Summer Corn Chowder

It has been too long, summer is almost over, the kids are back in school and for some reason it's 90F outside. I've been busy with many adventures, primarily the first one with my sheep here at the farm. More on that later.

Living in the country, I'm lucky to have many farm stands nearby to grab sweet corn, still warm from the sun and bring it home for dinner. I always buy a dozen, so whatever isn't eaten gets cut off the cob and frozen for winter tomato soup. But today I was in the mood for a sweet corn chowder, so soup and bread it was. Fresh corn certainly made the dish, you cannot beat the flavor.

I often leave the skins/peels on things like carrots and potatoes, especially this time of year when I know where the came from. I just scrub them good. They add good nutrients and fiber to a dish, and save me time. You can always peel, but in something like this, give it a shot sometime.

Summer Corn Chowder

1 Tbs olive oil
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large carrot, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 lb. potatoes, diced into 1/2" cubes
4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
6 ears fresh sweet corn ( husked, and cut off the cob)
1 can evaporated milk (you can sub half and half, I used what I had)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat, add bacon and cook until it begins to brown. Add the onions, celery, carrot, garlic and thyme, and cook until they start to just soften, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, stock and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Potatoes will not be entirely cooked.

Add the corn, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender. Discard the bayleaf.

Either purée half the mixture with a submersion blender, or transfer half the soup to a stand blender to purée, and return to pot. Add the milk, and simmer until just heated through, adjust seasonings.
Serve with crusty bread to dunk with, and perhaps some cayenne pepper to sprinkle on top.

Pork and Hominy Soup

This combination of ingredients isn’t unusual, and I perused the internet yesterday during my meal planning time I found numerous versions of what I was thinking for dinner. I was relieved to see that the ingredients I had in mind were not unusual. Straight out of the pot this is a bit spicier than not, but this also depends on the type of chili powder you use and your own tolerance. My kids ate it without problem, but they are also used to a little heat.

Adding to that spicy layer, I do highly recommend adding the toppings at the table, I know that many times I skip that part of a recipe but here it is necessary to create the many layers of flavor. The lime juice tempers the heat, the tortilla chips add a saltiness and the cheese a creamy back note.

Pork and Hominy Soup

1-1½ pound ground pork

2 Tbs olive oil

2 yellow onions, sliced (mine were the sizes of small peaches)

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3 Tbs chili powder

6 cups chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes with green chili’s, with juice

2 cans hominy, yellow or white, drained

1 bunch cilantro, chopped (just cut off the woody ends, but leave as much stems as possible, that is where the best flavor is)

            Toppings

                        -lime wedges

                        -shredded cheese ( I used a Colby-Jack)

                        -crushed tortilla chips

In a large dutch oven, brown the pork, remove from pot and drain fat. Add the oil, onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder to the mixture and sauté for another 2 minutes or until fragrant. Pour 2 cups of the broth into the pot and scrape up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining broth, reserved pork, tomatoes and hominy and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the chopped cilantro and leave uncovered, stirring it all in well.

To serve, top each portion with juice squeezed from a lime wedge a dollop of cheese and tortilla chips.

           

Miso Chicken Noodle Soup

I love soup, and bread…I’ll be the first to admit, the second the weather gets cooler in the waning summer days, I cannot wait to pull out my dutch oven and begin experimenting with new soup recipes or old favorite ones. But it is March now, and the cold weather has been brutal this year with a thaw few and far between. I have made a lot of soup, I am tired of making soup, I’d like to eat a fresh salad, roast some new potatoes or find my grill under the snow.

That said, this post is still about soup. The kids have been sick, and their little tummies are still unstable after the evil stomach bug entered our house a week ago. I know many people out there have encountered this vicious strain, and all are struggling to pull themselves back together after it passes. In order to get them back to full strength, I have been trying to make some easy meals that tempt them, yet are not too heavy. Chicken soup is a staple, an easy fall back. But, there is nothing I dread more than opening a can of chicken soup, the look of the congealed fat floating on the top, and the wimpy noodles disgust me. If you are lucky you might find a random piece of chicken floating in the mess.

Homemade chicken soup is easy, and tastes so much better. I have never followed a recipe for making chicken soup, and I can’t say that it turns out the same every time. It depends on what I have available at the time, and what I am in the mood for.  Sometimes I have leftover chicken from a previous meal, but mostly I poach whatever chicken I have to use for the soup, it keeps it moist. This week, I needed an Asian flair to my soup, my stomach was fine, and I wanted to have a little zip for me, but still interest the minions. Miso was the way to go, and here is how it came together. There is no added salt to this soup, the miso itself is salty. (note, this is the basic recipe I use when I do not have miso in the house, so you can easily omit it, but it is really good)

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks celery, minced

1 yellow sweet pepper, chopped

8-10 cups low sodium or homemade chicken broth (start with 8, if you need more broth towards the end, add the extra)

1 can beans, drained and rinsed (white, garbanzo, black, whatever you have)

½ cup miso paste

3 cups cooked chicken, chopped

3 large handfuls frozen spinach

2 handfuls wide egg noodles

Start by heating the olive oil in your dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and sweet pepper. Sauté for 5-8 minutes or until they start to soften up, dump in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Return the heat to medium, add the beans, chicken and miso to the soup and stir until all the miso is dissolved. Add the spinach and egg noodles to the soup, cover once again and cook until the noodles are done. Stir well and adjust seasonings, it may need some ground black pepper, but don’t add any salt until you taste it.

If have other random vegetables laying around that sound good, add them. I frequently clean out the fridge to use up this and that in my soup, but this is the basic combination.

Roasted Hubbard Squash Soup

You know one of the greatest things about having small children? You can make stupid jokes and they think you are the funniest thing out there. example:

Albert: "Mommy, what's for dinner?"

Me: "Hubbard squash soup"

Albert: "What's a Hubbard?"

Me: "A squash, what's a Hubbard with you?"

Albert: laughs hysterically and walks away repeating it to himself.

Okay, so I am terrible at making jokes, but at least I entertain my kids. Eventually they will just look at me and roll their eyes, until then I am the coolest mom around. 

When my Mother was a little girl, they grew Hubbard squash in the garden. Frequently they would be harvested and the largest used for church suppers. Those were much larger than what I worked with today. Before dissection, my squash weighed in at 7.9# and the ones that my Mother recounts were closer to 20#. In order to clean out the seeds, they needed to be taken out to the chopping block and cut open with an ax or hatchet. Luckily, I was able to make do just fine with my kitchen knife. 

One thing I really like about Hubbard squash is that it is so smooth, it feels soft on the tongue and can be very mild. This is a great squash to use in pie, I think it works better than pumpkin (and if someone makes a comment about squash pie, remind them that pumpkin is squash too).

I found this recipe a few days ago when I came home from our 1st winter share pickup at our CSA. I had been sent home with a recipe, which looked great, but I knew that this squash would make multiple meals and needed to find something else to do with it as well. It is no secret that I love soup, especially pureed soups. I found this recipe "Roasted Hubbard Squash Soup with Hazelnuts & Chives", It looked amazing, I had to try it. Of course I changed a few things when I made it tonight, some because of experience knowing where I could save time, and others because, lets be realistic I have 4 kids and I don't want to spend money all the time on something they just wont eat.

The original recipe called for topping this soup with toasted hazelnuts, minced fresh chives and cayenne pepper. Sounds delicious, but I wasn't going to take the time to toast hazelnuts if the kids were not going to eat them. They are not cheap! If you are interested in the topping, it is simple. Toast 1/2c hazelnuts that have been skinned and chopped, 2 Tbs minced chives and a pinch of Espelette or cayenne pepper. Sprinkle a little of each on the top.

Ingredients

3 Tbs olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
1 ½ tsp dried sage (or 1Tbs fresh sage)
5-6 lbs Hubbard Squash (weigh it whole, then cut in half and seed it, if it is super big, you may only need half)
2 Tbs olive oil (yes, more for sautéing)
1 large or 2 small leeks, white and light green parts only halved and sliced crosswise.  (remember it is easier to wash out the dirt if you cut the entire thing lengthwise first. 
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
kosher salt
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Adjust oven so that rack is in the lower middle, and preheat to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the oil, garlic, coriander, fennel seeds and sage in either a mortar and pestle or small food processor. Mash till a thick paste is formed or puree in pulses until the same. Smear the paste all over the orange flesh of your squash and place it cut side down on the parchment paper. Bake until tender when pierced with a fork. 45-60 minutes. Let cook slightly, then scrape the flesh out of the skin, making sure to scoop up any of the paste that might have fallen to the parchment.

 

While the squash is cooling, melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leek and carrots, cook until the leek is softened. Add the squash, broth, bay leaf and 1 tsp salt, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let meld for about 30 minutes to develop the flavor. Remove from heat, fish out the bay leaf, then puree with either an emersion blender or in batches in a traditional blender. 

We, as usual, had ours with some crunchy bread, and it was delicious. The spice rub...OH MY GOSH!!

Cream of Vegetable Soup

Thing #2 ate this....that is all the verification needed to know that it is good. This is another pureed soup, so nothing needs to be cut perfectly, roughly chopped works fine.

I didn't take a photo until the end when there wasn't much left.

2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1/2 a medium turnip, chopped
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 medium chopped leek, white part only
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup dry white wine
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped 
2 quarts chicken stock (or your choice, I bet mushroom would be nice)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup whole milk (cream would be ideal, but I didn't have that) warmed.


Melt the butter in a large dutch oven, add the first 8 ingredients and saute for about 5-8 minutes.  Add the wine and cook for another few minutes.  Add the potatoes, stock and seasonings and bring to a boil.  Reduce to medium low and cook until everything is tender. 

Puree in batches or with a hand blender right in the pot.  Add the warm milk/cream and serve with crusty bread. 

Carrot and Ginger Soup

I love winter; I know that I am not the only one out there.  I love sweaters, wool socks and soup.  Both my Dutch oven and bread machine get heavy usage in the cold months.  It is quite ironic actually, I’d rather be cooking when it is cold out instead of during the plentiful months full of fresh wonders from the garden.  Don’t get me wrong I love using all of the fresh foods as well; I just feel that my meals begin to get stale by the end of the season because I am bored thinking up new dishes and instead dreaming of pureed soup. 

 Today is the first day of spring, you wouldn’t recognize it here in western NY, but for us a snowy spring day is a normal occurrence.  I just say bring it on, I can continue to make soup that many more days.  

This makes a large Dutch oven full of soup, it can easily be halved to reduce the quantity.  However like most soups, you’ll enjoy the leftovers even more the next day. I served this with a dark rye bread warm from the bread maker. 

1 medium butternut squash, cleaned of seeds and sliced into hunks
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
8 cups water or chicken stock
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375’ and roast the squash until soft.  Cool until easy to handle, then peel and roughly chop.

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven until shiny.  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent.  Add cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds stirring continually.  Add carrots, squash, ginger and water.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer until carrots are tender.  Puree in batches in a blender or use a stick blender to create a smooth consistency.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Turkey Stock

Have you used up your bird yet? Have you sneaked into the kitchen to pull pieces off the carcass in the fridge?  I think as I cleaned my carcass this year I had one piece in my mouth for every 2 I put on the plate.  I have a bag of turkey in my fridge, and a little more in my freezer for sandwiches on another day. 

The carcass...The best part of the bird. I lifted mine onto my cutting board, then scrapped the jelly, onions and scraps from the bottom of my roasting pan directly into my stock pot.  In went everything left in that pan, and the result...Oh so good.

Making stock for soup is such an easy process, yet I know few people actually take the time to do it.  One main reason I choose to do my own is because I can then control the salt content.  But seriously, I just can't stand letting a beautiful carcass go to waste, I have been known at times to bring home a carcass from another house just so it doesn't go to waste.  The flavor achieved is far superior to anything you can buy at the store.



This recipe is what I did for our large Thanksgiving turkey, it can easily be halved for a smaller bird.

My stock before it came to a boil.

1 Turkey Carcass (20 pound bird), picked free of most meat (but not all)
2 onions, peeled and cut in half
2 stalks celery, washed and chopped corse
4 carrots, peeled, and chopped corse
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled and smashed with the side of your knife
2 bayleaves
4 sprigs thyme
2 large sprigs fresh parsley
4 cups dry white vermouth
water

Chop the bird up into about 4 pieces, or to what fits in your stock pot, add the rest of the ingredients.  Fill with enough water to just cover everything.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer, uncovered, for at least 3-4 hours.  Remember the longer the better, it brings the flavors together!

When completed remove the larger bones and pick off the meat.  Save the reserved meat and toss the bones.  Strain the rest of the stock through a fine sieve reserving the liquid, toss the solids*.  Return the shredded meat to the broth.  At this point I then divided it into 2 batches, one went on to become turkey noodle soup for dinner, and the rest went into the freezer for another day. 

*This may sound like an obvious step, yet all I remember every time I make stock is my husband at his first job. He worked in a kitchen and when told to strain the stock, he dumped the liquid down the drain...

Sausage and Bean Soup

I don't mean to toot my own horn…Well maybe I do because it was really good!  I had leftover kielbasa sausage and the craving for a bean soup, and the result was great!  If you don't have on hand, or don't like my bean selections, pick your own.  Note this photo was taken after we ate, and had grabbed the yummy goodness out of the pot.  I believe that next time I will add a 3rd can of beans to the recipe, so I included them in this recipe.

1 polish kielbasa sausage, cut up into half moons
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cans Great Northern White Beans, undrained (yup dump the whole can in)
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans, undrained
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried oregano



In dutch oven brown sausage. Add onion and continue sautéing for another 3 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover.  Cook until veggies are soft, about 45 minutes.

Enjoy with a chunk of crusty bread

Chicken tortilla Soup

We all loved this, sadly my dear husband worked late the night I made it and had it reheated when he got home.  But my children gobbled it up, and that is saying a lot some nights.  I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com, but as usual I edited it to work for me! Better yet, it is ready within an hour.

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1 14 oz can chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of white hominy, drained

1 4oz can diced green chili's

1 15oz can beans, (black or whatever you have, I used small white this time)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 boneless and skinned chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
crushed tortilla chips
shredded Monterey Jack cheese



In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft.  Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water, bring to a boil then add chicken pieces.  It will take about 20 minutes for the chicken pieces to poach.

Stir in corn, hominy, chili's, beans, and cilantro, simmer for 10 more minutes.

Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips and cheese.  

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

As some of you are aware, we are getting ready to have another baby, the 4th baby to be exact into our chaotic household.  I am going to blame this pregnancy on why I haven't been more active on this blog.  Sadly my heartburn has been atrocious and I haven't been able to make the flavor and spice that I normally do.  I made this recipe last week, it is adapted from my Better Homes and Gardens slow cooker cookbook.


2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped potatoes (I used red, they hold up better, and I do not peel them)
1 peeled and chopped sweet potato
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried sage, crushed
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts chopped into 1" cubes
1 14oz can chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup (it is what I had on hand, and worked great)
1 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbs milk
2 Tbs butter, melted


Combine carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, bay leaves, sage, pepper, garlic and salt in slow cooker.  Add chicken pieces.  In a separate bowl combine chicken broth with soup, pour over mixture in crock pot.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.  If using low-heat setting, turn to high heat setting.  Stir mixture well, and remove bay leaves.  Combine cornstarch with 2 Tbs water, stir and add to chicken mixture, stir.  Return lid to crock while you mix the dumplings.

For dumplings, in a bowl stir together flour, cheese, cornmeal, baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.  In a small bowl combine egg, milk and melted butter.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until just moistened.  Spoon batter into 8 mounds on top of chicken mix in the crockpot.  Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean from a dumpling.  IMPORTANT, do not remove the lid while the dumplings are cooking until at least a minimum of 25 minutes has passed.




We really like this, it will be slightly orange because the sweet potato will not hold up and will break down in the cooking process, but will be subtly there and scrumptious.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Sorry, no photo for this one, and there is only a dab left, so not much to go from there either.  As you probably have been able to tell, I love pureed soup, and I also happen to love butternut squash soup.  It is a fantastic squash to work with because it does not have the stringy characteristics that others do.

This is very similar to my other soups, but I like the spice combination on this one.  For the record, the squash to apple ratio should be about 3:1.  I really enjoy the addition of the cayenne pepper in this soup, i think that it adds a great kick.   I made a whole wheat bread to accompany it and it was a very filling meal.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 Tbs butter
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, and cut into 1-2" cubes
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste


Melt butter in a heavy soup pot over medium high heat, add onion, celery and carrot.  Sauté for around 5 minutes, do not let the vegetables brown, lower the heat if they threaten to.

Add the squash, apple, broth and water to the pot, cover and cook over medium heat for around 30 minutes or until the squash and apple are soft.  Add the spices, then puree with a hand blender or counter blender until smooth (if counter blender return to pot) adjust seasoning and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

Curried Butternut Squash, Yam and Apple Soup

Sounds like a mouthful doesn't it! I must admit I wasn't able to taste this until I had some leftover for lunch today, and even still I didn't quite taste it in its glory.  I will take the enthusiasm of my husband and sons as proof enough that it tastes fabulous.  I have a cold, I can taste nothing.  But to me it was hot, thick and satisfying in my stomach.

This is a great crockpot recipe, and of course my favorite dish, SOUP!! I call yams "sweet potatoes", to me they are interchangeable vegetables, but to be accurate, I made sure to say "yam" in the title.


2 Tbs butter
2 cups of chopped onion
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2lbs peeled, seeded and chopped into 1-2" cubes of butternut squash
1lb peeled and chopped into 1-2" cubes of sweet potatoes or yams
1lb peeled, cored and chopped apples
1/4 cup white rice (next time I am putting brown in)
6 cups of chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper


Melt butter in a skillet and add onions.  Cook until onions are translucent, but not browned.  Sprinkle curry and ginger and mix well.  Sauté for another 5 minutes, or until fragrant, remove from heat and pour mixture into slow cooker.

Place squash, yams, apple and rice in slow cooker (in that order), pour chicken stock over mix and add salt and pepper (DO NOT STIR).  Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce to low for 5 more hours.

Stir mixture and puree with a hand blender or blender until smooth.

Maple-Parsnip Soup

This is going to either be a hit or miss with my viewing public.  However like all of my meals it is a cheap, yet hearty meal, easy to whip up on a cold night.  I always try to gear my meals according to the season, what is fresh, local and ultimatly in season.

Personally I love parsnips, they are not as widely accepted in my household, but I do make them occasionally to satisfy my palate, and to give everyone some variety.  (that gives me an idea for a post, but I will save that thought for a later time)

If you love parsnips, you will love this soup, no doubt about it! It came from my Mother, who found it in a cookbook by a Canadian author, but that is the extent of my knoledge of  its origin.

3 Tbs olive oil or butter
1 pound parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt to taste

Melt butter (or heat olive oil) in a soup pot.  Add parsnips, onion and garlic and saute until onions are translucent but not brown.  Add broth and nutmeg, bring to a simmer and cover cooking until parsnips are soft. (30-40 minutes) Remove from heat and add evaporated milk.  Puree soup in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth.  Return to pot and add maple syrup, mustard and salt.

****A tip for adding the mustard, add it like you would add an egg to hot milk.  Pour a small amount of the hot soup into a bowl with the mustard and whisk, then add the entire mixture to the rest of the batch, that way the mustard will not be lumpy.***

Pork and Udon Noodle Soup

Oh my goodness this was great!  This was the first time that I have worked with udon noodles, and they were great.  I can't wait to find something else that I can do with them.

This soup is topped with a poached egg, it is the perfect topping, so don't skip it, the runnyness of the yolk is a great addition.  I am a complete failure when it comes to poaching eggs. I do not have a special pan to do so, and no matter how many times I have tried to do the swirling water method, I fail.  My method may not be poaching per say, but it works and is still just as healthy.  I found the original recipe in one of the mens fitness magazines that Jason brought home, but I couldn't tell you which one, I just tore the recipe out for future reference.

My recipe will feed about 4 people

1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 scallions, chopped
½ lb ground pork
2 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
6 cups beef stock
4 eggs
8 oz udon noodles

Before starting the rest of the preparation, fill a large pot with water and start it heating for the noodles, that way it'll be ready to go when you are. If it gets ahead of you, cover and turn it to a simmer till you are ready to go.

In large soup pot heat olive oil, add ginger and cook until fragrant ( about 1-2 minutes) add garlic and cook for an additional minute, but don't let it brown or it will become bitter. Add half of the scallions (reserving the other half) ground pork, soy sauce, salt and pepper.  Cook until pork is cooked through.  Be sure to break up the meat as it cooks so it doesn't turn into large lumps.  I use a potato masher like this when i brown meat to prevent it from clumping up.  Once meat it cooked add the stock and bring to a boil.

Poaching the eggs:
My method of poaching eggs is easy.  For it you will need a cooking spray, a sauce pan and a few 6oz ramekins.
Fill the sauce pan about halfway up with water, bring to a simmer, meanwhile spray ramekins with cooking spray and crack an egg into each one.  Place in hot water and cover with a lid, cook until desired doneness, but be sure to leave the yolk a little runny for this recipe.

While you are poaching the eggs add the noodles to the water you thoughtfully brought to a boil ahead of time, cook for about 6 minutes (al dente).  When finished, drain and divide into bowls, top with soup and a poached egg on top, sprinkle with reserved green onions.

Potato-fennel Soup

I have never been the best at coming up with ideas for Fennel bulbs, I always just end up putting them in a salad cut up.  However, yesterday I didn't feel like green salad, I felt like soup.  This is heavy on the potatoes, so it isn't overwhelmingly anisey from the fennel, but the hint of fennel is warming and satisfying.  Since this is once again a pureed soup, your chopping method is unimportant.

olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups peeled and chopped white potatoes
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup fat free milk

Heat olive oil in large soup pot, add fennel and onion and saute on medium for about 5 minutes, or until veggies are tender but not browned.  Add potatoes, broth and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Remove from heat and puree with a submersion blender or traditional blender.  If using a regular blender return soup to pot once pureed.  Add milk, salt and garlic powder, bring to a simmer, but do not boil.  Adjust seasonings and enjoy!

Leek and Potato Soup

Made this last night, it was scrumptious!  My middle child is beginning to be a bit more finicky in his foods, I'm not a short order cook, so he either eats what's offered or waits till the next meal.  He eats soup mostly through a straw and this one he loved!  He ate 2 bowls full and even tried using his spoon quite successfully.

Print Recipe

1 stick butter (half of a cup) divided
4 leeks, washed and chopped
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 cups peeled and diced potatoes
7 1/2 cups chicken stock (i used 8 bouillon cubes and 7.5 cups water)
salt and pepper

Melt half of the butter in a large soup pot, add the leeks and onion and cook gently till they are softened but not browned, about 7 minutes or so.  Add potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding stock. Cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Remove soup from heat and puree completely using a hand blender or traditional blender.  Taste and add any necessary salt and pepper (i only added pepper to mine, it was salty enough already).  Chop up remaining butter and stir into soup.  Serve with fresh crusty bread!

Creamy Kale and Kielbasa Soup

I made this a few weeks ago, and we gobbled it down!  It is fantastic and in fact we are having it for dinner again tonight!  It is a great way to get some leafy greens in your diet!  Do not add any extra salt to the pot, the kielbasa is salty enough on its own.  If I see a low sodium kielbasa, I might try that next time I make it.  The original recipe called for half and half, but i used skim milk in place without any issue, it is an easy and fast way to cut out some extra fat.

1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14oz kielbasa
3 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
3 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups of kale (rinsed, trimmed and torn in to pieces)
1 cup milk
fresh ground black pepper

In soup pot, over medium heat, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes.  Add kielbasa and saute for an additional 2 minutes, gradually adding the potatoes.  Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.  Next add the wine, chicken broth and the kale.  Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the milk, simmer for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally but be careful to not let the mixture boil.  Serve with pepper.

Pumpkin Soup

Just made this tonight with a fresh pie pumpkin I got from the public market this past Thursday.  I still have half of it left, and it is roasting right now to become something yet to be determined.

I bet the color of this soup will change with the pumpkins; as they become more full of color and flavor, so will the taste.  We enjoyed this soup with a loaf of fresh bread.

Make sure that you do not omit the fresh tarragon, it is a key ingredient in this simple soup.

1 Tbs sunflower oil
2 Tbs butter
1 large onion, sliced
11/2 pounds pumpkin, cut into large chunks
1 pound potatoes, peeled and sliced
21/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
a good pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
21/2 cups milk
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pan and fry the onion for about 4-5 minutes over a gentle heat until soft but not brown, stirring frequently.  Add the pumpkin and sliced potatoes, stir well, then cover and sweat over a low heat for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are almost tender.  Be sure to stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Add the stock, nutmeg, tarragon and seasoning, stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Allow to cool slightly, then poor into a food processor, blender (or use a hand blender) and process until smooth.  Pour back into a clean pot and add the milk.  Heat gently, then add lemon juice and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Ham and Bean soup!

Tonight we kicked the ham that has been feeding us all week.  It was a 6-7lb bone in smoked butt that had some great flavor and turned into some yummy dishes.  Tonight we kicked the ham and will still have leftover soup for lunches this week!  Yeah for soup!

I had to call my Mom for how she did her soup to be sure that I didn't goof it up, nothing worse than bland soup, but this was anything but bland!  I started it about 12:30pm and we ate dinner at 5:30pm.

saute onion and celery in pot in olive oil until soft on the outside, yet still crunchy on the inside.  I guestimated the measurements that i used for the whole recipe, it all depends on how big your bone is.  I would guess that I had about 1 1/2 cups of both onion and celery.

Add your ham bone with meat still on it and one to one and a half bags of dried beans.  ( i mixed it up and used about 1/2 cup of three different kinds of dried beans) a bay leaf, coarse salt and ground pepper.  Cover with enough water to cover and bring to a boil.

Once boiling turn down to low and cover.  About one hour before eating, or about 4 hours later pull out ham bone with meat to a plate and let cool.  Once cool enough to handle tear meat from bone and add back to pot.

*Note, you may need to add more water to the pot as the beans absorb water.

It was good!

Tomato Soup

Easy tomato soup, it is very popular in our house, and depending on how you do it, it is much healthier than the canned variety.

It is all done in one pot to save cleaning up time as well, so be sure to take that into account before you begin, is your pan large enough?  I use a 6qt dutch oven to do most of my soups, it is non stick to help with the sauteing portion at the beginning of many of my recipes.


3-4 stalks celery diced
1 large onion diced
olive oil

In pot saute celery and onion in olive oil until tender but definitely not mushy!

Add either 2qts tomato juice (i can my own) OR 1 standard retail thing of juice that holds 48oz or so.  Heat slowly over medium heat, when at a simmer add 1 drained can of corn or a scant 2cups of frozen corn, About 5-6 cranks of freshly ground pepper and 1 tsp of coarse salt (I always have Kosher or Sea Salt available) Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and cover letting cook for about 20 minutes.