Oh so yummy...and the perfect Sunday afternoon crock pot delicacy! :)
Beef (Here, you can do what you like. You can have already pre-cut stew beef, you can just chop it yourself, you can throw in a huge hunk of some beef--and since it's in the crockpot, it doesn't matter whether it's tough or not, as it will become fall apart because of the crockpot! :) I personally like to throw in a nice tough bone-in full-o-fat hunk of meat for fantastic flavor! Of course, you shred the meat and throw out the bone/fat just before serving!)
4-5 carrots, sliced
4-5 medium potatoes, with skins, cubed
2-3 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
dash ground cloves
8-10 c Water
1-2 tbsp Beef bouillon
1 tsp oregano
1/4 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Throw it all in the crockpot on high for 5-6 hours. Who doesn't like 'fast' food made slowly? :) Serve with some fresh crusty french bread, fresh rolls, or Italian breadsticks! :)
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
"Creamy" Asparagus Soup
This sounds absolutely disgusting. I admit it. I found this recipe in a recipe book, and thought it looked interesting, as these are all things that I like...I just wouldn't really put them all together, and especially not in this way! However, I have made a goal to make something really weird and 'out of my comfort zone' every week, and since I had the ingredients, I decided to go ahead and try it! :) It turned out FANTASTIC! Even the kids liked it and ate it! I, of course, added a few things, and didn't add some things that I knew the kids wouldn't like...and voila! Here's the recipe that I ended up with!
500 gr (1 lb) asparagus
5 c water
5 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp season salt
1 small onion, finely minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp parsley and chives, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 c fresh Spinach, rinsed (can remove stems)
1/2 c minced fresh dill
Small pinch crushed red pepper
A few dashes ground Nutmeg
Trim the tips of the asparagus, and set them aside. Cut all the stalks into 1 inch pieces and place in large pot along with water, bouillon, salt, onion, bay leaf, parsley/chives, and olive oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer--uncovered!--for about 5 more minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let cool. Process in a food processor (I added all the 'chunky' parts to the food processor, then enough liquid to really get it liquefied) until smooth. Return to the pot and add the asparagus tips. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or so--until the tips are tender. To serve, pour the soup into the bowls, then just before eating, drop in a small dollop of butter! It's great without it, but add that little butter to it, and this is a most fantastic soup!!! Serve with roast chicken and garlic bread. Oh man. It's good.
500 gr (1 lb) asparagus
5 c water
5 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp season salt
1 small onion, finely minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp parsley and chives, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 c fresh Spinach, rinsed (can remove stems)
1/2 c minced fresh dill
Small pinch crushed red pepper
A few dashes ground Nutmeg
Trim the tips of the asparagus, and set them aside. Cut all the stalks into 1 inch pieces and place in large pot along with water, bouillon, salt, onion, bay leaf, parsley/chives, and olive oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer--uncovered!--for about 5 more minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let cool. Process in a food processor (I added all the 'chunky' parts to the food processor, then enough liquid to really get it liquefied) until smooth. Return to the pot and add the asparagus tips. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or so--until the tips are tender. To serve, pour the soup into the bowls, then just before eating, drop in a small dollop of butter! It's great without it, but add that little butter to it, and this is a most fantastic soup!!! Serve with roast chicken and garlic bread. Oh man. It's good.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup
I love Chicken Noodle Soup. It's my favorite comfort food. This recipe is SOOOOO yummy!!! Once you've done it, you'll never be able to go back to the canned stuff again! :)
Water (and lots of it!)
Chicken with bones (I actually use the thigh/leg combo. The bones are the key to a fantastic flavor for your broth! You can use chicken breast on the bone, but white meat tends to get a little tougher with more cooking, while dark meat gets more tender!)
1 Bay Leaf
Seasoned Salt/a bit of chicken bouillon (to taste...I like to boil the chicken with salt as it tends to bring out more of the flavor. If you're trying to watch your salt intake, don't add salt at this point!)
*Boil for a few hours! I like to boil it until the meat basically falls right off the bones!
Remove chicken and set aside to cool and debone. Add to broth:
A few carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 celery stalks (with leaves!) finely chopped
A few sprigs of fresh parsley (or 2-3 tsps dried)
While this is boiling, make your noodles!!! I like to make a LOT, so here's my recipe:
2 cups flour (I usually do 1 c white and 1 c wheat)
2 large eggs
1 'eggshell' worth of cold water
Knead together until it is a firm dough. If you have a pasta maker, you can make this into any size noodles you want. I usually do the spaghetti setting. If you don't have a pasta maker, you just roll it really flat with a rolling pin, then cut it to what size you want with either a VERY sharp knife, or a pizza cutter (much faster). Add to boiling water a little at a time to keep it from clumping together. Debone the chicken and add the meat to the soup. Add a little more salt if needed, and some black pepper.
Voila! It sounds like a LOT of work, but it's really not terrible and SOOOOOOOO worth it! :)
Water (and lots of it!)
Chicken with bones (I actually use the thigh/leg combo. The bones are the key to a fantastic flavor for your broth! You can use chicken breast on the bone, but white meat tends to get a little tougher with more cooking, while dark meat gets more tender!)
1 Bay Leaf
Seasoned Salt/a bit of chicken bouillon (to taste...I like to boil the chicken with salt as it tends to bring out more of the flavor. If you're trying to watch your salt intake, don't add salt at this point!)
*Boil for a few hours! I like to boil it until the meat basically falls right off the bones!
Remove chicken and set aside to cool and debone. Add to broth:
A few carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 celery stalks (with leaves!) finely chopped
A few sprigs of fresh parsley (or 2-3 tsps dried)
While this is boiling, make your noodles!!! I like to make a LOT, so here's my recipe:
2 cups flour (I usually do 1 c white and 1 c wheat)
2 large eggs
1 'eggshell' worth of cold water
Knead together until it is a firm dough. If you have a pasta maker, you can make this into any size noodles you want. I usually do the spaghetti setting. If you don't have a pasta maker, you just roll it really flat with a rolling pin, then cut it to what size you want with either a VERY sharp knife, or a pizza cutter (much faster). Add to boiling water a little at a time to keep it from clumping together. Debone the chicken and add the meat to the soup. Add a little more salt if needed, and some black pepper.
Voila! It sounds like a LOT of work, but it's really not terrible and SOOOOOOOO worth it! :)
Monday, April 26, 2010
Ham and Bean Garden Soup
This started out as a bisque, but I changed my mind halfway through. It smelled so good near the end that I thought I was going to die if I didn't eat it soon! :) Josh even said it was his new most favorite soup ever! That's always nice to hear...along with Claire eating 2 whole bowls, AND Andrew even ate his whole bowl, which is really saying something!!
8 Cups Water 3/4 c dry Great Northern Beans
1 clove garlic, whole
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Salt
**Place these ingredients into large sauce pan and simmer on medium for about an hour, then add:
1 Potato, finely cubed
1 tsp Fresh Oregano
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (include some leaves!! These add great flavor to soups, and look so pretty!)
1/2 large onion (or 1 small one)
**Simmer another 30 minutes or so, then add:
3 Tbsp Butter
2 large Carrots, match-sticked (ok, jullienned)
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 more tsp fresh Oregano
a few dashes White Pepper
1 Tbsp Chicken Bouillon (or more, to taste)
1 small zucchini, halved and chopped (smileys, as my kids call them)
**Simmer about 30 more minutes, then add:
1 + c cooked, cubed Ham
**Serve immediately, and garnish with:
2 ripe tomatoes, cubed (Let everyone sprinkle their soup with some. My kids also always request frozen peas and/or corn for every soup. I didn't put it in my soup, but everyone else did and seemed to like that.)
Eat with crackers or fresh crusty Italian garlic bread!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Minestrone Soup
I love this stuff. You can make it vegan and omit parmesan cheese and beef. You can use hamburger instead of stew beef. You can throw it in the crockpot and use any meat you want. You can add alphabet pasta and call it alphabet soup. You can use any veggies you want--anything that's cheap, in season, available, or to your own personal taste. Seriously the most versatile and yummy soup there is!
This is how I made the last batch, and it was eaten in a jiffy!!
1/2 bag (about 1 cup) dry kidney beans
1 whole onion
2 whole cloves garlic
oil (olive oil is best, but you can use canola oil)
A lot of water (don't ask me how much. Maybe 12 cups? That's just a guess, though.)
*Boil together for about 2 hours, then add:
Beef bones (ask the guys in the meat department to find you some nice soup bones. They're really helpful [the meat guys are], and the bones are usually pretty cheap and make your soup taste fabulous!!)
You can add beef bouillon if you wish (4 or 5 cubes) or just use about 2 Tbsp salt and some pepper, and that's nice, too.
*Boil for another hour or so, then add:
2-3 chopped carrots
1 large, finely chopped potato
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 giant stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 giant beefsteak tomato (SO good! Or, you can add a couple roma tomatoes, just make sure they're nice and red and ripe!), finely chopped
2-3 handfuls of string beans, finely chopped
some parsley and basil (fresh), finely chopped (you could probably use dried, but I prefer fresh, as it does taste better!)
1 tsp oregano (I would have used fresh, but couldn't find any)
Stew beef, cut into bite size pieces
*Boil until everything is to your taste (if you like it all crunchy, don't boil too long! If you like soft veggies, boil about 45 minutes), then add:
About 1/2 box of your favorite pasta (we used corkscrew last time)
OR you can add 1/2 c barley--that's also extremely yummy!
Cook until pasta is ready! Adjust the seasonings to your pleasure...add more parsley or basil or oregano if you want...add some more salt and pepper...whatever you'd like! Serve with bread (crusty italian bread is good with this!) and some parmesan cheese for garnish. Since this is a soup, it is, of course, HOT! Instead of letting my kids use ice cubes to cool it off, you can use frozen corn! It tastes fantastic in the soup, and the kids think it's super fun to drop frozen corn into their soup!
The variations really are endless. Many times I make this a meatless soup. I add many different kinds of beans. Once, I made it using kidney, pinto, small red, black, and garbanzo beans all together! The kids ate it up! I like to add zucchini and yellow squash as well, and that's yummy! The directions make it sound terribly long and drawn out, but it's really a fast, easy soup, and the kids love to help put everything in and cut up the veggies.
This is how I made the last batch, and it was eaten in a jiffy!!
1/2 bag (about 1 cup) dry kidney beans
1 whole onion
2 whole cloves garlic
oil (olive oil is best, but you can use canola oil)
A lot of water (don't ask me how much. Maybe 12 cups? That's just a guess, though.)
*Boil together for about 2 hours, then add:
Beef bones (ask the guys in the meat department to find you some nice soup bones. They're really helpful [the meat guys are], and the bones are usually pretty cheap and make your soup taste fabulous!!)
You can add beef bouillon if you wish (4 or 5 cubes) or just use about 2 Tbsp salt and some pepper, and that's nice, too.
*Boil for another hour or so, then add:
2-3 chopped carrots
1 large, finely chopped potato
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 giant stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 giant beefsteak tomato (SO good! Or, you can add a couple roma tomatoes, just make sure they're nice and red and ripe!), finely chopped
2-3 handfuls of string beans, finely chopped
some parsley and basil (fresh), finely chopped (you could probably use dried, but I prefer fresh, as it does taste better!)
1 tsp oregano (I would have used fresh, but couldn't find any)
Stew beef, cut into bite size pieces
*Boil until everything is to your taste (if you like it all crunchy, don't boil too long! If you like soft veggies, boil about 45 minutes), then add:
About 1/2 box of your favorite pasta (we used corkscrew last time)
OR you can add 1/2 c barley--that's also extremely yummy!
Cook until pasta is ready! Adjust the seasonings to your pleasure...add more parsley or basil or oregano if you want...add some more salt and pepper...whatever you'd like! Serve with bread (crusty italian bread is good with this!) and some parmesan cheese for garnish. Since this is a soup, it is, of course, HOT! Instead of letting my kids use ice cubes to cool it off, you can use frozen corn! It tastes fantastic in the soup, and the kids think it's super fun to drop frozen corn into their soup!
The variations really are endless. Many times I make this a meatless soup. I add many different kinds of beans. Once, I made it using kidney, pinto, small red, black, and garbanzo beans all together! The kids ate it up! I like to add zucchini and yellow squash as well, and that's yummy! The directions make it sound terribly long and drawn out, but it's really a fast, easy soup, and the kids love to help put everything in and cut up the veggies.
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