Jump to recipe

When we first contacted Melissa Miller and Bill Kennedy about appearing here with their favorite dish, they said, "Fine, we'll call Domino's." Not that the Austin couple don't cook. In fact, they're quite accomplished at it, as their creamy, smoky curried broccoli soup proves. But when you're an internationally known painter as she is and an editorial and commercial photographer and university professor as he is, sometimes it's just easier to dial for dinner. But Miller and Kennedy, who recently married, believe that even when their schedules conflict, it's still important to cook a good, well-rounded meal, especially for the sake of Bill's two daughters, Nell and Greer, "Cooking to satisfy yourself and your kids is a good survival skill," Bill says.

Although Miller is learning to be a stepmother, she is not having to learn how to cook. Miller -- whose haunting paintings of animals in mysterious settings have appeared in the Whitney Biennial, the Venice Biennale, and her own one-woman show at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth -- once earned her keep with cooking rather than art. "I've had that soup recipe for years. I discovered it when I was traveling around the States in 1974. I would stay with friends and cook in exchange for room and board. So wherever I went, I could offer them broccoli soup and apple pie."

Curried Broccoli Soup

Serves 6 - 8

2 pounds broccoli
2 medium onions
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 3/4 teaspoons curry powder
2 cans regular-strength chicken broth (14 ounces each)
Sour cream (optional, for chilled soup)

Trim tough stem ends from broccoli. Cut off 1 cup tiny florets from broccoli, steam separately until tender, and set aside for garnish. Coarsely chop remaining broccoli and the onions.

In soup pot, melt butter over medium heat, add onion and curry powder, and cook until onions are limp. Add broth and chopped broccoli. Cover, and simmer for 12 minutes or until broccoli is tender when pierced. Whirl small batches of mixture in blender until smooth.

Serve hot or chilled. If serving chilled, drop a spoonful of sour cream on top of soup before sprinkling on broccoli florets.