California Bean and Barley Soup

Ingredients:

  about 7 cups water

1 pound pork pieces or ham chunks
1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans or Great Northern beans, picked over and rinsed
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 cloves garlic, minced

 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2 ribs celery, roughly chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled and medium diced
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon or salt to taste
2 teaspoons Greek seasoning

 Freshly ground black pepper
  1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, with juice
 Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

 

Directions :

Put 7 cups water, the pork, beans, barley, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, bay leaf,  Greek seasoning blend, salt and some pepper in a slow cooker. Squeeze the tomatoes through your hands over the pot to break them down, and add with their juices. Cover and cook on high until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 8 hours.

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle each serving with olive oil.

Serve with crusty bread

Winter Chicken, Sweet Potato and Mushroom Stew

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
 2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup dry white wine
1 onion, chopped
 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

2 large sweet potatoes,peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon, dried, crushed rosemary

 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. flour

Directions: 

 Place chicken, stock, wine, onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, salt, pepper and rosemary in crock pot. Stir cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir in mushrooms, cover and cook on low for an additional hour.
Stir together the water and flour to make thickener and slowly add to stew, stirring constantly. Turn the cooker up to high, cover and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the stew has thickened.

Irish Beef Stew

Baby, it's cold outside.  And it's the perfect weather to warm up with delicious beef stew. Try this no fuss oven method for all your hungry tummys.

Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
2 pounds pre-chunked stew meat
5 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups beef stock/broth
1 cup red wine
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
3 ribs celery, cleaned and sliced
1 large onion, chopped
5 to 6 carrots, washed and peeled, cut into cubes or sliced
3 lbs potatoes, cleaned and cubed (peel if you prefer)
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a Dutch oven or a soup pot heat oil. Brown beef. When beef is browned, add vegetables, including  potatoes and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring ocasionally. Add all other ingredients and stir.  Place lid on dutch oven and cook in oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours. If stew is too thin, add ¼ cup of corn starch to 1 cup cold water or broth and stir. Remove stew from oven and place on medium heat. Pour corn starch mixture into stew and stir until thickened to your liking. Adjust seasonings and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Chicken Soup for the Soul and Every Meal

Ingredients:

3 to 4 quarts water (IMPORTANT! After the chicken cooks, you will need to replenish some of the water that has cooked out so you will have enough broth. Follow directions below.

2 pounds chicken quarters (I use chicken breast now)

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, sliced into crescents
2 large potatoes, cubed

4 carrots, sliced into coins

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Greek seasoning (I use Cavenders Greek seasoning)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

12 to 16 ounce bag of egg noodles

2 cans evaporated milk or 4 cups half and half

1 nice handful fresh parsley, stems removed and chopped

Directions:

Boil chicken quarters in water until chicken runs clear about 1 hour. Remove chicken and cool. Put pot with chicken broth into the refrigerator and let set until you have removed meat from bones. When chicken is cool, remove skin and discard. Remove meat from bones and chop into bite sized pieces. Refrigerate until ready to return to pot. Take broth from the refrigerator. Once cold, any fat will have risen to the top and you can now easily ladle off any excess fat. Add 2 to 3 quarts of water to the broth in the pot to replace the liquid that has boiled out. You need to do this so you will have enough broth for the soup. Return pot to heat and boil broth. Add all vegetables along with garlic and seasonings. Turn burner down to medium high and cook vegetables until fork tender. Add noodles and cook until just done, usually 6 to 8 minutes. Add chicken to pot and turn heat down to medium low and add evaporated milk or half and half and chopped parsley. Adjust seasoning if necessary. You're done. Enjoy!

Cooks Notes: This is my old stand-by, go-to chicken soup from back when. Lots of noodles and lots of flavor. You can definitely lighten this soup up if this is an issue, by using chicken breast instead of dark meat and 2% milk in place of the cream. I find when I do use chicken breast, I need to add chicken base, bullion or low sodium broth. Chicken breast just don't render a lot of flavorful broth and it tends to need a little somethin-somethin. You can also go with yolk-less noodles, which are great. Whatever your preference, this is just delicious!

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

This soup is one of our absolute favorites during the fall season.  We start about September of every year saying, "It's almost time for Pumpkin Corn Chowder!".  It's definitely a soup you have to try before you say you don't like pumpkin. It's very subtle and flavorful.  And the bacon just sends it to another level. The best part about this soup for me is... it's time to make it!

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1" pieces
1 bag frozen bell pepper mix
or 1 green and 1 red bell pepper sliced length wise
2 medium onions, sliced length wise
2 cans whole kernel corn or 2 -1 pound bags frozen corn
1 large 32 ounce box chicken stock or 4 cups homemade
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 package fajita seasoning
3 cups half and half
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
In a stock pot, cook bacon on medium high until crisp. Add peppers and onions and cook until tender. Stir in corn and broth. Cook for 15 minutes. Add can of pumpkin and seasoning package. Continue to cook on medium-low for 1 1/2 hours. Cool soup down so cream won't curdle. Whisk cream in slowly and begin to heat again.  Do not boil!
Season with Salt and Pepper as needed.

Serve suggestions; drizzle of balsamic or cream and rustic artisan bread.

Enjoy!

Cottage Garden's Cheesy Chicken Asparagus Soup

What's not to like? Cheese, chicken, potatoes and asparagus! This was by far one of the most requested soups at our restaurant. It's creamy, cheesy and so delish. It has a taste like no other. This soup will be an instant hit! Hope you enjoy!

Cooks Notes:
I buy many off brand items, but a good brand of asparagus is worth it in this case. Most off brands are woody, stringy and tough when it comes to asparagus. Spears work best. After all, asparagus is the star of this recipe!

Ingredients:
water
3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, washed
2 tablespoons chicken flavor bullion or 1 can chicken broth
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, diced or chopped
1 pound Velveeta or store brand processed cheese, cubed
3 cans asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces (IMPORTANT! Reserve liquid from asparagus cans and add with asparagus.)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup flour
1 quart half and half , divided

Directions:
Fill a large soup pot with 3 quarts water. Add chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder,and bouillon or chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour. Remove chicken from pot and chop into pieces. Sit aside. It's time to add the cubed potatoes and onion. Continue to cook until potatoes are fork tender. Return chopped chicken to pot, add cubed cheese and cook, stirring as needed until cheese is melted. Add asparagus, the asparagus liquid, 2 cups of half and half and stir. Turn down heat to low so soup doesn't stick or burn while you're making the roux.
In a small saucepan, heat butter. Gradually whisk in flour to form a paste, or roux. Then, gradually whisk in the remaining half and half and continue to stir until mixture is smooth and pasty. If you should need additional liquid for the roux, add a little warm water. Add roux to the soup and stir to incorporate well. Continue to cook, soup will become thicker.
Add shredded cheese and adjust seasoning if you need to.
Soup is ready to serve.

Albondigas Soup

A girl that I play games with on facebook mentioned that she was sick and her husband had brought her albondigas soup? I'd never heard of it. And being an Angelino for most of my life, I thought it was odd I had never even heard the word before. I guess in life you're always missing something, because when I googled it, I found many versions of this wonderful soup. Albondigas simply means meatball, or meatball soup in Spanish. I have to tell you I went straight to work on a version of a recipe that I felt had all the ingredients my family would like. I think I did it. My family loves it! Albondigas soup is truly Mexican soul food. It is colorful, comforting and flavorful. I hope you like this soup as much as we did. It is what I believe, the best of several recipes, all authentic with a few twists and turns of my own. I made it for dinner tonight and it is delicious!

Albondigas Soup
Servings:
8 to 10
Ingredients:

Meatballs
½ pound lean ground beef
1 pound Mexican chorizo sausage *See instructions below to make your own.
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup rice, cooked
1 good handful of cilantro leaf, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Soup
8 cups chicken broth
½ cup onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cans (10 ounce) tomato & green chile mix, such as Rotel (Do not drain)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 to 3 zucchinis (depending on size), cubed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make meatballs, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls.
You should make around 25 to 30 meatballs. Place meatballs in a lightly sprayed baking dish and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Remove and let sit until soup is ready.

In a heavy bottom pot, saute onion until tender. Add broth, carrots, zucchini, celery and cook until soft. Add both cans of tomatoes and green chiles, cumin, oregano and cilantro leaves. Bring to boil and drop baked meatballs in the soup. Return to simmer and cook another 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

*For those of you that don’t care for packaged chorizo: To make your own, use 1 pound ground pork or turkey and add:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon crushed dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

In a bowl, mix all ingredients well and let sit in refrigerator for 2 hours to let flavors to meld, then follow directions above.

Another New Year...Happy 2011 Eveyone!

This morning, I awoke with thoughts of New Years Days past that brought back great memories of my childhood holidays--my sweet mother always had a brilliant buffet of comforting foods; dishes I think mostly of southern origin, made for traditions of old, evoking love, luck, health and prosperity for the coming New Year. Dishes like Black-eyed pea soup made with smokey ham hocks, mixed greens with bacon and seasonings only a southerner could have conjured up. Sliced country ham with brown sugar, mustard and honey glaze, skillet cornbread, potato and macaroni salad and always mashed or boiled potatoes in their "jackets". Yes, two potatoes. But in the south, potato salad, like gravy, is a food group all to it's self. Deserts were always Mama's old fashioned fudge, chocolate rice pudding and pineapple upside down cake. Only my brother Steve's favorite cake ever!

My sister loves black-eyed peas so much that she once told her class that we had them for Thanksgiving Dinner! Although she wanted it to be, it was not true. I however, was never big on the musky tasting legumes, but I ate it just the same. I'm not sure about the luck part, but it was embedded in my mind that if I didn't... Anyway, I've since given the recipe a little kick and if I do say so myself, I love it! Maybe another food group? I also added a little Bourbon to the ham glaze equation. I like this too and so would my Uncles ;). And the greens and potato salad... well you can't improve on perfection.

This morning I immediately went to the kitchen and began to gather my ingredients to make a pot of black-eyed pea soup. I wondered why I had let so many years slip by without making some of Mom's wonderful recipes for good fortune on this day. I decided this year was going to be different! I hope you enjoy this recipe with your family and take the opportunity to remember your own traditions as well.

Happy New Year!

Kathy

Black Eyed Peas

Ingredients:
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 large white onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
¼ cup carrots, diced small
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 pickled jalapenos, minced with 1 tablespoon juice
3 ham hocks, rinsed
1 pound black-eyed peas, rinsed and cleaned
3 quarts chicken stock
2 to 3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large can diced tomatoes
*Additional broth or water

Directions:
In a heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, add bacon and fry on medium high heat to render fat. Yes fat! "What doesn't kill ya, will cure ya". Add the onions, bell peppers, celery and carrots to the pan and cook until tender. Add the garlic and jalapeno and juice. Cook another 2 minutes. Add the ham hocks, chicken broth, black eyed peas and all herbs and spices. Stir and bring to a boil, then cover and cook on medium low for about 3 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. When peas are almost done, add tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of sugar to take out any bitters (Okay, this is what Mama and Grand always said!) so just do it and stir well.

*As the peas cook down, you may need to add additional broth or water to the pot if liquid levels get too low. Add as much as you think the pot needs. You might need to do this a couple of times during the cooking process.

Serve with sourcream and cornbread muffins.