Creamy Potato Soup

This is a winner in our home. I don't remember if my oldest who is in the army now liked it or not. I think so. Hm. This is from The Clear Skin Diet book by Nina and Randa Nelson. It is influenced by John McDougall, MD. Page 205. Low sodium (or no sodium if using water instead of broth).

-Tool used: immersion blender...could be very good not blended, too

Topped with marinated and cooked bunapi
mushrooms and baked tofu slices.

Ingredients: (conversions not verified by my kitchen scale, yet)
6 gold potatoes, cubed
4 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3/4 C (170 g) chopped onions (can use 1/2 c dried minced onions)
2 tsp (9.5 g) garlic powder (I use 1-2 cloves)
4 C (500 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth
1 C (125 mL) non-dairy milk (I use almond milk or soy milk)
2 tsp (9.5 g) poultry seasoning*
2 C (227 g) fresh or frozen corn (I leave out bcz youngest doesn't like it)
1 T (14 g) nutritional yeast

*poultry seasoning: 1 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp celery seed  (approx)

Directions:
-Begin heating liquids in pot while washing and chopping veggies
-Add all ingredients except for the corn to the pot; bring to boil on high
-Reduce heat to medium, simmer covered for about 1 hour until potatoes are softened
-Remove soup from stove
-Use immersion blender to cream the soup
-Add the corn and return the lid to the pot. Let is sit for a couple of minutes without adding additional heat. The corn will be warmed by the hot soup

Tomato Soup with Basil

Kid Rating:  3 out of 3 like it

Do Again: Yes

My initial tomato soup post was mostly an experiment.  Here is a clearer recipe, although I still have a few kinks to work out.  The end result is delicious.

I'm excited about this because the tomatoes and basil are from my garden.  (I never really liked tomatoes until I had some from a garden).  They smelled wonderful and were yummy as I nibbled on a few pieces during preparation.  I even thought I may not add sugar because they are so sweet.

I'm also excited because I used my pressure canner for the first time.  I canned my own tomato soup!  Maybe it sounds silly to be happy about that, but there is something satisfying about learning these new skills.  I'm thankful to friends and neighbors who let me tag along to watch, help, and learn during their own canning sessions.

You came here for a recipe, didn't you?

Ingredients

15 tomatoes, various sizes (makes about 7 1/2 cups pureed and strained)

1 medium onion

2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed (or a few dashes of garlic powder)

Basil leaves (I used about 21 fresh) --  dried is good, 3T+

2T sugar

1T butter

1T flour

1t Kosher salt

Special equipment:  food processor, although it's not required. You could use a blender in smaller batches or mash the tomatoes with a potato masher in the pot while they are cooking.

1.  Chop tomatoes, remove stems and blemishes

At this point, you have a variation of procedures.  I put the tomatoes with seeds and skins in a food processor then strained them later after they cooked a bit.  Some people remove the seeds and skins first.  Here is a method for that on this link:  formerchef.com   Someday, I'd like to just leave the seeds and skin for the extra fiber.  My family seems to prefer the smoother texture for now.

2.  Puree in a processor if available.  Add the onion and garlic to one of the batches.

3.  Put pureed tomatoes/onion/garlic in pot and heat to boiling, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Starts off foamy.

Turns a nice red.

4.  Strain if desired.  I have a sieve that allows the pulp to go through but keeps most of the seeds back.  I do it in batches.  Return soup to pot.  (No picture).

5.  Ladle some soup into a smaller bowl/cup.  Add the 1 T of flour to it and stir until smooth.  Return it to the pot.

Adding flour to a small amount of soup.
Add more flour for thicker soup.

6.  Chop basil leaves (layer, roll, and slice).  Add sugar, butter, and salt.  Reheat.

My first pressure-canning experience!  It seems silly
to have only 3 pints for that huge canner, but I was
so proud, like a toddler taking her first steps.
(13 psi, 15 min.)

Family Review:

11 y.o. - Likes it.

10 y.o. - Likes the flavor and aftertaste and would eat it slowly (she has an aversion to smooth textures like soups, pudding, and yogurt).

6 y.o. - Loved it.  He started helping himself to the leftovers in the container.  I asked if he'd like a bowl.  "Yes!"

Hubby - He'll have to wait until we open one of the jars because our 6 y.o. ate his portion, too.  -I'm sure he'd like it  ;)

Me - Loved it, too.

Next time:  Maybe I'd scoop out the seeds before pureeing, then I wouldn't have to strain and could keep the skin pulp.

Question:  Why are the seeds removed anyway?  I Googled the question and only came across that it's a personal preference.  I've read comments that people think they are bitter when bitten into while eating tomato soup. I don't remember ever chewing my tomato soup.  You?  I have chewed chunky salsa, though, with chips, etc. Aren't seeds left in there?  Texture is probably the biggest deciding factor.

:)

Wild Mushroom Bisque/Soup

Kid Rating:  2 out of 3 like it

Do Again?:  Yes

What is the difference between a soup and a bisque?  A bisque is a soup, but it is thick with (traditionally) a fish stock and pureed. The definition has been blurred in modern cooking and any stock seems to be used.  You can read more about it HERE.

This recipe doesn't call for pureeing, so maybe it's more of a chowder.  It didn't turn out super thick, either, so maybe it's just a soup.

But it's gooooood.

The first time I tried Wild Mushroom Bisque was last year at Cafe Zupa's.  I was in heaven.  But, it was expensive.  So, I went on a quest for a homemade variation.  I did, but it's just about as expensive and more if you use the full amount of porcini mushrooms.

I based the recipe from HERE.

(About 10 oz of mushrooms)=

0.5 oz dried porcini mushrooms (unless you are lucky enough to find fresh)

4 oz fresh shitake mushrooms

5.5 oz fresh crimini mushrooms

3 cups hot water

4 T butter

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 T all-purpose flour

3 cups turkey stock (I had some left from Thanksgiving in my freezer; you can use chicken or try vegetable stock, beef stock)

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/4 tsp pepper

(Plus flour).

Boil the 3 cups of water.  Set aside and add the dried porcini mushrooms.  Let them soak for 20-30 minutes or until you run errands and pick up your 5 year old from school and get back an hour later. 

The original recipe actually called for
2 oz of dried porcinis -- that would have been
4 bags at $6 per bag = $24 YIKES!
So, I only splurged for one bag this time and may
leave them completely out next time.
(The bag smelled so good).

Drain the porcinis and reserve the liquid to add later on.

Rinse mushrooms and chop away!

Next time, I'm going to add more onions.

Melt butter, then add onions.  Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Cook until most of the liquid (from mushrooms) evaporate -- about 6-8 minutes, stir occasionally.

Add the 3 T of flour and stir 3 minutes.

The mushrooms will stick together.
Keep stirring.

Whisk in stock and reserved liquid from dried porcini.
Bring to boil and whisk constantly.
Reduce heat to boil gently for 40 min., stir occasionally.

Original recipe says to skim surface occasionally.
I didn't.  I just stirred.  It was fine.

Whisk in the cream.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Serve.

Family Review:

Hubby:  Still out of town, but I think he would have liked it.

11 y.o. - He's chowing away, slurp, slurp, slurp, not saying a word to anyone.  I asked if he liked it.  "I dunno," he says.  Then he finished the last drop.  I think he liked it.  At least he'll eat it.

9 y.o. - "Smells good."  "Mmmm.  This is good!"  She asked for left-overs the next day.

5 y.o. - Tried one bite.  Refused more.

Me - Loved it.  I did add a little more salt to my bowl.  The homemade stock wasn't salted, so the batch was overall less salty.  The kids liked it as was, though.

My neighbor whom I invited over for lunch - she really liked it.

{2-12-11 -- Here's a helpful link from Healthy Mom's Kitchen for some basic mushroom info... click HERE.}

Tomato Soup and Maybe Tomato Sauce

For a simpler recipe, click HERE -- it's based on the final results from this series of experiments (9-3-11).


Welcome to my laboratory! What started out to be a simple soup recipe morphed into a fun lab experiment.


Kid Rating on Final Product (strained with butter and flour): 2.5 out of 3 kids liked it
Do Again: Yes


I started with a recipe from Roni's Green Lite Bites and modified it. I noticed one of Roni's commentators, RG, mentioned using flour and butter, so I made half of the batch with flour and butter. And, either my blender isn't very good or I didn't blend long enough, but the puree's consistency wasn't as fine looking as Roni's, so I strained half of the batch.


What we tested tasted:


Unstrained/No Butter/No Flour
Unstrained with Butter & Flour


Strained/No Butter/No Flour
Strained with Butter & Flour


Confused, yet? Here we go!


UNSTRAINED, NO BUTTER, NO FLOUR
15 Tomatoes (from farmers' market and friends garden -- thanks, Becky!)
1 small onion coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tsp kosher salt
2 T dried basil
1/2 tsp of sugar

Tomatoes, salt, garlic, onion, basil, sugar
(ignore flour and butter, I shifted gears after taking the picture)

Cut away stems and blemishes
Puree in blender (I did it in batches)
Add onion, garlic, and basil in blender (I added it to tomato batches) and blend until smooth

Bring to boiling
Add salt and sugar
Lower and simmer 1/2 hour

Pink and foamy before cooking

Red after cooking

Family Review of Unstrained/No Butter/No Flour
5 y.o. - (I didn't bother testing him until we all chose our favorite version).
9 y.o. - "I like the texture, but it's a little sour like a tomato."
10 y.o. - Flavor is good but wishes it was smoother.
Hubby - (Unexcited) "Yeah, I guess."
Me - Wonderful flavor. I'd be happy with it as-is. It would be a good pasta sauce if it was thicker. --Which brings me to turning this recipe into a lab experiment.




UNSTRAINED WITH BUTTER AND FLOUR
To half of the above recipe/batch I added:
1/2 - 1 T Butter
1 T Flour
1/2 tsp sugar (to help that tomatoee taste my daughter spoke of)


Add the butter to the batch
Transfer some soup to a bowl and mix in the flour (to prevent lumps)

1 T flour with some of the soup before mixing

Flour and soup after mixing. Now slowly stir this
back into the soup pot.

Slowly stir the flour mixture back into the soup pot.
Add the sugar.


Family Review of Unstrained With Butter and Flour:
9 y.o. - "It's a little better. Still a little sour."
10 y.o. - (Not available to test; playing at a friend's house).
Hubby - (Same look) "Yeah, OK."
Me - I like it.




To the other half of the Unstrained/No Butter/No Flour batch:
STRAINED, NO BUTTER, NO FLOUR
Using my grandmother's strainer that's probably at least 50 years old, I tried to press the soup's liquid through.

Very thin.

I just reheated it.
Family Review of Strained, No Butter, No Flour:
9 y.o. - "It's good." She liked the texture and flavor
Hubby - Seems thin.
Me - Great flavor. Very thin.




To half of the strained batch:
STRAINED WITH BUTTER AND FLOUR
1/2 - 1 T Butter - add to pot
1 T Flour - do as above (transfer a small amount of soup to a bowl, stir in flour, stir back into soup pot).
1/2 tsp sugar


Heat to boiling, stir occasionally

The final result: smooth and thicker -- The Family Winner

Family Review of Strained with Butter and Flour:
5 y.o. - "I love it!" And he did. He licked his bowl clean and finished Marie's after she changed her mind.
9 y.o. - At first: "It's good." Then after eating it a bit: "Still too bitter." (Skye, the 5 y.o. finished it).
10 y.o. - "I like it, but there's a little weird taste to it." Yeah, whatever. He went to town on it and gobbled it up.
Hubby - (with enthusiasm this time) "I like that one. Yeah. Thicker but smooth. I love it."
Me - It's good. I'm disappointed that I'm missing out on all the pulp and fiber that was strained away, and the yield wasn't much. The procedure had more steps in it than I was initially hoping for. I'll try Roni's again but try to blend it longer to see if I can make it smoother and keep the pulp.


We're not finished, yet. Do you remember the pulp in the strainer and the remaining batch of "Unstrained with Butter and Flour?" TOMATO SAUCE!


Add pulp to lonely, rejected batch of wannabe soup.
Add 1 tsp of sugar.
Heat and stir.

Yum! I look forward to trying it with another meal.

I'm storing it in the fridge. I'll let you know how the family likes it during another meal.

Update - On a different date, I tried pureeing the tomatoes in a blender for a longer duration -- much better. I used the puree for a chili recipe when I was out of canned tomato soup. I'll try the soup recipe again. I'm encouraged that my blender will do the job.

Creamy Cabbage Soup

Rating: 3 out of 3 kids (Who knew?!)
Do again? Yes! We've made it twice this month already.


Homemade soup is so much better than canned, imo. It's fresher, the ingredients are simpler, and I can control the amount of salt added.


My friend gave me a cabbage from her garden a couple of weeks ago. I've never cooked with cabbage before. I took out my Betty Crocker cookbook and searched what I could do with a cabbage. This recipe is adapted from BC's.


It says to use 1 medium head of cabbage (about 1 1/2 pounds). How big is a medium? I don't know what a small or large looks like. Who weighs a cabbage? I used 9 cups shredded this time. That was way too much. I used less the first time and liked the thinner consistency (and the kids agreed).


2 cups of water
1 medium head of cabbage, shredded (remove core)
1 large stalk of celery, chopped (I used two medium)
1 medium onion, chopped


2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour


2 1/2 cups (more) water
1 Tablespoon instant chicken bouillon (I used a seasoning packet from dried ramen soup)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dash of ground nutmeg


1/2 cup whipping cream (I used 1% milk + 1 T extra butter the first time and liked it better)

Heat 2 cups of water in a 3 quart saucepan. Use a larger pan if you cut up too much cabbage like I did.

Way too much cabbage. Will it fit into the 3qt saucepan?

Add the cabbage, celery, and onion. Cover and heat to boiling. Stir occasionally. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. DO NOT DRAIN.

Barely.

I will transfer over to a larger pot later.

Place in blender and blend until it's a uniform consistency. (I had to do it in batches because I used too much cabbage).

Heat butter in 3 quart large-enough saucepan over low heat until melted.

Stir in flour (I used heat-safe plastic whisk).

Cook, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups of water.

Heat until boiling, stirring constantly.

Boil and stir one minute.

Stir in cabbage mixture and seasonings. Heat just to boiling.

Flour, salt/pepper/nutmeg, chicken "bouillon" packet.

Stir in whipping cream (I also like 1% milk). Heat just until hot (do not boil).

Family review: we all liked it, although we liked the first batch better which had less cabbage (maybe 7 cups instead of 9) and used 1% milk instead of cream. It had a thinner consistency and enhanced flavor because it wasn't diluted with too much cabbage. I served it with saltine crackers.


I bet this would be just as good without milk or flour. (Something to try).

Betty Crocker's Cookbook: New and Revised. Golden Press, New York. Western Publishing Company, Inc., 1986, p. 311.