January is National Soup Month, and what better way to celebrate than with a wonderfully-thick, stick-to-your-ribs cream-style soup made with milk or cream?

Our friends at HP Hood recently hit the road to spread the word about these creamy concoctions in a customized “Soup Boutique” touring food truck, sampling chef-created soups featuring Hood® Cream.

(What better ingredient than cream made with fresh, wholesome milk sourced from New England dairy farmers? What makes a soup so savory? Must be the Milk!)

Hood sampled hot, delicious soups in Boston, Portland and Providence. Each stop offered two soup selections – one original recipe created by a leading local chef based in that stop’s city, and one classic Hood soup recipe prepared by chef Jonathan Dunn of Lavishly Dunn Catering.

Fans followed the truck on Facebook and on Twitter for a chance to win a Hood Soup Boutique prize package each week of the tour. (Hood also donated one dollar to a local food bank in each city for every sample distributed.)

At each stop, local chefs greeted soup lovers, and Hood representatives handed out recipe cards and coupons for Hood Cream products, allowing visitors to recreate the chef’s restaurant-quality soups in the comfort of their home.

And for you home cooks, here’s a great recipe from the Hood kitchens:

Cream of Broccoli Soup (makes 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 6 cups broccoli florets or 2 10-ounce packages of frozen broccoli
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 2 tbsp flour
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups Hood Simply Smart® 1% Lowfat Milk

Directions

Cook broccoli until crisp yet tender. In a blender or food processor, combine broccoli and chicken broth. Cover and blend until smooth, about a minute or so. Melt margarine in a medium sauce pan. Stir in flour, thyme and salt. Add  milk and stir.

Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook an additional minute and stir in broccoli mixture. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.