Tortellini Soup

I've been in a soup mood here lately.  I'm sure it might have something to do with the fact that it's been below freezing temperatures for weeks now.  Or maybe because January is National Soup Month!  Whatever it is, I've been trying my hand at some new recipes.  This one is definately a keeper. 

What You'll Need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 whole onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 15 ounces, canned diced tomatoes (I like the italian seasoned variety)
• 1 pound hot sausage
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 package tortellini (11 ounce)
• 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• Parmesan cheese

What You Do:

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and saute about 5 minutes.

Add the oregano, broth, tomatoes and salt and pepper.

Bring soup to a boil and simmer.  While soup is simmering brown sausage and drain.

Add sausage to soup pot.  Bring back to a boil. 

Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions.

One minute before tortellini is done, add the spinach.  

Remove pot from heat, season with additional salt and pepper.  

Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.   

Cheeseburger Soup

Last weekend, Monkey and I spent the entire time in the house. JC had to work, it was cold and dreary, so we just played inside and never even stepped foot outside. I had the Food Network on as background sound but one of my favorite shows caught my eye. It was 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'. I’m pretty sure it was an old episode and I don’t even know what city the host, Guy Fiera, was in. But one of the recipes that was featured really intrigued me. It was cheeseburger soup.

Of course, I’ve had cheeseburger soup before and it’s fine, but the woman in this restaurant used an ingredient that I would’ve never considered using in soup and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Curious as to what that ingredient was? Lettuce. Can you imagine?! Lettuce in a soup? No way, it can’t be good. I picture soggy lettuce and who likes that? Yet, Guy and every other person in that restaurant raved about it. So yesterday I decided to make it.

It really did taste like a cheeseburger! And the lettuce added a light sweet crispness that I didn’t expect. It was seriously delicious and I would love to know what the restaurant was called and where it is, because if I’m ever in that town, I’d like to try out the original and see if mine was anywhere close to hers.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• Steak seasoning
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 32 oz of chicken broth
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese
• 1 can cheese soup
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• ½ head of lettuce, shredded

What You Do:

In a skillet over medium heat, season the beef and brown. Drain and set aside.

In a large soup pot, add butter and sauté the onions for a few minutes. Add the chicken broth, cheese soup, Velveeta and heavy whipping cream.

After the cheese is melted, add the beef. Season with salt and pepper and turn to medium low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Add diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce, turn heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This is a hearty enough soup to serve as is, but I can also imagine serving with garlic toast. I highly recommend it!

Corn Chowder

Oh dear.  Oh my.  This soup is lip-smacking, mouth-watering scrumptious.  With the weather being slightly cooler  down right chilly here recently, I felt like whipping up a nice warm chowder.  And this one, well simply put, it satisfies.

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb hot sausage
• EVOO
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 potatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• A few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 4 cups fresh corn
• 1 can diced green chilies (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do:

Slice corn kernels off cob.  Or, if you're like me, open the freezer and pull out a bag of corn from the summer when you had way too much sweet corn on your hands and let thaw.

Brown sausage over medium heat and drain off grease.

In a large pot, over medium heat, drizzle a few tablespoons of EVOO.  Throw in diced onion, garlic and potatoes.  Add butter and melt.  Add chilies and corn

Pour in chicken broth and cream.  Add salt, pepper and sausage.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes and serve.  

Spicy Sausage Cheese Soup

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on here.  It's not because I haven't been cooking, I have.  I've just been really bad about writing down my recipes and taking pictures of the finished product.  Here is a recipe (sans photo) that I really liked.  Hubster even gave it an A+!

What You'll Need:

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 whole large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole medium jalapeno, diced
• 2 small chipotle peppers, packed in adobo (rince the sauce off if you want to cut down on the heat!)
• 1 can of beer
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 can cheese soup
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup peas
• 2 potatoes, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

What You Do:

Heat a large pot and add sausage. Cook until brown, remove and reserve the grease.

Add onions, garlic, jalapeno and chipotles to pot and cook in the sausage grease until soft. Add potatoes.

Add sausage back into pot and pour in one bottle of beer. Simmer 5-7 minutes, letting the alcohol cook out.

Stir and add chicken broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, letting liquid reduce a little more.

Reduce heat, add remaining veggies and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add cheese soup and heavy cream, simmer until potatoes are tender and serve.

Not Quite Chili

Do you ever have a hankering for a specific food, but can't make it because you are missing a vital ingredient and a trip to the store is just not feasible?  It happens to me a lot it seems. 

Do I let it get me down?  For goodness sakes no!  I perservere, endure the hardship and forge on anyway!  Just like Martin Luther King Jr. did in his crusade for equal rights! 

Okay maybe that's a little dramatic, but I did overcome an obstacle the other day when I really wanted chili only to find when I went down do the pantry that I didn't have any chili beans.  Oh, the shame!  What kind of pantry doesn't have chili beans?  Mine, apparantley.

To be honest, I actually don't even like beans in my chili.  Hubby likes them; he says chili isn't chili without beans, but oh did I show him!  I decided chili doesn't really need beans and prove it I did!  He gave this recipe an A and my lovely baby sister gave it an A+!

So I'm sharing with you, my friends, my new favorite recipe for chili... I like to call it Not Quite Chili.

What You'll Need: 
1 lb Hamburger
1 lb Chorizo
1 Diced Onion
1/2 Diced Green Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Quart Stewed Tomatoes (I used a jar from the summer that we canned, you could use store bought as well)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1/2 Can of Beer
Few Dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
1 Cup Uncooked Rice
Lime Pickles, sliced
Grated Cheddar Cheese

What You Do:
Brown the hamburger and chorizo over medium heat in large stock pot.

While the meat is cooking, chop up the onion, green pepper and garlic.  Add to the pot once the meat is browned.  Cook for a few minutes.

Add tomatoes, beer, chicken broth and Tabasco sauce.

Let simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes.  The longer the better though; let the flavors all meld together.  I had it simmering for about an hour.  It should be fairly watery right now, but that's okay.

Add uncooked rice to pot.  Let simmer for another 20 or 30 minutes.  The rice will soak up the excess juices and should thicken up nicely.  If it's too thick for your liking you can add some water.

When serving, sprinkle in some grated cheddar cheese and sliced Lime pickles.

You MUST not skip this step.  I'm telling you, this may just be the MOST important part of chili.  And that's ANY chili.  And they must be Lime pickles. Dill, Bread & Butter, Gherkin, Sour... any of those just won't do.

Trust me on this. Everyone I've ever had over for chili looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them they have to do this.  And then they try it and instantly fall in love with me. 

I'm not kidding, how do you think I landed my husband?

**If your local grocery doesn't carry lime pickles (Shocked, I am not.  I've never seen them in a store around us,) you can make them yourself.  I will post a how-to on that before the summer.  Make sure your spring gardening plans include cucumbers!

Zuppa Toscana Soup

I’m really not a huge soup fan. I don’t care for broth, which hinders my soup liking a lot. Even when I’m sick, I just don’t like it. Basically the only soups I like are creamy ones; cheesy potato tops the list. But there is one out there that has stolen my heart. It’s Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup. I could seriously eat a whole pot of it and still want more.

I’ve tried mastering the recipe and just haven’t been able to get it right. Last night I think I finally did it! Hubby even gave it an A+! Yes, I make him grade my recipes… he thinks I’m a dork, and I own that.

These are the cast of characters (minus the water I forgot to put in the picture).

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian Sausage
4 strips smoked bacon
3 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
3 large potatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
2 cups kale
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

I started off by browning the bacon and sausage, seperately of course.

While it was cooking, I chopped up the potatoes, garlic and onion and added those to a large pot.

Then I added the chicken broth and water, letting it simmer over medium heat.

When the sausage and bacon are finished, add them to the pot. Simmer until potatoes are tender.

While simmering, chop up the kale.

Add to pot (I think you are catching on to the pattern here, right?)

Then add the cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through.

Lastly, and this might be the most important part, so do not forget it… add parmesan cheese to each individual serving. You won’t regret it, I promise.

I served the soup with garlic bread sticks. A salad would’ve been awesome as well, but I was out of lettuce. Oh the shame!

Enjoy!

Oh Yum. White Chicken Chili

Hello, my name is Becky and I’m addicted to food.

There, I’ve said it. I’m in love with food. All kinds of it. I love eating it but even more, I love cooking it. I look forward to trying new recipes and better yet, making up my own.

So I thought from time to time maybe I could share a few with you. Here is one that I made last weekend for family and it was a hit!


White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
Salt and pepper
1 medium yellow or white onion
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 cup of mild or hot (depending on your taste buds) tomatillo salsa
4 cups chicken stock
1 can (15 oz) Great Northern white beans
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of one lime
Shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese
1 bag uncooked instant white rice
A few shakes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce

Directions:
Heat medium soup pot over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil.
Add the chicken to the hot oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.Cook 2 or 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno, cumin and coriander and cook for 3 or 4 minutes.
Continue to stir.
Add the tomatillo salsa, Tabasco sauce and the chicken stock.
Bring the chili up to a simmer and add the beans.
Simmer the chili for 20 minutes, add uncooked rice and simmer for another 20 minutes, this will thicken up the chili.**
Remove from heat and add the cilantro and lime juice.
Serve with shredded cheese on top.

**If you don’t like rice, you can add one more can of white beans to thicken up the chili. With a fork, thoroughly mash the second can of beans and add to the pot. I personally prefer the rice, but you do as you wish!