Recipe for "broccoli-soup"

NAME

     BROCCOLI-SOUP - Addictive broccoli soup
     This rich soup is a real flavor treat for everyone, even for
     people who don't normally eat broccoli.  It can be served as
     the only course in a light meal.  The soup is  at  its  best
     when  served  with hot, hard French finger rolls and freshly
     squeezed cool orange juice.  It is my own  original  recipe.
     You will not have tried it anywhere else except at my house.
     Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

     2         bunches, fresh broccoli (each about 75  mm  bottom
               diameter, banded)
     240 g     butter
     2-6        cloves of fresh garlic, chopped fine.  (Use  less
               or more to taste.)
     30 ml     chervil (fresh or dried, finely chopped)
     5 ml      salt
     5 ml      white pepper
     750 ml    milk (use full-cream milk (homogenized))
     1         medium egg yolk, beaten
     25 g      flour (no lumps)
     0.5 ml    cardamom
     0.5 ml    mace
     250 ml    heavy cream ("whipping" cream preferred)
     50 g      Gruyere cheese (fresh, grated fine)
     60 g      parmesan cheese (fresh, grated to powder)

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces.   Discard  the
               hard  stem pieces, but keep tender leaves and stem
               parts.
          (2)  Steam the cut broccoli for  about  5 - 8  minutes,
               until  just  bright  green in color.  Do not over-
               cook.
          (3)  In a 25-cm enameled (non-metal) skillet, heat  180
               g  of butter until melted.  Add chopped garlic and
               wait until butter is hot enough to  cook  in.  Add
               steamed  broccoli,  then  chervil  to the skillet.
               Lightly salt the broccoli.
          (4)  Cover, and cook over  medium  low  heat,  stirring
               occasionally with a wooden spoon, for another 5-10
               minutes or until the broccoli turns a darker green
               color and becomes very soft.
          (5)  Mash the broccoli right in the  skillet  until  no
               large  pieces  remain.   Use  a potato masher or a
               strong wooden spoon.   Mash  until  there  are  no
               pieces remaining that are too big to fit in a soup
               spoon.
          (6)  While broccoli is cooking, add beaten egg yolk  to
               500 ml of milk.
          (7)  Put 50 g butter into a 2-3  liter  saucepan.   Use
               enamel  or glass for best soup flavor.  Metal pans
               will make this soup bitter.  Melt butter  and  add
               flour.  When the flour bubbles and starts to cook,
               add the egg/milk mixture into the  saucepan.   Add
               the  cardamom,  mace, and white pepper.  Stir con-
               tents of saucepan  constantly  with  wooden  spoon
               until thick. Lower the cooking heat.
          (8)  Empty the mashed broccoli mixture  into  the  sau-
               cepan.  Stir  until well-mixed. Slowly stir in the
               remaining milk and the cream.  As soon as the soup
               becomes  hot  enough to cook again, add the grated
               cheeses.
          (9)  Turn the heat down lower and simmer  for  about  5
               more  minutes,  stirring  to  allow the cheeses to
               melt and mix while the table is being set.   Serve
               immediately  and  retire  quickly  so as not to be
               trampled by those who smelled it cooking.

NOTES

     This recipe may  be  doubled,  halved  or  whatever  without
     penalty.   Vary  the amount of milk added the second time to
     change the soup thickness to your own tastes.  You also  may
     use  any fresh green vegetable as a substitute for the broc-
     coli. Asparagus tips, artichoke hearts, and corn  are  espe-
     cially nice.  Cook them in the same way as you did the broc-
     coli.  Use any leftover butter on  the  hard  French  finger
     rolls.  Warning: This soup is a mild aphrodisiac when served
     as suggested and by candlelight.  Use Bailey's  Irish  Cream
     as a chaser.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate.  Time: 30 minutes.

CONTRIBUTOR

     George Robertson
     Fort Worth, Texas
     (ihnp4!sys1!sysvis!ger)