I love broccoli and cheese soup. This particular version started because I saw some chipotle cheddar cheese at the local grocers. Hmm..chipotle cheddar? I am in! I originally thought i was going to make macaroni and cheese with it but when the intense need for something quick for dinner hit I went with a gut instinct, a head of broccoli and a bottle of Guinness.

Add a good bread and some fruit for dessert and you have the makings of a winter warming meal.

You can vary the beer to vary the flavor of this soup. It certainly can’t be described as delicate! The sharp smokey cheese mixes with the beer to create its own personal magic. The broccoli is merely a stunt man in this. You could use roasted peppers, cauliflower, or leave the vegetables out completely. It’s totally up to you. For one of my favorite meals just add some beer battered onion rings to the side.

Guinness Broccoli Chipotle Cheese Soup

• 3 cups half and half
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 oz beer
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped and steamed until tender
• One onion, chopped and sauteed
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 lb of chipotle cheddar, shredded
• 2 tbs chipotle in adobo, mashed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cheddar for garnish

1. Simmer cream, half and half, beer, cumin, onion, and chipotle until the sauce reduces slightly and flavors meld, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the broccoli and salt and pepper. Simmer 15 more minutes, stirring often.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. Sprinkle with cheddar and serve hot.

Serves 6  to 8

Now you can feel comfortable in changing amounts to suit your own needs. Just try it!

image: marye audet

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This combination of pumpkin, coconut milk and spicy smoked peppers is a rich and warming first course, or light lunch dish. It is silky and smooth with the sweetness of pumpkin and coconut offset by a smoky spicy finish. I added just a squeeze of lime before serving to brighten the whole thing and bring the flavors together. Just a sprinkle of Vietnamese cinnamon added a nice touch at the table.

Make it ahead of time and reheat it for the most flavor. I saw the prototype for this recipe on epicurious, but I wasn’t completely happy with the way the flavors sounded together. I like my version!

Make sure the coconut milk "thumps" when shaken.

Cut the pumpkin into wedges and remove seeds. This will make it easy to peel.

Peel the pumpkin.

Cut the pumpkin into chunks

Rub leaves between fingers to check for freshness.

This sounds a lot more involved than it is. You CAN do this…and trust me, you WANT to.   Adjust the spiciness to your own liking. Thai chilis are HOT…chipotle a little less, and poblanos pretty mild. I would suggest starting with the chipotle and then moving to a Thai if you want it spicier.

Spicy Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh pumpkin
• 2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
• 2 cups  chicken broth
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 1/2 dried Thai chili, or 1 chipotle in adobo, or to taste
• 2 tbs organic coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, or to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Juice of 1 lime

1. Peel the pumpkin and clean off any seeds.
2. Cut into cubes. You should have 4 1/2 to 5 cups cubed pumpkin.
3. Place the coconut milk, broth, pumpkin cubes, cilantro leaves, garlic, ginger, and chilis in a large pot and bring to a boil.
4. Add the salt and simmer over medium heat until the pumpkin is tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the fish sauce, liquid smoke, and coconut oil and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Spoon, a little at a time, into a blender and blend until smooth.
7. Set aside for flavors to blend about an hour
8. Reheat
9. Check seasoning and adjust.
10. Just before serving squeeze in the lime, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cinnamon.

About 8 first course servings or 4-6 luncheon size servings

images:marye audet

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Rich and creamy, with a faint coconut flavor that is followed by a tingle of spiciness. As my dad used to say, “This soup has some authority to it!”.

Eating hot peppers really does cause your circulation to increase and it warms you up more than just a warm soup alone would. You can simmer this in a crockpot or make it on top of the stove. If you do decide to make it in a crockpot start with rice that is cooked. I never have had much luck in getting rice to cook right in a slow cooker.

This recipe has a lot of ingredients but there is not a lot of prep and it goes together really fast.  I really loved it and so did the entire family.

Need a menu suggestion? Try this –

• Thai Coconut Curry Soup
• Soft Dinner Rolls
• Mixed Baby Greens with a warm sesame dressing (just warm it to about 110F before adding it to the salad) and grilled pineapple slices
• Chai Spice Snowballs

This is based on a recipe from Epicurious.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

• 10 cups organic chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 oz dried lobster mushrooms, optional
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in thin slices
• 2 dried thai chile peppers
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 leek, cleaned and sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced small
• 2 14 oz cans organic coconut milk (not the sweetened kind)
• 2 bunches of cilantro, stems discarded and leaved chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice
• 2 tbs Asian fish sauce
• 2 tbs brown sugar, if desired
• Juice of one lime
• 3 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the mushrooms. Allow to stand for 20 minutes
2. Combine stock, curry powder,  mushrooms and water, peppers, leeks, carrots, garlic, ginger, and chicken. Simmer until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes
3. Stir in rice and simmer until rice is cooked, another 15 minutes or so. Leave uncovered and stir occasionally
4. Add remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for another 15 minutes
5. Remove peppers, taste and adjust seasonings
6. Garnish with cilantro leaves

Serves 8

image:marye audet

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Happy weekend!

We had two simultaneous sleepovers last night.  BOY sleep overs.

Why do girls have the reputation of being giggleboxes? Seriously? A roomful of boys is just as bad, or worse.  Poor Shiloh braved the testosterone as long as she could and then retreated to her pink room with the antique Victorian bed.  Kyrie, being much younger and yet just as aware of the testosterone condensation appearing on the walls asked to sleep at our oldest daughter’s house with our grandkids.  Smart girl.

I retreated to my room, with the rose themed border and bedpread.  And here I am still, this morning, hiding with my computer.

There were two boxes of pizza left over and I told them to just eat that for breakfast.  Marc and Matthew were headed to a mens meeting at church, and as long as I have coffee I don’t care about food.

So, that is what my Saturday is looking like.  Yours?  Are you staying warm?  I have been watching twitter with interest as everyone gives their highs and lows.  We have had highs in the 30s followed by highs in the 70s.  That is just how Texas is.  You learn not to put ANY seasonal clothes away from October to June because it could be 86 one day and 37 the next.

This week I wanted to concentrate on soups since the majority of the country seems to be bombared with blustery blasts, swirling snow, and icy toes.  Soup makes your house smell great, is generally pretty frugal, healthy, and it is warm.

Here’s what I found.

Anna, who blogs Morsels and Musings, has a fantabulous looking Mushroom and Barley soup. Mushrooms add a lot of flavor and in this vegetarian soup they give the rich, beefy taste that goes so well with barely.

Kevin, of Closet Cooking, creates on of my comfort foods.  His Hot and Sour  Soup looks amazing !

On Andrea’s Recipes, Andrea posted a recipe for a Carrot and Ginger Soup that is way different from mine.  I am definitely trying this one.

A new blog to me is SImple, Natural, Nourishing.  Shannon has a fantastic looking Tomato and Balsamic VInegar Soup recipe up.  What IS it about tomato soup? It is just that good.

How can I resist the blog of a fellow Texas housewife?  Nessa, from  Texas Housewife’s Homemakin’ Blog has a great Chicken and Rice Soup recipe posted.

I am a big fan of Judy’s at No Fear Entertaining.  Her Tuscan Pumpkin and White Bean soup might be just the thing to defrost with this afternoon.

Smell’s Like Home has a recipe posted for Sausage and Lentil Soup.  That sounds like comfort food to me.

Alejandra has posted a recipe for one of my favorites, Split Pea Soup on Always Order Dessert.  This particular recipe is different in that it is lighter and has a “smoky garlic swirl” to add both visual appeal and flavor. Yum.

From Jill, at Hey, That Tastes Good!, comes this recipe for Hungarian Bean Soup.  If it has worked all these years for cold Hungarians you know it will thaw you, too.  Right?  And it is gluten free.

From me, a recipe for Zuppa Tuscana.  Warm, rich and creamy, this is the kind of soup I love best.

What are your favorite soups?  Do you have any favorites that I missed?

Stay warm!

Image:Bennigan’s Baked Potato Soup (c) 2009 Marye Audet, all rights reserved.

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We don’t go out to eat very much, I think I have said that before.  For awhile we were going to a little Italian place close by but they closed..

I am honestly not a big Olive Garden fan but this soup is a favorite of mine.  It warms you up on a cold day and seems to me to be the epitomy of comfort.

It was hugely popular among our customers when we had the restaurant.  I have changed the recipe a bit.  This is very rich and you can lose some of the fat by using more chicken broth but you will also lose flavor and richness.  Serve it with a hunk of warm garlic bread or rosemary cracked pepper bread, a crisp salad, and a lemon meringue pie for a perfect late autumn dinner.  If you like less spicy foods substitute sweet italian sausage for the hot, or if you like it more spicy add some crushed red pepper to taste.

 Olive Garden Zuppa Tuscana

8 – 1 1/2  cup servings

• 1 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage,removed from casings
• 1 large, diced white onion
• 2 tbs garlic, chopped
• 1 quart organic chicken broth
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 lb diced red potatoes
• A  bunch of kale, washed and chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Add a little olive oil to a large frying pan and cook the garlic, onion, andItalian sausage until it is cooked through.  Cook over a medium heat and do not let the onion brown.

Meanwhile, cooke the potatoes in a little salted water until they are just tender.  Drain.

Add the sausage mixture and the potatoes to a pot and pour in the chicken broth.  Add the chopped kale.

Simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in the heavy cream, warm through, and serve.

image:marye audet

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We got a blue norther through today. I have not seen one that color since one August in Michigan.  It was my Aunt and Uncle’s fiftieth anniversary and we were having a picnic…a blue norther blew through and dropped it 40 degrees in about 30 minutes.

Our temperature didn’t really drop today..too much..it’s supposed to get down to 42 tonight.  I have no way of predicting the winter..I used to depend on the horses’ coats for that..thick meant a colder than normal winter.

Anyway, all of a sudden it is soup season and I didn’t even realize it! One of our favorites is Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I like to keep it on the spicy side for several reasons..besides flavor the substance that makes things hot also happens to be good for your health.  It bumps up your immune system as well as other benefits.  You can buy tortillas to serve with the soup but the homemade ones are so much better. Just cut corn tortillas in strips and fry in deep, hot fat (375F).

I made a vat of this on Sunday because my friend, Andrea, was dealing with a very bad cold/flu/upper respiratory and I wanted to have enough to send over there.  I probably made at least two gallons…anyway..sent some to them, and my family at the rest before monday morning.

If you are having a chilly, blustery day and need something to make you feel loved, cherished, and spicy this is your soup.  You can make it in a crock pot as well.  Just put everything in there except the cheese, tortillas, and sour cream and let it simmer all day.  The house will smell incredible!

Don’t forget to vote in the Boobie Bake-off!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

•   2 onions, chopped
•   4 cloves garlic, minced
•  1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chili powder or Mexican seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried chipotle granules (1/2 tsp of chipotle powder)
• 3  14 oz cans ro*tel tomatoes
• 2 pints organic free range chicken broth
• 1 pound  whole corn kernels, cooked
•  2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
•  3 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• Cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• Sour cream
• Tortilla chips

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, chipotle, oregano, ro*tel tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Stir in corn,  beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Serve in bowls topped with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.

This is great with Sopapillas for dessert, as long as you are heating up the oil for the chips anyway!

Image:Marye Audet

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So, here it is, the first day of fall…80 degrees here in Texas but that isn’t the point..it is now, quite officially…potato soup weather.

I grew up with potato soup.  Not this potato soup but my mom’s version..the one SHE grew up with..and she was born in 1918.  I hardly ever deviate from that recipe, my comfort food both when I was a kid and as an adult.  But this recipe may be…just a tiny bit better than my mom’s recipe.  If not in memories then in taste, anyway.  By baking the potatoes in the oven they have a roasted flavor, stronger than when they are boiled and stronger than when they are microwaved, too.

I have great memories of Bennigan’s.  I had my first legal drink at the one out by Six Flags in 1978 at my 18th birthday steak dinner. I am so out of the loop though, that I did not know they had filed bankruptcy.

This is not a delicate potato soup at all..It is robust and can hold up to garlic bread or onion rolls with ease. It is a great side with a corned beef sandwich, or on it’s own with a hunk of garlic bread and a salad.

You don’t have to put the bacon fat in if you are freaky about fat but you will be missing alot of taste that way.

Bennigan’s  Baked Potato Soup

5  pounds  potatoes, scrubbed and stabbed with a knife in the centers
6 tablespoons  butter
2  finely chopped onions
4 tablespoons minced fresh  garlic
2 cups Pacific Free Range Organic chicken broth
6 cups whole milk or half and half
3 tablespoons bacon fat

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 lb bacon cooked and crumbled

Chopped scallions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake potatoes 1 hour or until they are tender when pierced. Peel.

Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium low heat. Stir in onions and garlic; cover and cook 10 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add 2/3 of the potatoes and mash with a potato masher. Add the chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper.

Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add the bacon fat.

Cut the remaining potatoes in small cubes.Add to the soup.

Ladle soup  into bowls.  Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, and scallions.

8 servings

Image: Marye Audet

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Cool, crisp days call for hot, steamy soups. There is not much that speaks of home and all things cozy than a creamy bowl of some sort of chowder. Such a simple meal, paired with a read and a salad, with a perfectly ripe pear for dessert- well that is the beginning to a great evening!

This is a southwestern style corn chowder, rich and creamy but also slightly spicy with my beloved chipotle granules included. You can tone it down some for more delicate palates. I drizzle a little Louisiana Hot Sauce on the top for color, and serve with a dollop of sour cream. Those little breads you see next ot it in the picture are hushpuppies, usually served with catfish. We don’t care much for fish but we love the hushpuppies!

Southwestern Corn Chowder

1 large white onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
saute in a few tablespoons of butter until just transparent. Add, with butter included to:

1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 can creamed corn
2 -4 Tbs granular dried chipotle
salt to taste
1 small can green chilies
2 cup heavy cream
6 c half and half or whole milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
8 Tbs (1/2 c) sour cream
Put in all ingredients except sour cream in  crock-pot on low heat for 6 hours.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top. Makes 8 one cup servings. Does NOT freeze well!

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