Kitchen Jam

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This is not a post about jam – at least, not a jam that you’d spread on biscuits or use to top a block of cream cheese as a fast appetizer.

Today’s jam is an improv on some of the leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner at my sister’s house. Pork loin with apple stuffing, homemade apple sauce, twice-baked potatoes and broccoli – a lot of broccoli. Needless to say, my leftovers care package included some protein and a healthy quantity of steamed green florets.

I am just one person. While I love broccoli, it mostly hates the digestive changes I’ve experienced because of cancer, surgeries and the resulting ostomy. I can eat broccoli when it’s heavily cooked (think 50s-era canned veggies) or pureed – which means that although whole broccoli is pretty much off my menu, broccoli soup in small quantities is still a favorite thing. The key is that I *must* limit my intake to small quantities – no more than three-quarters of a cup or so at once. It’s definitely not something I can have every day.

So, you ask, how did I end up with three cups of cooked broccoli? Maybe it’s my inability to say ‘no’ to something that can become a wonderful soup, one of the foods I like just as much as I enjoy jam!

On the bright side, broccoli freezes well – and even frozen cooked broccoli can become a fine soup in a hurry. So I froze about half of my ‘care’ package.

This recipe, which makes about two cups of soup, is how I jammed on the rest of the broccoli leftovers. It’s a proportional recipe; I could have doubled it and used all of the leftovers – but I had more room in the freezer for a bag of cooked broccoli than for the soup!

This recipe is a perfect example of why every home needs an immersion (aka hand, wand or stick) blender. You bring the blender to the soup, puree it in the pan, and have only the detachable wand portion to clean – my kind of implement! My own, a 200-watt Braun model, is celebrating its 8th year of continuous daily use in February, 2010 – and I’m already searching for a suitable replacement, just in case. Enjoy!

Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 1/2 cup cooked broccoli florets
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup stock or water
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup horseradish cheese spread (any type of cheese will do!)
dash of smoked ground chipotle chile powder (cayenne will also work)

• Melt the butter in a medium-sized, deep saucepan.
• Add in the cooked broccoli florets (break the florets into smaller pieces with a spoon if needed) and the sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with the dash of ground hot chile or cayenne. Saute for 3-4 minutes until heated through.
• Stir in the stock. I used mushroom, which I had in the freezer. However, any stock or broth (vegetable, potato peel, garlic, chicken) will work. If you don’t have stock, plain old water will work, too. If you like a little wine in your soup (mmm!), substitute 1/4 cup of dry white wine for an equal amount of either stock or water.
• Bring the liquid to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend the soup in a blender which is loosely covered, and then return it to the saucepan.
• Stir in the half and half and the leftover horseradish cheese spread. If using a harder type of cheese, shred it before adding to the soup. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is melted.

Makes about 2 cups of broccoli-cheese soup.