re: Cold weather meals/soups

Beef and vegetable soup.

however much stew meat you want. Brown stew meat, add chopped onion and deglaze with red wine of your choice. Then add beef better than bouillon (usually a couple of tablespoons). Add big bottle of V8, then cover and cook in 400 oven for an hour or so. Take out of oven then add, frozen soup veggies and/or any canned veggies you like (I usually add lima beans, potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, tomato and okra). Put back in oven covered for another hour or so, then uncover for the remaining 30 minutes.

For this most recent cold snap I made a coconut chicken Thai style soup. It’s all done in the crockpot.

2 chicken breasts
1 box chicken broth
1 or 2 containers sliced mushrooms
Juice of two limes
One diced onion
Garlic
Ginger (I use the prepared paste)
Fish sauce (optional, I just put a splash)

Cook on low for 7 hours. The chicken should shred with tongs in the pot.

Add in a can of coconut milk and let it warm through. You can add in with everything in the beginning but you risk the milk curdling.

Serve with more lime wedges, chopped cilantro and green onions. I add sirachai or chili oil to mine as well. It’s delicious. I also add a little MSG.

I love to cook a hearty vegetable/beef soup and I throw just about everything in it as far as vegetables.

Onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, peas, zucchini and yellow squash, leafy greens like kale, collards, etc.

When I make it, I usually shoot for about 3 gallons and have enough to eat for a few days and then put the rest in the freezer to eat another time.

A few easy soups are broccoli/cheese, potato/leek and French onion soup. They can be done in about 1 1/2 hours time from start to finish.

Doing this one from F&B page 1 as we speak:

Thread

Chicken Fricasse/Dumplings

Smothered potato and sausage served over rice. Carb overload.

Another one I’ve made recently is a shrimp and corn soup that I add more than usual to.

Brown 2-3 links sausage, I cut mine into quarters to easily fit on a spoon. Remove but leave grease
Cook down an onion and a few stalks of celery.
Add in garlic.
Move vegetables to the side of pot and put in 2-3 TBSP tomato paste. Add in a good amount of smoked paprika. Stir everything together and cook a few minutes.
When the tomato paste starts sticking deglaze with a can of rotel and then chicken broth, I used 2 cartons.
Season with a little crab boil, not too much. Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc
At this point you can add in a can of creamed corn and either a can or two of corn or some frozen corn.
Add back in your cooked sausage.
Heat back up to a slow boil
Add in some red potatoes cut into eighths. It depends on the size of the potatoes but you want everything to fit in a spoon. Cook until nearly done.
When you are about ready to eat add in your shrimp and bring back to a boil just long enough to cook shrimp and make sure potatoes are done.

It’s very hearty and not a cream based shrimp and corn soup. However, you could easily add in heavy cream at the end to give it a little more thickness. The smoked paprika makes a difference.

Osso bucco over cajun polenta(grits)

Chicken Fajita Soup

I make this at least once a month. So easy and versatile. You can add pretty much any vegetable you would like. I've made it using the trinity first and I've added carrots also.

*You can absolutely dice fresh onions and garlic, but written this way is meant to be a QUICK dinner option that comes together in less than 30 minutes and is on the table in an hour.

First:

Dice (1/2" cubes) 1 zucchini (or yellow squash - or one of each)
Dice 1 red bell pepper (or yellow/orange - or one of each)

Salt and pepper veggies and quick saute' in a hot pan with a little olive oil just until browned/charred on the outside. Sometimes I add 1/4 stick of butter also. Turn the heat down.

Next add:

1 big (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes (fired roasted is best). Stir around to cook the tomatoes a bit.

Season here:

garlic powder (about 1T)
chili powder (about 1T)
onion powder (about 1/2T)
smoked paprika (OR chipotle chili powder OR adobo) (about 1 tsp)
bit of dried oregano (about 1 tsp)
bit of cumin (about 1/2 tsp)

*I don't actually measure any of this. I just know I'm liberal with the garlic and chili powder, and all of the other stuff gets less.

Then add:

1 32 oz. box of chicken stock (preferably unsalted)
1 can of corn (I personally like white/sweet for this)
1 can of rinsed and drained black beans

Next:

Debone 1 rotisserie chicken into bite size pieces while the above is simmering. Stir in the chicken.

Let it simmer for about 15-30 minutes and then taste the liquid. I almost always add a little more seasoning at this point, but again, it's for you.

At this point, it's completely finished. You can top with:

crushed tortilla chips
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
diced avocado
cilantro

It's also good served with cheese quesadillas on the side or cornbread.

Most of the time we just eat it as is.

quote:

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Chicken Fajita Soup

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That's what we call Tortilla soup