Week #21 - Chicken Noodle Soup and Corn Casserole

This was supposed to be Turkey Noodle Soup, but I could not find turkey meat for soup without buying a whole turkey. I made this for my family's Thanksgiving lunch but I used chicken instead. I used this recipe from myrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray 
• 1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrot 
• 3/4 cup chopped onion 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices celery 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 
• 2 cups (3 ounces) uncooked egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups shredded turkey (about 8 ounces)
• Coarsely ground black pepper (optional) 

Preparation

• Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add carrot, onion, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is lightly browned. Add celery, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through bay leaf); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add shredded turkey; cook 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle with coarsely ground black pepper, if desired.

It turned out really good, and everyone was impressed by my cooking.

Rating: 4.5/5


I also made corn casserole. I originally got the recipe from my friend, but I lost it, so I looked up another one online. I found this one on cooks.com.

  1 can whole kernel yellow corn, undrained

1 can cream style yellow corn
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 stick butter, melted

Mix all together and pour into large, lightly oiled casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes.

 

It's on the plate in the back.

At first I thought it turned out not sweet enough, but once I had some more it was really good.

Week #20 - Olive Garden Style Zuppa Toscana Soup

I was thinking of how much I love soup, salad, and breadsticks at Olive Garden so I decided to try making Zuppa Toscana soup. I found this recipe on Food.com.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Italian sausage (I like mild sausage)
• 2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup bacon bit (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups kale or 2 cups swiss chard, chopped
• 2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 quart water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

 

Directions:

1. Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces.
2. Brown sausage in your soup pot.
3. Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir.
4. Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in pot.
5. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.
6. Add sausage and bacon.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Turn to low heat.
10. Add kale and cream.
11. Heat through and serve.

 

This soup was almost exactly like Olive Garden's! I omitted the bacon and I sauted the onions with the sausage first, but otherwise I followed the recipe. This soup was so good! I will definitely make it again, especially if I get my hands on some Olive Garden salad dressing.

Rating: 5/5

Week #18 - Ham and Bean Soup

My husband told me I needed more beans in my soup. So I found this recipe at BigOven.

Ingredients [ View Metric ]

	3/4 poundFully cooked ham; cubed
	1 mediumOnion
	2 clovesGarlic
	2 tablespoonsButter
	2 16-oz cansGreat Northern Beans; rinsed and; drained
	3 cupsChicken broth
	2 cupsWater
	1 cupPotatoes; peeled, diced
	3/4 cupCarrots; diced
	3/4 cupCelery
	1/4 teaspoonPepper
	1/2 cupFrozen peas
	2 tablespoonsFresh parsley; minced

How to Prepare Best Ham and Bean Soup

In a 3 quart saucepan, saute ham, onion and garlic in butter until onion is tender.
Add the next seven ingredients; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Add peas and cook for 5 minutes. Add parsley and serve.

This soup was really good. I omitted the peas, but everything else was the same. It was really easy to make, and my husband approved.

Rating: 4/5

Week #17 - Jason's Deli Style Chicken Pot Pie Soup

My husband and I went to Jason's Deli this weekend. While he claimed that it was overpriced and not very good, I thoroughly enjoy their chicken pot pie soup. I found a recipe on CopyKat.com and decided to try it.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup – Made from scratch
Adapted from this recipe on RecipeZaar.com

Ingredients

◦2 cups cooked chicken, cubed )
◦Small onion, chopped
◦1 cup carrots, chopped
◦2 cups potatoes, cubed
◦1 can green peas, drained
◦1 can corn, drained
◦6 tbsp. butter or margarine
◦1/2 to 1 cup flour (see note below)
◦2 tbsp. chicken bouillon, ground up
◦2 cups chicken broth
◦4 cups of milk
◦1/2 tsp. pepper
◦1/4 tsp. garlic salt
◦Puff pastry dough ( I use Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations)
The Process

1. Put potatoes in a pot with 1 cup of chicken broth and enough water to cover them. At the same time, put your carrots in a pot with enough water to cover them. Cover and cook both vegetables until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, saute onions in a few teaspoons of oil until soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes.

3. In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add in bouillon, pepper, garlic, broth and flour (see note below). Stir until smooth.

4. Gradually add milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until it boils, simmer for a minute, stirring constantly.


Note: I like this soup to be thick, more like actual chicken pot pie. You may want it to be soupier, though. My recommendation is to start with 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of broth and bring to boil with milk (don’t skimp on the milk) like instructed. If you think it’s too soupy add more flour about 1/4 cup at a time until it thickens. If you add more flour, add another tablespoon of the ground up bouillon, too, or else it’ll taste too flour-y. If it’s too thick for your liking, add in chicken broth, about 1/4 cup at a time until it gets to the right consistency.

5. Add chicken and then each vegetable one at time and stir carefully between each addition.

6. Roll out your pastry dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut into 3×3 inch squares. Bake in 375 degree oven for 7-10 minutes, until puffy and slightly browned on top. Serve on top of soup.

I did not use a puff pastry topping just because I already had some bread at home and just had that with it instead. I prepared the carrots and potatoes in the same pot since they both required the same amount of time, and it worked fine. I ended up using about 1/2 cup of flour, and it still tasted a bit to flour-y, even though I added extra bouillon. I wanted it to be thick like real pot pie, and it was. It had the texture and taste of pot pie, but it was definitely not as good at Jason's. The broth part of it just didn't taste as good. But if I wasn't comparing, it was good enough.

Rating: 3/5

Week #16 - Swamp Soup

I saw this recipe on BudgetBytes.com, a low cost cooking blog. BudgetBytes blogger Beth (say that 3 times fast!) raved about it so much that I decided I had to try it. She billed it as tomato soup and grilled cheese all in one. Sounded good to me!

INGREDIENTS		COST
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.22
3 stalks	celery	$0.46
4 med	carrots	$0.31
1 med	onion	$0.38
3 cloves	garlic	$0.21
1 Tbsp	dried basil	$0.15
1 Tbsp	dried oregano	$0.15
1 (28 oz) can	tomato sauce	$1.42
45 oz.	diced tomatoes	$2.01
1.5 tsp	chicken or vegetable bouillon	$0.13
1.5 cups	water	$0.00
1 (10 oz.) pkg	frozen spinach	$0.96
6 oz.	swiss cheese	$1.53
TOTAL		$7.93

STEP 1: Clean and chop the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until the vegetables have softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in the basil and oregano and cook for one more minute.

STEP 2: Pour in the cans of diced tomatoes (do not drain) and tomato sauce. For the diced tomatoes you can either use 3 (15 oz.) cans or 1 (28 oz.) can plus 1 (15 oz.) can. The latter will probably be less expensive.

STEP 3: Add 1.5 cups chicken broth or 1.5 cups water plus 1.5 tsp chicken bouillon. To make this a vegetarian dish, simply substitute the chicken broth or bouillon with a vegetable variety. Add the brick of frozen spinach. Allow the mixture to heat through, stirring occasionally to break up the spinach as it melts (about 10 minutes).

STEP 4: Once the soup is completely heated through, dice the swiss cheese. Reduce the heat to low or turn the heat off completely. Drop in the swiss cheese and stir it in. The cheese will melt and become gooey but remain in clumps. If the heat is left on high, the cheese will melt too much and dissolve in. Alternatively, you can add the cheese to each bowl of soup after serving.

This soup was great! I followed the recipe pretty much exactly. The only thing that wasn't good about it was my fault because I didn't cook the vegetables long enough and the carrots were still kind of crunchy. The globs of cheese were really good. I will definitely make this soup again.

Rating 4.5/5

Week #15 - Beef Stew

I decided to make beef stew last week for something hearty. This recipe by Paula Deen was the first one that came up, so I decided to try it.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly. 

I didn't let the stew simmer for as long as they said to because I am impatient. It came out pretty good, but I should have added potatoes like some of the reviews suggested. I would make it again with that changed. I served the stew with some Italian bread and it made a good meal.

Rating 3.5/5

Week #14 - Olive Garden Style Chicken Gnocchi Soup

I bought some gnocchi at Whole Foods with no particular purpose in mind. Then I thought of the chicken gnocchi soup I like to get at Olive Garden, and I found a couple of copy cat recipes online. I chose this one on Food.com.

Ingredients

• 3 -4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced 
•  4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, shredded
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• salt and pepper
• 16 ounces potato gnocchi
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)  

Directions:

1. Saute the onion, celery, garlic, carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.
2. Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.
4. (Heat to boiling and add cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp water at this point if you want a thicker soup.).
5. Ladle into bowls and serve!
   
   I pretty much followed the directions except I used less chicken and less gnocchi. I think I used a bit too much thyme. This recipe was ok, but not the same as Olive Garden's soup, even though most of the reviews said it was better. I would rather go to Olive Garden.

Rating 3/5

Week #13 - Tortilla Soup

This week I decided to make tortilla soup, which is one of the soups I order most in restaurants. I looked at a few recipes online, but I kind of made up my own recipe.

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 a green pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno, chopped
4 cans chicken broth
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 little cans tomato sauce
1 can black beans
1 small package frozen corn
chili powder and cumin to taste

Method
1. Boil chicken breasts and shred with a fork. Set aside
2. Saute onion, garlic, green pepper, and jalapeno in olive oil until soft.
3. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
4. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, corn, and chicken, and spices, and simmer for 15 minutes.


I was so hungry tonight that I forgot to take a picture. Oops. But, I served the soup with some chips and guacamole. The guacamole was easy to make. Just throw together a couple avacados, chopped onions and tomatoes, and lime juice, and mix in a bowl.


Rating: 4/5

Week #12 - Ken's Quick Chili

This week my husband is making chili, so this is going to be my soup for the week. This is his own recipe and he just throws things together. I was in charge of getting ingredients, and I decided to try ground bison just to try something different. Here is the recipe according to him. (BTW: Ken is our 2010 Neighborhood Chili Cook-off winner! Oh yeah!)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 jalepenos, de-veined and finely chopped
2 peppers, chopped (red and orange)
6 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of tri-blend beans
1 small can of tomato paste
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 large can of tomato puree
2 pounds of ground bison meat
6 oz water
cayenne pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper, white pepper, dark Mexican chili powder to taste

Method:
1. Saute the peppers, onion, and garlic in olive oil until soft.
2. Add the bison meat and cook through.
3. Add tomato paste and a round of seasoning.
4. Add the tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, and beans, and season again.
5. Add water.
6. Simmer until the beans are tender.
7. The longer you cook the better, and keep adding a bit more water as you cook longer. It will be better the second day!

Rating 4.5/5

Week #11 - Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Happy Fall, everybody! I have been really busy so I did not make soup last week. But this week I decided to make a soup that made me think of Fall. I saw a pumpkin soup recipe in a magazine, but I forgot the recipe when I went to the store, so I looked another one up on my phone. I found this one on SimplyRecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 3 (15 oz) cans 100 percent pumpkin or 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
• 5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)**
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.
**If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free broth.

Method

1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.
Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.

 I didn't use the toasted pumpkin seeds, but they would have been good. The flavor of this soup was really good, however it wasn't very filling since it was essentially broth. This is the type of soup that would be good to drink out of a mug when you are cold or sick.

Rating: 3.5/5

Week #9 - Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

This week I asked my facebook friends to give me suggestions on what soup to make. Courtney O. suggested an Italian tortellini soup, so I decided to go with that. I found this recipe on allrecipes (which apparently is my favorite recipe site since I always seem to be getting things from there). Nearly all the reviews of this recipe were five stars. I pretty much followed the recipe, but I almost doubled it.

Ingredients

• 1 (3.5 ounce) link sweet Italian sausage, casings removed  (I used hot sausage and I left the casings on)
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups beef stock
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup red wine  (I omitted this)
• 4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped  (I used canned tomatoes)
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 8 ounces cheese tortellini
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1. Place the sausage in a large pot over medium high heat and saute for 10 minutes, or until well browned. Drain the fat except for about 1 tablespoon, add the onions and garlic and saute for 5 more minutes.
2. Next add the beef stock, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming any fat that may surface.
3. Add the zucchini, tortellini, green bell pepper and parsley to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until tortellini is fully cooked. Pour into individual bowls and garnish with the cheese. 

This soup was really good. I'm glad I used the hot sausage because it was just spicy enough. It was very filling because of the pasta.

Rating 4/5

Week #8 - Red Pepper Soup

Hey guys! This is my first time doing a pureed soup. I don't know what made me think of searching for red pepper soup, but I found a recipe on allrecipes that looked pretty good. I was kind of afraid of the whole puree aspect, but I don't know why. It was easy. I pretty much followed this recipe exactly.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 24 fluid ounces chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place the red bell pepper, onion and garlic in the saucepan and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until tender. 
2. Pour in the chicken broth, stirring well, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
3. Run the soup through a strainer and return the liquid to the saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in the heavy cream and the ground black pepper and allow to heat through, about 5 to 10 minutes. 

Those weird-looking white-ish things are the parmesan shavings.

It came out great! I think I was extra impressed because, since the soup was smooth, it seemed more "professional" to me rather than homemade. I served it with some sour cream and parmesan cheese shavings, neither of which would float on top for a pretty picture, and some french bread. I would definitely make this soup again on a cold fall evening.

Rating: 4/5

Week #7 - Chicken Corn Chowder

This week my husband requested chicken corn chowder. I looked online, and ended up taking inspiration from several different recipes.

I took 2 frozen chicken breasts and boiled them in about 6 cups of water. When the chicken was cooked, I shredded it with forks. I sauteed about 1.5 cups of chopped onions and celery with some butter until the onions were translucent. I added in the chicken water along with a couple of chicken bullion cubes. I added two cut up potatoes, the corn kernels cut from two ears of corn, the chicken, some salt, pepper, chili powder, and poultry seasoning. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes were soft. After removing it from the heat, I added half a cup of half and half.

This soup was ok. I wasn't thrilled with the way the seasoning came out, and it could have used more corn. One of the recipes I read said to add a can of creamed corn, but I forgot to buy it. I also think that would have made it thicker. I will have to try a creamy or cheesy based soup next.

Rating 2.5/5

Week #6 (Guest Blogger!) - Chicken Vegetable Quinoa Soup

My friend Erica is a great cook, and she came to visit this week. I asked her to be my first guest blogger!
-------------------

I think I love soup almost as much as Michaela.  Actually, my love is more for the cooking of the soup than the eating of it.  I've been cooking soup in Michaela's kitchen for years, so when I came in to town for a visit, it was necessary that I partake in her "52 Soups" adventure.

Unlike Michaela, I don't usually follow a recipe.  I'm a "throw stuff in to a pot and see what it tastes like" kind of cook.  So here's what I ended up with:

Chicken Vegetable Quinoa soup

Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 medium white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
3/4 cup baby carrots (or 1 large/2 small regular carrots), diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and lightly rinsed
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken breasts
3 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups water
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 cup quinoa
salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream

Directions:
Over medium heat, heat butter and oil in soup pot
Add onion, pepper, celery, and carrot
Season with a pinch of salt a a few good grinds of pepper
Saute until vegetables soften

Add garlic and cook until you can smell it (30-45 seconds)
Add chicken, tomatoes, beans, broth, chili powder, and salt/pepper to taste
Add quinoa and 1 cup of water
Bring pot to a boil over medium heat

Cover and let boil for 12 minutes
If soup seems thick, add additional water
Remove from heat and let set for 10-15 minutes until quinoa is tender but not mushy
Serve with sour cream (for added creaminess and/or heat reduction if you used too much chili powder)

Notes:
- A request to make the soup "hearty" made me add chicken to my recipe.  The soup could easily be made vegetarian, or vegan, by excluding the chicken breasts and substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth (exclude butter for vegan version)
- Play around with vegetables - many veggies can be substituted or added to this recipe, so use what you like or what you have on hand
- Lentils would be a good substitution for Quinoa in this - just reduce the water and add about 5-10 minutes to your cooking time

As one of my sporadic soup creations, I was greatly impressed with this.  The chipotle chili powder added a smokey spice which was greatly paired with the creamy sour cream.  I might play around with substituting different grains, though.  I love quinoa, but it was almost hidden by the chunky vegetables, so something more "present" like lentils or barley might work better.

-------------------------------

Thanks, Erica! This soup was great. We served it with Pampered Chef beer bread. It was a great meal.

Rating 4.5/5

Week #5 - French Onion Soup

I love French onion soup! This seemed like a fairly easy soup to make and I always get it at restaurants, so I tried it. Most recipes I saw seemed to be pretty similar, so I went with this one from the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

The only thing I already had at home was the wine, flower, and dried herbs (instead of fresh ones). I used half a bottle of Gnarley Head red zin that I had in the fridge, and got swiss and mozzarella cheese instead of Gruyere.

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. 

Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs (I used dried herbs and just left them in). 

Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere (I used swiss and mozarella) and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.
Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

I did the method where you put the bread and the cheese in the soup and then put it in the oven (400 degrees for 10 minutes), but it did not toast the bread. Next time I will toast the bread in the oven on a cookie sheet, and then put them in the soup with the cheese and put it back in the oven to melt the cheese.

This soup tasted great. I think I should have cooked the onions longer, I only cooked them about 15 or 20 minutes. I was very pleased with this soup.

Rating 4.5/5

Week #4 - Cup of Garden Soup

Sorry this post is coming late, but I went to Chicago to visit my friend Kara. While I was there, we made Cup of Garden soup, which is a recipe by Jamie Oliver featured in Better Homes and Gardens. There is a full recipe here, but it said you could use whatever veggies you wanted, so we went to the Green City Market in Chicago and got some things that looked good, including:

red onion
purple carrots
leeks
zucchini
basil

Kara at the farmers market. If you like her bag you can order one from Full Circle Crafts. She makes them!

We also had some ingredients at home that we used: bacon, garlic, yellow squash, celery, oregano, red potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 2 cans of chickpeas, and 8 cups of broth. 

First we fried up about 5 strips of chopped up bacon, then we added the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, squash, leeks, and oregano until the vegetables were soft. Then we added the tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, chickpeas, and broth. We brought all that to a boil, and then simmered for about a half hour.

We served it with a little basil on top. We also bought some french bread at the farmer's market to have with the soup. Yummy!

Rating: 4/5

Week #3 - Bean & Bacon Soup with Corn Bread

So, why am I turning on my stove and oven when it's 79 degrees in my house with air conditioning? I guess I'm just crazy. But I had to make my soup for the week, and I haven't been brave enough to consider cold soups, so I had to make do with the heat. This week, my husband requested bean and bacon soup. I looked online, and most soups want you to use dry beans which you have to soak. I decided I was too impatient for that, so I googled "fast bean and bacon soup." I came up with this recipe from RealSimple.com:

Ingredients

• 4 strips bacon
• 1 large carrot, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 15 1/2-ounce cans great Northern beans, drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let cool, then break into pieces.
2. Return the saucepan to medium heat, add the carrot to the pan drippings, and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the celery, onion, and garlic, stirring well and cooking for 3 minutes more.
4. Add the beans and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Uncover and, with a potato masher or large slotted spoon, partially mash the bean mixture until it thickens slightly.
6. Stir in the parsley, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and bacon

 

 I had all the ingredients already except carrots, bacon, and beans. I decided extra bacon is always good, so I added 2 more strips. I also added an extra carrot. I didn't drain the beans, in fact I used the cans to add the water so all the bean-y liquid would get into the soup. I also added an extra cup of water and a chicken bullion cube.

 I think this soup came out great. It didn't need any extra salt or pepper. In fact, some of the reviews said that it was too salty, but I thought it was just right. I'm glad I added the extra bacon. I think next time I would double this recipe because it didn't yield as much as other soups I have made.

Rating: 4.5/5


As you can see in the picture, I decided to try my hand at homemade corn bread because I thought it would go well with the soup. I had all the ingredients for the recipe I found on allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

I made this pretty much exactly the way the recipe said to. It took 30 minutes to bake perfectly. I was impressed with the way it stayed together and wasn't too crumbly, and it was pleasantly moist for corn bread. It was a tad bland; I wish there was either a little more sugar or a little more salt, but it was right in between. I would make this again and probably try a bit more sugar. That could ruin the baking chemistry, but I would try it anyway.

Rating: 4/5

Week #2 - Chicken Noodle Soup

Well, it's only the second week into my soup foray, but I felt confident enough in myself to kind of make up my own recipe. A bit ambitious for a beginner cook? Maybe a little, but it turned out very nicely I think. I don't normally go for chicken noodle soup because I think it's kind of boring. However, it is a good basic to know how to make, and I had a bunch of egg noodles left over, so I decided that I would try it.

I looked at several recipes online for this, but I ended up basing my soup on Jean's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from allrecipes.com. I also went to a local farmers market to look for ingredients, and figured I would just add whatever veggies they had that looked good (for those of you in Indy, I went to the Trader Point Creamery Farmers Market). The ingredients I got from the farmers market were:

Pic courtesy Traders Point Creamery

carrots
onions
shitake mushrooms
kale
dried ginger root powder






I talked to my mother-in-law, who is a great cook, and she suggested that I boil a whole chicken instead of just chicken breasts like I had planned to get a better flavor, so I tried that. What I found was that my chicken cutting skills are sub-par. The chicken looked pretty mutilated, but I got the meat off, so that's what counts, right? I saved about half the chicken to freeze, shredded the rest with a fork, and added it back to the strained water that I boiled it in (about 10 cups of water I think?). I also added about 5 chicken bullion cubes.

I cut up my veggies, excluding the kale, and including some celery I had left over. All cut up together, it ended up being about a cup and a half of veggies. I added some spices that I had. The online recipe suggested ginger, which is why I got the ginger powder. I also added some rosemary, salt, pepper, a little bit of chili powder, and some Chef Paul's Poultry Magic seasoning. How much? I don't know, I just kept adding stuff until it tasted good. I then added about 2/3 bag of egg noodles. After the noodles cooked, I added the kale, and let it simmer for a little while.

Pic courtesy of My Dining Room :)

I think my soup turned out great for as much messing with it as I did. It's still a bit boring to me, but I think that's just the nature of chicken noodle soup. I was pretty happy with my seasoning, and only had to add a little salt after I started eating it. I was also happy with my random farmers market additions, and that my cooking intuition is getting better with things like that. I don't know that I would make this soup very often, just because it's not my favorite kind, but I'll keep it in mind next time my husband or I get sick.  :)

Rating: 3/5

Week #1 - Red Potato Soup

Hey everybody! Thanks for visiting my new blog. Like it says above, I love soup, all different kinds of soup. However, I rarely make soup because the few times I have tried it has not gone too well. Either I don't season well, or I burn it. But today I was making a soup recipe that I found on allrecipes.com because I had some leftover red potatoes, and decided that I needed to start trying to cook more soups. And thus, this blog was born! Hopefully I can really keep it up.

So this week's soup was Red Potato Soup. Like I said, I had some red potatoes left over that I wanted to use, so I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I had all the ingredients for this soup except for chicken broth and seasoning salt.

Ingredients:

8 red potatoes, cubed 1 onion, chopped 1 (49.5 fluid ounce) can chicken broth 1/2 cup margarine 2 tablespoons celery seed

1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt 8 cups milk

I bought chicken broth, but I forgot seasoning salt, and since I am not a great cook, I looked up what I could substitute for it on garvick.com. I ended up throwing in some paprika, dry mustard, and oregano instead.  Directions: 1. In a large saucepan over high heat combine the potatoes, onion, broth, butter or margarine, celery seed, garlic powder, ground black pepper, onion powder and seasoning salt. 2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add the milk, heat through and serve. This soup was easy to make, and pretty fast. I learned that I should have taken some of the reviewers advice and made a roux because the soup was waterier than I would have liked. I did decrease the milk, as was suggested in the reviews. I also added some celery since I had some left over, and I figured what soup couldn't use celery? I thought it tasted really good even though it was a bit watery. I added some shredded cheddar cheese on top, and had some French bread to go with it. I would definitely make this soup again with some of the above changes.  Rating: 4/5 stars