Broccoli Cheese Soup & Bread Bowls

I was really excited for this soup, but the results were just...ok. I debated on sharing it here, but figured I might as well. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing. Both Lonnie and I had two bowls, but I don't think I would make the same recipe again. But, someone else out there might really love it! The comments on the blog I got the recipe from were all great. It seems like a lot of people enjoyed this recipe. So maybe it was just me. :)

I also did homemade bread bowls to serve the soup in. I've made this bread bowl recipe (the Italian Bread Bowl recipe) several times...and each time they don't come out as round as I would like them to. I am thinking that I might need to add more flour to the recipe and maybe they would stand-up better. But the actual bread is delicious. The bread is hearty and the crust is crusty and the bowl stands up really well with soup in it. I actually halved the recipe this time and only made 3 bread bowls. I didn't want the extras to go to waste.

I got both of these recipes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, one of my favorite food blogs. She has some amazing recipes and there are a lot from her site that I make again and again.


BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, preferably sharp or extra sharp
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
2 1/2 to 3 cups chopped, lightly steamed or blanched broccoli (I cheated and used frozen!)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

ITALIAN BREAD BOWLS

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups).

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Planning Ahead and Soft Wrap Bread

I totally did not plan on that title rhyming.

Today, in an effort to just get out of the house, we went to a larger city about 45 minutes north of us to run some errands. Did some grocery shopping and exchanged some shoes. We knew that we would be gone during lunch time, so we decided to put some effort into it and pack our lunch ahead of time. Lonnie was so good about making most of the lunch stuff. Even got out the little cooler and packed everything up. One of the biggest surprises for us was that Jack loved having a "picnic in the car!" His attitude was much better than it would have been at a restaurant (he often has trouble with the loud noises and crowds in restaurants). I think this will be even more fun to do as the weather warms up (IF the weather ever warms up!).

For dinner we had some falafels, homemade wrap bread and tzatziki sauce. Delicious! The wrap bread recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs - Mel's Kitchen Cafe. The bread is very easy to make, but it does take up a lot of time. Between the rising, resting, rolling and baking, it takes up most of an afternoon. But, a lot of it is just waiting around. The falafels we used were just from a box mix that you add water too and then fry them. Very, very good.

Here is the bread recipe!

Soft Wrap Bread

(from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

3 to 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup potato buds or flakes (I used potato flakes)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon instant yeast*

Place 2 cups of the flour into a bowl or the bucket of a bread machine. Pour the boiling water over the flour, and stir until smooth. Lightly cover the bowl or bucket and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flakes and 1 cup of the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the slightly cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several minutes (by hand or by mixer) to form a soft dough. This dough takes a little bit of time to come together. It may seem that the flour will never fully incorporate into the dough, but it will! Just give it time.

The dough should form a ball, but will remain somewhat sticky. Add additional flour only if necessary; if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled. Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour. My dough didn't rise very much, but the bread still turned out fine.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each about the size of a handball, around 3 ounces), cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7- to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side, until they’re puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag. (We ended up keeping ours in our tortilla warmer and it worked great! The bread stayed nice and warm and soft.)

*This recipe works best with instant yeast because it dissolves during the kneading process, so you don’t have to knead liquid into the dough. If you really prefer to use active dry yeast, use only 1 cup boiling water for the initial dough, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, and add this mixture to the dough along with the potato flour mixture.