Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup ~ Instant Pot

For over two years, we have been enjoying our adaptation of Melissa Joulwan’s Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup.  You'd think that by now we'd be tired of it and would have moved on to a different favorite soup, but truth be told, I can still eat this soup every.single.day, especially for breakfast.  It's a great way to get in some healthy bone both and it's always warm and satisifying.  It's perfectly labled by Melissa as “a healthy hug in a bowl.”  Though a simple recipe to make on the stove, it's now even easier and quicker using our Instant Pot.  Though we have the 8-qt. Instant Pot, it still holds less than our big stock pot, so I've adjusted the amounts from the stovetop recipe.  This recipe will work in either a 6-qt. or 8-qt. Instant Pot. Remember, if you do freeze the soup, you’ll need to puree it again once thawed, either by placing it in the blender or using an immersion blender.  So, if you have an abundance of zucchini or need a warm hug, make this soup!!

Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup ~ Instant Pot (adapted from here)

• 1 TBS. beef tallow or coconut oil
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 5 large fresh garlic cloves
• 1 TBS. ground ginger
• 1 TBS. ground coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 3 lbs. zucchini, cut in 1/2 moons or leftover pieces
• 6 cups beef bone broth, (can also use chicken bone broth or Cheaters Chicken Soup,vegetable stock, or any mix of broth you choose)

Turn on saute mode and heat the beef tallow or coconut oil in the liner of the Instant Pot.  Add the onions and sauté until caramelized.  Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, salt & pepper.  Cook stirring continuously until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the bone broth and zucchini. Press Keep warm/Cancel button to stop the sauté.  Secure the lid and move the vent to closed.  Press Manuel and using the -/+ buttons, adjust the time to 10 minutes.  Once the 10 minutes are finished, allow for NPR (natural pressure release).  Once the pressure has dropped and the pin falls, remove the lid.   Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or use a blender to carefully puree (use a towel to hold the lid on the blender on whilst pureeing.) Adjust salt and pepper seasoning. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Soup ~ Instant Pot

It's a snowy day here in Georgia and nothing is better than a hot delicious bowl of soup.  Maisie put in her request for Creamy Tomato Soup.  As we had all the necessary ingredients in the house, her wish was granted.  This recipe was made in our 8-qt Instant Pot but could easily be made in any pressure cooker or even in just a pot on the stove.  We enjoy the soup with a bit of added heavy whipping cream, just for some extra creaminess, but even without the cream the soup is creamy delicious!

Creamy Tomato Soup ~ Instant Pot

• 4 Tbsp. ghee or butter
• 1 med. onion, large dice
• 2 small potatos, peeled and large dice
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
• 1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 - 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 -  6 oz. can tomato paste
• 4 cups water
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)

Heat pressure cooker and add the ghee.  Once metled, add the diced onion and sautee until tender.  Add the potato, garlic & black pepper.  Mix well and saute until the garlic is fragrant.  Add the sundried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and salt.  Close the pressure cooker and steam release valve.  Set high pressure for 10 minutes.  When time is up, allow for 10 minutes of natural release and then release any remaining pressure with quick release.  Use an immersion blender to blend the soup smooth.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.  If using the cream, stir in before serving.  

Enjoy

Jalapeño Popper Soup Re-visited

We have been sick with the crud this month so soup and scrambled eggs have made up the bulk of our diet.  We made some super-easy Cheaters Chicken Soup and then turned around, once we got a bit of our energy back, and turned some of the stock into this delicious, creamy, spicy, hearty, filling soup as it’s a great way to use up the leftover chicken.  We enjoy the soup quite hot and spicy but you can mellow it out some by either removing the seeds from the jalapenos or using less of them.  Also, we use white meat in the soup but if you have a preference for dark meat, go for it!

Jalapeño Popper Soup

• 2 chicken breast halves, roasted, skin & bones removed, shredded
• 1 lb bacon, cut crosswise in 1/8-in strips
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4-6 whole jalapenos, stems removed, sliced in thin 1/2 rounds
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups cheaters chicken soup, or chicken stock of your choice
• 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 8 oz. block of cream cheese, cut in chunks
• salt & pepper to taste

In a soup pot, slowly cook the bacon pieces until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside, leaving the fat behind.  To the fat add the onion and sauté until golden.  Add the jalapenos and garlic and sauté until the jalapenos and garlic are fragrant and softened.  Remove half of the onion/jalapeno mix and set aside with the reserved bacon.  Add the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a simmer.  Stir in the cheddar cheese and while stirring, allow it to melt.  Add the cream cheese and using a hand blender, blend until fully mixed and creamy.  Return the soup to a simmer and add in the shredded chicken and reserved bacon and onion/jalapenos.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Enjoy!

When you’re sick it’s time for Cheaters Chicken Soup

Today we are re-visiting a favorite recipe of ours Cheaters Chicken Soup, as we’ve spent so much of the month sick with the crud and honestly when everyone is doing just enough to make it through the day, no one wants to cook or have heavy meals but chicken soup is love and makes everyone feel better.  We purchased roasted chickens from Whole Foods, took off some of the meat we wanted to eat and the rest, along with the bones, skin and juices from the container all went in the pot and in a short time the house smelled wonderful and we were all sipping steaming mugs of soup.  Healing stock for our sick bodies! 

Cheaters Chicken Soup

• The carcasses, skin, leftover meat and juices from 3 roasted chickens
• 1 large onion, roots removed but you can leave the skin on
• 1 head of garlic, sliced in half to expose the cloves, skin left on
• 3-4 carrots, scrubbed and skin left on
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 1 TBS. apple cider vinegar 
• a few sprigs of cilantro and/or parsley
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  

Place everything in a large stockpot and cover with cold water.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil remove the lid and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Allow the soup to cool a bit so that it’s easier to handle then strain it through a colander or sieve and discard the solids.

To make the matzo balls in the picture, purchase this and follow the directions or enjoy a bowl of this soup with some delicious huge popovers, total yum!

After the soup has cooled completely I package it in freezer bags in two cup portions so that I can easily pull it for recipes or for a nice cup of tasty soup.

Enjoy!!

Sweet & Sour Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup

We adore stuffed cabbage but making it can be awfully time consuming. Enter Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup, tastes just as delicious and takes just a fraction of the work and time to make.  We make this for a quick hearty meal in the pressure cooker which cuts the time even more, but it’s just as easily made in a pot on the stovetop.
Sweet & Sour Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup 

• olive oil
• 1/2 lb chuck steak, 1/2-inch dice, seasoned with salt & pepper
• 1 lg onion, diced
• 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 2 medjool dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp. sour salt
• 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes
• 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 4 c. chicken or beef stock
• 1 small head green cabbage, roughly chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

(I make this in a pressure cooker but you can use a soup pot.)
Heat the olive oil and then sear the chuck steak cubes on all sides until browned. Remove the steak from the pot and set aside.  To the same pot add the onions and sauté until they begin to caramelize.  Add the garlic and ground beef and cook until the beef is browned.  Return the steak to the pot and add all the remaining ingredients.  Cook until the cabbage is tender. (I use a pressure cooker, 15 minutes at high pressure and then I let it cool to reduce the pressure instead of just releasing the valve)  Salt and pepper to to taste.  This is good the first day but gets better after it sits a day or two.
Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup

We truly can’t believe that it’s March already but on the other hand, we’re happy that spring is right around the corner as it’s been a cold winter for us southerners.  And on these cold winter nights there’s nothing more wonderful than a bowl of hot, creamy and comforting soup.  It was just one of those cold days when we perused Leigh’s blog, Chit Chat… Chomp, this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment.  Leigh’s food choices are very similar to ours in that she leans towards fresh, gluten free, organic, fructose-free, healthy foods so when reading through her blog, we found so many offerings that fit in with our diets which we were tempted to make.  Her gorgeous photography skills had us wanting to jump right into the screen and devour every item she displayed.  In the end though, because it was a freezing cold day, we were tempted by the comfort of soup.  We actually debated between two soups, her Mushroom & Cashew Soup and her Roasted Tomato Mascarpone Soup and the tomato soup won out only because we had all the ingredients in the house.  I mean seriously, who wants to trek out to the store when it’s freezing outside!  We thought about also making her Zucchini Quiche to enjoy with the soup but that would have entailed a trip to the grocery, so that was going to be left for another day!  Can you tell that we don’t particularly care for freezing cold weather?  Thinking about it, while we’re here freezing, Leigh is on the other side of the world in Melbourne enjoying summer…maybe we should go visit her!  Hey Leigh, want some visitors????

Anyhow, back to the soup.  The soup was oh-so simple to make and the flavors were divine.  The soup wasn’t overly creamy, just enough to balance out the acidity of the tomato.  We changed the recipe only slightly, adding an extra red bell pepper and we chose to leave out the brown sugar.  When the soup was served, some of us chose to add an extra dollop of mascarpone and a sprinkle of chives which topped off the soup perfectly.  It’s still cold out there so make some delicious soup, our version or Leigh’s and while you’re enjoying your soup, check out Leigh’s blog, all her recipes, gorgeous photography and all of her travels to France, oh-so interesting to read.

  Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup  (adapted from here)

• 2 1/4 lbs. plum tomatoes, halved
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled & quartered
• 2 large red bell peppers, deseeded & quartered
• 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled 
• Himalayan salt 
• fresh ground pepper
• olive oil
• 1 TBS. mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and add a drizzle of olive oil.  Place the tomatoes, onion, bell peppers & garlic onto the pan and stir to coat everything with with oil.  Season with a little salt & pepper.  Roast for 45-60 minutes, until the the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize slightly.  Remove from the oven and carefully add all the contents of the pan, juices too, to a blender.  Secure the lid and hold it down with a towel as you process the ingredients until smooth.  Once smooth, add the tablespoon of mascarpone and blend until incorporated.  Serve immediately, adding an extra little drizzle of olive oil to each portion and if desired, a nice dollop of mascarpone.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata 
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup

We could eat this soup every.single.day and sometimes we go for weeks at a time doing just that!  Such a simple, healthy soup and it’s beyond delicious!  We found the recipe originally on Melissa Joulwan’s blog, The Clothes Make the Girl and in her cookbook, Well Fed 2.  Melissa labels this soup as “a healthy hug in a bowl” which is such a fitting description for this soup.  We make this soup when we gather up enough leftover pieces of zucchini after spiralizing it when making another of Melissa’s recipes, Zucchini Noodles Aglio et Olio (freeze the extra pieces until you have enough.)  We also make this soup when we have an abundance of fresh zucchini.  When we have an abundance of zucchini, we make a huge pot and freeze the soup in 4-6 cup containers.  If you do freeze the soup, you’ll need to puree it again once thawed, either by placing it in the blender or using an immersion blender.  So, if you have an abundance of zucchini or need a warm hug, make this soup!!

Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup (adapted from here)

• 2 TBS. coconut oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 10 large fresh garlic cloves
• 2 TBS. ground ginger
• 2 TBS. ground coriander
• 1 TBS. Himalayan salt
• 1 TBS. fresh ground pepper
• 6 lbs. zucchini, cut in 1/2 moons or leftover pieces
• 12 cups chicken bone broth or Cheaters Chicken Soup (can also use beef,vegetable or any mix of broth you choose)

Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot.  Add the onions and sauté low and slow, until caramelized.  Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, salt & pepper.  Cook stirring continuously until toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and zucchini.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Allow the soup to cook for 45-60 minutes, until the zucchini is very soft.  Once the zucchini is soft, use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or use a blender to carefully puree (use a towel to hold the lid on the blender on whilst pureeing.)  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Egg Drop Soup

Okay a little whinge here, we live in Georgia and waking to temperatures in the single digits and feeling like negative numbers should not happen!!  Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened this morning and we’ll be lucky to get up to 30F.  Not our favorite kind of weather!  So, with it being crazy cold outside we needed to warm our insides and for that, nothing is better than a steaming bowl of soup.  Today we decided it would be Egg Drop Soup, not only because it’s simple & quick to make and we had all the ingredients in the house, but also because Maisie has been cleared to have eggs as we test her tolerance and vasomotor rhinitis response.  This soup took minutes to make and got big thumbs up and smiles from Maisie and all of us.

Egg Drop Soup

• 4 cups Cheaters Chicken Soup or broth
• 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 TBS. sesame oil
• 1 TBS. fish sauce
• 2 TBS. coconut aminos 
• 1 TBS. arrowroot powder (can use corn starch, tapioca/cassava/yucca starch)
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBS. water
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• salt to taste

In a heavy pot, bring the soup, ginger, pepper, garlic, sesame oil & fish sauce to a boil.  While that is coming to a boil, in a small bowl, mix the coconut aminos and arrowroot powder to form a smooth slurry.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and 2 TBS. water together.  Once the soup begins to boil, stir briskly while slowly adding the arrowroot slurry.  Allow to boil for 30-60 seconds and then lower the temperature.  Still stirring the soup continuously, drizzle in the eggs allowing the strands of egg to cook.  Add the green onions and then season to taste with salt.

Enjoy!

Chicken & Avocado Soup

The weather is cooling down here in Georgia and unfortunately everyone in the CookLisaCook house has managed to get a cold.  So in our book, nothing could be more comforting, warming and healthier than some homemade soup.  But since EVERYONE has been sick, the soup preparation needed to be simple and the flavors bold to make it tasty for our dulled senses.  We all enjoyed this soup and the health benefits worked wonders, helping us all feel satisfied and just that much closer to being healthy again.

Chicken & Avocado Soup

• 5 c. Cheaters Chicken Soup, or chicken stock/soup of your choice
• 1 TBS. avocado oil, or olive oil or oil of your choice
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. dark chili powder
• 2 c. shredded chicken
• 1 14-oz. can diced fire roasted tomatoes 
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 4 small avocadoes, diced
• juice of 2 large limes
• salt & pepper to taste

In a soup pot, heat the avocado oil and add the cumin, coriander & chili powder and stir, toasting until fragrant.  Add the Chicken soup, shredded chicken & diced tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in the cilantro, diced avocado & lime juice.  Allow the avocado to heat through and season to taste with salt & pepper.  Serve with an extra slice of lime for added tang and corn chips if desired.

Enjoy!

Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk

After a very.long.break, it’s once again, finally, Secret Recipe Club posting time!  It feels like forever since we were last here, between people being sick, Thanksgiving, more sickness, being with family, more sickness, the holidays, snow storms, more sickness, day-to-day life and each SRC group taking a little break…well, it’s been a long time since my last post so it’s good to be back. 

For my inaugural assignment of 2014 I was given Elizabeth’s blog, Food Ramblings.  Elizabeth’s blog is filled with wonderful healthy or healthier-than-the-original recipes, so perfect for the way we’ve been eating here in the Cook Lisa Cook home and an ideal way to begin a new year.  As soon as I received my assignment I searched through Elizabeth’s blog, reading dozens and dozens of tempting recipes and I narrowed my list down to four; garlic roasted green beans with pecans, chicken coconut curry soup, basil polenta with roasted spinach and tomatoes, which I was going to modify and do with cauli-rice in place of the polenta and, of course the chosen recipe of garlic seafood in coconut milk. 

Now before I continue with the recipe, let me tell you a little small world story.  Many times our (fabulous, talented, kind, beautiful, smart, A-Maisie-ing, yes we’re bragging, proud parents) daughter Maisie, has appeared on this blog and many of our regular readers also read her blog, Moments with Maisie and know that just over seven years ago we adopted Maisie from China.  Through the years we have met, both in real life and online, many friends through the China adoption community and that’s where the choosing of this recipe comes into play. 

You may have seen the news this past Tuesday about Atlanta being brought to a stand-still because of two inches of snow fall.  Well it wasn’t the snow amounts that caused all the problems but rather the almost instant icing that turned all the roads into a skating rink along with schools, business and government all being closed at the exact same time, but I digress…  One of our local friends, Roger, whom we originally met through the China adoption community, got stuck in all the traffic, gridlock and accidents, with most of his time being spent on Johnson Ferry Rd, the main road we live off of.  At close to 11PM, after 9+ hours and 8 miles remaining to travel to his home and family, he landed safely at our home.  After a hot dinner and a beer for him, we all thankfully slept safe and warm.  By late Wednesday afternoon he was able to safely make the trek home even though it did involve dodging wrecks & abandoned cars, detours because of road closures and avoiding re-freezing roads and black ice.  Roger was still at our home for lunch and on an icy cold day nothing is better than a steaming bowl of soup.  After checking the pantry and realizing that I had the fixings for both of Elizabeth’s soups I let Roger pick which he’d enjoy and he was the one who chose.  Now this is where the story gets a bit small-world-ish.  Elizabeth posted her garlic seafood in coconut milk recipe as a guest writer on another blog called Diana Rambles.  Now I have “known” Diana through the China adoption community for over eight years.  So how small world is that, my cooking community through Elizabeth’s Food Rambles writes a guest post on Diana’s Diana Rambles, whom I know through the China adoption community and our stranded snowmageddon house guest, whom we also know through the China adoption community happens to pick that recipe. 

Okay, enough of my ramblings…  Roger made a wonderful choice and after he returned home I heard from his wife just how much he enjoyed the soup, but oddly nothing about how much he enjoyed sleeping in Maisie’s princess palace  ;)  I think that this soup will not only be made again in our home, but become a regular in his home too.  We did made a few small changes to Elizabeth’s original recipe as we left out the rice, my blend of seafood was slightly different, I substituted lime juice for the lemon juice and fish sauce for her salt and instead of mixed frozen veggies I used what I had, sugar snap peas and then added some straw mushrooms just because I had them and knew they would work well.  I know that it sounds like a lot of substitutions but it was acid for acid, salt for salt, veg for veg and fish for fish and just goes to show, in recipes like this, you can still have the same base dish working with what you have on hand.  Check out Elizabeth’s original recipe or make our version, either one will prove to be a delicious choice.

Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk (adapted from here)

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced
• 4 cloves  fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 14 oz can coconut milk 
• 8 oz. sugar snap peas
• 15 oz. can straw mushrooms, drained
• 1 lb seafood blend with shrimp, clams, scallops, mussels and calamari
• 1 TBS. lime juice
• 1 TBS. fish sauce, or more to taste

In a large pot, heat oil on medium. Add the onion and cook slowly until they starts to turn golden.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and softened. Add the cilantro and red pepper flakes and cook for another couple minutes. 

Add the diced tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir to combine and then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add sugar snap peas & mushrooms and simmer until the snap peas are tender.  Bring to a boil and then add the seafood.  Cover and remove from the heat immediately.  Allow the seafood to poach for about 10 minutes until cooked through.  Stir in the lime juice and fish sauce to taste. 

Enjoy! 

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup

 “Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas.  Book come out, please, please, please!”  That phrase of Princess Pea’s from Super Why has been haunting me like the March of the Toreadors, It’s a Small World and the music from Peter & the Wolf.  Don’t you just hate when a song gets stuck in your head and drives you crazy?  So you ask why is that phrase haunting me?  Well this month for the Improv Cooking Challenge our hostess Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker has challenged the participating bloggers to make any recipe of their choosing using the two specified ingredients of, you guessed it, peas & carrots, carrots & peas, let me figure this out, please, please, please! 

If you don’t have a child or have never seen Super Why, what happens is that Whyatt, the main character gets a call on his computer in which he discovers that one of the other characters has a "super big problem". After investigating the problem Whyatt calls on all the "Super Readers" to come to the Book Club.  There the four characters, Whyatt, Pig, Red Riding Hood, and Princess Pea gather.  Whyatt plugs in his Super Duper Computer and uploads data about the problem and they all discuss it.  Once the problem is discussed, Whyatt says, "When we have a question, we look ... in a book!" Pig always asks, "Which book should we look in?" and in response, Princess Pea casts a magic spell to summon the appropriate book: “Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas.  Book come out, please, please, please!”  The book then magically descends from the shelves.  Whyatt, invites the audience to read along, summarizes the problem faced by the book's characters and drawing a parallel to the problem the Super Readers are trying to solve. The Super Readers follow the storyline to solve the problem applying their literacy skills to change the story when needed to overcome any obstacles.  Throughout the story they are rewarded with red glittery "Super Letters" which are uploaded into the Super Duper Computer, eventually forming the words that make up the solution to the "super big problem."  Yes I know, for those of you who have never experienced the show you now feel like you have a “super big problem” and have missed out…or maybe I have a “super big problem” as I know oh-too much about this show.  I’m just glad that Maisie’s outgrown the show…even if it is still haunting me there’s hope that the haunting will end. 

So now that you’ve read this far, let me tell you that I could have used Whyatt, the Super Readers and a magical book as I was at a complete loss as to what to make using peas & carrots.  That was until I had my DUH… moment.  I seriously for an entire month had been wondering what on earth to make using peas and carrots and then I just wasn’t feeling well, our weather was cold and stormy and I wanted to make some comforting soup, my Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup.  I was writing out my shopping list, beef, split peas, barley, string beans, yellow squash, parsnips, carrots, lima beans, mushrooms… and light dawned on Marblehead… peas & carrots, carrots & peas, I had found my recipe, please, please, please!

My Mom doesn’t remember if it was her Mom or my Dad’s Mom who originally made this soup but either way it’s been made my entire life and has always been a favorite of mine.  Of course the recipe below can be cut down but just like my Mom does, I make the recipe as written which makes a huge, and I mean HUGE pot of soup.  I then freeze individual sized portions so that anytime I crave this delicious, comforting soup, it’s there in the freezer, ready to be eaten after just a few minutes of defrosting and heating in the microwave.  

Peas & carrots, carrots & peas, try & enjoy this soup, please, please, please!!

Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup

• 6 lbs. beef (flanken, beef short ribs, chuck steak)
• 2 – 3 lbs. beef marrow bones (optional)
• 1 lb. dried split green peas
• 1/3 lb. barley
• 6 oz. dried baby lima beans
• 1 1/2 lbs. fresh string beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 lbs. fresh baby carrots, cut into coins
• 3 lbs. fresh yellow summer squash, cut into half rounds
• 3 small fresh parsnips, peeled & cut into coins
• 1 lb. fresh white button mushrooms, sliced
• Better than Bouillon beef soup base
• sea salt to taste

In a very large stock pot add the meat and marrow bones and cover with 3x the depth of water.  Add the peas, barley & lima beans to a cheesecloth or put into a colander and suspend into the water.  Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook at a simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the meat is tender and the peas, barley & lima beans are soft.  Skim the soup as needed.  Once everything is soft, empty the contents of the cheesecloth/colander into the beef stock and add the string beans, carrots, summer squash, parsnips, mushrooms and soup base to taste.  Simmer until the vegetables are cooked and soup has thickened to desired consistency.  Add salt to taste. 

Enjoy!

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

February 2013  Hearts & Flours:  Three Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites
January 2013  Bananas & Nutmeg:  Baked Bananas 
December 2012  Chocolate & Marshmallows:  White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark    
November 2012  Sweet Potatoes & honey: Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp 
October 2012  Oatmeal & Raisins:  S’mores Granola Bars   
September 2012  Zucchini & Brown Sugar:  Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar 
August 2012  Tomatoes & Peppers:  French Fries Hash Browns 
July 2012  Corn & Butter:  Fritos Crusted Pollock 
June 2012  Cherries & Almonds:  Dried Cherry Almond Tart 
May 2012  Strawberries & Cream:  Strawberry Soup 
April 2012  Peanut butter & Jelly:  Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars 
March 2012  Potato & Cheese:  Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole 
February 2012  Ginger & Carrots:  Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing 
January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream:  Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart 
December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries:  Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter 
November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese:  Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake
October 2011 Caramel & Apples:  Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Loaded Potato Soup

It’s Secret Recipe Club time and this month I was assigned the blog Cupcakes with Sprinkles which is written by Meghan, a sweets loving, cooking and crafting Mama to two cutie-patootie little girls.  So I know you’re scratching your head thinking Cupcakes with Sprinkles and a sweets loving Mama and here I am posting a recipe for Loaded Potato Soup???  Well I had just done a whole slew of sweet treat baking as I was sending a care package off to a friend’s daughter who’s away on her mission for the next year, so here in the Cook Lisa Cook home we were sort of sweet treated out.  Also, about a month ago we were out for dinner and Eammon ordered loaded potato soup and just adored it and had asked if I would try to make some at home for him, so when I saw Meghan’s loaded potato soup recipe I knew what I’d be making.  Trust me though a number of her sweet treat recipe have been saved to make in the future.  I mean check these out and I know you’ll be adding them to your list of recipes to make:  Boston cream pie, one of my all time favorites, white chocolate mousse torte for my white chocolate loving husband and Avalanche Bars which I know I’ll be making one day soon with Maisie.

The day that I made Meghan’s soup was a cold day here in Georgia so it was a perfect & delicious meal.  I’m not even going to mention how much of the pot Eammon consumed in just one day but I’ll put it to you this way, I have already made this soup again and seeing how much Eammon especially loved it the first time, I was smart and made a double batch the second time around.  Oh and here’s something amazing and almost unheard of, other than adding a bit of salt, I changed nothing in Meghan’s recipe…yes amazing for the cook who is always tweaking and changing recipes.  Oh and when I say I didn’t change anything, I mean even the second time around, this recipe is just absolutely perfect and I hope you’ll give it a try…but make a double batch, trust me on that one!    

Loaded Potato Soup (recipe from here)

• 1/2 lb bacon, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 30 oz. Cheaters Chicken Soup or 2 - 15oz cans chicken stock or vegetable stock  
• 3 TBS. butter
• 3 TBS. all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skimmed)
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper 
• sea salt, to taste
• sour cream for garnish

In a large stock pot, cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Keep the bacon grease in the pot and add the onions, cook until tender.  Leave the onions in the pot and add the potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. With a slotted spoon remove about a cup of potatoes. Place in a bowl and mash with a fork. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes on med-low. Whisk in the milk, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Simmer until thickened.  Slowly stir the milk mixture in to stock pot of potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Stir the bowl of smashed potatoes back into pot.  Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and three-fourths of the bacon to the pot. Add pepper and salt to taste. Stir to combine. Cook an additional 5 minutes.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with some shredded cheese, bacon and sour cream.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry