Tag Archives: soup

Madras Chicken Soup

I found this recipe in an old Chatelaine magazine. I put it aside years ago and decided to actually make it. It is fall and that brings soup weather.  It was very tastyand smelled wonderful.


I didn’t have any brown rice so I used basmati. Also, I didn’t have frozen peas, I used a mixture of peas and corn.




This is the point when the smell gets amazing!


This is the point where I forgot to take pictures, but you just add the stuff to the pot, so there wasn’t anything to exciting that you missed.


Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Advertisement

Slow Cooker White Bean Soup

IMG_6164I have been trying to post this for quite awhile, weeks really.  I thought the timing today was good as alot of people have leftover ham after Easter and this is a great easy way to use it up.  Don’t throw out that ham bone!  We had a ham bone in the freezer from Christmas (that a friend had leftover and was going to throw out, so I took it home to freeze).  I decided I would try to make a slow cooker white bean soup to use it up before it was too old and ended up in the garbage. I am not good with freezer cooking and I often put things in the freezer with the best of intentions, but then never use them and they end up freezer burnt.

A couple of notes, you will need to soak the beans overnight and our ham bone as frozen so we thawed that in the fridge overnight as well.

Here are the ingredients that my helper wrote out so we would remember what we added:

1 ham bone with some leftover ham attached

8 cups water

IMG_6197

We placed the thawed ham bone in the slow cooker. Put in the white beans (which had been soaked overnight).  FYI-the garlic was minced. Threw everything else in on top of that, poured in the water and cooked for about 6-7 hours on high (you could do 8- hours on low).

IMG_6141

IMG_6142

At the end of the cooking time, carefully lift out the bone and cut off some bits of meat to add back to the pot. We don’t like ham very much so I didn’t add much back to the pot, but add back as much as you would like to suit your taste.  Try it for flavour at this point and add a little more salt if needed.

After all day cooking you have this tasty very frugal soup, that went great with crusty bread

IMG_6164

My Favourite Mushroom Soup

On a very cold Canadian winter’s day there is not much better than this tasty, warm rich mushroom soup.  This is one of my favourite soups, I really love it.  As I have mentioned before, Evie on the other hand despises mushrooms, so we have this for dinner if she is out at a friends.  It doesn’t happen often so when it does this soup is a real treat.

IMG_2861

Take 1 medium onion chopped and saute in a few TBSPs (probably about  1/8 of a cup) of butter until soft, just a few minutes add

2 small or 1 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

Cook over medium-low heat until tender

Then add

1 lb (454g) of fresh cremini mushrooms, chopped (or a mixture of other dark mushrooms, sometime I use a mixture of cremini and portobello, and shiitake)

Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

IMG_2835IMG_2841

Once the mushroom mixture is nicely cooked down add 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.

IMG_2843

IMG_2846

Then add 1 cup beef broth,

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

IMG_2847

IMG_2849

Stir over low heat until heated through.

The next part is optional, but I had fresh nutmeg and wanted to use it

IMG_2850

just a tiny pinch, a few times over the microplane with some fresh nutmeg.

IMG_2852

A little chopped fresh parsley for garnish

IMG_2854

of course, like any soup you need a little baguette.

IMG_2855

This is one of my favourite soups, warm, creamy, earthy, loaded with flavour and comfort.

IMG_2860

Potato Leek Soup

This is a recipe that I found years ago (probably 8 years) on a bag of chopped leeks.  I haven’t been able to find washed pre-sliced leeks since then.  Washing leeks with all those layers and all that sand is a bit of a pain, at least you know they are in their natural state.  I have adapted the recipe slightly but it goes like this.

4 medium size leeks (if they are huge use 2), probably 6-8 cups

3 tbsp butter (use margarine or oil if vegan)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 stick celery, minced

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

4 medium potatoes, peeled, washed and cubed

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup 15% cream (I used half & half, I already had it in the fridge for my coffee) (you can use use non dairy)

In pot melt butter and brown leeks, onion, and celery, just until they start to brown at thee edges and get sticky (sorry I forgot to take a picture of that).  Add broth and potatoes.

IMG_7650

IMG_7654

Cook for about 30 minutes until potatoes and really soft.  I then use a hand blender to puree the soup, you can use a blender or food processor if that is what you have.

IMG_7655

Add salt and pepper stir and taste, adjust the seasoning until it is tastes how you like it.  Add cream and heat just until it is heated through but don’t boil it hard.  Turn it off when you see it just start to come to a boil.

IMG_7661

Serve.