Clam Chowder Darling

After a bad experience with restaurant clam chowder on Friday, I dug out a tried-and-true recipe for Monday's dinner at home. Here it is with thanks to Renny Darling and The Joy of Eating.

Clam  Chowder  Darling

Serves 4

8 strips of bacon, optional

4 medium-sized red potatoes, peeled and finely chopped

3 tablespoons butter or bacon fat

2 small onions, very finely chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 6-ounce cans minced clams, undrained

2 cups bottled clam juice

1 teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup heavy cream at room temperature

1 cup regular whipping cream at room temperature

Salt and white pepper to taste

Parsley, snipped, for garnish

1. If using bacon, sauté bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Then transfer to a double thickness of paper towels to drain.

2. Boil chopped potatoes in water for about 4 minutes. Use 4- or 5-quart pan, but only use as much water as you need. When finished, drain potatoes and remove from pan. Wipe pan dry to use for next step.

3. Melt butter or bacon fat in the same pan used for the potatoes.

4. Sauté onions on medium heat until tender.

5. Stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes.

6. Crumble the cooked bacon into the pot. Also add undrained clams, clam juice, basil, thyme, heavy cream, regular cream, and cooked potatoes.

7. Bring to a gentle simmer. Gently simmer for about 10 minutes.

8. Season with salt and white pepper.

9. Serve hot with a bit of snipped parsley sprinkled on the top.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Delicious made with creminis, also known as baby portobellos.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

5 cups sliced fresh mushrooms or about 1 pound

1/2 cup finely chopped shallots or about 1 very large

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth or a 14-ounce can

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup half-and-half

1 tablespoon sherry

1. In a 4-quart heavy saucepan, cook mushrooms, shallots and thyme in chicken or vegetable broth.

2. Using an immersible blender, regular blender, or food processor, purée the mixture, leaving some chunks in it. Set aside.

3. In the saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour until smooth.

4. Add salt, pepper, half-and-half, and mushroom purée.

5. Stirring constantly, bring soup to a boil and cook until thickened.

6. Add sherry and then adjust seasoning to taste.

NOTE: If using an immersible blender, then leave mushroom purée in pan and do Step 3 in a different, smaller pan. Then do Step 4 without adding mushroom purée. Then add white sauce to mushroom purée and continue with recipe.

Creminis, also known as baby portobellos, are delicious in this soup.

Easy Black Bean Soup

My daughter and I liked this soup so much that we made it twice last week and have vowed to eat it once a week in perpetuity. Consider adding a couple of spashes of half-and-half to the soup shortly before serving.

Easy Black Bean Soup

Serves 6 to 8

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

1 large red onion, finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 large jalapeño, minced

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teapoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed

7 to 8 cups vegetable stock

1 cup chopped cilantro, divided

Juice of two limes

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in heavy 5-quart pan over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeño, and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and the garlic is fragrant, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Do not let the mixture brown.

3. Add ground and whole cumin, coriander, and cayenne and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

4. Add rinsed beans, stirring to combine.

5. Add about 7 cups of vegetable stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

6. Stir in ½ cup of the cilantro and reduce heat to a simmer.

7. Let simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

8. Puree with immersible blender to preferred consistency. Stir in additional broth if you want a thinner consistency.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro.

NOTE: Have a party by making a huge batch of this soup and asking folks to bring a topping. Consider having cooked rice to put on the bottom of the soup bowls. Topping ideas: fried tortilla strips, Greek plain yogurt, sour cream, grated cheese, sliced green onion, chopped red onion, chopped hard-boiled eggs, crumbled sausage, crumbled bacon, chopped tomatoes, avocado slices.

Taste & Create: Shrimp Laksa

*Taste & Create is an amazing monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are paired up randomly, and each create a recipe from their partner's blog! It is so fun! Please join us. The deadline to sign up is the 8th day of each month, email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com if you're interested!

My partner this time was Vicky from Avocado Pesto. I'm sorry to say this recipe is embarrassingly late, but better late than never, I suppose.

So initially I was intrigued by these pork/dough things on Vicky's blog, called Cha Sui Bao, don't they look fabulous, and Vicky even emailed me the recipe! I decided I didn't have the ambition, let alone the ingredients, to prepare that dish now. But I WILL. Some day.

After some more searching, I decided to make Vicky's Almond Macaroons. And then that just didn't happen. Am I glad that I didn't settle for making some cookies with which Vicky herself wasn't thrilled.

I was searching again, in desperation now, when I found it. A recipe that sounded so delicious, I just had to make it that night. It is called Shrimp Laksa, and it is heavenly. A fairly simple Malaysian shrimp soup, with coconut milk and curry paste and a dollop of peanut butter, shrimp and lightly crunchy fresh vegetables. It was so good. I will definitely be making it again!

My pictures look different than Vicky's, perhaps because her cilantro appeared to be used whole, as more of a garnish, while I just chopped mine and tossed it in the pot. You can see what a colorful, flavorful soup this is! Did I mention, I'm making this again? ;-)

I do have two young boys, and although one of them eats Cholula sauce by the spoonful, he doesn't like his regular food to be spicy, so I modified a bit. Also couldn't find lemongrass (no surprise) in my teeny tiny grocery. But hey, we even had a box of rice noodles in the pantry! It was destined. You'll find my modifications below in parenthesis. Follow the link to check out more of Vicky's creations!

So the verdict from the boys: the 8-year-old loved it, the almost-6-year-old did not. We also loved it, so the 6 year old is out of luck, I'm making it again!!

a very bad, poorly lit iPod photo, but here it is served up with the noodles!

Shrimp Laksa
Serves about 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small red onion, finely diced

2 teaspoons fresh lemongrass, finely diced (I used a few long strands of fresh lime peel, knowing that cilantro would be added at the end, I read online that citrus peel + cilantro is a fair substitute although not exactly the same)

1-2 teaspoons red chili, chopped (I wasn't sure which type of chile, so I didn't use any)

2 teaspoon ginger, grated, DIVIDED

10-12 oz raw shrimp, halved lengthwise (we left them whole)

1 can coconut milk (400 ml)

1 liter chicken stock

1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter

4 teaspoons lime juice (I used juice from one half a lime)

3 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons fish sauce

4 oz sugar snap peas, thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 green onion, sliced into 4 pieces lengthwise and then into long strings (this was hard, I did it the first time but next time I'll probably just chop them up)

handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

8 oz vermicelli thin rice noodles, cooked according to package directions and rinsed with cold water

sriracha, to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and cook onions over medium heat for 3 minutes and then add lemongrass, red chili and 1 teaspoon ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. (I didn't read this, and just added everything together. It still turned out)

2. Add the coconut milk, red curry paste and peanut butter to pan, whisking until smooth.

3. Add the fish sauce, chicken stock, ginger, shrimp, sugar snap peas and red pepper. Cook until shrimp is pink and vegetables have cooked a little but are still crunchy.

4. Add lime juice, green onions and cilantro.

5. Serve with vermicelli noodles and add sriracha to taste.

Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes

This is a delicious, quick dinner to pull together on a weeknight, or any night you'd like a savory, exotic and nutritious meal.

I had a huge chicken breast in the freezer, so I just diced that instead of using thighs and proceeded with the recipe. The rest of my notes are in italics, as usual. I served this with rice. The stew improves with time, so it's great if you have some leftover. Incidentally, I didn't remove the cinnamon stick or ginger, I just left it in the pot and in the container we stored the leftover stew in.

I will probably try freezing this meal and see how it does.



Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
Everyday Food, October 2007
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil (I needed more oil before adding onions to pot)
1 medium onion, diced
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used 1 1/2 cans)
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
Pinch of saffron, (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup couscous or rice
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour, shaking off excess. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken, and cook until browned, 4 to 6 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.

Heat 1 more tablespoon oil in the pot. Add onion, ginger, and cinnamon to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Return chicken to pot. Add broth, sweet potatoes, and, if using, saffron. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice, and season stew with salt and pepper.

While stew is simmering, prepare couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken stew with couscous, garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Taste & Create: Baked Potato Soup

It's Taste & Create time again! And this time, I can happily tell you that I recently spent two whole days in person with my friend, Nicole, the creator of Taste & Create!! We met in a small town in Colorado, where she was vacationing with her family and inlaws, and my family and I, well, we just went over there to hang out with them! Nicole and I took turns cooking meals for everyone, made fabulous cookies, and just talked for hours while our kids played together. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to see her again.

Taste & Create is Nicole's fabulous food blog event, in which participants are randomly paired up. Each participant chooses a recipe from their partner's blog, makes it, and blogs about it. You never know who you're going to be partnered with, and participants are from all over the world, which makes things interesting! You should definitely participate in this event! Go here for How it Works and sign up!!

My partner this month was Carol of No Reason Needed. Carol is from Canada, and she has some great recipes. We've been paired together for Taste & Create before, but I always like to check all the new recipes she's posted since the last time!

I was seriously considering making the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (even though she didn't like them), or many of her desserts, actually. I will totally make her Chocolate Waffles for my boys this weekend (topped with strawberries and whipped cream). But for now, I was intrigued by this recipe for Baked Potato Soup.

Like Carol, I have never been to a Tony Roma's...we may be the only two people who can claim this, but that's okay. This soup sounds good. I really had to remember to plan enough time ahead to bake the potatoes.

I would like to make this soup again, without cornstarch and probably without instant mashed potatoes. I just like my soup to have ingredients that aren't processed, and adding that much cornstarch kind of grossed me out (although I did it anyway to follow the recipe).

My husband and I liked the soup, H-Bomb did not like it, and Sawed Off refused to try it. It was easy to put together, even with the baking potatoes ahead of time and scooping out the insides. And it tastes great with the toppings! I'm just not convinced about the need for adding more starch to starchy potatoes, but that could be in my head.

So, how would you tweak this recipe?


Tony Roma's Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6 to 8

2 medium russet potatoes
3 Tbsp. butter
1 C diced white onion
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 C chicken broth
2 C water
¼ C cornstarch
1½ C instant mashed potatoes, dry
1 tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground black pepper
½ tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1 C half-and-half

GARNISH
½ C shredded Cheddar Cheese
¼ C crumbled cooked bacon
2 green onions, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for 1 hour or until done. When potatoes are done, remove them from the oven to cool.

2. As potatoes cool, prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan, and saute onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onion and stir to make a roux. Cook and stir for one minute.

3. Add broth, water, cornstarch, mashed potato flakes, and spices to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon. Discard skin. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about ½-inch in size.

5. Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.

6. Spoon soup into bowls and top with shredded Cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion.

Winter Lentil Soup

I realize the name of this soup says "Winter," and I am really anxious for Spring, and indeed have some little flowers sprouting outside, but this soup sounded so good I just couldn't pass it up. I don't think you'll be able to pass it up either, it has a powerhouse healthy ingredient list, including kale, sweet potatoes and leeks! YUM.

The recipe comes from Real Simple, I received it in their Daily Recipe email. I don't have to tell you how much I love Real Simple, do I?

The leeks I got were huge, so I only used two of them. If you'd like to know a good way to clean those dirty things, check out my About Leeks post.

Just a note, it took me longer than 20 minutes to put this together. I'm not sure why, but plan for some extra time. Also, next time I will double the lentils. It's more vegetable than lentil, not that there's anything wrong with that, but the name is a bit misleading. I forgot the parmesan at the end...

Delicious and satisfying, and healthy with all the dark green leafy and dark orange vegetables. We will eat this soup a lot.

Winter Lentil Soup

Serves 6

Hands-on Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1hour

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
• 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1/2 cup brown lentils
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce; optional)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for 5 minutes.

2. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potatoes, kale, lentils, thyme, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer until the lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Spoon into bowls and top with the Parmesan, if using.

Tip: Basic brown lentils retain their shape better during cooking than pricier red and yellow lentils, so they're terrific for soups. Or you can substitute green lentils, which taste slightly peppery.

French Onion Soup

This is my version of a Tyler Florence recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 large onions, sliced (I used a combination of red, white and sweet onions - 1 of each)
4 T butter
1 T EVOO
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1.5 cups red wine
1.5 quarts of beef stock
3 - 5 dashes worcestershire sauce
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
6 slices of baguette, toasted
1.5 cups shredded gruyere or swiss cheese (I used Sargento's shredded swiss & gruyere cheese)

Directions:

1. Over medium to medium-high heat, saute onions in butter and extra virgin olive oil until lightly carmelized (this will take a good 30 - 40 minutes). Do not season until onions are translucent (about 10 minutes), once they are, season to taste with salt and black pepper. (A little trick to help the carmelization process -- add 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar once the liquid released from the onions is almost evaporated)
2. When onions are carmelized, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add balsamic vinegar and deglaze bottom of pan.
3. Add red wine and simmer until reduced by at least 1/3 (about 15 minutes)
4. Add beef stock, worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and thyme and return to a boil, then continue simmering for 30 minutes on low heat.
5. Adjust seasoning as needed and ladle into 6 oven-proof bowls or crocks. (Remove bay leaves and thyme stems)
6. Place 1 toasted baguette slice in each bowl and heap 1/4 cup of shredded cheese on top
7. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly

Enjoy!

Thick & Hearty Chicken Cheese Soup

I saved this recipe from a package of canned chicken breast from Costco. I knew it would come in handy for a quick meal! Really you could use any kind of cooked chicken instead.

You should have just about everything for this meal right in your pantry or refrigerator, so it's easy to throw together. The thing that takes the most time, honestly, is grating carrots, but you don't have to do that many.

The soup is actually thick and hearty! H-Bomb loved it, Sawed Off was having a bread night (but ate a few bites of soup too). I thought it was good for a last-minute weeknight kind of soup. Very fast.


Thick & Hearty Chicken Cheese Soup
probably serves about 4

1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 (250 ml-10 3/4 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (350 ml-12.5 ounce) can Kirkland Signature Chunk Breast of Chicken
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium saucepan, cook carrots and green onion in hot butter about 10 minutes or until tender but not browned. Stir in flour. Slowly add milk, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and cheese. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese melts. Serve hot.

Senegalese Shrimp Soup

I have wanted to try this soup ever since I saw the recipe back in June. I ran across it on Iron Stef's Del.icio.us listings: Kitchen Parade's Sengalese (sic) Soup. You can serve this soup warm or cold, and delicious as it is warm, I think it would be fabulous served cold in the summer.

The whole family loved it. Next time I am doubling the shrimp. I used large ones, so each of us only got three or four shrimp, not enough! I'm going to stick with the large shrimp, but use 1 whole pound. Our shrimp were frozen and raw, so I thawed them in a bowl under cold running water while I was putting the rest of the soup together. When added to the soup, they were cooked through in less than 10 minutes.

It's fairly quick to put together, so have your ingredients prepped and ready. The soup has refreshingly complex flavors, hard to describe. We didn't let it sit for 6 hours, but I can imagine how much more fabulous it would be!

In my opinion, the lime zest is a must too.

Senegalese Shrimp Soup

Slightly sweet with honey,
summer corn and shrimp.

4 servings
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes - 24 hours

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 3-1/2 cups (28 ounces) low-fat chicken broth (not homemade)
  
• 2 tablespoons lime juice from about 2 limes
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup milk (preferably 2%, skim doesn't work)
• ½ pound shrimp (uncooked or cooked)
• Salt to taste
• Strips of lime zest, for garnish
  

Heat a Dutch oven on medium high. Add butter. When bubbly, add onion and sauté for 3 – 5 minutes until onion is tender. Stir in flour and curry and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in chicken broth, lime juice and honey and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer. Stir in corn and simmer for 3 minutes. Add milk and shrimp. If serving warm, heat completely but do not boil, until shrimp is fully cooked (if uncooked) or warmed through (if cooked). Season to taste. To serve, top with lime zest. If serving cold, refrigerate until cold. The soup improves if left to rest for 6 - 24 hours before serving.

Beef Burgundy Stew

It's Shipping Day again, which means it's time to make a meal for a big crew of cowboys. No matter what time we end up eating, it's called "Shipping Day Lunch" (even if it's after dark). This year, there's a possibility of 16 people, and it's cold outside, so I needed a big pot of something warm.

I grabbed my Betty Crocker's Country Favorites cookbook, which I honestly haven't used very much. When you're making lunch for cowboys and cattle buyers and ranch hands, it's a good idea to serve beef. Just so you know.

I decided on this Beef Burgundy Stew, just because it sounded so good. Expecting about 16 people, I had to double the recipe. I ended up cooking the onions and mushrooms in two separate pans to save time, and I browned the 6 pounds of beef in batches in the main stew pot, moving browned pieces to a platter to wait until all the beef was done. I made the executive decision not to drain the beef in the pot (although I did drain off a bit of juice from the plate). I also elected not to stir constantly after adding the broth and flour (there's really no point), but I did stir constantly during the 1 minute boil. Next time, I will do things a little differently.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink, but I also don't believe you have to pay a ton of money for a good bottle of wine. So use your best judgment when choosing a bottle of burgundy, or if you're in my small town, just buy the only bottle of burgundy the closet-sized liquor store has to offer, and hope for the best!

The stew was delicious and comforting and filling, and someone even asked me if I had made the beef broth myself. (no). I refrigerated it overnight and reheated it the next day, which worked fine but the wine in the broth did turn the mushrooms and onions a bit grayish. It did not effect the taste at all. This probably isn't a stew I'd freeze, but if you try it be sure and let me know how it works!


Beef Burgundy Stew
Serves: 8 Prep time: 25 minutes Start to finish: 2 hours 30 minutes

This is a great dish to make when you are having a crowd over. It feeds a lot of people without too much work for you! Grab several loaves of good French bread--this stew makes a wonderfully rich Burgundy sauce that is oh-so-good sopped up with crusty bread.

2 tablespoons butter
5 medium onions, sliced
1 pound sliced mushrooms (6 cups)
3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups beef broth
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups red Burgundy (1 whole bottle of wine)
French bread, if desired

1. Melt butter in Dutch oven or 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions and mushrooms in butter about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender. Remove vegetables from Dutch oven; drain and reserve.

2. Cook beef and garlic in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Sprinkle with salt, marjoram, thyme and pepper.

3. Mix broth and flour; pour over beef. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

4. Stir in Burgundy. Cover and simmer 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, stirring in onions and mushrooms 5 minutes before end of simmer time. Serve in bowls with bread for dipping into stew, if desired.

Navajo Stew

I'd never had this stew, despite living in the Four Corners region...but I had a pork shoulder thawed and waiting to be used. I also have all these ingredients in the pantry, and there is hardly any prep work. Perfect for a day I don't really feel like cooking...although my pork roast is twice the size the recipe calls for, I guess we'll see what happens!

The recipe comes from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, which has some very different, tasty and relatively easy recipes in it.

Currently in the slow cooker, pictures and review tonight!

Navajo Stew
Serves 4 to 6

Here is real home cooking from Four Corners (where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet). This is a fast, easy meal. Serve it with bread, rice, and a green salad.

Cooker: medium or large round or oval
Settings and cook times: LOW for 7 to 9 hours, then HIGH for about 20 minutes; chickpeas and chiles added during last 20 minutes

One 2- to 2-1/2 pound Boston pork butt, trimmed of all fat (I didn't trim)
1 large yellow onion, cut in half and sliced into half moons
Water to cover
One 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
One 4-ounce can roasted whole green chiles, drained and cut into 1/2- to 1-inch-wide strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In the morning, put the pork butt and onion slices in the slow cooker and add just enough water to cover. Then cover and cook on LOW until the pork shreds easily when pressed with a spoon, 7 to 9 hours.

When ready for dinner, cut the pork butt into cubes or break into uneven pieces. Return to the cooker, add the chickpeas and chiles, turn the cooker to HIGH, and cook until hot, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. You can thicken the sauce if you like by taking off the lid and cooking for another 15 minutes on HIGH. Serve in bowls.

Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup

Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup
(modified by Wendy D.)

8 tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half
8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 1/2 pounds broccoli, steamed and roughly chopped
1 pound carrots, finely grated (about 3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or more, to taste
1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 8-quart soup pot. Saute chopped onion in melted butter until soft; set aside.

2. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in same pot. Add flour and whisk over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Whisking constantly, add half-and-half. Continue whisking until smooth.

4. Add stock, whisking until combined.

5. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the broccoli, carrots, and reserved onion. Cook over low heat until veggies are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Blend if desired, preferably with an immersible blender.

8. Add grated cheese and stir over medium-low heat until cheese is melted.

9. Stir in nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.

NOTE: I steam broccoli in microwave. Add more stock if the soup is too thick for your taste. However, though it's quite thick when cool, it seems just right to me when hot. Serve with crusty bread and perhaps an apple pie for dessert.

Ham & Bean Soup

This is a tried and true recipe that I make several times a year, usually a few days after we've had a big ham for dinner! It's just good and warming and comforting and delicious. Be sure to start it ahead of time, because you never know how truly fresh your beans are (and how long they will take to cook!) I nearly always double the recipe, and I always add carrots to the mix.

It comes from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. There are many, many editions of this cookbook, mine was published in 1996, and it is an indispensable resource for basic recipes and tips.

**picture tomorrow, the beans aren't done yet!**

Ham & Bean Soup
Prep: 20 minutes
Soak: 1 hour
Cook: 1 1/4 hours
Makes about 8 cups (5 main-dish servings)

1 cup dry navy beans (or any small, white bean)
1 to 1 1/2 pounds meaty smoked pork hocks or one 1- to 1 1/2-pound meaty ham bone
1 1/2 cups diced celery (3 stalks)
about two carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf

1. Rinse beans. In a large saucepan combine beans and 4 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or, place beans in water in pan. Cover and let soak in a cool place for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.) Drain and rinse beans.

2. In the same pan combine beans, pork hocks or ham bone, celery, carrots, onion, thyme, pepper, bay leaf and 4 cups fresh water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour or till beans are tender. Remove meat. When cool enough to handle, cut meat off bones; coarsely chop meat. Discard bones and bay leaf. Slightly mash beans in saucepan. Return meat to saucepan. Heat through.

Lentil Soup

It's been soooo cold here, and snowy even, it just makes me want to curl up with a nice, warm bowl of soup. Today, the soup that was calling my name is Lentil.

For excellent soup recipes, especially for a classically vegetarian soup, I always count on Mollie. This recipe comes from her classic Moosewood Cookbook. (I have both the original version from the 1970's and the 15 year anniversary edition, the latter is where I found this recipe).

The only change I made to the recipe was stirring in a few chopped spinach leaves a few minutes before serving. The drizzle of red wine vinegar was a revelation, it really added that little something extra that we didn't even know we had been missing! Try it, and you'll see.


Lentil Soup
Preparation time: about 1 hour Yield: 6 to 8 servings This is a very easy fat-free lentil soup that just about cooks itself. Only one pot is needed, so cleanup is easy.

3 cups dry lentils
7 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
6 to 8 medium garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced or diced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes (I used 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
1/2 to 1 cup chopped fresh spinach (my addition; optional)
red wine vinegar, to drizzle on top

1) Place lentils, water and salt in a kettle. Bring to a boil, lower heat to lowest possible simmer, and cook quietly, partially covered, for 20 to 30 minutes.

2) Add vegetables (except tomatoes & spinach), herbs, and black pepper. I also added another 1 1/2 cups of water. Partially cover, and let simmer peacefully another 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Heat a medium saucepanful of water to boiling. Drop in the tomatoes for 10 seconds, then take them out peel off the skins, and squeeze out the seeds. Chop the remaining pulp and add to the soup. [or just throw in a can of tomatoes, who's going to know?]

Stir in about 1/2 to 1 cup chopped fresh spinach. Let the soup cook for at least 5 minutes more.

4) Serve hot, with a drizzle of vinegar on top of each steaming bowlful.

Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup)

Although I already have an excellent recipe here for Martha's Potato Leek Soup, I've been reading Julie and Julia, and Potage Parmentier was one of the first recipes Julie made from Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking.

Although I'm not presuming to (gasp!) doubt Julia, her soup only has 6 ingredients (4 main ingredients). Martha's recipe has many more: subtle spices, shallots, garlic, and honestly I simply LOVE Martha's soup. I guess we'll have to see what happens with Julia's...I'm willing to give it a chance!

If you're not exactly sure how to clean the leeks, which can be quite dirty inside, please follow this link for a quick lesson!

I don't have a pressure cooker, but I've included those directions because I know a lot of people do. I stirred in cream at the end, but had I not had cream, I think butter would have been fine. We served our soup with a loaf of Artisan Bread. We were going to have a simple salad too, but I didn't get around to it. Soup and bread was plenty for us.

Julia's soup is simple and comforting, and yes, delicious! I should never have doubted it. I do still love Martha's soup, of course, but believe it or not, Julia's is sooooo much easier.

The boys started out dipping their Artisan Bread in the soup, and by the end of the meal, they were drinking the soup out of their mugs! I think H-Bomb even had seconds. If that isn't a Seal of Approval, I don't know what is.

You can also see this recipe featured on
OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN
in my very first spot as a Guest Host for
"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner"

Potage Parmentier
[Leek or Onion and Potato Soup]

Leek and potato soup smells good, tastes good, and is simplicity itself to make. It is also versatile as a soup base; add water cress and you have a watercress soup, or stir in cream and chill it for a vichyssoise. To change the formula a bit, add carrots, string beans, cauliflower, broccoli or anything else you think would go with it, and vary the proportions as you wish.

For about 2 quarts serving 6 to 8 people

a 3- to 4- quart saucepan or pressure cooker
3 to 4 cups or 1 pound peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups or 1 pound thinly sliced leeks including the tender green (and well washed); or yellow onions
2 quarts of water
1 tablespoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons whipping cream or 2 to 3 tablespoons softened butter
2 to 3 tablespoons minced parsley or chives

Either simmer the vegetables, water and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; or cook under 15 pounds pressure for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork, or pass the soup through a food mill. Correct seasoning. Set aside uncovered until just before serving, then reheat to the simmer.

Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls. Pour into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with the herbs.

Taste & Create XXV: Black Bean Soup

Once again, it's time for Taste & Create! It seems odd not to be hosting the event this month, after helping Nicole out for so many months in a row while she had her sweet new little boy. Congratulations, Nicole!

Taste & Create was started by Nicole of For the Love of Food, and it's a fun event in which participants are paired off and asked to create a recipe from their partner's blog. And, it seems like Liza of Knick Nosh and I are destined to be new best blog friends or something, because once again, she's my partner! (Hi, Liza!)

In August, I made Liza's delicious Spicy Oven-Roasted Potatoes, and in July I made her fabulous Greek Salad. I also tried her yummy Chicken Burgers with Portobello Mushrooms, Spinach and Sundried Tomato Mayo. She has some great recipes!

Still tempted by those Banana Oat Muffins of hers, and now her new Mini Soft Pretzels, I decided that I wanted to make something for dinner instead. Even though it's quite obvious that I am Hungry Right Now!

I considered at her Red Lentil Soup, but honestly I don't think my grocery store carries red lentils, and although I'm sure any kind of lentils would work, I just really didn't feel like doing it. I'm tired.

So I decided on her Black Bean Soup, because I love black beans, it sounded simple and delicious, AND I have almost everything in the pantry to make it. I only need a pepper and maybe some sour cream, but I can quickly pick those up when I take H-Bomb to the store for his after-school snack for the ride home. Doesn't that sound better than standing in the miniscule dried bean section looking for lentils you know you won't find? It did to me. And here we are.

I did make a couple slight changes, so check out the link above for Liza's recipe. Basically, I increased the olive oil, substituted some flat parsley for the cilantro and meant to use chicken broth, but accidentally grabbed beef. Not too major.

This is a lovely, easy soup, very filling and delicious with a dollop of sour cream. Obviously you can use any kind of broth, and just using vegetable broth makes this a simple vegetarian soup as well.


Black Bean Soup
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chile powder (I used about 1/2 tablespoon because our chile powder is very strong)
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups (or 1 14 ounce can) chicken broth (or beef or vegetable broth)
1/4 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Juice of half of a lime

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan or small soup pot. Add the onions and peppers and heat until peppers are soft and onions are translucent. Stir in garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Add black beans and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for 10 - 15 minutes (until soup starts to thicken a little). Stir in cilantro. Remove 1 cup of soup from the pot and set aside. Blend the remaining soup with a hand blender or with a food processor until relatively smooth. Return reserved soup to blended soup and stir in lime juice. Top individual servings with low-fat sour cream.

Chicken Soup for the Body and Soul

Chicken Soup for the Body and Soul-

1 chicken quartered and cleaned (I used four bottoms.)

6 quarts of water

1 whole onion, peeled ( two onions)

2 stalks of celery with leaves (4)

3-4 whole peppercorns

3 large whole carrots, peeled (halved)

3 parsnips, peeled

1 medium turnip, peeled

1 sweet potato (my addition)

2-3 sprigs dill parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Obvious any changes are miniscule. I can't use a strong pepper flavor or a few members of the family stop eating. They don't know what is good. Remember, one of them does not do well with garlic either. Oh, the suffering I go through. (giggling)

Place chicken, onions, celery, sweet potato and one sprig of dill in pot of water so that there is enough room for the chicken and vegetables.

Bring to simmer - never to boil Reduce heat to medium-low. The gentle heating ensures that the soup will remain clear.

Skim soup of fat and scum frequently. This usually takes about 30 minutes. Add two carrots, two parsnips, half of the turnip, one spring of dill, salt and pepper and cook partially covered for two hours over very low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken and vegetables from the broth. Debone the chicken, dice and save for salad or crepes. Save the carrots, parsnip and turnips and discard the celery and onion. (I throw the chicken, cut-up, back into the soup.)

(I left out part of Ruth's recipe. With apologies. She keeps out a carrot and parsnip to cut into one inch pieces with half of a turnip, also cut up and steams them separately over the some of the broth for serving with the soup.

(I add two peeled zucchini for the last thirty minutes and add them, cut up, to the soup.

Let the soup cool to romm temperature, uncovered before refrigerating. Do not allow to cool, covered. It can sour.

Refrigerate overnight and carefully remove remaining fat.

We had the soup, Friday night, and it was nourishing and with the addition of knaidlach, (matzah balls) it was very filling.

Posted by Sweet and Savory Says it All

Min's Pork Chile Verde Stew

For a while, we had a Schwan's delivery guy who used to be chef. He said he was "Irish-Mexican" and that his dream job would be cooking on a ranch like ours. He was large, round, friendly and nice, and we talked quite a bit about food. He shared the ingredients for his "secret" Green Chile, and I wrote them down. I didn't write down the technique, amounts, or anything else, so I'm just going to wing it here.

I think this should turn out just fine for a last-minute dinner for 14 hungry cowboys, don't you?

Just so you know, here are all the notes I started with:

Green Chile--
chicken stock
roasted green chiles
chicken bouillon
cumin
mexican oregano
pork sirloins or chicken
cornstarch to thicken (don't if freezing)
pureed tomatoes

And that's all I've got. He said that green chile is "peasant food" or something to that effect, and that he used to make and serve it in a restaurant where he cooked. He also said something about feeling okay to share the "recipe" with me because I live in the middle of nowhere, basically "who are you going to tell?" Ahem.

But, you know, I am making this up as I go along, and I'm also going to add more ingredients, and completely improvise the method. So it's not really like I'm divulging any big secrets here. I don't think, anyway, given the end result.

I pulled a 5-pound package of pork loin ribs out of the freezer, but didn't realize that they were not boneless, but that's all I had. That's okay, since I was cutting the meat up anyway, I just had an extra step of removing all the bones. Incidentally, the slab of meat wouldn't fit into our microwave for defrosting, so I did it a different way: I stuck it into the biggest frying pan I have (it didn't all fit, some was sticking over the edge), put a cup of water in the pan and perched the lid on top of the meat. I turned it on medium to sort of "steam-thaw" it until I could get the ribs apart and cut them into bite-size pieces. It worked pretty well, I just tried not to cook the meat very much in the process. It would be much easier with advance notice and having meat that was thawed.

And although this started out to be a somewhat "authentic" Chile Verde, it ended up being something quite different. I embraced the "peasant food" label and ran with it, boiling and straining the pork rib bones for broth, adding ingredients that we had in the pantry to extend the recipe when I didn't think it looked like enough to feed 14.

It was a bit too spicy for the kids, but they ate leftover pesto instead...If you're concerned about it being too spicy, just leave out the can of jalapeños and reduce the cumin. Either way, it's delicious!

Min's Pork Chile Verde Stew
serves about 14

Butter
Olive oil
5 pounds boneless pork ribs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
2 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch dice
4 cans chicken broth (2 cans if using pork "broth")
7 cubes chicken bouillon
4 4-ounce cans fire-roasted diced green chiles
1 4-ounce can fire-roasted diced jalapeños
6 to 8 red potatoes, washed and cut in 1/4-inch dice
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 tablespoon cumin (or to taste)
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, crushed
1 can diced tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pour flour into a large ziploc bag. Cut pork into 1/2-inch pieces, add to ziploc bag, seal and shake to coat. Starting with two tablespoon each, add butter and olive oil to a large soup pot over medium heat. Remove pork from flour with a slotted spoon, and fry in butter and oil until golden brown and cooked through, stirring occasionally. Remove cooked pork to a plate, and repeat until all pork is cooked and on a plate, using more butter and oil as necessary in equal amounts.

Add diced onions to the pan, along with an additional tablespoon each of butter and olive oil, if necessary. Saute over medium-low heat until onions are translucent. Add carrots, stirring in and cooking for a few minutes. Add chicken and pork broth, and chicken bouillon cubes. Return pork to the pot.

Add everything else except tomatoes, salt and pepper, and stir well. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in tomatoes and warm through. Taste and adjust for spices, add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with tortillas or crusty bread on the side and plenty of Corona.

Aunt Sunny's Tomato Soup

This soup is something I crave and make often... especially when the weather starts to turn cool. I first tasted it about 5 years ago when my awesome Aunt Sunny made it. Rumor is, My Uncle Hardy (Sunny's hubby) ate at a restaurant in New York and loved the soup so much that he asked for the recipe and they gave it! I'm not sure what restaurant it was, so I've always called this "Aunt Sunny's Tomato Soup".


It's different than any other tomato soup that I've tried. It's creamier and has just a hint of sweetness to it. It's difficult to describe the taste suffice it to say that I LOVE this soup. Yes, if soup could be a spouse, I would marry this one. In addition to the absolute deliciousness of it, I love it because it is a simple and quick dish that I can throw together and serve in as little as 15 minutes. I recommend serving with a grilled cheese sandwich or an artisan bread. YUM!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 medium onion (diced)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cans diced tomatoes (each can is 14 1/2 oz)
2 cans tomato soup (I prefer Campbell's)
1 1/2 C. milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

Saute the onions in the butter. While onions are sauteing, take 1 can of tomato soup and the cream cheese and blend until smooth (I like to use a blender). Add both cans of diced tomatoes to sauteing onions and boil. Stir in other can of soup, herbs, and cream cheese/soup mixture, and bring to a slow boil. Lower heat and add milk. Simmer until hot (DO NOT BOIL). Enjoy :).