What’s your favorite soup or other comfort food, when the temperatures are going to record lows?
(and Mr. Beam and Mr. Daniels don’t count ;-)
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=JT
I’ve been making a lot of soups lately. Good way to keep busy on these winter weekends, when you have 6-8 hours to kill :)
I cheated today and did she crab soup from a mix. ‘Just added a can of crab. Yummy
Yum!
Here’s my favorite green soup recipe:
Roast broccoli florets on a big baking sheet with olive oil and sea salt and cracked pepper to taste.
Roast at 350-375 for 20-30 minutes until some carmelization shows.
Put into blender with some milk....blend away until consistency and creaminess is what you like and enjoy!!
I usually have to nuke my bowl a little because the milk cools the soup quickly.
I add grated cheddar and a little more pepper.
Being from Louisiana I don’t need warm recipes, oh wait it’s getting down to 30 tonight. Last night it was the 20’s. I hate these cold nights. I guess soup sounds good but I think the pork chops will be better still, and then curl up in my blanket.
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.”
I have the old Laurel’s Kitchen and I think I have the Shaker cookbook, too. If I find it I will send the name. It has a name that does not include Shaker but I am pretty sure what it is.
for later checking...
But then, cold for me is high 60's, so it is more being comfortable standing over a steaming pot in the kitchen weather.
Split pea with plenty of smoked ham. Along with a big old hunk of hot cornbread. Nothing better.
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.
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.
CHILI
2-lbs hamburger
2-bell peppers (large diced)
2-onions (large diced)
2-29oz can tomato sauce
1-29oz can Rotel tomato
1-29 oz can diced tomato
1-can tomato paste
1-lb mushrooms
5-10 garlic cloves
3-4 oz chili powder
4-5 tsp cumin
Tabasco
Cinnamon (dash)
I make this in an 8 quart pot
Saute garlic in a little oil. Add onion and cook a few minutes. Remove from pot. Brown meat ½ way. Add peppers. Finish browning meat. Add onion/garlic. Mix. Add tomatoes. Mix well. Add chili powder and cumin. Mix well. Simmer on low for ½ hour. Add mushrooms. Simmer on low for an hour.
Here is where you add chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, Tabasco, cinnamon (just a dash) to taste.
This is not hot chili. Add cayenne or whatever for heat.
Bump to keep this, everything sounds so good!
Your Green Soup recipe sounds great! Thanks JT.
A favorite here would be gumbo. Definitely not the canned stuff from Campbells kids, but a hearty homemade shrimp gumbo, a seafood gumbo, or even a chicken/sausage gumbo. Served with rice rather than bread. But what the hay! A nice chunk of cornbread wouldn’t be turned down. For those looking for SOUTHERN RECIPES, this would be one trademark of the south. From The Carolinas to Louisiana and all points in between, a staple in southern cooking. Tomatoes, okra, and file’ (a spice) are all common in gumbo recipes. The challange in gumbo is making the roux...but it seems more intimating than it actually is. Try it, you’ll like it. CAUTION: add the file’ spice in the last few minutes of cooking. The longer it cooks, the more spicy it becomes.
CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-and-smoked-sausage-gumbo-with-white-rice-recipe.html
SEAFOOD GUMBO
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/seafood-gumbo-241194
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/GumboSeafood.htm
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/seafood-gumbo
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/seafood-gumbo-recipe.html
CHICKEN AND OKRA GUMBO
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/seafood-gumbo
SHRIMP GUMBO
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/shrimp-gumbo-recipe.html
PAST THREADS:
Feb 5,2015
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I LOVE soup.... I make it at least once a week. I also cook for an army, so the extra either goes to the freezer or to friends and neighbors.
My normal mode of operation is to save all the flavor things that normally get pitched..... chicken carcasses, beef bones, fond from the bottom of the pan. When I trim a chicken breast the scraps go in. If I’m not using the chicken skin or bones I will bake it until browned and add that. Raw or cooked doesn’t matter, though browned things have more depth of flavor. Even after I make hamburgers I will add some water to the pan to get the fond from the bottom of the pan. All these things get put into zip lock bags in the freezer. If you want to you can separate beef and chicken, but it isn’t necessary. (I have family that doesn’t eat beef, so I do).
I will also add the last half cup of stew before it spoils, a bit of leftover tomato sauce or paste, bits of leftover gravy or mashed potatoes. Fresh parsley that won’t get used. Whatever is full of flavor, but not anything from the cabbage or broccoli family. Those would dominate too much.
When I have several bags full I plop them into my 8 qt. pasta pot, with the strainer, and cover with water. Simmer for several hours. When all the flavor is cooked out simply lift the pasta strainer and remove all the stuff that isn’t stock. Simple! Check the flavor. If it needs reducing, continue cooking. If not, proceed with soup or cool for packaging for the freezer. Or you can refrigerate it to degrease it and make soup the next day.
When I make soup I start by sautéing celery, carrot and onion. Add whatever meat is leftover in the fridge or some that you have saved separately in the freezer just for soup. Add a handful of starch... potatoes, beans, lentils, rice or noodles. If there is something left over in the fridge this is a good way to use it. Add any additional veggies that might go well with your base... green beans, squash, tomato. Cabbage works here but not for the stock. Add whatever herb you like.... bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and parsley all work well.
Simmer until the veggies are cooked to your liking. We fondly call this “garbage soup”. Mixing beef and chicken gives an interesting depth to the stock. But separate they are also delicious.
I made this yesterday with fresh bread:
Trillian’s Cream of Cheesy Potato Soup
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
5-6 medium potatoes, skinned and cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough homemade chicken stock and water to fill pot
1- 1/1/2 cups of half & half or whole milk to taste (you can also use cream if you want)
1 stick of butter and equal parts flour to make roux
2 cups of shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 lb of cooked bacon, minced
In a large soup pot (mine holds 18 cups) saute onions in butter and olive oil for a few minutes.
Add garlic, carrots and celery and saute for a few minutes more. Add potatoes and then saute for a few minutes constantly stirring.
Add a mixture of chicken stock and water to taste until the liquid reaches about 1-2 inches from top of pot.
Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes.
Stir in milk or cream until well blended.
In a medium saucepan melt stick of butter and slowly mix in flour with whisk. It should form a thick paste.
Slowly start to ladle the soup into the medium pan continuing to mix with whisk until it starts to thicken. Pour it into the big soup pot and continue stirring with whisk until all the soup starts thickening. It should have the consistency between soup and gravy, not too thick.
Add cheese and stir until completely melted. Take off heat and stir in bacon.
Serve with homemade bread toasted in the oven.
A few days before that was zucchini and potato soup.
Southwestern Corn and Cheese Chowder
This is from “Cold Weather Cooking” by Sarah Leah Chase
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2” cubes
4 oz. thick-sliced bacon,
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced green chiles (4oz)
1 can creamed corn (16oz)
1 Mexican bottle beer (12 oz)
6 cups Chicken broth
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 Bay leaf
2 tsp. Chili powder
2 tsp. Ground cumin
2 cups milk
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half.
1 lb Monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Preparation
Place the sweet potatoes, 3 cups of chicken broth, the beer, cumin, and bay leaf in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are crisp-tender, 12-15 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp in a large stockpot. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels; when it is cool, chop or crumble it. Add the onion and garlic to the fat remaining in the pot; saute over medium-high heat until quite soft, about 10 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes with the cooking liquid to the onion and stir in the remaining 3 cups broth as well. Add the creamed corn and green chiles to the soup and season with the chili powder and cayenne. Gradually stir in the milk and cream. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Shred 12 ounces of the cheese and cut the remaining 4 ounces into small dice. Reduce the heat under the soup to low and add the shredded cheese, stirring just until melted. Season the soup with salt and stir in the cilantro. Ladle into bowls, stirring a tablespoon of diced cheese into each.
++Please note: I decreased cheese to 8 oz. I have tried this with low fat milk..it isn’t as good. It does need whole milk and that bit of cream or half and half.
My favorite soup is squash soup. It’s just thrown together so no measurements. Cook whatever winter squash/s you like until soft. Put the pulp in a blender with cream or half and half until smooth. Add salt and pepper, garlic and hot pepper to give it a kick.
Made fried chicken a couple days ago and boiled the carcass. Picked the carcass and saved the broth (the fur babies got the skin and fat) so we’re having chicken soup tonight. No refrigerator leftovers to throw in so will just add some onions from the garden, canned corn, some mixed frozen veggies and a handful of noodles.
Oooh, found a new breakfast fav. Leftover breakfast sausage and an apple. Bite of sausage, bite of apple, bite of sausage, bate of apple... yum!
Used up an old can of pie filling last night by swirling it through a cake batter. Easy. Bake and enjoy.