Here's a recipe I copied out of a cookbook of recipes from Central Florida restaurants. Pebbles is a great place, but I've never tried this soup there, and have NOT made it at home, yet.
It calls for two premade seasonings: Spike (which is wonderful, but is not available here) and Maggi (which I have not tried, but is available here). If you have trouble finding them, I'm sure you could just wing it and season it to your taste. Spike is a rather unusual blend, even containing dried horseradish (something I don't usually like, but is not really noticeable AS horseradish in this blend). The recipe says it is available at health-food stores and "most supermarkets," but I only used to be able to find it at the health-food stores. Either way, I'm sure that neither it nor the Maggi seasoning are THAT important for making a good soup - it just won't exactly match the recipe if you use something else. One thing that could be interesting is one of the varieties of Goya Sazón (just be careful of the saltiness, or get the no-salt variety),
Interestingly enough, the recipe calls for grated American cheese, along with some Asiago. Be careful if you decide to try a different cheese, since many can often have a tendency to wind up in a ball at the bottom of the pan when you try to used them in something like this. Perhaps one of the pre-packaged Cheddar sauces (i.e. rather than actual Cheddar) would work well, and I do plan on trying that, myself, since I happen to have some of that sauce (the "Bakers & Chefs" brand sold through Sam's Club, which just happens to be available at the import stores here). As mentioned earlier, I have not made this soup YET, but I have been considering doing something like this, in order to make use of that Cheddar sauce. That will probably be NEXT weekend, though, so I won't be able to give any review, etc., until then.
Pebbles' Broccoli Cheese Soup(Makes 12 servings)
INGREDIENTS:- 2 Quarts Chicken stock
- 2 Sticks Butter
- 4 Tbsp Flour
- 1 Onion, finely chopped
- 2 Bunches Fresh broccoli, cleaned, stems peeled, and chopped into medium to fine pieces
- 1 Tsp Tabasco sauce
- 1 Tbsp Spike (available in health-food stores and most supermarkets)
- 1 Tbsp Maggi Seasoning (available in most supermarkets)
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 1/2 Cups Grated American cheese, not imitation cheese
- 1/2 Cup Grated Asiago cheese
- 1 Cup Heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat chicken stock or broth in separate saucepan. Set aside.
- In large soup kettle or stockpot, melt butter. Add chopped onion and sauté about 3 minutes, do not allow to brown.
- Slowly whip in flour to make a roux. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat, stirring carefully.
- Add hot stock, whipping constantly with wire whisk. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer stirring occasionally.
- Add bay leaf, broccoli and rest of seasonings. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in cheeses and simmer for 10 minutes, continuing to stir to blend well.
- Stir in cream and serve.
