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Broccoli soup
2 bunches, fresh broccoli (each about 3 in bottom diameter, banded)
1/2 lb. butter
6 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped fine. (Use less or more to taste.)
1 Tbsp. chervil (fresh or dried, finely chopped)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
3 c. milk (use full-cream milk (homogenized))
1 medium egg yolk, beaten
1/4 c. flour (no lumps)
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. mace
1 c. heavy cream ("whipping" cream preferred)
1/3 c. Gruyere cheese (fresh, grated fine)
1/3 c. parmesan cheese (fresh, grated to powder)
Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces. Discard the hard stem pieces, but keep tender leaves and stem parts. Steam the cut broccoli for about 58 minutes, until just bright green in color. Do not overcook. In a 10" enameled (non-metal) skillet, heat 6 oz of butter until melted. Add chopped garlic and wait until butter is hot enough to cook in. Add steamed broccoli, then chervil to the skillet. Lightly salt the broccoli. Cover, and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for another 5-10 minutes or until the broccoli turns a darker green color and becomes very soft. Mash the broccoli right in the skillet until no large pieces remain. Use a potato masher or a strong wooden spoon. Mash until there are no pieces remaining that are too big to fit in a soup spoon. While broccoli is cooking, add beaten egg yolk to 2 cups of milk. Put 3 Tbsp butter into a 2-3 quart saucepan. Use enamel or glass for best soup flavor. Metal pans will make this soup bitter. Melt butter and add flour. When the flour bubbles and starts to cook, add the egg/milk mixture into the saucepan. Add the cardamom, mace, and white pepper. Stir contents of saucepan constantly with wooden spoon until thick. Lower the cooking heat. Empty the mashed broccoli mixture into the saucepan. Stir until well-mixed. Slowly stir in the remaining milk and the cream. As soon as the soup becomes hot enough to cook again, add the grated cheeses. Turn the heat down lower and simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring to allow the cheeses to melt and mix while the table is being set. Serve immediately and retire quickly so as not to be trampled by those who smelled it cooking. Serves 6.
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
~Harriet van Horne
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream
cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
