AwesomeBites

Tag: Soup

  • Abby’s Posole – Pork and Hominy Stew

    Abby’s Posole – Pork and Hominy Stew

    Christmas Eve, family and friends get together to have dinner and exchange a few love notes and gifts.

    Abby made Posole for the buffet table.  Even though she was a bit late, the stew is completely gone since everyone wanted to take some home.  Excellent. 

     Ingredients

    • 2 pounds boneless pork loin or pork roast, cubed
    • 1 tablespoon salt
    • 2 (15 ounce) cans white hominy, drained
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
    • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
    • 4 dried hot red chile pepper pods, seeded and diced or use red enchilada sauce 

    Directions

    1. Place meat in a large kettle and add about 5 quarts of water and the enchilada sauce, enough to cover meat. (Abby says she cubes the meat after it has cooked, but you can start by cubing it first.)  Add approximately 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for about 1 1/2 hours.
    2. Remove excess grease and set aside. Reserve liquid.
    3. Wash the posole very carefully until the water is clear so as to remove lime from kernels. Put in large kettle and cover with water. Boil until posole has popped.
    4. Mix meat, posole. Add oregano, garlic, onion, and chile pods. Let simmer for about 1/2 hour.

    Serve with garnishes:  sliced radishes, lemon slice, shredded cabbage, fried tortilla chips

    I think you should make the day ahead so the flavors blend. Delicious.

    Abby's Christmas Posole Soup
  • Butternut Squash Soup

    Butternut Squash Soup

    Soup,  made ahead, can be fast food.  Just put what want to save for later into jars, and either refrigerate or freeze.  Don’t be afraid to make a lot.  Soup gets better with age.  A good side dish to this soup is fried Keilbasa polish sausage. 

    Bowl of Butternut Squash Soup without cream.

    6 cups Vegetable or Chicken Broth

    1 butternut squash cubed – about 6 cups

    1 Ham bone or 1 Turkey Carcas

    2 Tomatoes sliced

    1/2 cup carrots

    1/4 tsp of Cayenne Pepper or Red Pepper Flakes (Go easy. A little goes a long way.)

    Bring to a boil, bring up to pressure and cook at pressure for 30-40 minutes

    Blend with a stick blender. 

    After blending. If you want even smoother, strain it.
    Saving some Butternut Squash Soup for later. Refrigerate or Freeze.

                                                                                                    

    Soup with Cream and Nutmeg garnishes.

  • Split Pea Soup

    Split Pea Soup

    Split Pea Soup.  You either love it or hate it.  My daughter and husband love it, my oldest son hates peas!   I think it is comfort food at its best.   Jacque, husband’s mom made split pea soup.  It has become a regular on the menu here at Sandy’s Kitchen. 

    Split Pea with Chunks of Ham and Carrots

    Ham Bone

    10 cups water or broth

    1 bag Split Peas

    1 stalk celery

    2 onions diced

    finely chopped carrots

    nutmeg

    salt and pepper

    1 can of peas and carrots (or you can use fresh or frozen)

    Boil in pressure cooker for 40 minutes at pressure.

    Remove bones and puree in blender or food mill.  Finely chop any ham left on bone and add back to pureed soup.  Season to taste. I like to add a can of peas and carrots to my pureed mixture giving the mixture some texture along with the finely chopped ham.

    Serve with sour cream, nutmeg, bacon bits, croutons, crostini, cheddar cheese.

    Andersen's famous for their Split Pea Soup, Santa Nella & Buelton California
    Daughter Denny and I are hamming it up at Andersen’s; famous for their split pea soup in Santa Nella and Buelton California.  We love to stop here and have a cup of their soup.
    Garnish with Sour Cream
  • Vegetable Beef Soup

    Vegetable Beef Soup

    Vegetable Beef Stew

    Came home on Saturday night from a long day trip and in the kitchen within the crockpot my husband Dennis had browned some sirloin cubes and concocted the following broth:

    2 C Teriyaki Sauce
    1 C brewed coffee
    6 C Water
    2 T Steak Seasoning Rub
    After searing the sirloin strips, he added all parts in the crockpot and let it cook on high (He only uses high settings for everything he does), put the top on and left it alone.
    When I arrived home, wow…the meat was tender and the teriyaki broth was sensational.

    We could have easily served as is with rice.

    Sunday morning, I gathered the meat out of the broth and added chopped carrots, onions and potatoes to the mix.

    6 carrots chopped

    6 potatoes diced

    1 onion diced

    Turned the slow cooker back on, added 6 cups of water and let it stew.
    Perfect soup 4 hours later. Perfection. Boy, this guy can cook.

    I also saved some of this broth and made the base for french onion soup. 2 soups from one both. Excellent.

  • Creamy Chicken Soup with Saffron – Pot Pie

    The Driskill Hotel in Austin is where I first tasted this great pot pie.

    Ingredients

    1 1/2 whole chicken breasts, poached, skinned, boned, cut into julienne
    1/2 c. marsala
    3 egg yolks
    Salt, to taste
    6 c. chicken stock
    1/4 c. pine nuts, coarsely chopped
    1 tsp. saffron threads
    3/4 c. whipping cream

    Top Crust – Puff Pastry

    Preparation

    Combine chicken stock and pine nuts in medium saucepan. Heat to boiling, reduce, simmer 5 minutes. Add marsala and saffron. Simmer 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk egg yolks and cream into hot soup, whisking constantly.

    Fill individual baking dishes and cover with Puff Pastry.
    Bake for 45 minutes until brown. Serve immediately.

  • Navy Bean Soup

    Navy Bean Soup

    Navy Bean Soup

    One of the staples for dinner was Navy Bean Soup.  With 9 kids, I mean 9 hungry kids and two adults to feed, Navy Bean Soup was seen a lot at our house.  Being the eighth kid, it was always good.  Mom would serve it with her freshly baked bread and fresh butter.  One of my chores as a child was to shake a quart jar of heavy cream until it formed into butter.    My arms felt like they would fall off, but I learned to not complain.  Just do it.  I still love these beans.  If we started to tire of the bean soup, Mom would convert them to Chili Beans and serve that up with corned bread.  I remember having white rice served with our beans here and there also. 

    Ingredients

    • 1 (16 ounce) package dried navy beans
    • 7 cups water
    • 1 ham bone
    • 2 cups diced ham
    • 1/2 cup minced onion
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 pinch ground black pepper
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1/2 cup sliced carrots
    • 1/2 cup sliced celery

    Directions

    1. Place rinsed beans into a large stock pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 2 minutes; remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
    2. Add ham bone, cubed ham, onion, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until beans are soft. Occasionally skim service of soup while it is cooking.
    3. Add carrots and celery, cook until tender. Remove ham bone, scrape any meat from bone and place back into soup and serve.

     

    Mom's Navy Bean Soup