"Cream" of Broccoli Soup

During the winter, I miss the fresh veggies of summer, but broccoli is such a great main-stay through the colder months.  This is about as easy as they come for a quick soup.

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli florets, steamed until soft

1/2 sweet onion, chopped and carmelized, about 1/2 cup (optional)

2-3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh thyme is good, too.

Method:

Steam the broccoli til soft.

(If you decide to use thyme, or another herb, you can steam it with the broccoli.)

Add it to a 6 quart pan.

Add chicken broth.

Mash the broccoli down into the broth, then use a stick blender or Magic Bullet to blend it up.

Add the coconut milk and blend again.

Heat until just serving temperature.

Season and serve.

Another option is the addition of steamed greens.  Just add them to the broccoli in either the pot or the Magic Bullet and proceed.

Pumpkin Soup

Fun recipe for Fall!

Ingredients:
1 small pie pumpkin, baked
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons honey
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste
Crispy Pumpkin Seeds (At the very bottom of the post.)

Method:
Mash up the baked pumpkin in the bottom of a 6 quart pan.
Add the chicken broth, honey, curry and pumpkin pie spice.
Blend with a stick blender until smooth.
Heat till steaming, then add the coconut milk and blend again.
Heat again until serving temperature.  I don't like to heat the soup to boiling with the coconut milk in it.
Add salt to taste, garnish with pumpkin seeds and serve.

Black Bean Chili

Great chili pot for fall and winter!  Using black beans from your freezer makes it a really fast dinner.

Ingredients:
8 cups of Awesome Black Beans (Freeze the remainders)
2 pounds stew meat, cut in 1/2" pieces, browned
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 - 15 oz. can organic chilis and tomatoes (I use Trader Joe's)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon leaf oregano
Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a soup pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes to blend the flavors.

Chicken Soup

This is good for what ails you, for real.

Ingredients:

Meat from 1 range fed chicken EITHER baked or boiled

1 gallon Chicken broth  from baked chicken carcass
OR
1 Gallon broth from a boiled chicken. (See instructions below)

Note: Your broth will be richer if you make it with a baked chicken carcass.

2 medium sweet onions in medium dice
4 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 head of garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Method:

Two ways to cook the chicken and make broth:

Bake it, bone it and make chicken broth, reserving the meat.
OR
Put the chicken in a large stock pot, cover with water by 2-3 inches, add 2 Tablespoons vinegar and bring to a boil.
Skim the foam, reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through.  About 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the broth, bone it and reserve the meat.
Reserve 1 gallon of the broth for the soup and freeze the rest.

Okay, with whatever broth and chicken meat you are using, put them in a large stock pot and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, sautee the onions and carrots in butter and then add the garlic at the end to gently warm it.

Add the veggies to the soup pot and bring back to a simmer.
Add curry, salt and pepper.
Simmer for about 30 minutes to blend flavors.

Options:
Add cooked rice or noodles.

And if you're not sick, you might want to serve it with these biscuits.  :-)

"Cream" of Vegetable Soup

This is a wonderful soup for fall.  I freeze some of the summer's bounty of zucchini and yellow squash so I'll have some for this soup after the warmth of the season has fled.

1 sweet onion, or a leek, peeled or cleaned and chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
4 Tablespoons butter (or olive or coconut oil)
2 pounds of potatoes, scrubbed and chopped.  I leave about half of the skins on.  I most often use Russets, but Yukon Golds or Red Potatoes are awesome.
2 quarts chicken broth
Several sprigs of fresh thyme tied together
4 summer squash (zucchini, yellow crookneck, etc.) sliced
Sea salt
Sour Cream or creme fraiche

Saute the onions or leeks and the carrots in the butter or oil until they are very soft.

Add the sauteed veggies to a stock pot, along with the chicken broth and potatoes, and bring to a boil.
Skim the foam and then reduce the heat and add the thyme sprigs.
Cover and cook until the potatoes are soft.
Add the summer squash and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until it is tender.

Remove the thyme.

Puree the soup with a stick blender.

Add water if the soup is too thick.

Season to taste.

Serve topped with sour cream or creme fraiche.

Chicken Broth

Chicken broth is an essential for my kitchen.  I keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer and use it for more than chicken soup!  Just drinking it is great for the gut.  I use it in soups and stews and also in casseroles to keep things moist.

I cook at least one chicken a week, and when the carcass is bare, either because we ate it all, or because I boned it, I turn it into chicken broth.

This is how I do it:

First, I bake the chicken in a clay pot.  Hands down, this is the best way I have found to end up with moist and very flavorful chicken and a carcass that yields the most flavorful broth.  Baking does something to the bones that enhances the flavor.

Here's what I do:

Soak the clay pot according to manufacturers directions.
Add the chicken, giblets removed and the bird rinsed, to the clay pot.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add 2-3 cups of filtered or well water.
Bake at 375* for 2 - 2 1/4 hours.

Remove from oven and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Carve for a meal, or drain off the juice in the clay pot (save it in a container), and then bone the chicken when it's cooled down enough to handle.

Add the bones and skin to the cooking juices and store in the fridge until you're ready to make the broth.

My Broth Recipe

I like a simple broth, so I don't add anything to it other than the chicken bones, skin and cooking juices.  If you've had it in the fridge overnight, it will have jelled up beautifully.

Put all of it into a 6-8 quart pan and add water to within a couple of inches of the top of the pan.

Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer basically all day.  I usually start mine after breakfast and take it off the heat around dinner time.

Pour the broth through a stainless steel strainer into a big bowl or another pot, and let it drip until most of the liquid has drained.

Let the broth cool and then either jar it for the fridge, or pour it into freezer containers, and freeze.

Not only does this make a marvelous base for soups and stews, it is one of the healthiest foods out there.

Chicken soup fed to those who are sick to aid in healing is not a myth!

Hearty Lentil Soup

This is a staple!

4 cups green lentils
2 T raw apple cider vinegar, lemon juice OR whey

3-4 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions or scallions
1 head of garlic, minced
Butter or coconut oil or olive oil to saute

2 quarts good chicken broth
Additional filtered water

2 teaspoons of curry powder, your choice of potency
1 Tablespoon of grey sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
Pepper to taste

2 cups cooked rice (optional)

Soak the lentils and vinegar, lemon juice or whey overnight or up to 24 hours in water to cover by a few inches.

Drain the lentils and then add them to a large soup pot.  Cover with the chicken broth and enough water to cover by 2-3 inches.  Or use all broth if you have it.  Bring to a boil and then skim the foam.

While the lentils are coming to a boil, saute the carrots then the onions in enough butter or oil to keep them loose and not stick to the pan.  As each are finished sauteing, add to the soup pot after you've skimmed the foam.  Heat the garlic in butter or oil, but be careful not to let it get too dark.  It can burn easily.  Add it to the soup pot.

Add the seasonings, and reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Add the cooked rice, if using, stirring it in well.

 I serve mine with either cornbread or sourdough bread and a tossed salad.