The holidays are beginning and when you are tired of turkey, try these soups.
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Roasted garlic tomato soup
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil plus more for garlic head
1 small onion, diced
4 C vegetable broth/stock
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. kosher salt plus more for garlic head
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
For garnish – bread, croutons, shaved Parmesan, olive oil
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut top off of a head of garlic and drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle with salt and then completely cover in foil. Place in oven and roast for 35 minutes. While this is roasting, add tablespoon extra virgin olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.
When garlic is done roasting, carefully remove it from oven. Squeeze roasted garlic into soup pot. Stir well. Use a blender and puree until smooth. Serve hot.
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Pumpkin beef stew
3 lbs. beef (stew meat or chuck roast)
1/2 C all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. butter
1 C yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 C beef stock or broth
2 C pumpkin puree
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. kosher or sea salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
3-4 thyme sprigs
additional salt to taste
Cut beef into 1-in. chunks. Dredge beef in flour until all of beef sides are covered. In a large soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. In small quantities, brown beef on all sides, removing it and setting it aside in a large bowl as you go. Once all the beef is browned, add onion and garlic to pot. Sauté onion and garlic for one minute, scraping bottom of the pot as you stir.
Return browned beef to pot and add beef stock, pumpkin puree, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, carrots and thyme sprigs to pot and increase heat to medium. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Salt to taste and serve.
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Chicken potato chowder
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 C diced yellow onion
1 C diced celery
1 C diced carrots
4 C chicken broth or stock
2 C diced cooked chicken cut into chunks
4 C diced red potatoes, skin on
2 C half and half
1 tsp. paprika
12 oz. bacon
salt and pepper to taste
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, saute onions for 5 minutes. Then add celery and carrots, stirring frequently and sauteing for an additional 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, chicken and potatoes. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add half and half and paprika. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until chowder is back to eating temperature. While soup is cooking, begin cooking bacon in a frying pan. Cook all bacon until crispy and then crumble it into large chunks. Season chowder to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in cooked bacon just before serving.
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She said, “Sometimes it’s not the song that makes you emotional, it’s the memories of people and places you remember when you hear it.”
If you would like to share a recipe with me, just send it to the J-T or email it to me.
(Melanie Behrens – melb@marysvillejt.com)