YUK!! IT IS NOT FOR ME...
That was one thing that my granddaughter, Kelsie and then, President Bush, had in common. Their dislike for BROCCOLI. Her dislike did not get as much attention nation wide as did President Bushes but I am reminded of both every year when the harvest time for broccoli comes.
It all happened one nite when our daughter Dawn's family was having supper with us and I said to her Mother, "do you think Kelsie, then about two years old, would eat some broccoli." "I don't think so but you can try" her mother said. So I mashed up some cooked broccoli, added butter, salt and asked her if she would like some. She sort of shook her head no, but after telling her how good it was she finally relented and let me give her a spoonful. None of the family there will ever forget those famous words as this little 2 year old spit out the broccoli and said, "Yuk! it is not for me"
Yesterday, as I was down in my garden and realized that again the broccoli harvest is due those famous words came back. Broccoli, like spinach has its followers and it haters. It took Popeye, to finally sell spinach to our generation but no one has done much in the broccoli field on the promotion angle and President Bush got a lot of media and growers flak for his statement that he did not like broccoli.
In the forty eight years that we have been married, I have had a vegetable garden most of those years. It was not, however, until the last 12 or 15 years that I have consistently raised broccoli. In fact it was about the time of the above mentioned "Yuk" incident that I had 100 plants of broccoli, got them from the Tomah School greenhouse, after school closed and they gave me a deal "I could not refuse."
It got so for a time we had broccoli cheese soup on a daily basis, and is still one of the dishes that the grandchildren look forward to when they come for Sunday or special meals at Grandma and Grandpa Weber's. In fact my daughter in law Sandy said, "You know Dad, our kids, like your chocolate chip cookies, but they even like, (Grandpa's broccoli and cheese soup) better." We still have a lot of it but since my heart attack I have had to cut back on it as cheese has a high saturated fat content.
But what is this broccoli plant that we are talking about. Well it belongs to the cabbage family, and is the flower buds of the plant. The first flower heads are usually 5-8 inches in diameter and quite compact. After that first flower head had been harvested the plant puts forth smaller florets and usually in abundance. This can go on for the rest of the season if the weather does not get too hot. Usually about a month or so after the first harvest you get the best results.
Broccoli is one of the green vegetables that is high in many of the nutrients we need on a daily basis and so for those who like it we are twice blessed. It is also a very versatile vegetable in that it can be eaten raw, just as is or with special kinds of dips, can be made part of a salad or just boiled and served hot with butter or margarine.
BILL WEBER'S BROCCOLI--CHEESE SOUP RECIPE
This is my basic soup. I add milk at time of serving to bring the soup up to the what one prefers their soup to be. Thick, medium or light.
Now I am not a sticker for rules or regulations so some of these mesurements may be a bit off. I ran it through this morning after I wrote it up and it tastes pretty good. But like any good cook, every one has their own "spin" so do it the way you want.
Here is how I do it: First I cut up the oninons and potatoes and put them in a two quart sauce pan and put water on to cover, cooking them until they are tender. 20 or so minutes. Usually the water has boiled away enough so that you can just take the potato masher and mash them up depending upon your likes as far as consistency is concerned. (Course, medium, fine) I usually go for the medium.
I also put the carrots in another two quart sauce pan and put water on to cover bring to a boil, cook until they start to get tender, then dump in cut up broccoli and cover, keep heat on high so that broccoli is steamed from the boiling water of the carrots. Usally takes 15 minutes or so. Test by cutting with an ordinary table knife. If the broccoli cuts easily then its ready. Remove from heat. If there is a lot of liquid left drain and save to add later if needed.
Take broccoli and carrots and add to the potato onion mix. Stir well, put on low heat and add the spices, peppers (do not add salt at this time)and cheese, stirring to prevent sticking. After adding the cheesewiz, sample, if you would like more salt, now is the time to add. Cheesewiz usally adds a fair amount so that is why you should wait until now before adding salt.
This will make a good two quarts. I usually freeze up one quart and the other quart lasts the two of us, after we add milk to it, for three or four meals. In fact I have made a meal of it with a slice of whole wheat bread some salad and fruit.
Here are a couple of interesting WEB sites:
More Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipes http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/soup/mp-cheese-soup.html
Search engine EXCITE gives a list of sites dealing with Broccoli http://search.excite.com/search.gw?search=broccoli&Submit=Search
I tried to locate the time and place that President Bush made his "not to be forgotten" comment on broccoli maybe it was not worth recording for history. If any one runs across it let me know at solar10a@centuryinter.net