I was SOOOOO excited about this recipe. Namely because I was hoping that it could substitute for Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup.
Buuuut as always, the time never seemed right to do this, as I was assuming, correctly so, that the bread bowls, COULD be my nemesis.
It's not that they were especially difficult or time consuming.
It was just bread dough, or the mixing of such that became an issue.
I should set the scene:
We moved into this beautiful townhouse, that had OODLES more space! Or so we thought. While the kitchen was nearly twice as big as the kitchen in our old apartment, there was just A TEENY more storage space. No problem, I'll just get a shelf to put in the garage, and store all of my little used appliances out there! Well, while there is more room, we have more stuff. So my handy little shelf, has been, slowly but surely disappearing in our organized-cluttered (does that make sense?) garage.
I Spy, with my little eye, something that is red?
Nope? Can't See it?
There, can you see it now?!
There in lies the problem. My woderful, incredible, weighs-a-metric-ton kitchenaide mixer sits behind a motorcycle. So in order to get to it I have to bend at the waist (a big no-no for any who do manual labor so well know) and reach across a, rather large, motorcycle to pick up a 30 pound mixer.
But as I was so gosh-darn determined to make bread bowls for my broccoli cheese soup, I did it, with only minor back strain. (j/k none at all, I'm just being melodramatic)
I will start out with the bread bowl recipe first. I would make these first, and then make the soup, while these are rising/cooking.
Combine 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, and the salt in the mixer and blend it around to get it mixed up. (I just turned it on and left it while I did these next steps)
Combine the water and the milk in one bowl and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute
Add the butter and let it melt a bit
Then add the milk and butter mix to the dry ingredients and mix for about 30 sec.
Add the remaining two cups of flour and yeast, and beat until smooth (around 5 minutes)
Dump the dough out onto a greased cooking sheet (ok, so it was pretty sticky, and didn't just "dump" out) (But if you sprinkle some flour as you are trying to peel it off of the sides of the bowl, it kind of comes out)
Be Advised:
The bread dough will get EVERYWHERE!
There! Don't say I didn't warn you! :-)
Then cut it into six pieces
Let it rest for about 5 minutes and form into balls.
Beat the egg and glaze the top of the balls
Set in a 170 degree oven to rise until double (the recipe said it was 15-25 minutes, but for me it was definitely more like 45 and could have been longer, I just ran out of patience)
Then turn the oven up to 350 and bake until golden on top (you can leave the bread in there while it is heating up.) (again the recipe said it would bake for about 15 minutes, but for me it was more like 25)
Once they come out of the oven let them sit for about 10 minutes and cut the top off and scoop out the insides.
There You Have It
Next You need something to put in them!
The Crew
Cut up the broccoli (the recipe called for 1 bunch, but I L-O-V-E Love broccoli, so I used about 1 1/2)
Put the broccoli in a medium sauce pan, cover with water, and boil until tender
Once it is cooked, drain the water, reserving 1 cup of it for later use
Then mash it with a potato masher
Add the butter to a large sauce pan and melt
Add the onion and cook until transluscent
Add the flour, and mix around until combined
Add the chicken stock, and bring to a boil
Add the Half and half, broccoli water, Worcestershire sauce, and salt
Cook for 5-10 minutes to let it reduce a bit
Add the broccoli
Remove from heat
Add the cheese (I used a mixture of sharp and mild cheddar and it was scrumptious)
You don't want to cook the cheese, just melt it
Dish it up into the bread bowl, and there you have it!
I have to admit, while the bread bowls were a nice touch, and fun to serve the soup in, they were pretty small, and only held about 1/2 cup.
TheHubby and I both thought that this was a great recipe. The first day, the soup is a bit thin, but it thickens up after a night in the fridge. It was even better on the second day!
This is definitely one I will make again!
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