Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I don't know if any of you have been to Zupa's but I LOVE LOVE LOVE their cauliflower soup. We had some cauliflower that was within days of going bad so I did some searching and tried out a recipe that I think comes "kind of" close. They probably use real Wisconsin cheese but I just used sharp chedder.

2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped (I used a white onion because I felt the flavor of a yellow onion would be too strong)
1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 c milk
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 head cauliflower, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 t dijon mustard
2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1) In a 4 quart saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook until golden (about 10 minutes) stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2 minutes stirring frequently.

2) Gradually stir in chicken broth, milk, and 1 1/2 c water (add the broth first so you don't scald the milk on the hot saucepan); add cauliflower and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender (about 10 minutes).

3) In a blender, blend the cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth.

(it's smart to do this in small batches so you can remove the center cover of your blender to let some steam escape)

4) Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat until steamy hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard (with a whisk!) and 1 1/2 c cheese until melted and smooth. (if you add the cheese while the saucepan is still over heat it can make the cheese stringy) Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

When I make this again I think I will substitute some of the cheddar cheese with pepperjack cheese to give it some "kick". We ate it with some french bread and it was so so yummy!

Beef Vegetable Soup

So I did a bit of tweaking on this recipe because it sounded so good but I didn't have all the right ingredients. The original recipe is in black and my "tweaking" is in red. If I didn't make any red notes next to the ingredients then I used the original ingredients. This turned out so yummy and yielded plenty of left overs.

Beef Vegetable Soup

1/2 T vegetable oil
3/4 lb beef chuck cut into 3/4" chunks
(I drained 2 cans of canned beef that I had in food storage, omitting the vegetable oil and fresh beef chuck)
1/2 medium onion chopped (I didn't have fresh onion so I used about a teaspoon of dried onion flakes)
2 cans (14.5 oz each) beef broth
1/2 can (28-35 oz) plum tomatoes in juice (I used a jar of tomatoes I canned last summer, if I were to do it again, I would strain a little bit of the juice before dumping it in)
1 c water
1/2 bay leaf
1/8 t dried thyme
1/8 t pepper
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 lb red potatoes, peeled and diced (I used russets as I didn't have red potatoes on hand)
1 1/2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 package (10 oz) frozen peas (I drained a can of peas as I didn't have frozen on hand, though I would have preferred the frozen)
1/2 package (10 oz) frozen corn (I didn't have any corn so I did without but I will most definitely be adding it next time)

Brown beef in oil in large pot. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes and juice, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.
Add carrots, potatoes, and celery; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add peas and corn and cook 15 minutes.

In a large pot place beef, onion flakes, broth, tomatoes and juice, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery; cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add canned peas and let boil for about 5 minutes. Enjoy with some fresh french bread :)

Dutch Sausage Soup

I know you have all missed me. Still no camera.

9 c. water

1 pound dry lima beans

1 c. ham

4 celery stalks including leaves (sliced)

2 tsp. garlic salt

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 pound cooked polish sausage

Heat water and beans to boiling in a large pot and boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for one hour. Add remaining ingredients except sausage. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer at least 3 hours. The add whole sausage to the pot. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and slice, return to soup.

I served it with fresh rolls. It is a very easy soup. It is hard for me to remember to do things in advance for dinner that aren't crock pot. However, I did this as I made lunch for my children and it turned out fabulous. (Oh, and I used turkey sausage.)

Andy is very proud of his Dutch heritage and said this soup tasted like what his Grandma makes.

Ham chowder

Sorry no picture. My new camera makes the food look so unappetizing.

6 c. chicken broth OR

4 chicken boullion cubes and 6 c. water.

4 potatoes

2 c. chopped ham

1/2 c. whipping cream

1 can corn OR green beans

Bring broth to a boil, add potatoes. Cook potatoes for about 20 minutes or until soft. Add ham, cream and veggie. Heat through.

I used to add cheese, but realized it was not necessary and had less fat, too. Also, we didn't want to use corn last night and I experimented with the green beans. They taste fine, but are a weird size. We do prefer corn. I serve it with rolls and milk.

Chicken Corn Chowder a la (Marisa's) Mom & Dad

oh yes. Our family loves this chowder. It is delightful. It probably takes about 30 minutes to make. And that is a Great Harvest wheat roll there. Boy, do they know bread!

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- chicken bullion
- 1/2 medium onion
- 3 medium potatoes
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can creamed corn
- 1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
- 1/4 green pepper
- 1 small package of frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 pint half & half

- Boil 2 (or more) chicken breasts.
-Add about 4 tsp. chicken bullion granules
- chop up 1/2 medium onion
Boil together for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Do not overboil.
Take out chicken breasts and chop up or shred. Set aside.

Chop up 3 medium potatoes into smallish chunks. Add to chicken water. Allow to cook. Add 1 can creamed corn, 1 can whole kernel corn (drained), 1 can cream of chicken soup. Chop up 1/4 green pepper and add to the pot. Add small package of frozen mixed vegetables. Add about a pint of half & half. Let simmer until all vegetables are done. Make sure you taste it before serving it out. It may very well need more chicken bullion.

I assure you this is a DELICIOUS chowder. A family classic.


...And yeah, I know I said I planned on blogging our meals. I lied. Sorry. Somehow I think you'll all probably forgive me. Doubtless all you followers/readers were busy enough the past few weeks anyway!

Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheesers

After smushing a meeting and Dr. visit in 1 hour, we have yet another quickie meal:

10 minutes. You probably know how to make this one already. ;-)
I like to put parmesan and basil on my soup. Cam likes it just the way it was born.