Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Corn Chowder.
Soup Season is here! Regardless of where you live in the country, we are right in the middle of Harvest season which means cooler temperatures and fall bounties. Broccoli, Sprouts, Lettuces, Cabbages, Carrots - all really great fall harvests for great soups and stews. My wife and I were debating which soup to fire up first and we were torn.
I was thinking Broccoli Cheddar and she wanted to utilize some of our summer sweet corn we still had in the freezer.
To make the decision even more challenging, is that I had a pound of ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used.
So why not craft a soup with everything we had? I was sure I could make it happen and have it started and finished within an hour.
This soup does have a few different steps, but each step is fairly simple.
What you need:
1lb ground beef (I use Certified Piedmontese ground beef - always. All Natural, Nebraska Produced Premium Beef)
1 Head of fresh broccoli (cut into bite-size florets)
1 Bag of Frozen Sweet Corn
1 White or Yellow Onion (Fine Dice)
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1/2 Gallon of Whole Milk (I’d avoid using half and half or cream for this recipe)
1 Block or Bag of Shredded White Cheddar (certainly could use pre-shredded, but worth the extra step of shredding it yourself)
1 Glass of Chardonnay (you can skip the wine if you are not wanting to drink the rest of the bottle ;) )
Corn Starch Slurry (2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water)
Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper
Chili Flakes or Hot Sauce (For Garnish)
Step 1: Roast your broccoli.
Get your oven turned on to 425. I actually put my sheet pan in the oven at this time as well to get that pre-heated too.
Toss your broccoli florets in some EVOO and S&P. Don’t be shy, vegetables love seasoning.
Once your oven is preheated, carefully take out the pan and add your broccoli. It will immediately start to roast! I roast all my vegetables that way. About 10 mins in, I take a spatula and mix them around. Another 10 mins in the oven, you are good to go! (once done, pull out and set aside.)
Step 2: Get your onions going!
In a cold stock pot, add in your diced white onion and about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Get your pot on medium heat and slowly start to sweat down your onions. Add some S&P and let those onions sweat for like 10 mins.
(I start with a room temp pot when sweating onions. You aren’t browning them, so a slow sweat is fine)
Step 3: Brown your ground beef.
When I say brown, I mean brown. I see far too many people assuming ground beef is done “when the color is gone”.
No - it’s just getting started. Once it’s gray, that’s when ground beef actually starts to fry in it’s own fat. You will start getting darker, more crumbly fried ground beef and that is what you want! (About 15 mins) Most of the fat and moisture that is in the pan, will absorb back into the beef. If you are working with 80 or 85/15 - you may not really need to drain any fat when it’s done. Don’t forget your S&P. (once done, pull out and set aside)
Step 4: Let’s finish the base of your soup. This is a good step to do while your beef is browning and broccoli is roasting.
To the pan of onions that have been sweating for 10 mins, add in your garlic and corn. Season with S&P.
Keep that stirring and moving for 2-3 mins, and then add in your white wine. Let that simmer and reduce by at least half (about 10 mins)
Step 5: Add in your milk and bring to a simmer, keep an eye on your soup at this point.
Add in your corn starch and keep it stirring for a few minutes and then pull off the heat.
I’d wait for 5-10 mins to allow it to start to cool.
Step 6: Add in the cheese!
Off the heat and shortly before serving, add and stir in your cheese.
Once it is melted in, you are free to add in the ground beef and broccoli and it’s ready to be served!
Garnish: I think any cheese soup needs heat. So certainly add in your favorite hot sauce or chili flakes! Finish with some S&P as well!
