Broccoli Cheddar Soup

The temperatures have dropped, the skies are grey and the weather is cold. This is the perfect weather to have a warm bowl of soup for lunch or dinner. I enjoy soups, especially during winter. The lighter ones serve as great appetizers while the heartier ones are complete meals. Broccoli cheddar soup is a hearty soup. Add a dinner roll and you don’t need to prepare anything else. I hadn’t tasted broccoli cheddar soup for the longest time, as I was under the misconception that there was a lot of cheese in this soup. It was after a few years that I found out that the base of the soup is a white sauce and doesn't really have much cheese. You can add as much cheese as you want, so you can even make a low calorie version of the soup by adding less cheese.

Ingredients
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic pods, finely chopped
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 broccoli, cut into florets
1 cup milk
1/2 carrot, grated
salt to taste
pepper to taste
cheddar cheese, to taste
water

Method
In a pan, boil water. Add broccoli florets to it and let them cook till they are bright green and tender, about 3-4 minutes. At this stage the broccoli will be partially cooked, and not mushy. Process 3/4 of the broccoli through the blender and process it coarsely. Keep a few small florets aside so you can eat them in the soup.

In a deep pot, heat the oil and butter together. To this add the onions and garlic and stir fry it, till it is cooked. It should get cooked through but not brown. Then add the flour to it and fry it. The flour should get cooked through and not smell raw. However, take care not to let it brown. Add a half cup of water, while stirring it continuously. The white sauce base is formed. Then add the broccoli puree as well as pieces. Next add the the shredded carrot. Add a cup of milk and bring the mixture to a boil. At this stage, if the soup is too thick, add additional water and boil. Now, add the cheddar cheese and let it melt through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve piping hot.

Tips
You can vary the proportions of broccoli and carrot. The more carrot you add, the oranger it gets. In case you add more water and it gets too dilute for your taste, you can dissolve a tsp of corn starch/flour in a little water (about a couple of tsps) and then add it to the soup to thicken it up. To make the soup richer you can also add some cream.

Veg Au Gratin - Baked Vegetables in White Sauce

This is the tastiest veg au gratin ever. A wonderful medley of fresh, crisp vegetables in a rich white sauce, with a delicious layer of browned cheese. My favorite version of this dish is the one I used to eat at a restaurant in Pune. It has always tasted the same, ever since the first day I ate it, some 15 years ago. They serve the same size portion,  accompanied by a piece of garlic toast. It is absolutely the yummiest version of this dish. I was remembering and craving a taste of this dish for the longest time. So, I finally decided to experiment and try it out. It did turn out quite close to the original, so this will do for now.

Note: For variation, instead of adding a layer of cheese and baking it, add some hot sauce and eat the vegetables cooked in white sauce.
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour/maida
2 cups milk (use whole milk, definitely not skimmed milk)
salt to taste
white pepper to taste (can use black pepper if white pepper is not available)
1/4 cup onions, diced into small pieces
1/4 cup peas
1/4 cup potato, diced into small pieces
1/4 cup carrots, diced into small pieces
1 cup shredded cheese
1 tbsp oil

Method
Cook the peas, potatoes and carrots partially. You can do this by cooking them in the  microwave for a couple of minutes. You can also cook them by either adding them to boiling water for a few minutes or steam cooking them for a few minutes. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Sautee the onions till they are transluscent. Then add all the vegetables and saute for a couple of minutes. Add salt to taste, turn off the heat and keep aside.

In another deep pan, add the butter and once it melts, add the flour. Cook the flour in the butter till it starts to look slightly pink. Generally at this stage, the raw flour smell disappears. Do not over cook the flour and do not let it turn brown. Then, turn the heat low and add the milk while stirring the mixture with a whisk. It is critical at this stage to keep mixing the milk and flour together so that no lumps are formed. Once the flour is dissolved in the milk, stir it often till it starts to thicken. Add salt and white pepper. As soon as it become thick and gets a sauce like consistency, turn off the heat and add half a cup of grated cheese. Mix thoroughly till the cheese is well incorporated. Add the sauteed vegetables and mix into the sauce. (At this stage all the components are cooked and you can eat the vegetables without baking it further, if you choose.)

Next, pour this mixture into an oven safe dish and layer the remaining cheese on top in an even layer. Bake this for 10-15 minutes at 350F or till the the chee.se has melted and starts to brown slightly.
Serve hot with some garlic bread.

Tips
All the vegetables should be cut to similar size about the size of the peas. If white pepper is available use it. It adds flavor to the white sauce and the specks of pepper cannot be seen in the sauce. If not possible, then add black pepper. If you are using frozen peas, rinse them with water and thaw them out. These will be soft enough and do not need to be cooked again prior to sauteeing. You may want to boil the potato first and then dice it.  You can also use the broil setting on your oven to melt and brown the cheese faster. Make sure you are using a pan that is broiler safe.

If you feel adventurous enough, try adding a few diced pieces of pineapples (canned) along with the rest of the vegetables. The original dish has a few  pineapples pieces in it. However, upon my family's preference,I didn't add it.