Broccoli Cheese Soup

 Well hello there!  Depending on where you are in the world, it's getting pretty cold.  If you were a Stark, you might even say, "Winter is Coming" (and it will in fact be here officially Saturday).  Anyways right now it is the type of weather that makes me want to curl up under a blanket near the wood stove and knit all day.  What also is good on a cold, wintery day?  Soup!

I am basing the majority of the recipe for this week off of a recipe I found on Food.com, Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup, though I made a few changes.  It went really great with a grilled cheese sandwich, because if it is one thing I never run low on in my house, it's cheese.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 Onion chopped
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 2 cups Half-and-Half
• 2 cups Chicken Stock
• 4 - 4 1/2 cups Broccoli chopped
• 1 - 1/2 cups Carrot, julienned
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 cup Water
• 2 1/2 cup mixed Cheeses (Jersey Girl, Abbie Gouda, and Toma Duro from Cooperstown Cheese Company)
• additional Mozzarella
• 6 cloves Garlic
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt

First prep the ingredients.  Finely chop the onion.  Cut the broccoli up to the florets, and into bite-sized pieces.  Julienne the carrot (cut into thin pieces about an inch or so long).  Mince the garlic.

In a small pan, melt the 1 tbsp of butter and saute the onion.  Cook until the onion is very soft and set aside.

Next, in a medium sized pot, melt the 1/4 cup of butter, and mix in the flour with a whisk.  Stir constantly for about 4 minutes, and the mixture thickens some, add the half-and-half.  Be careful because it will want to burn on the bottom, so keep stirring.  Then add the chicken stock to the mix, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots, onions, and garlic.  At this time also add the water to increase the volume of the liquid.  Continue to cook for another 25 or so minutes.

Add your mixed cheese to a blender.  Grind it up and set aside.  I added Jersey Girl, Abbie Gouda, and Toma Duro from Cooperstown Cheese Company, especially since these would melt nicely.

After the soup has cooked for 25 minutes, add the cheese.  Add the nutmeg.  Add red pepper flakes, and salt to taste.  Once the rest of the soup is to your liking, add the additional Mozzarella to the top and let it melt.  Now it is ready to serve!