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Soup is one of the easiest meals to make.  Throw stuff in a pot.  Cover with water or broth and simmer.  You’re done. Take it up a notch by making homemade cream soups.  The technique is about the same for any vegetable.

Chop an onion.  Saute in a soup pot with a tablespoon of olive oil or butter, depending on your taste preferences. Add a chopped clove of garlic.  Cook for three to five minutes until the onions are soft.

Cream of Tomato Soup

1 lb of fresh ripe tomatoes.  Roma work the best.

Bring a pan of water to a brisk boil.  Wash the tomatoes and plunge into the water.  Bring back to a boil and boil for one minutes.  Remove from the boiling water and put into an ice bath.

Slip a paring knife under the skin at the top of the tomato near the stem. Pull the skin off.  It should come off easily.  Core the white center out of the tomato.  Squeeze gently to get rid of the seeds.  Chop roughly.

Add to the sauted onions.  Lower the heat to medium and cook until the tomatoes soften and almost seem to dissolve. Mash with a potato masher for a rustic soup.  Use an immersion handheld blender for a smoother texture.  Put the tomatoes in a blender for an even smoother finish.

Add one quart of vegetable or chicken broth to the tomatoes that have been returned to the pan.  Let simmer 15 minutes.  Stir in one cup of cream or half and half.  Stir and heat until the soup almost boils but not quite.

Place in serving bowls.  Swirl a teaspoon of olive oil or melted butter over the top.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the soup and serve.

Cauliflower Soup

Add a roasted nutty flavor to the soup by roasting the cauliflower before adding it to the onions.  Wash and cut the cauliflower into chunks.  Roast at 400 F for 20 to 30 minutes. The cauliflower will brown a bit on top but that’s okay.

Chop into 1 inch chunks and add to the onions and garlic and 1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth.  Simmer until the cauliflower is very soft, about 10 minutes.  Blend until smooth.  Add the cream and half and half. Top with a mild cheese such as Havarti.

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

This is one of the easiest and most impressive soups you can make if you like a little spice in your soup.

Add one can of pumpkin — not the pie filling — to one quart of chicken broth and the sauteed onions.  Stir until bubbling.  Add 1/2 teaspoon each oregano, cumin and  cilantro.  Add from 1/4 to one teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  The more you add the spicier the soup. Simmer for 20 minutes covered.

Puree one can of black beans with their liquid until smooth.  Heat in the microwave.  Add enough chicken broth so the beans are the same consistency as the pumpkin soup.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls.  Place three tablespoons of the black bean puree equidistant apart in the soup.  Drag a butter knife through the black bean puree in a circle to swirl it on top of the soup.

Enjoy your super soups for supper.

October 5, 2011

The New Orleans Saints went home last year as losers of their wildcard playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. The Green Bay Packers are making sure they go home as losers in the 2011 NFL season opener.  New Orleans is famous for jambalaya, gumbo and Po-boys.  The Packers are planning on stuffing the Saints much like those overstuffed po-boy sandwiches.

No time for fussing and fancy cooking when the game starts on the West Coast at 5:30 PM.  Grilling and chilling is about the most complicated it gets.  Traditionally po-boys are made with breaded and deep fried shrimp or oysters.  But not everybody likes seafood and fried foods are high in fats. Offer a choice of grilled chicken po-boys and fried shrimp.

Start the menu with a kickoff of gumbo, a rich intensively flavored soup that’s more like a stew.  At half time, lay out a spread of goodies for fan to make their own po-boys. Finish with smothered beignets.

Gumbo can be time consuming with a long list of ingredients but not if you do it this way.  Purchase a commercially-made soup such as Campbell’s Grilled Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.  Add additional andouille sausage slices.  Heat and serve.  Throw away the cans and no one will be the wiser.

Grill the chicken ahead of time.  When the game is on, the grill meister occasionally forgets to keep an eye on the food, especially during tense moments.  Charcoaled chicken does not a good sandwich make. An alternative is to buy a whole roasted chicken.  Remove the skin and bones.  Shred the meat.

Use prepackaged heat-and-serve breaded shrimp.  No sense making a mess in the kitchen while the game’s on. Deep frying takes concentration like grilling does.  Plan on eight shrimp per sandwich, po-boys are overstuffed remember.

Lay out the shredded chicken, shrimps, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, pickles both sour and sweet, and toasted crusty rolls sliced in half but still hinged together.  Offer a selection of spicy mustard, plain mayonnaise and chipotle mayonnaise — add 1/2 tsp of chipolte powder to 1 cup of plain mayonnaise. Chipotle mayonnaise is similar to remoulade sauce and easier to make. Fans build their own sandwiches and enjoy until the game resumes.

Add a few salads such as hoppin john, which is simply cooked black-eyed peas with bacon, celery and onions.  To each can of peas, add two slices of cooked crumbled bacon and their grease, 1/2 cup of celery and 1/4 cup of onions. Mix well.  Purchased potato salad rounds out the offering.  Add a raw veggie platter and you’re done. And so are the New Orleans Saints.

Read Brian Blog about the <a href=”http://www.packers.sportsblog.com”>Green Bay Games</a>

Why use a mix when it’s easy to make fresh, tasty potato soup yourself? The salty bacon compliments the sweetness of the sauteed onions. Wrap it up all together with a little heavy cream and lots of potatoes. The trick is to mash some of the potatoes and leave some in chunks. Decrease the fat by substituting turkey bacon for regular bacon and skim milk for the cream. Because you’re browning the onions in the bacon fat the soup will not be pure white but take on a beige color from the bacon and lots of flavor.

Cut three slices of low sodium bacon into one inch slices. Fry until the bacon browns. If you’re on a low fat diet, drain the fat. Or use turkey bacon instead. Chop one medium onion into 1/2 inch cubes. Chop two slices of celery into 1/2 inch cubes. Sautee the veggies over medium heat until they’re soft. That should take, maybe five minutes. Keep an eye on them. Onion contains sugar and they’ll burn quickly at too high a heat.

Add one quart of low sodium chicken broth, or 4 cubes of low/no sodium chicken bouillon cubes and four cups of water. Let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. No, we haven’t forgotten about the potatoes.

Peel three medium to large potatoes and chop into 1/2 cubes. Add the potatoes to the soup and let simmer on low heat another 10 minutes. The potatoes should be soft and easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove about a cup of the potatoes and mash with a fork. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cream. If you’re on a low fat diet add 1 cup of skim milk with 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir the flour into the milk, add the mashed potatoes and then add back to the soup.

Bring up to a boil. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. The flour will continue cooking as the soup cools.
Serve with a fresh fruit salad.

Leftovers are great the next day. If you don’t have quite enough soup left, add 1- 2 cups more chicken broth, 1 cup of frozen corn, and one cup of little cooked shrimp.

It’s easy to vary the potato soup by adding a few different ingredients. Add clams for clam chowder. Smoked sausage goes nicely with the potatoes. Or try chopped leeks and dill and leave out the bacon. Add chicken and peas and chopped parsley.

Make up a double batch and freeze half for another night’s supper.

It’s fast, easy and very satisfying. 

Chop an onion, green pepper, and red pepper into 1/2 chunks. Saute in a couple of tablespoons of virgin olive oil for about 5 minutes, over medium heat, until translucent and tender but not brown. Add two cloves of crushed garlic, a teaspoon each of cumin and dried oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. If you like spicy food increase the cayenne pepper. Slice two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into 1/2 inch slices, add to the pan. Saute a minute or two more.

Add 2 cups of frozen corn kernels, fresh can be used as well. Sauteing brings out the sweetness of the corn and enhances its flavor. While the corn is cooking, roughly chop 2 large tomatoes. Add to the pan with 4 cups of good chicken broth. Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes for the flavors to meld. Serve with restaurant style corn chips and a squeeze of lime. Add a salad of sliced cucumbers and jicama tossed with lime juice, fresh cilantro and salt and pepper.

This soup brings a touch of the orient to your menu.  It’s quick and doesn’t take a lot of prep work.

Chop two bunches of scallions (green onions), reserve about 1/2 cup for garnish. Crush 3 cloves of garlic, finely chop about 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger, add more if you like the flavor of ginger. Slice 4 ounces of mushrooms. Saute over medium heat until the scallions are soft. Add a pound of medium size shelled and de veined shrimp. Cook until the shrimp turns pink. Add 4 cups of chicken broth, one tablespoon of soy sauce, and enough rice noodles to serve 4. Simmer until noodles are cooked per packaged directions. At the very end of the cooking right before you’re ready to serve the soup add a small package of fresh spinach. The spinach should just be wilted. Garnish each serving with the reserved green onions.