Soup's on!

I can't be the only one who hasn't attempted to make soup, real soup. I'm not sure why it's never crossed my mind before. I love it. I've even dragged a few friends to SoupeSoup and I can still vividly remember the the lobster bisque at the Brewster Fish House in August 2009.

I've seen the signs—that disappointed feeling when I heat up generic canned soup. A friend of mine gave me a weird look when she realized I didn't have a bag of onions on hand, let alone one on standby (I guess you need onions for real cooking). I've always known something was wrong and that I was missing something important in my life. So, truth be told, I realized that I needed to learn how to make soup, real soup.

[Read more after the jump]


You might wonder how I came to this realization. No, it wasn't divine intervention or even someone hitting me over the head with a saucepan. It was simply a need for warm comfort food after biking home in the rain. Oh, I also needed something to post on my blog (kidding).

We had a ton of broccoli in the fridge. For some reason, we keep buying it thinking that we are out. I couldn't even shut one of the veggie drawers because of all the broccoli. Maybe Ryan is trying to stockpile it?

Thanks to this surplus, I easily made one of Martha Stewart's broccoli soup recipes, see here. I was intrigued by the use of oats and nutmeg. I added about a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of 15% cooking cream a bit before serving to thicken a bit more and add some depth. We enjoyed the soup with fresh bread from a local bakery, and some Boursin cream cheese and Québécois terrine.

The result was amazing. Now I know why Carl Weathers kept talking to Tobias about making soups on Arrested Development, "There's still plenty of meat on that bone. Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you've got a soup going."

It's never too late to learn (or make again). Treat yourself to some real soup, friends!

Soup and nibblies for dinner = one happy Meg