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Every Spring there is a Fine Arts Retreat at Samish Island Campgrounds. I have attended the past 7 out of 8 of them with plans to go to my 8th one in April. Occasionally, the retreat offers a cooking class. At one of the earlier Fine Arts Retreats that I attended the cooking class was focused on soups. The teacher showed us all the available ingredients and then all the class participants were able to make a soup of their choice using whatever available ingredients we wanted to use. The soup was to be served that night to the campers for dinner. Well, this soup was my creation! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
20 Baby Red Potatoes
10 Cups Chicken Broth
1/8 Cups fresh dill, chopped
2 Carrots
4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Olive Oil
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt
Directions:
Shred the potatoes.
Put broth in pan on medium heat and add the potatoes.
Cut chicken in cubes and sautee them in butter until no longer pink in the middle and then add the chicken to the soup.
Slice the carrots into slices and sautee in oil and crushed garlic and then add to soup.
Add the spices (except the dill) to the soup.
20 minutes before serving add the cheddar cheese and dill.
Serves about 10.
The great thing about soup is that it is so easy to take any recipe and make it your own. Looking back, I definitely would have added mushrooms to this. You can choose to dice instead of shred the potatoes. You can choose to peel all the skin off the potatoes, only off half of the potato (my preference), or peel it all off. You can also choose to use shredded chicken instead of cubed. You can take a leftover roasted chicken and use it for the soup. You can add as much or as little of the spices you wish as well as omitting some and/or adding your own!
Let the experimenting begin!!!
This was one of my fist ventures into the world of creating my own soup recipes, now I do it all the time, and many are based on what I’ve learned from making this particular soup many times. The idea was to make my favourite comfort food, cream of mushroom soup, while also accommodating a vegan roommate I had at the time. The soup is not particularly aesthetically pleasing (it can have a strange browny-green look to it depending on what exactly is in it) but is very hearty and makes an excellent dinner with a basket of warm biscuits.
Every time I make this soup it turns out a bit differently, it all depends on what I have in the fridge. The basis, though, is always the same, so I will set that out and then elucidate the possible additions. Please note that all measurements are estimates – add whatever looks & feels right to you!
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped thinly (include celery leaves if there are any)
10 (approximately) white mushrooms, stems separated from tops, stems chopped, tops sliced thickly, keep separate.
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups vegetable broth
3 potatoes, any kind, peeled and chopped into cubes
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp rosemary
Instructions
1. In large pot on medium-low heat put 1 Tbsp olive oil. When oil is warm add onion, garlic and celery, cook until onion is translucent. Add chopped mushroom stems and cook until stems begin to soften. Add sliced mushroom tops, thyme, salt, pepper, cinnamon and rosemary, cook until mushrooms are soft. Add in potato and stir to cover with spices and juices from vegetables.
2. Add vegetable broth, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until potato is very tender.
3. Allow soup to cool slightly (turn off heat and remove cover), then ladle out 2-3 cups of soup, being sure to include lots of potato and mushroom, into a blender. Blend until smooth. Return blended soup to pot and stir to combine with the rest of the soup.
Possible Additions
Leeks are an excellent addition to this soup. Thinly slice one large leek, adding white part at onion, garlic & celery stage and green part at mushroom top stage.
Broccoli is very nice in this soup. Slice the broccoli stems and add at mushroom top stage. Chop top into medium sized florets and add after potato.
Green onion can be chopped and added in the same way as leeks.
Cauliflower can be chopped and added in the same way as broccoli.
• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tablespoon allspice
• salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool, peel, and mash. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over medium high heat, cook and stir onions in olive oil until translucent. Add white wine, red wine, and brandy, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mashed sweet potatoes, stirring to incorporate. Dissolve bouillon cubes in water and add to the soup with the allspice. Simmer another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
In my usual style of recipe-as-suggestion I made a few adjustments, I used a purple onion instead (all I had!) and it was good, and substituted sherry for the brandy & white wine (since Sherry is like the two together). I peeled the yams before boiling them, but next time would probably bake them instead, and scoop out the fluffy baked goodness in order to make a smoother soup. Although if I were to boil them again I would save the water from boiling to use instead of plain water in mixing up the chicken broth.
I served this with pork chops tossed in olive oil, sherry, rosemary, salt & pepper, then baked in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes, flipping them once, and they went REALLY nicely with the soup.
