Posted on 02/19/2015 3:27:45 PM PST by Jamestown1630
This week, it's Soup and "Bread"
(It's freezing here; and Soup's my favorite thing to cook anyway!)
When I first developed a serious interest in cooking, my favorite cookbooks were the original 'Laurel's Kitchen' and a Shaker cookbook whose name I've forgotten and can't seem to find cited anywhere.
One soup recipe that has stuck with me and remained a favorite is the "Favorite Green Soup" from 'Laurel's Kitchen.' Here is an adaptation of it, a really great soup, very nutritious, with plenty of room for variations.
(In our house, it has the undignified name of 'Green Slime Soup' because it looks like the stuff at the bottom of a creek bed; but don't let that bother you ;-)
Favorite Green Soup
2 T. Olive or other oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Stalks Celery, diced
6 cups Vegetable Stock
¾ C. split peas, rinsed
6 C. diced Zucchini
1/2 lb. Kale, washed & torn
1 or 2 Bay leaves
1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and torn
¼ C. chopped fresh Parsley
2 tsps. Salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Basil to taste
Opt: Pinch of crushed Red Pepper
Opt: Granulated Garlic
Saute onion and celery in the oil until soft. Add 4 cups vegetable stock, split peas, and bay leaf.
Bring to boil; then lower heat and simmer about 40 minutes, or until the peas are soft. Remove bay leaves.
Add zucchini, remaining stock, and seasonings. Cook until the zucchini is soft, and then add kale and simmer until the kale cooks down. (You may want to add more water or stock here.) Add spinach and parsley and cook until wilted.
Puree in blender, in small batches (hot soup will explode in the blender if you do too much at once.)
Return to medium heat for several minutes; adjust seasonings.
(Granulated garlic and crushed red pepper can be added to taste.)
For the 'Bread', from the Shaker cookbook came a recipe for homemade crackers that have also become a staple:
Whole Wheat Crackers
Preheat oven to 375
2 C. whole wheat Flour
2 tsps. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 Cup Butter
6 T. Milk
Mix and dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until dough is 'grainy'. (Dough will be stiff.)
On floured surface, roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into rounds (diamonds are nice, too, for a party.)
Place on greased baking sheet or a parchment- lined sheet. Pierce crackers with fork and bake until golden.
I would sometimes sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking.
-JT
Yes, and you have plenty of time to get the flavor “just right” too. Too salty? Add some more water. To watery? Simmer it a bit longer. Too bland? Throw another spoonful of salt or a pinch of spices in there. It’s pretty hard to mess up a soup beyond the point where a little tinkering won’t save it.
But then, cold for me is high 60's, so it is more being comfortable standing over a steaming pot in the kitchen weather.
Not in the soup category, but in the comfort food category, Hubby makes a mean barbeque pulled pork meatloaf. He made one earlier this week. It was SO good!
Split pea with plenty of smoked ham. Along with a big old hunk of hot cornbread. Nothing better.
You left out a ton of cumin and jalapenos and serranos.
That sounds good. Does your husband share his recipes? I think my own Husband Unit would like that.
-JT
Thanks! This would have been a big fat book with a brown-ish cover that I found in the local library in the mid-to-late 1970s.
-JT
/johnny
Brunswick stew
Simmer 2 bone in chicken breast for 1 hr in 5 cups of water- covered. Remove meat from bones and put back in water. Add one 28 oz can diced tomatoes, one 14 oz can of creamed corn, one 14 oz can undrained lime beans (not seasoned), one diced med potato and one half diced onion. Simmer for 45 min. Whisk one tablespoon flour in half cup of cold water and add to stew. Bring to boil for 5 min, season with salt and pepper.
Best served with Jiffy corn bread muffins.
When you can, please post the ‘crustless quiche’. I need to go on a low-carb diet :-)
-JT
I also recommend clean chicken feet if you can find them in your supermarket (Jewish neighborhoods often). They have such a gelatinous texture it will turn chicken soup into a wondrous meal. Just cut off the toenails...
No squirrel in your Brunswick Stew?!
I had it in West Virginia once (sans squirrel) and it was delicious.
This is a very simple stew. It is surprisingly delicious and I think it is because you don’t drain the vegetables - adding all the juices seasons it just right. Don’t forget the hot sauce!
Always with a half cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to start. 5 eggs. Grated cheese if available. Cooked greens if available. Cooked bacon (chopped) and cooked onions usually.
Mix together until it's a gloppy mess and pour into a pan. Top with grated cheese and bake at 350F until it rises and turns brown.
If a toothpick in the center doesn't come out clean, cover with foil and continue cooking until a toothpick comes out clean.
I do a lot of stuff by seat of the pants and what's available. ;) Fixed recipes are not my forte.
/johnny
You can take the potato out later if your soup does not include potatoes normally.
I won’t, lol!
Thanks, /johnny. Will try it. Doing without crust is a letdown, but the other parts of quiche are great, if you have to be on a diet.
-JT
Other then the green peas sounds yummy. Expecting snow this weekend, 60 today, so will make crock pot green chili pork stew with modifications of course.
Thanks for this. I have an elderly friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. She’s basically living on soups, and this looks like one that she’ll like.
-JT
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