Tuscan Onion soup

 

• 2 pounds (roughly 1 kg) red onions, sliced thinly
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  
• 4 fresh sage leaves
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 4 cups (1 liter) vegetable stock
  
• 4 eggs (can omit or put italian sausage instead)
  
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving if desired
  
• 4 slices crusty bread, toasted
• 1.In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, gently saute the onion in the olive oil with a good pinch of salt and pepper and sage leaves on lowest heat. Let them sweat very gently without letting them colour to release their sweetness, about 30 minutes. If they begin to get dry or stick just add a splash of the vegetable stock

2. Add the stock to cover and turn heat up until it begins to simmer. Keep heat on medium and let the soup cook 30 minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt or pepper as needed.

3. About 5 minutes before soup is ready, sprinkle half of the cheese over the top of the soup, crack the eggs into the pot and cover with the rest of the cheese and cover, without stirring. The whites should be cooked and the yolks runny—about 5 minutes.

4. Serve the soup with an egg in each bowl along with the bread. If desired, sprinkle over extra Parmesan, a grating of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Beef Barley soup

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Beef Barley Soup

Serves Serves 8    

Ingredients

• 2 pounds stew meat (nicely marbled beef chunks)
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 10 cups water
• 3 mounded tablespoons good quality beef base*
• 3 stalks celery (about 2 cups), chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large potato, peeled and shredded, about 2 cups
• 3-4 large carrots, peeled and shredded, about 2 cups
• 1 cup pearl barley*** rinsed

Instructions

1. Generously salt and pepper the beef. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. When it is very hot, add about 1/3 of the meat. Brown for about 1-2 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Remove to a plate when it is browned on all sides.
3. Repeat with remaining meat in 2 more batches. (If you add it all at once it will steam the meat instead of browning it--not what you want.)
4. When all the meat is browned, add all the meat back to the pot with 10 cups of water. Add 3 healthy tablespoons beef stock concentrate.
5. Add the chopped celery, onions, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 2 hours with the lid on.
6. When the meat is tender and you can break it apart easily with a wooden spoon, add the shredded potato and carrots. Bring to a boil, then continue to simmer on low for another 30-45 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.
7. Add 1 cup of barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Cook for another half hour, or until barley is tender and the soup tastes...like home.

Slow cooker instructions:

1. In a large pan, brown the meat according to the instructions. Remove the browned meat to a large crockpot.
2. Add 2 cups of the water to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir up all the browned bits. Add this and the remaining 8 cups of water to the crock pot.
3. Add the beef base, celery, onions, and garlic to the slow cooker and stir.
4. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for another hour.
5. Add the barley and simmer for another hour or so, until it is tender.

Recipe Notes

*I suggest Better than Bouillon Beef Base.

The simmer times on this soup are pretty rough. I let mine simmer all morning because I was feeling a lazy-soup-day. The best kind of day for October.

If your meat is not marbled well, you might want to add a bit of worcestershire sauce toward the end, to boost the flavor.

If your soup has boiled down to become more stew-like, simply add more water and beef base.

** I've had some questions about the green garnish I used for these photos. It's basil, but that's just what was growing in my garden when I made this. No garnish is necessary, but I would recommend parsley or chives if you want a fresh kick.

***UPDATE December 2016: I just made this over Christmas for my family in the crock pot using QUICK barley. I used the same amount. I left it in for maybe 15-30 minutes, but check the package instructions. You could do this on stove top too!

Source: This one is from Nana, Kris' mom.

All images and text © The Food Charlatan

chicken rice soup asian style - congee

1 c regular rice
2/3 c sweet rice  (or all sweet rice!)
10 c water

chicken quarters or drums or legs or whole cut up chicken. whatever.

10:1 ratio water to rice
PS those cups are rice cups

Dump all that in slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours.  Add salt pepper and anything.  YOu can omit the chicken and put left over meats in at the end.

ginger butternut squash soup

Makes 4 to 6 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup peeled and diced fresh ginger

½ cup diced carrots

½ cup diced celery

1 cup diced onion

3 pounds butternut squash, peeled and chopped

6 cups vegetable stock

Kosher salt, to taste

Ground white pepper, to taste

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup heavy cream

1. In a 6-quart stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger,

carrots, celery and onion and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, stirring

frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add squash and stir well. Add vegetable stock

and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper and cinnamon.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables soften, about 20

minutes. Using a handheld blender or food processor, purée the mixture while

slowly adding the cream. Process until smooth and velvety. (This can be done a

day in advance. Cool the soup, cover and refrigerate. Reheated when ready to

serve.)

From "Ray's Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest" by Ken

Gouldthorpe and Charles Ramseyer

I like a little heavy on the ginger.
Drop in some lump crab meat

shrimp bisque

2 t old bay seasoning
12 oz. medium shrimp in shells
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
12 oz. evaporated milk
1 c milk
2 T flour
2 t anchovy paste (can sub fish sauce)
2 c water

1. in 4 qt dutch oven, combine 2 c water, seasoning, shrimp and celery. Cook, uncovered over MH for 5 - 8 min. or until shrimp shells turn pink and shrimp are opaque. Remove shrimp and set aside to cool.

2. In m bowl, whisk together evap milk, milk, flour and anchovy paste. Add to dutch oven. Cook uncovered over M for 10 min, stir occasionally.

3. Peel the shrimp. Chop about half and add shrimp to soup. Cook for 1 -2 min until heated through.

potato soup

--5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 to 2-inch chunks
--1 teeny onion, diced
--4 cloves garlic, minced
--1 teaspoon seasoned salt
--1/2 teaspoon black pepper
--1/2 teaspoon red pepper
--2 quarts chicken broth
--2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, to add at the end
--crumbled bacon and green onion or chives as garnish (optional)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Peel and dice the potatoes, and put them into the stoneware. Add onion and garlic. Sprinkle in the seasonings, and pour in the broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. The potatoes should be fork-tender. You can use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the soup, or a hand-held immersible blender. I suppose you can also leave the potatoes in chunks, if you really wanted, but I wanted a smooth soup.

After smashing the potatoes, crumble in both packages of cream cheese, and put the lid back on. Cook on high for about 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is completely dissolved. Stir a few times during the 30 minutes.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, green onion or chives, and I'd assume cheddar cheese would be just delightful.

chicken tortilla soup

1.5 lb chicken thighs - cut into strips
large onion - chopped
2 m. poblano chiles - seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1.5 t cumin
1 t coriander - ground
32 oz chicken broth
2 c water
1 c frozen corn
15-19 oz black beans (rinsed and drained)
0.25 c lemon juice/lime juice
0.25 c chopped cilantro
2 c. broken tortilla chips

1) in saucepot, veg oil over M-H. Salt chicken and saute in batches. Set aside.

2) to juicy pot, add onion, poblano and garlic.
10 min over M until tender
Add cumin & coriande - 1 min
Add broth and water. Cover and boil.

3) return chicken to pot
add corm & beans. Boil over M-H
Simmer uncovered 10 minutes
Add lime & cilantro

creamy zucchini soup

1.5 t olive oil
1.5 c chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
9 c 1" sliced zucchini (~2.5 lbs)
5 c chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

1) in dutch oven over M-H
heat oil, saute garlic & onions ~5 min until tender

2) add broth and zucchini, bring to boil and simmer ~25 min until zucchini is tender

3) let stand 5 min

4) puree in blender/food proc in parts

5) return soup to low heat ~5 min until warm

6) serve with garlic bread float

Chicken & Dumplings

1 (2.5 lb - 4lb) chicken cut into 8 pieces
3 ribs celery
1 large onion, chopped
chop carrots
2 bay leaves
2 chicken boullion cubes
.5 t salt
.25 t pepper
.25 t garlic powder
1 can condensed cream of celery (campbell's healthy choice)


dumplings = 2 c flour, 1 t salt, ice water

1) 4 qts. water, chicken, celery, onions, bay, boullion & seasoning. Simmer ~40 min until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and cool. Remove meat from bones and return to pot over L heat.

2) Make a flour & salt well. Drizzle ice water and work in until ~3/4 c water. Knead and form ball. Roll out to 1/8" thickness. Rest several minutes

3) Add stoup to pot and simmer over M-L

4) Cut dough into 1" pieces. Pull in half and drop in pot for 3-4 minutes. Do not stir dumplings, swirl pot instead.

Oxtail soup

Brown meat
Boil meat in big pot, skim far
Simmer 4 - 5 hours, covered

Add wakame
dashi
soy sauce
vinegar
white pepper