Fall Harvest Tomato Soup

I can't stop craving this soup. I got it from my friend Jessica, who got it from our friend Hollie, who got it from some girl, who got it from the mom of some guy named Brandon. It looks like everyone has tweaked it, so I doubt Brandon's mom would even recognize it. But I'm not scared to give her a shout out anyway. Good work lady.

Yum. Make this today and put Parmesan cheese curls on top. You won't regret it.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 lb. carrots, pealed and chopped
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
4 cup chicken broth
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T fresh basil or 1 T dried basil
1/4 cup half and half

Instructions
In a large pot, saute onion in butter 4-5 minutes. Add carrots and saute until carrots are soft and onion is translucent. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and pumpkin. Puree in blender. Return mixture to the pot and add salt, pepper, and basil. Add more broth if you want the soup thinner. Heat soup to desired temperature and add half and half. Garnish with Parmesan cheese curls and enjoy!

Tortilla Soup

Hello? Anybody there? The last time I posted was the weekend I found out I was pregnant with Leo. He's now three months old, so let's get this party started again, shall we? And more importantly, let's get that stupid sandwich off my homepage. It's good, but it sure isn't pretty, is it?

How's this instead?

The tortilla soup recipe I use comes from The Common Grill Cookbook. It is packed with flavor and tastes unbelievably fresh and healthy. I think the cheese topping is KEY to full enjoyment. The lemon zest just gives it that little extra something.

Ingredients

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 lb. carrotes, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1/2 large red pepper, diced

1/2 large yellow pepper, diced

1 Poblano chili pepper, diced

1 t fresh oregano

1 t cumin

1 T kosher salt

1/4 t black pepper

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1 28 oz. can Italian plum tomatoes, chopped

5 cups Chicken Stock

1 lb. chicken, cooked and diced

6 6" corn tortillas, cut in thin strips,

fried for garnish

Cheese Topping, for garnish

Cheese Topping

1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/2 T cilantro, chopped

1/2 T lemon zest

Instructions

Heat olive oil in soup pot. Add red onion and cook until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in carrots and celery and cook until carrots are soft, approximately 6-8 minutes. Thoroughly mix in peppers, oregano, cumin, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Stir in tomates and Chicken Stock and cook for 30 minutes.

Add chicken and cook for 30 more minutes.

To serve, ladle soup into bowl and top with fried corn tortilla strips and cheese mixture.

Cheese Topping

In small bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well.

Corn Tortilla strips (I just buy them at the store. You can find them in the produce section)

Cut corn tortillas into thin strips. Heat 1 T olive oil in saute pan. Saute tortilla strips until crispy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from pan and place on paper towel until ready to serve.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe comes from The Dexter Cider Mill Cookbook. One Valerie Oldham gave it to my mom as a thank you gift when they came and spent Thanksgiving with us. That's her on the left at my wedding, crying because she didn't win an award... which is another story for another time.

It was one of those marathon Family Game night weekends. In fact, I believe that may have been the year of the infamous "Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do as interpretated by Trav, Trev, Ted, Britt and Ali" perfomance.

So you can see why I have warm memories of this soup. I should also mention that I am a butternut squash soup addict and of all the versions I've tried, this is still my favorite.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onion

2 T olive oil or veg. oil

1 1/2 t curry powder

2 butternut squash (1 1/2 lbs each) peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 medium apples, peeled, chopped

1 can chicken broth

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/4 t salt

pepper to taste

1 1/2 cup half and half

Instructions

Saute the onion in heated olive oil in a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender. Stir in curry powder. Cook for 1 minute longer. Add the squash, apples, chicken broth, and water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the squash is very tender, stirring frequetnly. Process the mixture in several portions in a food processor until smooth. Combine the portions in a saucepan. Add the half and half, and mix well. Add salt and pepper. Cook until heated through, stiring occasionally.

Texas Red Chili

Mi amiga Heather Bassett gave me this recipe.  One day last fall I knew I wanted to make chili, but didn't have a tried and true recipe.  I thought, "who can I trust to have a good recipe?" Heather was the first person I called, and sure enough, that night I was in chili heaven. 

As side note, I've never found ground ancho or pasilla chili peppers. I found them dried in the produce section and intended to find a mortar and pestle when my personal witch doctor, Mary Hales, let me know that any herbalist worth her salt had a coffee bean grinder.  So she hooked me up.  It only took a few minutes and voila: ground ancho/pasilla chili pepper.  

Ingredients
3 1/2 - 4 lbs. ground beef
1 TB corn oil
1/4 lb bacon diced
3 c chopped onion
2c green pepper
2 medium jalepenos
2 heaping TB garlic
4 cups beef broth or stock
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
2 TB ground ancho chili pepper
1 TB ground pasilla chili pepper
2 TB cumin
1 1/2 TB brown sugar
1 TB dried oregan
Juice of half a lime
2 TB of chopped cilantro

Instructions
1. Brown the meat. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook bacon in corn oil. Take bacon out but leave the grease in the pan.
3. Sautee onions and garlic in grease. Then add everything but oregano, lime juice and cilantro.
4. Simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours
5. Add oregano, lime juice and cilantro right at the end.
6. Add Red Hot if you want to spice it up.

Super Bowl Chili

You can find this recipe at Nook and Pantry.  It is spiiiiiicyyyyyyy.  And delicious.  (But if you don't like the spice, don't let it scare you away.  Just add less chili powder). 

Okemo Inn Cream of Potato Soup

I don't like Cream of Potato soup.  I just don't.  But when my mom makes this stuff, it looks and smells so good I have to have it (with a whole lot of crumbled bacon - calling it a garnish is sort of a joke) and I'm never disappointed.

Ingredients:
2 c diced potatoes
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 c boiling water
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c sour cream
crumbled bacon (garnish)

Instructions:
Dissolve chicken bouillon cube in boiling water. Add potatoes, onions, salt and pepper, and boil until soft (approximately 15 minutes). Put half the potatoes, onions, and broth in the blender to cream. Add sour cream and unblended potatoes. Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Super Bowl Chili

From Nook and Pantry

Super Bowl Chili
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Serves 8 - 10

2 lbs ground beef, preferably 85% lean
2 medium onions, diced fine
1 large red bell pepper, 1/2 inch cube dice
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 C chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (or roughly 1 3/4 tsp whole cumin toasted and ground)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste: I didn't use red pepper flakes so I used a teaspoon of cayenne)
3 chipotle peppers packed in adobo, chopped
2 Tbsp adobo sauce
1 28 oz diced tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen fire roasted
1 28 oz tomato puree or tomato sauce
2 15 oz cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil

Serve with:
Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Sour Cream
Avocado cubes
Chopped fresh tomato
Chopped green onion
Diced red onion
Cilantro leaves
Lime wedges

Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and brown half of the ground beef. Once the first batch of beef is browned, remove the meat keeping the fat in the pan and add the second half and brown the beef. Once all of the beef is browned, drain and reserve. Drain the rendered fat from the Dutch oven reserving two tablespoons of fat in the Dutch oven.

In the Dutch oven over medium heat, add the onions, red peppers, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, cayenne, chipotle peppers and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the beef, tomatoes, tomato puree, beans, adobo sauce, and bring it up to a simmer. Simmer with the lid ajar for an hour and a half. Remove the lid and simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the chili is dark and thick. If it starts to stick on the bottom stir in a little bit of water.

Ideally serve the next day with your choice of condiments.

Taco Soup

I believe my mom got this recipe from her friend Karen Rees... feel free to jump in here if you remember, mom.

Admittedly, the picture's not the most appetizing. I should have given it a prettier garnish, but it would sort of be a lie anyway because what I really do is smother it in shredded cheese and sour cream and eat every bite with a tortilla chip. And you don't want false pretenses do you? What kind of online relationship would we have then?

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey

1 onion

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

1 16 oz stewed tomatoes, plain

1 16 oz stewed tomatoes, Mexican style

1 16 oz. pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 16 oz chili hot beans

1 16 oz corn, drained

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

Instructions

Brown together turkey and onion. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, then simmer for 30 - 60 minutes to blend flavors.