I’m a self-professed foodie. I’m really picky about where I go out to eat. It’s not the atmosphere or the name of the restaurant that intrigues me the most. Instead, in my opinion one of the first and most important questions I ask myself when reviewing a menu is: Can I make this at home? My favorite restaurants are those who have menus I can’t seem to replicate no matter how much I try.

Recently, I found a great website, www.cdkitchen.com, which has copycat recipes for many major restaurant chains. The site lists recipes for everything from The Cheesecake Factory’s most popular dish, The Chicken Madeira, to PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps.

The site rates how difficult the recipe is to make on a scale of one to five and allows readers to comment on how close they thought the copy cat recipe came to being the real deal.

Below is a recipe from the website for Panera Bread’s Broccoli Cheese Soup. Not only was it easy to make, it also tastes like it does at the restaurant. I even bought bread bowls to make it more authentic.

 Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Directions:

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (this is called making a roux). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.