{"id":186597,"date":"2018-10-23T04:15:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T08:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=186597"},"modified":"2018-10-23T04:15:04","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T08:15:04","slug":"go-ahead-please-cook-the-daylights-out-of-your-broccoli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/10\/23\/go-ahead-please-cook-the-daylights-out-of-your-broccoli\/","title":{"rendered":"Go ahead, please cook the daylights out of your broccoli"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We discovered that adding just a pinch of baking soda with the water accelerated the braising time by helping to break down the cell walls of the broccoli. (Pexels Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It seems counterintuitive, but cooking the daylights out of the broccoli is the key to this soup’s sweet, nutty vegetable flavour. Our first step was to call for a full 2 pounds of broccoli.<\/p>\n

Following a technique from renowned California chef Alice Waters, we sauteed the broccoli in a little butter, added a cup of water, and let it cook until it was very soft and nutty and sweet. We discovered that adding just a pinch of baking soda with the water accelerated the braising time by helping to break down the cell walls of the broccoli.<\/p>\n

Adding fresh baby spinach right before pureeing ensured that our soup had a bright colour and it also enhanced the vegetable flavour. As for the cheese, a mix of sharp cheddar and nutty Parmesan gave the soup enough cheesy flavour and richness that we didn’t need to use any cream.<\/p>\n

BROCCOLI-CHEESE SOUP<\/p>\n

Servings: 6-8<\/p>\n

Start to finish: 1 hour, 15 minutes<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons unsalted butter<\/p>\n

2 pounds broccoli, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stalks peeled and sliced 1\/4 inch thick<\/p>\n

1 onion, chopped coarse<\/p>\n

2 garlic cloves, minced<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder<\/p>\n

Pinch cayenne pepper<\/p>\n

Salt and pepper<\/p>\n

3-4 cups water<\/p>\n

1\/4 teaspoon baking soda<\/p>\n

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth<\/p>\n

2 ounces (2 cups) baby spinach<\/p>\n

3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3\/4 cup)<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine (3\/4 cup), plus extra for serving<\/p>\n

Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and baking soda. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.<\/p>\n

Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium-high. When mixture begins to simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer half of soup to blender, add cheddar and Parmesan, and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer soup to medium bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to pot, place over medium heat and bring to simmer. Adjust consistency of soup with up to 1 cup remaining water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n

Nutrition information per serving: 143 calories; 69 calories from fat; 8 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 20 mg cholesterol; 380 mg sodium; 12 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 9 g protein.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems counterintuitive, but cooking the daylights out of the broccoli is the key to this soup’s sweet, nutty vegetable …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":186604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","mauthors-americas-test-kitchen","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}