I’m on Day Three of Chickenpalooza and after two days of broth-making, it’s time to make this broth work for us.
This recipe started out as a vegan broccoli and potato puree, but as I rummaged through my fridge, I found some lonely looking ingredients and… well, it’s clearly not vegan anymore. Nonetheless, I am not a vegan, so to me this is a delicious creation. You can skin the potatoes, I left mine on, because once my mother told me the skins have a lot of vitamins. Another tip— take it easy on the salt. Whenever I work with cured pork, I try to use very little salt since as the pork heats up, it releases salt.
I’ve made this soup twice in the last week with slight variations. I’m posting both pictures. The only difference is the greener version has double the broccoli.
Serves two as a meal, four as a soup course
4 oz of bacon, chopped into one inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large leek, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of water
1 pound of potatoes, cut into one inch cubes
3 sprigs of fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 of an 8oz bag/ 1/4 of a pound of frozen broccolli, cut into small pieces.
Pepper & salt to taste
1. Heat the bacon in a large pot. Once a little bacon grease gets going, put the chopped up onion, leek, and garlic. When the onion, leek, and garlic, get aromatic and soften, add the broth, water, potatoes, and seasonings.
2. Bring the broth to a boil and simmer for about thirty minutes or so. Add the broccoli and heat for about ten more minutes (until everything is heated thoroughly.)
3. Remove the parsley and bay leaves. The soup should still have quite a bit of liquid, drain about a cup or more of the broth. (I kept mine and put it aside for tomorrow’s recipe)
4. Puree the soup. Serve.
Top with a little bit of sour cream and a fresh sprig of parsley. Teh E Marl (Elizabeth) put some dried red pepper flecks on hers.
Also, here’s a cheddar biscuits recipe:
(makes 10 biscuits)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese diced
2 tsp baking powder
1. Combine flour and butter until butter is in pea-sized. Stir in the cheese. Slowly add water until the dough is comes together.
2. You can either do drop biscuits from here or roll them out and cut them into shapes.
To make them super flaky, roll out the dough, re-roll, then repeat a couple more times. It was awesome.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (or until edges are golden brown).