help. He's been wanting to get together with us for a while, but as you may know, Caleb's been UBER busy. This week Caleb had a little downtime and Matt drove out here for a little dinner, dessert and a visit.
I made a broccoli cheddar soup (courtesy of my coworker Julie, thanks).
Here's the recipe and a few pictures.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Soup
2 or 3 carrots (depending on size)
1 large onion
2 stalks of celery
3 small potatoes
2 bunches of broccoli (4 cups chopped)
3 cups water mixed with chicken stock cubes OR 24 oz chicken stock
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cheesy White Sauce
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (more if you want)
2 cups milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or mix cheese if you need to)

Soup
Wash all your veggies, chop celery & onions.
Add celery & onions to 3 tbsp butter to a large soup pot (I used a dutch oven). Cook on medium heat till the onions start to turn translucent (5 min). Stir every few minutes so they don't burn.
While onions & celery are cooking, peel & chop carrots, potatoes, and broccoli
Add them to the pot
Add chicken broth with a pinch of salt & pepper
Cover with a lid & bring to a boil. Once it is a full boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook till veggies are tender (10-15 min).

Basic White Sauce
Melt butter over medium heat
To add some flavoring, add a little spice (Mrs. Dash, oregano, all spice, etc)
Add flour to melted butter and stir. Cook for 3-4 minutes to take away the flour taste, it will have more of a nutty flavor instead of raw flour flavor
Whisk in milk, as it cooks it will thicken, add more milk to make it thinner, use less milk to make it thicker
Add grated cheese (if you don't have cheddar, you can use other varieties), stir over low/med heat till well blended

Once veggies are tender, remove from heat and add 2/3 of them to a blender. Mix till smooth and creamy, not too much or it will get starchy. Add back to 1/3 in pot (using an immersion blender will make it easier)
Add in the cheese sauce, stir over medium heat until well blended
Salt & pepper to taste

 Note: Sam is concerned because his mamma is taking pictures instead of feeding him...
 Then dessert. Dr. Oetker's Chocolate Lava Cake, Cookies n Cream ice-cream and raspberries. It was delish
 

We took some great pictures of Sam w/Uncle Matt (Caleb & Matt were best friends, practically brothers, growing up, therefore Matt is Uncle Matt). They will be posted shortly :)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

That soup looks amazing!

Caleb said...

Thanks for cooking wifey!! It was so good!! Leftovers were great too!

Matthew said...

Good times had by all!! Cant wait to do it again!! Loved getting to bond with my nephew!!