Panera Style Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

After talking with my Mom yesterday and hearing how chilly it's been getting back in PA in the evenings (I'm sure Pistol is gonna get the fireplace going soon! Right Dad?) I was thinking about one of my favorite soups, Broccoli and Cheddar. Mmmmm. You all know I'm totally obsessed with broccoli (and am happy to have passed that obsession along to some friends!) so any chance I get to eat broccoli, I'm a happy girl. It's still very warm and summery here though but today the weather has taken a turn and the air pressure is heavy. We're expecting big rain tomorrow. Am I even speaking English? I can't tell anymore if we say "big rain" in English or am I just totally mixing up all my languages? It's the air pressure that is making that happen, you know! OK, I realize I'm totally turning Croatian with my blaming the weather on everything. Anyway back to the soup! I'm not usually one for soup when it's warm out but when it comes to broccoli and cheddar - it's cozy, heart warmingly familiar, and so many of my favorite flavors combined in one!

You can be eating this amazing bowl of comfort in about an hour. In about an hour and 5 minutes, you'll be addicted to this soup. This recipe makes 4 servings so I suggest doubling it because I know we would've loved to have some more of this and I definitely will make more next time! 

Here's what I used:

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/2 medium diced onion

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

2 cups chicken stock

1 head of fresh broccoli (or a bag of frozen, defrosted)

1 cup carrot, sliced/julienned

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Here's what you do:

Sautee onion in butter. Set aside. Then, put remaining butter and flour in pot and whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the milk. Add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the broccoli, carrots and onions.

Cook over low heat for another 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. I pureed mine in a blender at this point but you don't necessarily have to. Then, return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.

 

You know how Rachael Ray always describes nutmeg as that thing that makes people just go "Mmmmm, what is that?" Well, I served this to my in-laws and they loved it and were trying to guess what "that thing" is and in the end, my mother-in-law figured it out! This one will please even the pickiest of eaters, so try it out! And bonus - it tastes just like the one from Panera (and it's made without the heavy cream!)

Eat at Home Tonight - Quick, healthy meal in a pinch!

If you're like me and totally hooked on the Olympics (and have big plans to go to the swim hall every day now lol) you probably can't tear away from the TV. This is the perfect opportunity for you to try one of my absolute favorite ways to make dinner in no time flat with anything you have on hand! And I was in exactly one of those moments before we went on this business trip last week and needed to use up some broccoli (I swear it's not the only thing we eat!) and onion and God knows we have way too much rice (after a hungry grocery shopping trip on the way back from Poland where T-Slav was stoked that the rice was on sale and went a little overboard).

So, for my very first episode of Eat at Home Tonight, I decided to show you guys how I make this vegetarian meal that seriously will not make you miss the meat. People say that all the time, but I mean it! It's the peanut lime sauce in this super easy stir-fry that will satisfy any meat-eatin' folk as well as veg fans! Seriously, one time, I made this with a bunch of different veggies like peppers, onion, broccoli, and those small, baby corn cobs (is that what they're called?) and served it over noodles with the peanut-lime sauce. Tomislav INHALED it. So much so, that I realized he probably hadn't noticed there wasn't any chicken, beef, or shrimp in the dish so as he was finishing I asked whether he loved this vegetarian dinner. He was shocked, especially because it was so filling! He totally didn't realize this was a veg only meal. The sauce is amazing, super easy, and filled with pantry ingredients that you probably have on hand already. What is better than that?

 

Broccoli and onion stir-fry with a peanut-lime sauce served over brown rice

What I used:

1 head of broccoli

1/2 a big onion

1 tsp sesame oil

(Just because I only used these veggies does not matter at all, I've made this a bunch of times. It's the perfect fridge cleaner-outer dish, because you can literally put anything and everything in this and it'll be delicious! Chicken and shrimp with veggies would be great! I didn't have fresh ginger and garlic on hand to sautee with my veggies but I usually use the fresh stuff instead of powdered. But hey, you gotta use what you have!)

For the Sauce:

2 Tbs Peanut Butter

2 Tbs Water (use more as needed)

2-3 Tbs Soy Sauce

Ginger (fresh or ground)

Garlic (minced or powder, whatever you have is fine)

A smidge of crushed red pepper flakes

Lemongrass (optional)

Juice of 1 Lime

 Did I mention this is cheap?! Just use whatever you have leftover in your fridge and grab a lime on your way home if you don't have it already. It makes the sauce stand out even more. AND it's gluten-free! (As long as you use gluten-free soy sauce) Plus, you can make this in just 15 minutes!

Now go watch the video to see how it's done! Let me know what you think and try this one out tonight!

 

The Best Broccoli You'll Ever Have

 

Ah, summertime, time for cold, juicy and crisp watermelon, burgers and hot dogs, potato salads and...broccoli? It might not seem like it's the 'right' time for broccoli, but to me, there is always a right time for broccoli. Especially when it tastes this amazing! This is officially, the best broccoli you'll ever have in your life. After you try this, you'll be wondering to yourself, why was I ever eating boring steamed broccoli before, or covered in cheese, or why you might have thought you didn't like it before. This broccoli is delicious and almost meaty in flavor and I will admit, it's happened twice in the past 2 weeks that I've devoured a huge serving of these (that I expected to have for me and Tomislav both but I couldn't wait to eat it because it's that good!)

Here's what you need:

- Broccoli (1 big crown or 2 small ones, or even a bag of the frozen stuff)

- 3 Cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced

- Olive Oil

- Lemon zest of 1 lemon (or half of one if it's really big)

- Juice of half a lemon

- 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

- Handful of basil leaves, torn (optional)

- Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (About 220 C, I did it at 200 though bc my oven is a little wonky). Either cut your broccoli florets, if you're using fresh broccoli (which is the best option) and I like to use the stalks in stir-fries then, so you can save the stalks, slice them up and put them in a container for later. If you're using frozen broccoli (when you're moving, you try to eat everything from the fridge, so a bag of frozen broccoli made for not only a perfectly acceptable, but an addictively delicious lunch!) try to defrost the broccoli as much as possible, just to get as much of the moisture out as you can. 

Then, place the florets in a single layer on a big baking sheet. Take your sliced garlic and put it all over the broccoli, so almost very piece has garlic on it and then drizzle everything with olive oil. Put a little salt and pepper over the top and send it in the oven for 20-25 minutes for fresh broccoli and 30-35 minutes for frozen until some of the florets have browned.

Take the broccoli out of the oven and grate the lemon zest over the top of the broccoli, then squeeze the lemon juice. Finally, put the parmesan over the top of the broccoli and if you have basil, tear up some leaves and toss them about.  Serve immediately, devour instantly.

This stuff is absolutely addictive. You're gonna love it and you have to try it! This will, without a doubt, be the best broccoli you've ever eaten. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday!

Omg - Guilty pleasure alert! I am a HUGE fan of Mac & Cheese. I mean, absolutely huge fan. As a kid, you know, we ate only Polish foods at home so whenever we had the chance to eat macaroni and cheese (from the box!) I was extremely excited about it. So, I didn't grow up on the homemade stuff but of course now in Croatia you can't get boxed mac and cheese so I decided to make this broccoli and cauliflower macaroni and cheese. It is so delicious, even the leftovers are amazing. I will be making this one again and again! Comfort food at it's absolute finest!

Here's what I used:
500g Whole Wheat (Integralne in Croatian) Macaroni
500g of Mixed Cauliflower and Broccoli Florets
50g Butter
50g Flour
750ml Milk
100g Grated Cheese
4 Tbs cracker crumbs
4 Tbs grated cheese, your choice (Parmesan, Cheddar, etc.)

First, preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water for 8 minutes until just tender. I tossed in the cauliflower and broccoli in with the pasta for the last 5 minutes until almost tender. Drain the pasta and place in a lightly buttered 1.75 litre ovenproof baking dish with the vegetables, mixing them together.

Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. I added the nutmeg to the milk at this point. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Keep whisking (even if your arm hurts!). It should look like wet sand. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. (Seriously, do this slowly because it is HOT! And you do not want a burnt sauce, yuck.) Stir constantly until the sauce is thickened, a good 8-10 minutes. (It's worth it to take your time!) Then simmer for 2 minutes and remove from the heat.

 

Stir in the cheese, any seasonings you like, and pour over the pasta and vegetables. I used gouda (because that's one of the only options here. Gouda is the answer to everything! I miss cheddar but it was still really amazing)

Crush crackers into crumbs and sprinkle the extra grated cheese and crushed crackers evenly over top of the macaroni mixture. Bake in the heated oven for 20–25 minutes until the top is crisp and golden.

Delicious!

Aww yeah!

Ooey gooey AND crispy - yummy!



Hungry Man Meal!

I love having variety in the meals I make. Since I'm still a relatively new cook, there are a ton of things that I have never made yet and I just love to experiment. Making new things keeps cooking exciting for me and the best thing in the world is when I'm making something new and tasting it along the way and it tastes like the best thing I ever made. Yesterday was one of those days.

For a while, we were eating Asian inspired meals almost everyday. After we became obsessed with Thai take-out in the States in May, I spent the summer recreating those flavors in almost every meal. Now it seems, I'm getting really into comfort food. But it's winter, so I guess that's exactly what's supposed to happen! 

We got this really great ground beef and I wanted to try something new with it so I searched the internet for what to make and everything kept pointing me towards Salisbury Steak. I was hoping to try to make my own meatloaf sometime soon so I figured this would be a great way to make a Salisbury Steak/Mini-Meatloaf meal that would be hearty for my hungry man. I scoured the internet, reading reviews on every recipe I found and finally found the one I wanted. It's originally from the Sokolowski University Inn and is apparently from a Polish Kitchen episode, so no wonder I was drawn to it and inspired by it! It was a little daunting to see how long it would take to make it all, especially since I was really hungry after work, but for me, I'd rather make something that will taste excellent, rather than just so so. The extra time made it so worth it!

 

Here's what I used:

• 1 large onion (minced)
• 4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup (approximately) parsley
• bunch of sage
• 350g (about 2 1/2 cups) cooked and diced button mushrooms
• 2 Tbs flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 dried bay leaves (to simmer in the beef stock)
• salt and pepper (as preferred)

Directions

Saute onions (reserve about 2 tablespoons for gravy) for about 10 minutes, until they start to caramelize 1 tablespoon butter, then add garlic and half of your mushrooms to the pan and saute for another 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool. Mix beef with cooled onion mixture, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, sage and mushrooms. Form into 4 patties and saute in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until golden brown on both sides and set aside. In saucepan melt 2 ounces of butter and add flour and cook over low heat for 1 minute until wet sand consistency. Begin to add beef stock 1/3 at a time whisking and bringing to simmer each time making sure there are no lumps. I added the remaining onions and a bit of minced garlic at this point. Then, add mushrooms and simmer for 1/2 hour. Place patties in a roasting pan and pour gravy over patties and bake in a preheated 375 degree (190 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes.

 

Since we don't have a deep roasting pan, I used about half of the gravy on the mini-meatloafs that went into the oven. I roasted the veggies, broccoli and cauliflower, on the same pan. The sauce was so good, I couldn't stop tasting it so I made the executive decision to add more beef stock, a bit more flour to thicken it more, and made more gravy so we could pour it over the egg noodles that I served it with. 

 

The gravy was so amazing, T-Slav and I both wanted to drink it up. It's amazing what you can do with the same 3 pans but that's what we've got and I'm making it work. This is definitely something I'll make again and I think my Mom would be proud!