Recipe: Chef Zachary Chancey from High Hampton's Broccoli Soup

A sophisticated (but easy) riff on a nostalgic childhood staple

Anyone else grow up eating Campbell’s cream of broccoli soup? I can picture the bowl of liquid-y goodness in my head, resembling nothing remotely close to the color green but always satisfactory.

Stacey Sprenz Photgraphy

The soup can mentions “tender cuts of broccoli and real cream with onions”—and whether that’s the case or not it evokes a feeling of being young and careless; wild and free. Warming, salty, and gritty, with the little bits and pieces of the green forest-y tops. I’d always opt for a full can of whole milk vs. water to make it, um, creamier I suppose.

I am not here to roast this soup, I am here to find my way back to the mini-me who appreciated the simpler things in life: a good ol’ can of creamy broccoli soup to warm up the soul.

A couple of weekends ago I nestled up in the Blue Ridge Mountains at High Hampton Resort, in Cashiers, North Carolina. It was out of a storybook and super secluded. My favorite amenities were the wafting, woodsy fireplace scent; the secludedness; no TVS in the rooms; and the fact that breakfast and dinner were included in the stay. Breakfast was filled with many “table” sides of larger dishes—here’s to table avo toast, table bacon, and table biscuits and gravy—as we couldn’t decide, and pastry chef April Franqueza’s pastry basket du jour. Dinner? A multi-course culinary experience by way of chef Scott Franqueza with a spotlight on Appalachian ingredients.

Stacey Sprenz Photography

Saturday was dreary. The most perfect day to cozy in a chair next to the fire with a book—or if you’re me, a back treatment basically like a massage and facial for the back, enhanced with Naturopathica’s Chill Full Spectrum CBD and Kava Balm. SOMEONE please send me an overstock of this. This unicorn balm is infused with 100mg of non-psychoactive cannabinoids, hemp and Kava, and had me one with the universe by the end of the treatment.

Jesus christ how did we get so off the topic of broccoli soup? My bad. Anyhow, I scraped my body’s remains off of the treatment table just in time to catch lunch in the Tavern, where I was taken back to my childhood when I saw broccoli soup. Floating on cloud nine, I inhaled the vibrant, neon green soup and a white pizza with a chunk of burrata on top like it was going out of style.

This wasn’t the Campbell’s cream of broccoli that I grew up with but the nostalgia hit hard. My palate was hesitant. What is this almost-too-pretty-to-eat soup and where are the little bits and pieces? Chef Zachary Chancey’s soup sorcery had me perplexed. How did he hit all the right OG broccoli soup notes while also getting a creamy texture, but most importantly, this beautiful Slimer green color?

Stacey Sprenz Photography

The next morning while I was once again shoveling pastries in my mouth like I hadn’t eaten in days, Chancey pops down with me to discuss…broccoli soup. I learned the texture comes from an Idaho potato and the color was a trick where he blends spinach in the end to make the color pop—versus turning a weird green puke color as I had envisioned.

Chancey handed me a piece of paper with the recipe he’d just typed up, reiterating that it’s important to play around with it. Truthfully recipes are a suggestion to me and I’m with him on playing around—or as I call it, intuitive, meditational cooking. I tasted and tweaked as I added and blended and I’m here to rejoice that this soup is so easy to make and so delicious—and took me on a walk down memory lane, once again. I’m also so lucky that Stacey was ready and willing to capture these snaps today. What a dream!

Stacey Sprenz Photgraphy

Chef Zachary from High Hampton's Broccoli Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs broccoli, cleaned and trimmed

• 1/4 Idaho potato, peeled and largely diced

• 1 large yellow onion, diced

• 1 large stalk celery, diced

• 1 quart water (may vary)

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup raw spinach

• Garnish (you pick)

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine all ingredients but spinach in a large pot and cook until vegetables are soft

• Add spinach at the very end and blend with the tool of choice until creamy

• Season with salt and pepper and garnish with toppings of choice

MODIFICATIONS/OBSERVATIONS:

• I added in a TBSP of Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base as that’s just how I roll with soups, I love stock. It just adds a tad more flavor.

• The Vitamix triumphs and will get the super creamy, velvety soup texture.

• Garnishes: we used crema, pepitas, and Aleppo pepper—plus a few charred broccoli florets and celery leaves.

• For the record, it took Stacey just as long to organize, style, and shoot the dish as it did for me to prepare the recipe.

• I learned today that creamy soup warrants bubble burps and Stacey had to take a toothpick to pop them right before photographing. Shout out to food photographers and their behind-the-scenes trickery to make a photo look flawless!

• This makes enough for 4 or so servings, see how bad I am at recipes? But definitely serve bread with it!

CURRENTLY BITCHEN ABOUT:

A PLACE: I am stoked to head to the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie (the World Pastry Cup) in Lyon, France, on Wednesday. I’ve wanted to attend for several years now and the stars finally aligned.

AN EVENT: If you’re looking to sharpen your photography skills for your brand, or really just want to learn some tips and tricks in taking non-dumpster fire photos, Stacey Sprenz, who shot these magical snaps, will teach a product photography class on January 23 at Cheeni Indian Food Emporium. Bonus: you get to eat Preeti’s divine Indian food!).

A PRODUCT: Strong Arm Baking’s rustic Pugliese loaf, which we scored at the Durham Farmers’ Market is an insanely perfect match for soup night. 

If you make this soup please give me a shout with feedback and thoughts!

-Jenn