Mushroom Chowder

Yesterday, my long time gal-pal from State College, PA days, Cathy, sent me a picture of a recipe she made from my book "Singingirl Cooks!"  She told me she was going to be entering it in a contest at her church.  I'll be anxious to know how far up or down the list of entries it placed!  In the meantime, she said it was delicious, and it is.  With fall kind of around the corner for you up-north friends and family, this chowder has terrific flavor and tastes like you were laboring over it all day, even though it comes together in no time. Try it and tell me how you liked it!  Thanks, Cathy, for choosing something from the book for a contest and for sending me this picture to use today.

MUSHROOM CHOWDER

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup diced potatoes (2 large) 

1 cup finely chopped celery (2 large stalks)

1 cup diced carrots (2 or 3)

1 clove of garlic, chopped fine

1 tsp. dried thyme

Freshly ground pepper

4 Tbs. melted butter

1 big handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1 pkg. of dry onion soup mix (such as Lipton)

1/4 cup cooking sherry

1/4 cup of flour stirred into 1/2 cup of water

2 cans of chicken broth (or you can use stock)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup half & half

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large soup pot, saute the mushrooms, potatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme and pepper in butter until soft over medium heat, ten minutes or so.  Add the onion soup mix and parsley, stir to combine, then pour in the chicken broth and sherry. Stir, then cover and simmer on low for another 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the flour into the water until smooth and add to the pot.  Add the milk and half  & half to the soup over very low heat, along with the Parmesan cheese and continue heating on low, do not boil, until nicely warmed and looking absolutely gorgeous. Serve immediately.   Reheat any leftovers over low heat.

Note~ I don't add salt to this recipe because there is quite a bit in the dry onion soup mix. Add extra to taste after you've put the whole thing together.

P.S. This recipe and more than a hundred pages of other great recipes, stories and beautiful food pictures can be found in my book "Singingirl Cooks!" If you don't own a copy and would like to, please let me know. Thanks!

Delicious Onion Soup With Miniature Toasts and Parmesan Crisps

Why would I want to be making soup in south Florida in 90 degree weather? Better yet, why would I think any of my friends and family would want to make soup in such a torrential downpour of heat and sun? The answer is, I don't know why. I've just been thinking lately about making a good tasting onion soup after having had some so-so, rather salty onion soup in a restaurant last week with my mom. And, well, there is air conditioning keeping me cool inside for the venture. So, here it is.  Make this soup.  It's vegetarian (for all my non-meat eating friends and family.) It's delicious. It's topped with a wonderful miniature bread toast and a Parmesan crisp instead of that big blob of melted cheese. I know, I know. That's what's good about it, right? Try it this way, and let me know how you like it.

DELICIOUS ONION SOUP WITH MINIATURE TOASTS AND PARMESAN CRISPS

4 heaping cups of onions, peeled and thinly sliced

3 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup sherry (you can use bottled cooking sherry if you must, but don't tell anyone)

4 cups of vegetable broth (see below for my tip)

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Packaged Miniature Toasts

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and cook and stir often over low to medium heat until the onions are fully softened and starting to brown. This process will take at least 45 minutes to one hour. There is no rushing this step.  Increase the heat to high, add the Worcestershire and sherry and cook for a minute or two, or until the sherry reduces. Stir in the 4 cups of broth, lower the heat and simmer another 20 minutes or so.  

Here's my tip for the broth.... You can use cans of broth if you like. In this recipe I used a seasoned roasted vegetable cooking base. Find them in the canned soup aisle, Better Than Bouillon is the one I used.  They really are much better than bouillon, less salty, and much more flavorful.  The jar costs a few dollars, but you'll find  that you'll be seasoning the water with it when you make rice, pasta, other soups, sauces. Use 1 tsp. per cup of water (you'll need 4 tsp. for this recipe.)

While the soup is simmering, make the crisps.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the oven rack in the middle. Finely grate the Parmesan and use 1 Tbs. per crisp. Dump it onto a well oiled baking sheet (I used cooking spray) and then with the back of your spoon flatten the mound out a little. Grind some pepper on each one. Don't crowd, maybe only 6 to a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes approximately. 

Remove from oven and carefully slide your spatula around the edges and remove each one to a rack.  My pictures above show the process, and you CAN do this! It was actually very easy, and I surprised myself.  This is Alton Brown's recipe from Food Network.  They are soooo delicious! And no carbs! Ladle the soup into your bowl and set the bowl on a serving dish.  

Surround the bowl with one or two toasts and two or three crisps and let the lucky recipients assemble their own garnish.  Enjoy!!! And please say hello in the comment section below. 

Vegetable, Beef and Barley Soup

It's cold again in south Florida. Where is the warm and mild weather I ask? I can't exactly be thinking picnics in the park and ice cream desserts. I'm stuck in a soup rut!!!  So here comes another addition to my list of soup recipes, hearty and delicious vegetable beef and barley soup. Since I didn't use a soup bone and used vegetable broth rather than beef broth, you could exchange the beef in this recipe for chicken very easily, I would guess, and have a great outcome.

VEGETABLE, BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP

1 lb. beef for stew, substitute 1 lb. of chicken breast if you prefer

1 Tbs. oil

4 carrots, sliced

2 stalks of celery, chopped, use the celery leaves

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, including liquid

3 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 pkg. frozen mini corn on the cob

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup barley

Cut the already cubed stew meat into smaller, bite sized pieces. Heat the oil in a soup pot and brown the beef (or chicken).  Add the rest of the already chopped up ingredients except the barley. I used my food processor for the onion, garlic and parsley, and then gave the celery a bit of a coarser chop.  I don't like too many big pieces of onion hanging around in the soup.... Check the seasoning, cover and simmer on low for a good long while, two hours even. Add the barley and continue cooking until everything is nice and soft and smelling delicious, probably another hour or more if using regular barley (not the quick cooking kind.) When you're ready to serve, remove the bay leaf first. Then ladle the soup into a bowl. Add one ear of corn to each bowl and attach one of those cute little corn-on-the-cob holders so you can easily pick up the corn and munch away.

The next day, you can thin this out with some more broth or tomato juice.  Now go make this! Baby, it's cold outside!!!

I bought Glory brand seasoned cooking base, the roasted vegetable flavor. It's so much better than bouillon and less expensive than cans of broth. There's even a brand out there called Better Than Bouillon. These cooking bases are in the 4 to 5 dollar range, but refrigerated they last a long, long time and come in handy for kicking up the flavor of your soups and sauces, vegetables, etc.

I just had to include a shot of Ms. Peggy the Pug, who always seems to be under my feet, or under the food, looking for something, anything to drop down.  Not this time Peggy!!!

Tortellini Soup With Chicken and Spinach

Looking for a delicious soup that is quick and easy to make? The idea for this soup came from my sister's friend. But as with most things I make, I can't leave well enough alone. Having made a few changes, here is the simple recipe for a great meal in a bowl.  This is so good, it's a must try!

Tortellini Soup with Chicken and Spinach
1 lb. boneless chicken breast tenders
2 32 oz. cartons of chicken broth
2 cups water
1 large onion, peeled and left whole
1 clove of garlic, peeled and left whole
1 pkg. fresh spinach
3 or 4 carrots, shredded or sliced thin, your choice
1 pkg. (I used a 9 oz. pkg.)  tortellini

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Season the chicken tenders with your favorite seasoning. Today I used Emeril's Original Essence. It's a good all purpose seasoning to use for just about anything. Season the chicken liberally and brown it well on both sides. Remove to a plate to cool.

In a large soup pot, pour in the two cartons of chicken broth and water, add the whole onion and garlic clove, and the sliced or shredded carrots, cover, cook slowly and allow the onion and garlic to become soft. In the meantime, shred the cooled chicken into bite sized pieces.

When the onion and garlic are nice and soft, remove and discard them. The idea here is to flavor the broth but not have any pieces of onion or garlic floating around in your finished soup. Add the shredded chicken and spinach. Give it a gentle stir, cover and let it simmer through until the spinach is all wilted, just a few minutes. Boil the tortellini separately and set aside.  Some of the Emeril's Essence will come off the chicken and will flavor the soup such that you won't have to add any extra salt, pepper or any other seasonings. How easy is that?

When you are ready to serve, place as many tortellini in each bowl as you like, then ladle the soup over the top of the tortellini and offer a sprinkling of Parmesan if you like.  From start to finish you can have this on the table in less than an hour.  This is a keeper.

Note - I originally dropped the tortellini into the soup and cooked them along with the spinach. It was delicious, but the next day my small tortellini had grown to the size of small donuts!  LOL!  They soaked up quite a lot of the liquid.  Unless you think you'll be serving the entire recipe, it might be best to cook them separately and add them to the soup when you're about to eat it.

Kale Soup - Go Green!

All this talk about going green... how about a recipe for delicious kale soup to start the new year off? This concoction turned out to be a real winner for me and everyone else who tried it. And I actually felt like I was doing something good for me with all those dark leafy greens in there, lots of garlic and tomatoes, and no meat! Here's the recipe:

KALE SOUP
2 medium to large onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups potatoes, diced but not too small
1 lb. chopped kale
5 cups of vegetable stock
1 28 oz. can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
Black pepper
1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans

Start by heating the olive oil in a very large soup pot. Over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and saute until soft but not browned. Add the diced potato and cook a few moments longer. Rinse the kale well, and remove any tough, woody stems. If you buy the bag already chopped, which I did ;-) then it's all pretty much done for you except to give it a once over to make sure the tough stems, etc. are removed.  Okay, so add the whole bag to the pot. It will seem like it's just not all going to fit. But as it sautes it will wilt just like spinach does. Lower the heat to medium low and continue to saute until wilted down. At this point, add the 5 cups of liquid. Now you can buy cans of vegetable broth or you can use a cooking base like I did. This is the first time I've ever bought a seasoned vegetable cooking base, and I have to say it is waaaay different than using bouillon; specifically, it is less salty and has much more flavor. There's a brand out there called Better Than Bouillon or Glory Seasoned Cooking Base just to name two.  Whichever you use, make 5 cups of it and add it at this time to the soup pot along with the can of tomatoes and the rest of the seasonings. Stir well, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer this for a good hour or so.  Remove a cup of the soup to a blender, let it cool for a few minutes, and then blend until smooth*. Return it back to the pot to give the soup nice color and texture. Remove the bay leaf. Add the beans and heat through. Serve!

*Have you ever tried to blend hot things in a blender? It explodes! So let the soup cool down for a few before blending.

A note on the photo.... I have friends who will strangle me because I used a flash to take this photo, leaving the food very unnatural looking. I couldn't help it! It was nighttime and I had no other choice. Apologies to all the fabulous food photographers out there.

Deb's Stuffed Pepper Soup

I've been waiting a while to do this post. This delicious soup recipe comes from my oldest and best friend, Debbie Finegan, who passed away on September 16th after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She would be beaming from ear to ear to know that her recipe is being published for all the world to see. (Well, seeing as hardly anyone looks at this blog, that previous statement is a bit of an exaggeration.) But I imagine that would make Debbie laugh even harder.

This soup tastes just like a stuffed pepper, only better and much easier to make! I'm thinking it's right on time for the cool weather that many of you are experiencing up north. So go out and get the simple ingredients to make this soup, and even if you never met this amazing person, send a little smile her way, up that-a-way, for I'm sure that's where she is with all the other angels.

DEB’S STUFFED PEPPER SOUP

2 lbs. ground sirloin

1 28 oz. can tomato sauce

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)

2 cups chopped green pepper

2 beef bouillon cubes

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3 cups water (more or less depending on how thick you like it)

2 cups cooked rice

Brown the ground sirloin and drain. Add the remaining ingredients and bring everything to a boil except the rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Add cooked rice last. Makes a big pot, plenty for the next day.

In loving memory

Debbie Farr Finegan 8/19/1951 - 9/16/2009