Broccoli Cheese Soup

This recipe comes from a blogger called Cooking Classy. I like this because it doesn’t have a lot of cream in it. In fact, I did not add any cream, just 2% milk.

1/3 c. butter

1 c. yellow onion, diced finely

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 t. thyme

1/3 c. flour

3 cups milk (I used 2%)

2 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)

3 c. finely chopped broccoli pieces (1/2″)

6 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 oz. freshly grated Parmesan, or more to taste

1/2 t. salt and black pepper

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in garlic, thyme and flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Be sure to get the edges of the pan. While whisking, slowly pour in the milk, chicken broth and cream, if using. Cook, stirring frequently until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and add broccoli pieces and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often. Turn heat off and add in cheese, stir until melted and season with salt and pepper.

Split Pea Soup

This recipe is from my sister, Meg and it is the best pea soup I have ever made! The texture of the soup is perfect! Makes about 3 quarts. If the soup is too thick, add water or sherry to get the right consistency.

Combine, bring to a boil. Cover, simmer 2 hours

2 cups split peas

6 sliced carrots

1 sliced shallot

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large chopped onion

1 ham bone

1 quart chicken stock

4 cups water

3 T. parsley

1/2 t. each basil, marjoram, oregano, thyme

1/4 t. black pepper

Add more water, if needed. After simmering, add 2 t. salt.

Pasta e Fagioli

This is the most wonderful soup recipe that my mother discovered in a magazine. It makes a lot and freezes well. I plan on serving it for a party soon with baguette, and a salad.

Serves 10 as a first course or 6 as a main course

3 tablespoons pure olive oil
3 to 4 ounces pancetta, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cups (about 14 ounces) dried cranberry, borlotti, cannellini, or other small white beans, soaked overnight in water to cover, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups diced canned plum tomatoes, with juices
8 cups water or chicken broth, or as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound small shells, ditalini, or other small pasta shape
Extra virgin olive oil for finishing
Grated Parmesan for finishing

1. In a large soup kettle, warm the pure olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it renders its fat and is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the soaked beans, the tomatoes and their juices, the 8 cups water, and 2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1 hour.

2. To give the soup more body, remove 2 or 3 large spoonfuls of beans and vegetables, place in a food processor or blender, and purée until smooth. Return the purée to the pot. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

3. Although you can cook the pasta directly in the soup, there is a danger of the soup scorching if the beans have been puréed. To avoid this, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, stir well, and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, add to the soup, and simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.

4. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, and top each serving with a generous swirl of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and a liberal dusting of black pepper. Serve at once.

Tomato Soup

This is one of the best tomato soups ever from my favorite restaurant, The Kitchen. You will make this over and over and over again!!  I find I add at least another cup (or more) of cream, depending on what tomatoes I use. The flavor is so good from the slowly simmered onions in butter mixed with the tomatoes. Serves 8-10.

1 1/3 sticks good quality unsalted butter

1 large onion, diced

sea salt

48 oz. good quality whole peeled organic tomatoes, undrained

1/3 cup heavy cream

good quality extra virgin olive oil, for finishing

They recommend using San Marzano brand of tomatoes, if you cannot find them, any good quality tomato will work.

In a large pan, melt butter over low heat. Add the onion and a good pinch of salt. Reduce heat to very low, cover and cook onions 30 minutes, until translucent and soft but not browned. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Increase heat to simmer and cook 25 minutes.

Working in batches, blend tomato onion mixture in the food processor or blender, adding cream while blending. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, drizzled with a little olive oil.

Alpine Chowder

This recipe comes from a cookbook called Vintage by Jeff Keys. It is absolutely delicious and makes a lot of soup! I would not freeze this soup with the cream and cheese in it but I would freeze it before adding those ingredients and add after thawing.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 medium onions, diced

1 leek, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4″ dice

2 T. unbleached flour

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1 head of cauliflower, quartered, broken into florets, and sliced thinly

1/4 t. fresh ground black pepper

1/2 t. thyme

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup parsley, chopped

3 cups half and half

finely grated zest of 1 orange

8 oz. medium sharp cheddar, grated

fresh snipped herbs like parsley, thyme, dill or basil

 

Melt butter in a large soup pot, add onion, leek, carrots and garlic-saute for 5 minutes, stirring often until soft and juices are released. Stir in potatoes and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Add stock and cauliflower. Stir in dried herbs and bring chowder to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Scald cream and add to chowder. On very low heat, just before serving add the orange zest and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Taste and adjust seasonings. Garnish with fresh herbs.

Lovage Soup

Lovage is one of the first herbs to appear in the spring and the first to leave when the weather gets hot. My mother in law introduced this herb to me years ago, snipped into salads or on sandwiches or in this delightful soup, that is delicious hot or cold.  Lovage tastes a lot like celery but stronger. I have also made this soup by adding flour and less stock but I kind of like the way the potatoes give the soup more body. If you use vegetable stock, make sure it is blond in color, otherwise it will change the color of the soup. I added 2 cups of vegetable stock and a little more lovage after pureeing. Milk or cream would be nice too.

  1 onion, chopped

  2 T. olive oil

  1 large stem of lovage, leaves removed      and chopped

  3 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced

  1 quart of vegetable or chicken stock

  optional: milk or cream

  Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and add the onions. Cook over medium heat until lightly colored. Add the potatoes, lovage and chicken stock. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Cool and puree in blender. You can thin with more stock or dairy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Caldillo-beef stew

This recipe comes from my friend Laurie Smith and the El Paso Junior Leaque cookbook. It is a simple stew served with flour tortillas and is delicious! I make a half recipe and the two of us get at least 4-5 meals out of it. I am sure it would freeze nicely.

3# cubed beef

1 1/2 cups diced onion

bacon fat for sauteeing

3 cups tomatoes

1 1/2 cups green chile strips

1 quart beef stock

2 t. each salt, pepper, cumin and garlic powder

2 # cubed potatoes

Saute the beef and onion in bacon fat. Add remaining ingredients except the potatoes and cook over low heat until tender-at least 2 hours and maybe longer depending on the size of the beef. Add the potatoes for the last 30  minutes. Serve with warm flour (white or wheat) tortillas.

I heat my tortillas in a cast iron skillet over low heat with a cover on, turning often. You don’t need any oil or water and they come out beautifully. If cooking for a group, you can wrap the tortillas in foil and cook them in a 325 oven for 10-15 minutes.

Posole with Winter Vegetables

This recipe is from an old friend, Kathi Long from The Williams Sonoma series, New American Cooking, called The Southwest.  It makes a huge batch! You may want to try a half batch first. Posole is similiar to canned hominy so if you cannot find it dried or frozen, substitute the canned. I think a full recipe feeds at least 14-16 people! The garnishes can really make this fun and festive.

 

2 cups dried posole, soaked overnight in water and drained or 1# thawed frozen posole

2 white onions, coarsely chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1 T. dried Mexican oregano

1 T. chile caribe or 2 t. red pepper flakes

1/2 cup olive oil

2 small carrots, peeled and chopped

2 small parsnips, peeled and chopped

1 fennel bulb, save a few fronds, chopped coarsely

3# butternut , halved, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2″ cubes

28 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice

8 cups chicken stock, plus more as needed

1/2 cup white wine

2 t. EA. cumin and coriander seed toasted and ground

large pinch of saffrom

salt to taste

Garnishes-1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche, 1/4 small head green cabbage, finely shredded, 1/2 cup cilantro, cubed avocado, sliced radishes, 3 limes, cut into wedges

In a large saucepan, combine the soaked posole, onions, garlic, oregano and chile with water to cover by 3″. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover partially and reduce heat to medium low. Cook 1 hour or however long it takes for the posole to pop, like popcorn.

In a large sucepan over medium heat warm the olive oil. Add the carrots, parsnips and fennel and cook for ten minutes, until slightly softened. Add the cubed squash and cook 5-10 minutes. Stir in spices, wine, tomatoes and salt. Add posole and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered one hour.Add more stock to thin to desired consistency!

Ladle into warm bowls and garnish!

The freezer is your friend

My niece Rachael wanted me to write about the foods I freeze. I freeze many things-soups, portions of casseroles, sauces like bolognese, meats-like leftover pulled pork or brisket, cookies, croutons, and many more items! I try to freeze everything as I make large amounts of soups and I need to freeze to keep it. Actually many times, my freezer is too full and I pull quarts of soups out for my medical student nephew and his wife.

Arctic weather cooking-4 great chicken recipes

Denver has gotten 10″ of snow in three days with 5″ more expected tonight plus our temperatures are super cold. We have plenty of ingredients and are staying in at least until tomorrow (the high will be 10!) so I am sharing what I made this morning!

I had forgotten how delicious and velvety a poached  chicken is until I made the WSJournal’s poached  chicken last month. Here is the simple recipe:

Rinse and dry a 4# chicken, discarding giblets. Put the chicken in a 8 quart soup pot with five quarts of cold water to cover. Add 2 T. kosher salt. Cover pot, cook over high heat for 25 minutes until you hear the water boiling rapidly -do not lift cover! Remove pot from heat and let sit 3 hours. Remove chicken from the broth, cut into pieces, discard skin. Serve warm with sauce below.

Ginger Soy Vinaigrette

In a small saucepan, stir together 2 T. soy sauce, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, 2 T. mirin, 2 T. dark brown sugar, 1 T. dark Asian sesame oil. Heat until warm and add 2 T. minced scallions and 2 t. slivered fresh ginger.

With the leftover meat I made King Ranch Casserole from the Homesick Texans blog:

http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/10/king-of-casseroles-king-ranch-chicken.html

And a super easy Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup from the new Joy of Cooking-(I only had enough chicken for a half recipe of this soup)

Bring to a boil in a soup pot

3 cups Poultry Stock or any kind of light broth

2 2/3 Unsweetened Coconut Milk

Reduce heat and add

2 small Thai peppers or 3 jalapenos, seeded and sliced (I diced mine)

3 T. fish sauce (or soy sauce)

1 t. minced peeled, fresh ginger

Simmer 10 minutes and add

1# boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

2 T. lime juice

Simmer 5 minutes and garnish with

Chopped Cilantro