Saturday, March 13, 2010

Broccoli Soup with Croutons


Broccoli Soup
© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010


Broccoli, some love it, others hate it. This broccoli soup is flavorful and you can make it as thin or thick as you like it. By adding more creme you can make the soup more smooth.


Broccoli Soup with Croutons
(serves 4)

For the soup:
1000g Broccoli
300mL milk
400ml vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Creme (Creme fraîche)
Nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Creme for serving

For the croutons:
4-6 slices toats bread (without crust)
1 clove garlic (halved)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Clean and divide the broccoli into single florets. Cook the broccoli in salted water for 15 minutes. Decant the water and rinse broccoli under cold water. Set some nice florets aside for garnish. Put the other broccoli back into pot and add milk, broth and 2 tablespoons of creme. Puree the broccoli to make a creamy soup. If you like the soup thin you can add some more milk (or water). Add salt, nutmeg and cayenne pepper to taste. Keep soup warm.

Meanwhile cut toast bread into cubes. Preheat oil in a pan and add the garlic to flavor the oil. When oil ist hot enough add the bread and sear until goldden brown. Remove garlic. remove croutons from pan and dry on paper towels. You xcan add some salt to taste.

Serving: put the soup into bowls, add some broccoli florets and serve with croutons and the some of creme on the side (so everyone can thicken the soup)

About the photo
The photo is based on a green (broccoli) and blue (towels) contrast in an otherwise brownish setting. The focus is set on the broccoli and croutons in the soup. The two glasses in the back should refer to a table setting with more than just one serving. The main viewing line is from lower left to upper right with the towels as starting and end point. A 2nd line is build by the two bowl. Both lines meet in the bowl in front. The towel in the back is also making a reference to another bowl with soup. I have used a bright setting with amore shallow depth of field so that the green of the broccoli florets are standing out more. Eveything behind the bowl is more or less out of the focus to reduce the meaning of these elements. The main light source is coming from upper right (window). A sheer curtain was used to smooth the light. A bounce was used on left side in the back to make the back brighter. Another bounce was used in lower right to reduce the shadows on the towel a bit. A third bounth is coming from upper front to give some fill ligth on the florest in the soup.

13 comments:

Sneige said...

Beautiful presentation and impeccable light!

Thorsten said...

Thanks for the compliment.

Unknown said...

Impeccable as always Thorsten.

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Beautiful soup and photo. Great explanation of your photography and styling as always. Thanks for sharing with us, Thorsten!

Food and story said...

thanks for sharing about the light Thorsten.It's very beautiful pict

Sabra said...

I love how you talk about both the recipe and the photography. Very unique - great idea.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

gorgeous soup thorsten and love reading about the photo - brilliantly educating. the green on the broccoli looks fresh and vivid!

Thorsten said...

Thank you all for your feedback.

I was often asked about lighting and set up or styling. So in the latest posts I have included some information about the photographs and some background information. Thank you so much for mentioning this point.

Sari @ Cook Your Dream said...

Your post are brilliant, both delicious and informative! I like the way you explain how you took the picture. The soup looks scrumptious.

Thorsten said...

Thanks Sari. I will continue to blog about the photos along with the recipes behind.

Nic said...

I'd like to dive into that bowl of soup - delicious!

Thorsten said...

Hi Nicisme, thanks. And the soup is very tasty.

Credit Score said...

The soup seems to be delicious and also healthy. Will try it this weekend. Thanks for posting.