Submissions for F&DB Soup Challenge April 13, 2021

Potato and poblano corn chowder

By far the easiest thing I have done so far Next time I think I would try a protein like lump crab, shrimp, or crawfish.

A buddy of mine that lives in Texas sent me some cream of jalapeño and cream of poblano soup from H-E-B. Apparently that is the only place that makes such a canned soup. I wanted the cream of jalapeño for the smoked queso dip I make on the grill and I have been looking for something to do with the poblano...and this is it.

I looked around online to find some recipes that I liked and this is what I came up with.

4 Tbs salted butter
Yellow onion, about 1 cup.
1 medium carrot cut up how you like it
1 rib celery
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp black pepper
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 cups lower-salt chicken broth
2 cups cream of poblano soup
3 red potato’s (mine were crawfish pot sized)
2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 3 cobs)
Cayenne, to taste

Real simple to do, first prep all the ingredients (I did not use the lemon). Make sure you have your drink of choice on hand this one goes quick.

Melt the butter and cook down the onion carrots and celery with the dry seasonings other than cayenne.





Once you have them cook down how you like them add in the flour and stir constantly for about a minute. Then add in the tomato paste and mix for about another minute.






Then slowly add in the chicken broth while stirring to incorporate, then add in your cream of poblano soup and mix well. I added a touch of milk because I was a little short on the chicken broth with one can. After that add in the corn and potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are cooked (about 20 minutes with the lid on).

And then....ya done.





Simple and delicious. If you do not have cream of poblano soup you can cook down some poblano peppers in the beginning and use milk in place of the cream of poblano soup. You can roast them (and the corn) as well for another layer of flavor.

As always thanks for looking

Looking forward to see what everyone comes up with!

Tuscan Sausage Soup





I know almost nothing in cooking is original, but I did not make this from a recipe. This was an interesting soup I concocted from ingredients chosen specifically for their use in Tuscan cuisine. The results were exactly what I wanted.
Here is what I did to make 4 or 5 servings:

Ingredients for soup:

- 12 ounces Italian Sausage, mixed with 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds and 2 Teaspoons Tuscan Seasoning (recipe below) to kick up the flavor.
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 3 cups Leeks (2 whole Leeks), trimmed, cleaned and sliced into spoon sized pieces
- 1 medium Onion, cut into spoon sized wedges
- 2 Tablespoons of my Tuscan Seasoning (ingredients below)
- 3 Tablespoons Sundried Tomatoes, diced into 1/4 inch pieces and soaked in White Wine until softened
- 2 cups Rough Leaf Kale, fresh from our garden, cut into spoon sized pieces
- 1 cup fresh Spinach, cut into spoon sized pieces
- 1 14 ounce can, diced Tomatoes
- 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste, from frozen I had in the freezer
- 3 cloves Garlic, diced
- 2 Green Onions, sliced
- 5 cups Chicken Broth
- 3 Tablespoons Chicken Broth Paste concentrate
- 1 teaspoon Capers, coarse chopped
- 3 teaspoons, Anchovy paste, or 3 chopped Anchovy Fillets
- 1/2 cup dry White Wine
- Juice of 1/2 Lemon
- Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
- Parmesan Crisps, as desired for serving – recipe follows



Ingredients for Tuscan Seasoning:

- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried Basil
- 3 teaspoons dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried Sage
- 1 teaspoon dried Thyme
- 2 teaspoons Fennel Seed
- 2 teaspoons Lawry’s Garlic Salt, or Garlic Powder
- Zest of 1 Lemon



Directions for making Tuscan Seasoning:

Mix seasoning ingredients together and grind with a mortar and pestle, to a coarse consistency.





Ingredients for Parmesan Chips

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
4-6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Several small muffin tins



Directions for making Parmesan Chips:

- Coat (small) muffin tin wells with Olive Oil



- Add 1/2 Tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese to each muffin tin well. Should fill the well 1/2 full.



- Bake in 300-degree oven for 8-12 minutes, until the Parmesan bubbles and browns slightly.





- Cool for 2 minutes and then remove to a paper towel to dry. The baked parmesan should make crispy, somewhat thin chips when cooled.





- Serve the chips whole or cut in desired piece size. For use in this recipe, I cut each chip into 2 pieces to help them fit in my spoon.



Tuscan Soup Directions:

- I wanted a more intense flavor, so I mixed the Italian Sausage with 1 Tablespoon Fennel Seed and 2 teaspoons Tuscan Seasoning, then portioned it into 1/2-inch pieces and precooked it in the oven (350 degrees F for 15 minutes). After precooking, I set it aside until needed.












- Dice the Sundried Tomatoes and soak in White Wine until softened (sorry - no photo). Clean and prep Leeks, Onion, Kale, Green Onions, Garlic, and Spinach. We like Kale, so we grow our own in a pot.





















- In the pot you will use to cook the soup, sauté the Onions and Leeks in Butter, with half of the remaining Tuscan seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon of Black Pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are slightly browned, then add the Garlic and half of the sliced green onions.











- When the garlic has softened, add the tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, precooked Italian Sausage, Chicken Broth Paste, Chicken Broth, chopped capers, anchovy paste, and the rest of the Tuscan Seasoning. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and (if more heat is desired, red cayenne pepper).
























- Add the Kale, Spinach, and Lemon Juice to the pot. As soon as the Kale and Spinach change color, the soup is ready to serve.












- Top the soup serving with Parmesan Crisps and sliced Green Onions.














We really enjoyed this soup and the leftovers we had the next day.

Thanks for looking at my post.

Dungeness Crab, King Crab and Artichoke Soup with Candied Lemon and Fried Artichoke Hearts



General Ingredients with the obligatory adult beverage


Leeks, crab, and artichoke into the stock pot


Thin sliced lemons into a simmering pot with Yellow simple syrup


Quartered artichoke hearts get flour'd, then eggwash'd, then panko'd, then fried


Leeks, artichoke hearts, onion, and garlic in the pan with some butter.


Stock is strained and added the softened leeks,hearts,onion, and garlic, and then hit with the immersion blender and some heavy cream.


Hollowed out some bread


Draped the bread in bacon and grilled the extra bread for dipping




After a 45 minute simmer and a 15 minute dry, the candied lemon garnish is done


Put it all together topped with Aleppo flakes

I decided to go with a very common soup, but that I've never done the right way before: French Onion Soup.

Started with misc. beef bone pieces.



Roasted in the oven until brown and crispy and the marrow was starting to ooze in the cut pieces.



While this was going, I began to prep my onions. I decided to use a mixture of shallots, red onions, white onions, and yellow onions.



Lots of tears.



Halfway through the browning of the beef bones, we add the veggies that will also go into the making of the stock.





Bones into the pot. I had planned to do this in my Instant Pot, but the bones and aromatics were way too much for that.



The roasted veg, herbs (thyme is somewhere at the bottom), peppercorns, bay leaves.



The pan everything roasted on had a lot of fond on it, so I boiled a little bit of water and hit the pan with it.



Scraped up all the brown bits and poured the liquid into the stock pot.



Finish filling it up and get it simmering on the stove for a loooong time.



Melt some butter and get your onions into the pot. I turned the heat up more than I will for caramelizing because I want to get them going, but once going, turn down to a lower heat.



After a while, everything will start to soften. Season with salt and pepper.



I had my heat at 3-4 on the stove, but this process takes a long time. 2 hours in, I strained my stock.

When my onions were about at this point, it was midnight so I paused for the night. Turned off the onions and let cool while the stock cooled.



Fast forward a day and we are back.

Took my onions to a deeper color. Everything I read in my research said that you actually don't want your onions DARK brown like some say. They get bitter once they pass a certain point, so I was careful to go for caramelized and not bitter.



A little more



Now we deglaze with some dry sherry. This is just a ~$9 bottle. I know nothing about sherry, but it did the job.



I reheated the stock so it would incorporate easily into the onions, and mixed together and put it simmering.



While everything was going, time to slice up the baguette.



Toasted the breads in the oven until slightly golden, then removed and rubbed with a garlic clove and smeared butter on each one.



Into the simmering soup goes some umami, as suggested by Daniel Gritzer. This is when I tasted for seasoning and added as needed. A little extra salt was needed. I would usually use a ton of things, but wanted the onions to shine.



Time to grate our cheese.



A small ladle of soup into the bowl. Toasts on top.



Cheese on top.



The rest of the soup to fill the bowl, more toast, and all the remaining cheese.



Broil until hot and bubbly. Honestly I wish I had more cheese because I like it melted all down the sides.





Not the most photogenic dish in the world, but the taste was AWESOME.

Tuscan Soup with Arugula

Brown the Italian sausage and set aside.


Sautee the vegetables (onion,celery,carrot,garlic) in the sausage fat then add a little flour to help thicken the soup. Then incorporate the chicken broth. Just Better than Bouillon for this dish.





Get the soup simmering then add the sausage back in, add the potatoes, and and the cannellini beans. My HEB did not have dry cannellini, so had to go with canned.




After the potatoes get soft, fry and add some crispy bacon, some parsley, and the cream.




Serve with fresh parmesan and arugula.

My second soup was a last minute thing that I only entered because it was so easy, but still delicious. Debating deleting it.

Looks so good!

Deleting it?

Why?

Looks great. Plus I have made this one before so I know it tastes good.

Everything (every entry) so far looks really nice. I am certain to enter this challenge (any of them here so far) you better bring your "A Game".

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you better bring your "A Game".

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Threw most of it out

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My salmon sandwich a few challenges back was most certainly not A Game material either.