Two Birds...One Soup (aka Soup-a-Long: Week #4)

In addition to missing potluck while we were away, I also actually missed cooking! Sure it was nice having others cook for me, but there was some small part of me that itched to get back into the kitchen and play around with food. 

Thankfully, I was able to stretch those cooking muscles yesterday as I prepared for potluck. Not only was I making a meal to share with my friends, but I also decided to jump back into the soup-a-long since I missed last week. 

One great thing about making soup for potluck is that you know there's always going to be enough. Soup is one of those magical dishes that always seems to have an extra bowl left. Also, making this one on a Monday ensured just enough extra for lunch for me today - win/win! 

This week's soup happens to be one of my favorites, yet one that I've never actually made myself before: Tortilla Soup! 

Now that I've made it, I can reassure you that it will quickly become a staple in this house. It was easy, delicious and a big hit with kids and adults alike.

Most of the ingredients ready to go!

This week's soup comes courtesy of my friend Jess's mom. My own comments are in green!:

SPICY TORTILLA SOUP 

1 large onion, coarsely chopped 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

4 corn tortillas, coarsely chopped 

6 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 

2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans tomato puree (I used one large 28oz can)

2 quarts chicken broth 

1 Tablespoon ground cumin 

2 teaspoons chili powder 

2 bay leaves 

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (You know me and my fear of spice, so I omitted this, but added a bit more chili powder, cumin & some salt)

3 corn tortillas 

2 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut in 

strips 

1 avocado, peeled, seeded and cubed 

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 

                  ***

Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add 

chopped onion, and process until smooth. Measure 1 

cup onion puree, and set aside; reserve any remaining 

puree for another use. (I always just use all of it) (I'm not sure what it was, but my onion just did not puree all the way. I kept using a spatula to get it close to the blade and re-pulsing it and... nada. I used it anyway and I don't think it made a difference...it just wasn't a "puree")

Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over 

medium heat; cook 4 chopped tortillas, garlic,and 

cilantro until tortillas are soft.

This smelled pretty fantastic.

Add onion puree, and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and 

discard bay leaves. (This soup couldn't have been easier if it tried)

Cut 3 corn tortillas into thin strips. Pour oil to 

depth on 1 inch into a large heavy skillet. Fry 

strips in hot oil until browned.

I really should have made more of these. So tasty to snack on.

          Remove tortillas and all but 1/2 tablespoon oil; drain tortillas on

paper towels and set aside. Add chicken to skillet 

and cook until done (about 10 minutes). (I actually cut the chicken into strips and added it to the soup once it boiled - before i turned it down to a simmer. That way there's less oil involved and the chicken was cooked perfectly, coming out juicy and flavorful.)

Spoon soup into bowls--add chicken, cheese and 

avocado. Top with tortilla strips. (I serve those 

things in bowls for People to add themselves along 

with more cilantro and sour cream). I also use the 

large can of tomato puree which I think may be more 

than called for. 

Yum!

Since I brought the soup to potluck, I made sure to bring a bunch of yummy toppings. A large brick of cheddar, two avocados and some extra cilantro came with us and people were able to choose what type of toppings they wanted. I quickly learned that tortilla soup is really just a delicious vehicle for yummy add ons. I may have gone back for an extra chunk of cheese or some more crispy tortilla strips more than once.

Everyone enjoyed this soup, including the kids. The spice level was perfect, but I could see it also being tasty with just a bit more of a kick. I will most definitely be making this soup a few times this winter - it's the perfect way to warm up on a chilly night when you're looking for a little something different.

Soup-a-long: Week 3

I meant to have this blog up a day or two ago, but just never got around to it. Let's blame it on the post-Thanksgiving food coma I was in. Not a bad place to be, really...

This week's soup-a-long's recipe is courtesy of my friend Emy. She told us all about this wonderful Armenian soup called Manti. To be fair, the first time she mentioned it, I snorted. It sounded horribly complicated and time consuming. In my mind, soup should be relatively easy to make with few steps beyond chop, dump and simmer.

All the various steps for Manti. Picture taken by Emy from the family cookbook she uses.

However, Saturday rolled around and Marc was at work all day; it was super chilly out, and I needed something to do. Manti sounded like the perfect idea. I started with the meat filling. That was the easy part. I defrosted some CSA ground beef (instead of lamb) and mixed it up with the onion, salt and pepper. I also added a little oregano for a bit more flavor.

Can you believe I actually gave up a chance at ground lamb at the last meat swap? I was like, what would I make with it. Oh, yeah: Manti. doh. Next time...

Getting the meat filling prepped was the easy part. Then it was on to the dough for the Manti. I used my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer to make the dough, and found myself adding more and more flour because the dough was incredibly sticky. After letting it sit for two hours I started the tricky process of rolling it out.

Again, I had to keep adding more flour, because if I didn't, it would just bunch up and get all hard to handle. I got a little nervous that the more I added flour the tougher the Manti would be, but the dough still rolled out pretty thin. Then, I grabbed a knife and eyeballed my grid for cutting up the squares of dough.

The photo came out slightly blurry, which seems apropos for how this whole endeavor went, really.

Once I got everything all filled up, I pinched them together and placed them in a greased baking dish. I have to be honest and say I googled around to see pictures of other people's Manti to see how mine fared in comparison. This is when I learned that most people use premade wonton wrappers which make their Manti pretty flawless looking. Mine...were not so much.

However, what they lacked in presentation, they made up for in flavor. Once I baked them a bit, then added the broth and baked them some more, my house started smelling fantastic. They came out bubbling from the oven and were ready to pop in a bowl. 

The tops of some of them were a little crispy from not having been fully submerged in the broth. That really wasn't an issue once they were all piled in a soup bowl. However, next time I'll definitely be making this with more broth so that they're soft all around. The combination of the dough and meatball inside was perfect. The meat cooked well and was incredibly moist while still being cooked all the way through. 

Everyone who tried it gave it the thumbs up, and despite it being a bit of a hassle with making my own dough, I will definitely be trying this again. It's a perfect, hearty soup for a cold day - it will warm up your house and your belly! 

Soup-a-long: Week 2

You might be thinking that I'm slightly crazy for having already participated in this week's soup-a-long while just on the mend from a stomach bug...especially when the soup is a broccoli/potato/cheese one.

mmm...good!

However, I'll let you in on a little secret. I actually made this soup last week. Somebody suggested it to the group, and knowing how good it is, I just couldn't wait.

And I was right - it was delicious.

This soup recipe is a favorite of the Monday night crew, and the recipe was posted to our Google group's document section. I'm not sure where it's from or if my friend Lex (the one who always made it) is the one who actually came up with it, but either way - it's become a staple here for sure.

I've since shared this recipe with so many people, that I can never remember who has it. So, when it was suggested for this week's soup (by somebody else!), it didn't take much prodding from me to eagerly agree.

This soup is as basic as they come, has few ingredients and is easy to make... but tastes absolutely phenomenal. It's warm, comforting and the perfect soup for a chilly night.

 

All the ingredients you will need!

2 pounds potatoes (peeled and cubed)
32 ounces broth (chicken or veggie)
3 cups broccoli (2 medium sized crowns...this was a guesstimate on my part. I figured too much broccoli wasn't going to hurt anyone)
3 cups cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 cups onion (diced) (I went with 1 large onion)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs. Butter

Saute the onions in the butter (do not brown)
Combine onions, potatoes, and broth and boil/simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15 min.)
Add the broccoli and continue to simmer until the broccoli is cooked (5 min.).

Happy, yummy veggies!

Transfer half of the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree.
Add the puree back into the pot with the potatoes, broccoli and broth.
Salt and pepper to taste. Add the cheddar cheese and warm the soup until the cheese is melted.  

As you can see the soup is pretty easy, even for a newbie cook. One thing that made it even easier is that we have a hand held blender and didn't need to worry about moving any of the soup from one place to another - I could just blend it right in the pot!

We enjoyed the soup with some nice, crusty bread. Yum.

This week's soup definitely gets a gold star from me compared to the "meh" soup from last week. To be fair, the bean and barley soup came from a low-fat cookbook...how could it ever compete with a soup laden with butter and lots of cheddar cheese?

The obvious answer is: it can't. Cheese will always win out. I think it has to do with the order of the universe or something. And sure, I could worry about what this deliciously simple soup is doing to my body. Or I could just spend a an extra half hour playing an energized game of hide & seek with my kiddo instead. Cheese and hide & seek? Yes, please.

Check in next week to see what soup will be up, and if you have a favorite soup recipe you'd like to include in our soup-a-long, please leave a recipe in the comments!

Soup-a-long: Week 1

I'm breaking the first rule of soup club: I'm talking about it. But, since I can't figure out what the penalty would be... (No soup for you!?), I'm going out on a limb and sharing.

Some friends and I have decided to do a soup of the week club. It's pretty darn simple. Each week a different person will choose a soup recipe and everyone will make it, reporting back with how it went. 

Soup club couldn't have come at a better time...with the chilly temperatures and the early darkness making me feel all homey, whipping up a pot of soup sounds just about perfect, really. 

The first soup up is a bean and barley soup submitted by my friend Rachel. The original recipe comes from 1001 Low-Fat Soups and Stews and has been adapted slightly. I added Rachel's commentary in orange, and then my own in green. 

2 cups Great Northern beans (I used canned, so 3 cans or so) 

2 1/4 quarts water (skip this if you're using stock, which you totally should because stock is awesome) 

1 meaty ham bone or 2 pork hocks (you could leave this out if you're veggie but it will be bland. We don't dig on swine, so I did leave this out, and yeah...kinda bland.) 

1/4 cup pearl barley 

2 cups chopped onions (2 medium onions. I appreciate this comment b/c for a visual-spatial challenged person like myself, it's always hard to figure out how many onions will make up a cup once chopped) 

2 large carrots, sliced 

2 large ribs celery (including leaves), sliced (skip the leaves if you're using stock, which I always do) 

3-5 beef bouillon cubes (skip these if you're using stock - any stock will work here, I use chicken stock most of the time. I ended up using vegetable broth instead of water/bouillon. Again, probably contributed to the "eh" overall feeling of the soup) 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

3 bay leaves 

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme 

1/4 tsp ground celery seed 

1/4 tsp pepper 

3 cups cabbage, thinly sliced (I did not use the cabbage. I had the cabbage, but the boys in my house were all "NO CABBAGE!" so...I will be making some homemade sauerkraut later today. sigh.)

8 oz (1 can) reduced-sodium tomato sauce 

1. Cover beans with 2 inches of water in a dutch over and heat to boiling; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain. (skip this part if you're using canned beans. I did.) 

2. Return beans to dutch oven with remaining ingredients except cabbage, tomato sauce, and salt; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Add cabbage and simmer 30-40 minutes or until beans are tender. (if using canned beans, then 40 minutes is way too long. Simmer until the cabbage is cooked) 

3. Remove ham bone and cut meat into small pieces; return to pot. Discard bone and bay leaves; skim fat from surface of soup. Add tomato sauce and simmer 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt. 

My overall impression of the soup was: "eh." - definitely not a resounding response, I know, but...it wasn't bad.

Really. 

I did do a few things differently, though. I don't like crunchy veggies in my soup, so I sauteed up the onion, carrot and celery in some olive oil (probably losing the whole "low-fat" aspect of the soup in the process).

The holy trinity

I thought I had purchased pearl barley. Turns out I got quick-cook barley...it looks more like oatmeal, but since the amount was so minimal in the recipe, it didn't seem to matter one way or another. 

There was no meat in this soup and I used vegetable broth instead of stock/water/bouillon cubes. And, like I mentioned before, I omitted the cabbage.

But, these are the hazards you encounter when you switch up a recipe. I'm okay with that. It was kind of a bummer that the first soup up was sort of a bust, but I'm excited to see what soupy treats (I can mess up) are up next.