Ham-Cauli Soup with Corn and Potatoes

The Occasion: Had a delicious ham and bean soup at a local bakery over the weekend and was inspired to cook some type of ham soup. Also, found cauliflower for sale at Redner's. $2.98 for the whole head.

The Recipe: Invented.

How it Went: Husband called this "phenomenal." So, I'd say it was a success.

What You Need:
Ham
Water
Bay Leaves
Cauliflower
Potatoes
Broth
Milk
Salt
Pepper
Frozen Corn
Provolone Cheese
French Fried Onions

Your Turn:
Wrap a smoked boneless ham in aluminum foil.

Place in a crock pot. Pour about half a cup of water over the ham. Toss in a few bay leaves.

Let it cook about eight hours on low.

Chop up one whole head of cauliflower and about three medium sized yellow potatoes.

Fill a large soup pot with the cauli and potatoes. Add about four cups of vegetable or chicken broth. Then remove the ham from the crock pot and dump into the soup pot the water from the crock pot. If the vegetables aren't covered, add a little more water til it nearly covers them.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15-20 minutes until soft.

In the meantime, shred the ham with two forks.

When the cauli and potatoes are tender, add the ham. It will add up to about four cups of shredded ham. Add half a teaspoon of salt and about half a teaspoon of pepper.

Whisk 1 C milk with 1 T flour and pour into soup. Dump in half a bag of frozen corn, stir, and let simmer another 15-20 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.

Now, the key is the toppings. And like on the Penne with Basil Rosa Sauce and Bacon, it was Husband who discovered the secret ingredient that makes this recipe fabulous. The soup must be topped with a slice of provolone cheese and french fried onions.

Trust me. This is the key to this unique soup.

Enjoy for days... this recipe makes about five quarts of soup.

Wild Rice Soup

The Date: 12 January 2012

The Occasion: I've had this page marked with a post-it in the cookbook for months now, but never got around to making it. This week, I put it on the menu.

One of us liked it. Guess who.

The Recipe: From this Betty Crocker book.

How it Went:
This was an easy soup to make! I really liked it. Husband said he wouldn't mind not eating it again... but yet he did have three bowls-ful. I guess that means it wasn't too bad. It probably won't be a regular menu item, but I'm glad I gave it a try. I enjoyed it.

What You Need:
celery
carrots
onion
bell pepper
flour
black pepper
cooked wild rice (more on this later)
water
chicken broth
milk or half&half

Your Turn:
Gather your vegetables: 2 stalks celery, 2 carrots, 1 onion, and 1 red or green bell pepper.

Slice the celery.
Shred the carrots with a vegetable peeler.
Chop the onion and pepper.

Saute these in butter or olive oil with some basil, thyme, and other soup herbs for a few minutes until tender.

Stir in 3 T flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Stir in 1-2 C water, depending on how dense you want the soup, 1 can chicken broth, and 1&1/4 C cooked wild rice.

The recipe calls for "1 pouch (from 10 oz package) frozen cooked wild rice (1&1/4 C)." I didn't look for frozen cooked wild rice, frankly, but I found this at ALDI and it seemed like it would work perfectly. I know Uncle Ben's makes a similar microwavable pouch of rice, and I think this would be the easiest method of getting your cooked rice. I suppose you could also cook some, if you keep that kind of thing around anyway, but this was a perfect solution for me. Cook this while you're slicing up your vegetables. Then add it with the water and broth.

Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This is a good time to make some parmesan toast or maybe your lunches for tomorrow.

After 15 minutes, stir in 1 C milk or half&half and a shake of dried parsley (or some chopped fresh parsley).

Serve with rolls or toast.

Tortilla Soup

The Date: 4 January 2012

The Occasion: Love this super-easy soup for a cold night. I had only made it once, and I wanted to do it again.

The Recipe: From Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals cookbook.

How it Went:
This soup is so easy to make and Husband and I love it so much that he suggested I keep the ingredients for it on hand at all times. It's great with grilled cheese, although this time I added chicken to the soup, so that made it hearty enough to stand alone. It's great for when you have a cold - clears those nasal passages right out - and I think it'd be as excellent in the summer as it is in the winter. A soup for all seasons. Mmm.

What You Need:
olive oil
onion
minced, dried garlic
chicken broth
tomato soup
milk
salsa
diced tomatoes with green chiles
frozen corn
tortilla chips
fresh cilantro
cheese (pepper jack is best, but extra sharp white cheddar works too)
cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

Your Turn:
In your soup pot, saute 1 C finely chopped red or yellow onion in 1 T olive oil. Add a few shakes of minced garlic.

Cook about 5 minutes until onion is soft.

Add

• 4 C (32 oz) chicken broth
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 T milk
• 2 T salsa
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 C frozen, whole-kernel corn
• 1/2 C tortilla chips, crushed
• cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve each bowlful with chopped fresh cilantro, shredded or crumbled pepper jack cheese (extra sharp white cheddar works too), and additional crushed tortilla chips. These toppings are essential to this soup. Don't get lazy and omit them, or you will not be doing justice to this fabulous soup.

TIP: Unless you grow your own, you will probably buy an entire bunch of cilantro. But you'll only need to chop up a few stalks for this soup. The rest will keep for a while in your fridge if you store it properly. First, pull out any stalks with withered or soft leaves. Do not rinse the entire bunch. Then, prop up the bunch in a cup of water. (I usually use a glass jar so I can see when the water gets cloudy, but I didn't have one that would accommodate this large bunch of cilantro.) Then loosely cover the top of the bunch with a plastic bag. When you see the water getting cloudy, just dump it out and refill the cup or jar. When you're ready to use cilantro, just pull out a few stalks, rinse, chop, and eat! You can use the cilantro for well over a week when you store it this way.

Chicken Soup with Vegetables and Orzo

The Date: 3 January 2012

The Occasion: I made a whole chicken in the crock pot last week and had lots of chicken leftover, plus real chicken stock. I thought this would make a totally winning soup.

The Recipe: Mostly from a recipe for Vegetable Chicken Noodle Soup from this book. But with several modifications including replacing the egg noodles with orzo, using real stock instead of reduced-sodium chicken broth, and eliminating the evaporated milk.

How it Went:
We loved this soup! Delicious. The stock was weird when I got it out of the fridge. Sort of gelatinous, not liquidy like broth you'd buy. But I mixed it into the soup, and it dissolved down to normal. I'd definitely do this again. Superb.

What You Need:
onion
carrots
celery
garlic
olive oil
flour
soup herbs (your choice)
chicken broth or stock
potatoes
cooked chicken
orzo

Your Turn:
Chop up vegetables so you have

• 1 C chopped onion
• 1 C chopped celery
• 1 C chopped carrot
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Saute these in a large soup pot in 2 tsp olive oil about 10 minutes, until tender.

While this is sauteing, scrub, peel, and chop 3 potatoes. This should be about 3-4 cups. Set these aside.

Now, add to the soup pot

• 1/4 C flour
• 2 tsp of herbs (Good choices are oregano, thyme, and basil. A poultry seasoning is good to add too.)

Stir to coat vegetables well.

Now add

• the chopped potatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• about 3 C chicken broth or stock
• about 3 C water

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer 20 minutes.

Stir in 2 C cooked, shredded chicken and 1 C orzo pasta, and let simmer another 10-15 minutes, or until orzo is plump and soft.

Taste it, then add more herbs and/or more salt, as needed.

Serve and enjoy!

A few recipes that aren't mine

I've made a few things recently that turned out excellent, but are so insanely easy, it's not worth a play-by-play of how to make it. I'll just give you the links and let you give it a whirl on your own.

A Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot
I made this today (recipe here) and it was seriously excellent. The blog I found it on says it's "fall-off-the-bone delicious," and I tell you... it absolutely was. I got this chicken from my employer at work for Christmas, so it was free, but I also read that buying a whole chicken is really cheap per pound, and you can make broth (which makes for divine soup) with the juices and bones! I also saved 4 cups of chicken, aside from what we ate for dinner, which I'll put in soup or casserole. It seems like a win-win-win situation. The broth is currently in my crock pot, where it will cook all night. I'll skim out all the bones and stuff in the morning, and save the excellent broth for an upcoming soup. Mmmm. I was a bit scared to attempt this whole-chicken-bones-and-all thing, but I'm impressed with myself and thrilled with the result. Please: Try this.

Nantucket Cranberry Pie
I took this recipe from Pioneer Woman to bake for Christmas Eve at my in-laws. Everyone loved it (I liked it more than the Cranberry Chess Pie, myself) and I'll definitely keep it in my favorite pies list. I might do a post on this, since it was so good and I love blogging pies, but Pioneer Woman's post (and photos, of course) are far superior to mine. So just check her recipe out.

Taco Soup
I made this a couple months ago for a friend who had a baby and needed meals delivered. It was a crock pot soup and embarrassingly easy, but she and her husband loved it. For an easy crock pot dinner, this is an excellent choice. It's also flexible. Leave out a certain kind of beans or the green chiles, or add more of anything you like. It's really great with shredded cheese and sour cream on top and a sprinkling of tortilla chips.

Skillet Chili
I've always made chili in a big skillet on the stove, but I've always used ground meat, a packet of McCormick chili seasoning, and whatever ingredients it suggests on the back of the packet. When I came across this recipe for chili, it sounded really similar but with a homemade flair. We loved it, and Husband even said it was better than my normal chili (which is funny because he normally likes packaged things more than the homemade versions). It was extremely good. I served it with rice, which I don't think she suggests. Also, I didn't use the whole jar of tomato sauce. I used tomato paste and some water instead, because I didn't have tomato sauce on hand. I also didn't have celery salt, so I used a bit of regular salt instead. It was really, really good.

Thanks to other cooks and food bloggers of the world for making such excellent recipes available!

French Onion Soup

The Date: 13 December 2011

The Occasion: A leftover recipe from Soup Week. I love French Onion Soup. Always order it at restaurants. I thought it'd be neat to have a version I could make at home. I tried this cheater version (cheating because it uses condensed French Onion Soup) and loved the result.

The Recipe: From Taste of Home's 2011 Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went:
Pete thought it was good enough to make for an appetizer for guests! I thought it was easy and tasted as good as any diner's version.

What You Need:
onions
butter
sugar
flour
beef broth
condensed French Onion Soup
croutons
swiss cheese

Your Turn:
Slice up 5-6 medium yellow onions. I guess you could use fewer of a larger variety of onion. The recipe did not specify type.


Melt 3-4 T of butter in the bottom of a soup pot. Saute onions until tender.

When tender, add 1/4 C sugar.

Stir and let caramelize just a bit. 

When lightly browned, add 2 T flour and mix well. 

Now add 

• 2 cans (or 29 oz) beef broth
• 2 C water
• 2 cans condensed French Onion Soup

Bring to a boil, then let simmer about 10 minutes. 

Add 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese.  

Add croutons and a slice of swiss cheese to each bowlful.

Yummy!

Smashed Potato Soup

The Date: 7 December 2011

The Occasion: Continuation of Soup Week, which never quite got off the ground. Tuesday and Wednesday I made soup, but Thursday and Friday found us elsewhere at dinnertime. So I have a few soups to add to next week's menu.

The Recipe: From recipe.com, a featured recipe in a recent Daily Recipe email, adapted by me.

How it Went: Winner!! Excellent crock pot soup. Easy and extremely yummy. The only changes I would definitely make are to add bacon and to swap carrots for the yellow bell pepper which the recipe calls for. Bell pepper wasn't a good fit for the soup at all. The carrots are great because they break down when you mash them, just like the potatoes, and they add a bit of sweetness.

What You Need:
potatoes
carrots
garlic
black pepper
salt
chicken broth
whipping cream, half and half or milk
cheddar cheese
green onions
bacon or bacon bits

Your Turn:
Peel and cube 3 & 1/2 lbs potatoes (white or yukon gold are good).

In a crock pot, combine

• the chopped potatoes
• 3/4 C chopped carrots
• garlic (1 tsp bottled roasted, if you want to follow the recipe, or a few shakes of dried minced garlic if you're cheap like me)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Add 4 & 1/2 C chicken broth.

Cook 8-10 hours on low heat while you go to work at your wonderful job that you love.

When you get home, take a deep sniff. It will smell wonderful. 

This batch was made with yellow pepper instead of carrots. The pepper just didn't fit with the flavor or texture of the soup, so I changed the recipe to use carrots instead.

Now, you've got a few things to add.

First, though, we need to mash up the potatoes. Use a masher and get them good and smashed.

When you're satisfied with the consistency, add

• 1/2 C whipping cream, half & half, or milk
• 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 C bacon pieces (or more)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Stir to mix well, and put the lid back on for a few minutes to make sure it heats back up.

If you want, sprinkle some scallions or bacon pieces on the top of each serving.

Mine was very thick. If you like it thinner, add additional milk, or even additional broth.

Fresh Tomato Soup with Tortellini

The Date: 6 December 2011

The Occasion: Soup Week! I've decided to expand my soup repertoire. I found a few recipes that looked appealing, and tried the first tonight.

The Recipe: Found it while browsing Recipe.com whose Daily Recipe email I get each day.

How it Went:
Well, I'd say it was successful, but since Campbell's has been selling condensed tomato soup for decades, it's no wonder homemade tomato soup has fallen by the wayside. It's time-consuming, messy, and expensive. Not only did I have to peel and slice up 6 large tomatoes, but the soup had to then simmer for a half hour while I wiped up tomato debris. And - I spent $10 on tomatoes! Can you believe that!? Four pounds of tomatoes at $2.50/lb. Ugh. So, yes, it went ok. And it was pretty good-tasting. But I probably won't do it again. It wasn't quite worth it.

What You Need:
onion
tomatoes
tomato sauce
chicken broth
salt
pepper
sage
milk
tortellini

Your Turn:
First, you need to peel tomatoes. I sort of accidentally doubled my recipe, so I did 6 large tomatoes. You can do 3 small ones instead. The recipe called for 2 pounds, which was estimated 6 tomatoes. My 6 tomatoes, though, were 4 pounds. Oh well. Let's do the recipe version: 2 lbs of tomatoes.

To peel, prepared a pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice cubes. Then wash the tomatoes, and cut a plus-shaped slit in the bottom of each one.

Drop one at a time into the boiling water for a couple minutes until you see the skin peeling back at the plus. Then collect it with a slotted spoon and drop it into the ice.

As it cools, peel the skin off.

As you get them peeled, cut out the stem section, then chop them up.

When you've got a big bowl full of chopped tomatoes, toss 1 onion, chopped, into some olive oil in your soup pot and let it cook until it softens.

Then add

• your tomatoes
• 1 & 1/2 C chicken broth
• 1 & 1/2 C water
• 1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 T chopped fresh sage
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Bring this to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes while you clean up your red, slimy counter.

Cook one 8 oz package of Barilla dried tortellini (you'll only use half of it) according to package instructions.

After 30 minutes, it's time to puree the soup. I did this in my blender, but the recipe says you can use a food mill (whatever that is).

Now, mix in about 2-3 T of milk and half of the pasta you boiled. (I added the whole package, but remember, it was a double batch. For a normal batch of soup, I'd use half and save the rest for another meal.)

Sprinkle with some cheese, if you wish, or serve with grilled cheese sandwiches. If you want to feel extremely domestic, give this a whirl. But if all you want is tomato soup, just open a can.

Turkey Soup and Pesto Olive Grilled Cheese

The Date: 28 November 2011, but we ate the leftovers tonight.

The Occasion: Nabbed some leftover turkey from Aunt Ruth's on Thanksgiving.

The Recipe: From foodnetwork.com, this recipe for Turkey Soup with Egg Noodles and Vegetables.

How it Went:
I thought it was a success. I love anything made with thyme and bay leaves, so this was a sure winner for me. Soup is so easy and flexible. This one is definitely worth making again.

What You Need:
cooked turkey (or chicken), shredded
olive oil
onions or leeks
carrots
celery
garlic
bay leaves
thyme
salt
pepper
chicken broth
egg noodles

Your Turn:
Heat about 2 tsp olive oil in a large soup pot. Saute in the oil

• 2 leeks (or 2 small yellow onions), chopped
• 2 carrots (or a handful of baby carrots), chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced

until they are soft.

Add

• 3-4 C cooked leftover turkey (I added some chicken I had too)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 6-8 C vegetable or chicken broth 

and stir to mix well.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 10 minutes, partially covered.

Return to a boil and add 6 oz of egg noodles.

Let simmer just until egg noodles are tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and discard bay leaves.

Enjoy!

This is quite good with sandwiches. Tonight I made Pesto Olive Grilled Cheese.

Butter one side of each slice of bread, as for normal grilled cheese. 

Place bread butter-side-down and spread a bit of pesto sauce on one slice.

Place a piece of provolone cheese on each slice of bread.

On one, spread a layer of thinly sliced olive pieces. 

Now, put the slices together. Your sandwich should be stacked: butter, bread, pesto, cheese, olives, cheese, bread, butter. 

Grill over medium heat in a skillet for a few minutes on each side. Slice to serve. 

Mom's Cream of Cauliflower Soup

The Date: 1 November 2011

The Occasion: I bought cauliflower on a whim when I saw it at ALDI and figured I'd find a time to make this childhood favorite. Tonight worked because Pete's not a huge vegetable fan, and since he ended up finally catching my flu, all I made for him was a can of condensed Chicken and Rice Soup. Poor Husby. So I whipped up some Cauliflower Soup for me.

The Recipe: Mom's (via a seven-line email. Yep, it's that easy.)

How it Went:
My food processor recently went kaput. Went to process some walnuts the other day, dumped them in, pushed the button, and... nothing. I have put a new one on my birthday list. Since this recipe calls for finely processed cauliflower, I used my blender. This worked, but was not ideal. I could only blend 4 or 5 florets at a time, and then had to scrape the processed cauliflower out from around the blades with a spatula.
Also, I somehow missed (in the seven-line email) the instruction to cook the cauliflower "until very tender." I dumped the cauliflower and broth together, let it get hot enough to become bubbly, made the roux, added it in, and then served myself a bowl. While it was certainly edible, it did not taste like Mom's. Gotta let that cauliflower cook down. Oops. I dumped it back in and let the whole thing cook for another 20 minutes.

What You Need:
cauliflower
chicken or vegetable broth
butter
flour
milk
Perfect Pinch
black pepper

Your Turn:

Cauliflower confetti

Chop one head of cauliflower into small florets, then chop fine in a food processor. You're going for cauliflower confetti.

Dump cauliflower into a large soup pot.

Add just enough chicken or vegetable broth to cover the cauliflower (about 2 cups broth). Add a few dashes of Perfect Pinch and black pepper.

Now, cook 15-20 minutes until cauliflower is tender.

Make a roux by melting 3 T of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then adding 3 T of flour. Stir well while it bubbles. Add 1 C of milk (or a little more if you like your soup less thick) and whisk continuously until it thickens.

Add the roux to the cauliflower. Stir.

You can let it simmer a bit longer, or serve immediately. I remember Mom serving it with some shredded cheese on top, but it's good without it too.

Mmm...

Want the seven-line version?

chop the cauliflower fine in a food processor

cook it in chicken broth until very tender (just enough broth to cover it)

add some perfect pinch too  

make a roux using melted butter and flour, maybe 3 tablespoons of each

add about a cup of milk or maybe 2 cups whisking the whole time as it thickens

mix it into the cauliflower mixture

now you have soup

Super-Easy Ham and Corn Chowder

The Recipe: Adapted from this book, a favorite standby.
What You Need:
2 C milk
1 C chicken broth
about 1/2 lb frozen sweet corn
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of potato soup
about 4 oz of sliced ham lunchmeat (half of an 8 oz container of sliced ham), chopped

Your Turn:

Dump all ingredients into a 6 quart stockpot.

Stir well.

Sprinkle with black pepper.

Bring to a gentle simmer and let cook about 20 minutes.

Chop up a few scallions and sprinkle on each serving as a garnish. Yum!

Sixties Soup

The Date: 3 October 2011

The Occasion: A cold Monday night just calls for soup.

The Recipe: From this book, full of wonderful recipes, which my mom got me for Christmas last year. Peter renamed this soup; its original name was Flower Garden Soup, which is kind of creative but suggests that you could be munching bits of mulch and azalea leaves. Peter likes "Sixties Soup" because the colorful vegetables - if you can manage to get them in the shape of flowers - are reminiscent of a psychedelic era.

How it Went:
This was yet another recipe that called for already-cooked chicken. This is, as I've said, annoying because an ingredients list should be raw materials only. Fortunately, this recipe allows enough downtime time to cook the chicken, the procedure for which I've outlined below.

Your Turn:

See? Squares.

Make flowers out of two medium-small zucchinis (one green and one yellow) and a few full-size carrots. To do this, use a zest stripper, or a knife, to cut out little notches around the edge of the vegetables, then chop them into slices on a large cutting board. (Don't use a regular vegetable peeler or you will end up with just space for four swipes of the peeler and when you chop the veggies you'll have squares instead of flowers. Perhaps that would be Eighties Soup or something.) If you already have baby carrots in the fridge like I usually do, by all means, use these instead. Just quarter them to make strips. Chop up an onion and four stalks of celery too.

Set the zucchini aside, then toss the rest of the vegetables into a large soup pot. Add about eight cups of chicken or vegetable broth, either canned, boxed, or made from pouring boiling water over bouillon. Then be generous with spices. Add basil, oregano, onion salt, garlic powder, black pepper, chicken seasoning, and any other spices you think might be good.

Turn on the stove, and let this come to a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat down, cover it, and set a timer for 20 minutes.

Now, take two chicken breasts out of the fridge, chop them on your cutting board into little cubes, and fry them up in some olive oil in a medium skillet with some basil and garlic powder. This will not take the whole time that the soup is coming to a boil and then boiling, so once the chicken is cooked, set it aside with the zucchini, and wash up all the dishes you've used so far. Or start your blog post. Or both.

When the timer goes off, taste a spoonful of the soup. Add more spices if it's not flavorful enough. Then add the chicken and zucchini (optional: add a few handfuls of egg noodles) and set the timer for another 10 minutes.

Serve with hot rolls or toasted homemade bread, and - if you're feeling adventurous - a green salad. Turn on some Simon & Garfunkel and enjoy.