Caldo de Res (Mexican Beef Soup)

Its summer. Its hot. But what do I do? I make soup! I've had a hankering for some soup lately and I don't really know why. And I've been so eager to try a Mexican beef soup called Caldo de Res that I often see in Mexican menus. So when I recently visited the local Latin market, I came across a packet of ingredients they use for Caldo de Res and decided to try my hand at making this popular Mexican comfort food.

Off I went to research a good recipe online and came across this one from All Recipes and it couldn't be easier. I basically threw everything in the pot and allow to simmer until the meat and all its yummy veggies are tender. The flavor is reminiscent of the Albondigas I used to make (which reminds me, I haven't made Albondigas in a while), so it was quite yummy and comforting. It would definitely be the perfect comfort food to eat on a cold day. Or when you're sick. Or when you're craving it in the summer like me.

2 lbs. beef shank with bones
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (14.5 oz can) diced tomatoes
3 cups beef broth (or chicken broth)
4 cups water
2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 medium potato, quartered
2 ears of corn, cut into thirds
2 chayotes, quartered
1 small head of cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

1) Remove some meat from the bones and cut into 1/2 inch pieces, leaving some of the meat on the bones.

2) Heat oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat, making sure the bottom of the pan is completely covered with the oil. Season the meat and bones with salt and pepper. Add meat to the pan and cook until meat has thoroughly browned.

3) Add onions and continue cooking until onions begin to brown. Stir in tomatoes and broth. The liquid should cover the bones by about 1/2 an inch. If not, add enough water to compensate. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour with the lid on loosely. If meat is not tender, continue cooking for another 10-20 minutes.

4) Pour in the 4 cups water and return to a simmer. Add the carrots and cilantro and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in potato, corn and chayote. Simmer until all vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Push the cabbage wedges into the soup and cook for another 10 minutes.  Serve in large bowls garnished with more cilantro, lime wedge, and chopped onions.

Copy Cat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli

I cannot believe that it has taken me 2 months to post another entry on this blog. For those who follow me, I am deeply sorry that I have been missing for so long. I know a few of my co-workers have been wondering what happened to my posts. If you remember a couple of months ago, I was complaining about a serious bout of morning sickness that has prevented me from stepping foot in the kitchen. Nowadays, I just haven't had the energy to spend too much time in the kitchen. So most of our meals are take-outs or leftovers from the parentals. Being almost 7 months pregnant can do that to you. When I do cook, I cook some of my go-to Quick and Easy meals. Baking is still something I enjoy doing. So you'll often see me in the kitchen because I'm baking cookies or something. Not experimenting a new recipe.

However, because I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, I thought about doing some make-ahead meals that I can freeze, which will feed us later once the baby arrives. Learning from my first pregnancy 5 years ago, I didn't have much time to cook our meals with a newborn around. So I thought  how much help it would be for me to have frozen meals that we can just pop in the microwave or oven.

I found a lot of make-ahead meal ideas online and from blogs I frequent. But it was a copy cat recipe from Food.com for Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli that caught my eye. A crock pot recipe at that. Before I discovered my love for Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, I used to love starting my meal off with their Pasta e Fagioli. This recipe looked so easy and makes a huge batch. So I thought it was perfect to set some aside and freeze. You can also cut this recipe in half if you don't intend to freeze the leftovers. Unless you have an army of people to feed. My daughter and I came home to the house smelling so good. My daughter said "mmmm...it smells like spaghetti!" This is a delicious and hearty soup that is a meal in itself. I served this with some good french bread to sop up some of the soup. So good.....

2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
5 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can white kidney beans, drained
3 (10 oz) cans beef broth
3 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
1 (20 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti or marinara sauce
salt to taste
8 ounces small pasta (like small macaroni or small shells), cooked
shredded or grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1) Brown meat in a skillet. Drain.

2) Place cooked meat and all the ingredients, except the pasta, in the crock pot. Season with salt to taste. Cook on low for 7-8 minutes, or on high for 4-6 hours.

3) Place cooked pasta in serving bowls. Top with desired amount of soup and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

*If you plan to freeze the soup, place the soup in a freezable container and freeze. Add the cooked pasta after you have re-heated the soup.

La Paz Batchoy

La Paz Batchoy is a Filipino noodle soup that has its origins from La Paz, Iloilo City in the central area of the Philippines. I've never actually had La Paz Batchoy. The closest I've gotten to it was having the dehydrated version, where you add hot water. And it was pretty bad. So it doesn't count. But I knew that this dish would be good if I had the original version. So I decided to try to make it and see what it would actually taste like. After a quick search, I decided on this recipe from Filipino Recipes.

The original recipe required the use of pork chitlins and liver. Not a huge fan of either. So I omitted them and kept the chicken, pork meat, beef and shrimp. It also required a small amount of bagoong, which is a shrimp paste found in Asian markets and a staple in the Filipino kitchen. I don't know what a real La Paz Batchoy tastes like, but this one was pretty darn good. Its pretty time consuming because I had to boil beef and pork bones to make the broth. But once that's done, the preparation is pretty simple. And totally worth the wait.

1 lb. beef chuck
Pork bones
16 cups water
1 medium onion, quartered
1/2 head garlic, crushed (about 6-8 cloves)
1/2 tsp. shrimp paste (Bagoong)
1 Tbsp. peppercorns, crushed
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. soy sauce
salt to taste
1/4 lb. pork
1/4 lb shrimp
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
ground chicharon, for garnish
fried/toasted garlic, for garnish
chopped green onions, for garnish
fresh Chinese egg noodles

1) In a large stock pot, boil beef chuck and pork bones with 16 cups of water for 2 hours, or until the beef is tender. Occasionally skim off the sludge that forms on the surface of the water. Drain the broth. You should have about 12-14 cups of broth. Discard pork bones. Cut beef into thin slices and set aside.

2) Return broth on the stove over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, shrimp paste, peppercorns, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Blanch shrimp until pink. Remove from broth. Remove shell and head from shrimp. Set aside.

3) Add pork and chicken into broth and continue to simmer until pork is tender, about 25-30 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Remove meats and allow to cool. Slice thinly and set aside.

4) Continue simmering broth over low heat until ready to serve. Place noodles in bowls and top with strained broth. Garnish with the sliced meats, chicharon, fried garlic, and green onions.

Tom Kha (Thai Coconut Soup)

I've noticed that I've been getting sick a lot more frequently lately. Yup, you guessed it. I'm sick again. I think this is the 2nd time in the past 6 months that I've been home sick with either a cough or cold or both. This time, this cough hit me pretty hard. I've had it for almost a week with no relief in sight. Before I had my daughter, it was rare that I would be out sick from work. I'll have a slight cold, but not enough to have to call-in sick. My motto back then was "through rain, sleet, hail, or snow, I'll still report to work." Nowadays, I get so sick that my whole body aches and I can't even get out of bed. Call it age or stress or whatever the cause may be, whenever I'm sick, I always crave for some soothing soup. And because of my sore throat, I wanted a sour soup.

I've made this recipe for Tom Kha a while ago but haven't put it in this blog yet. And I've been meaning to make it again. We order Tom Kha at our favorite Thai restaurants most often during the cold season. And when I found it in my Thai cookbook, I couldn't believe how easy it was. The only hard part was getting all the ingredients. I'm fortunate to have my office close to a Thai market where I can get most of my ingredients whenever I feel like cooking Thai food.

4 stalks of lemon grass, roots trimmed

2 (14 oz) cans coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

10 black peppercorns, crushed

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

10-12 shrimps, peeled and de-veined

1 cup button mushrooms

1/2 cup baby corn, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 Tbsp. lime juice

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

1-2 Tbsp. Thai chili paste

chopped green onions, for garnish

chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

1) Cut off the lower 2 inches from each lemon grass stalk and chop finely. Bruise the remaining pieces of stalk.

2) Bring the coconut milk and broth to boil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add chopped and bruised lemon grass, ginger, and peppercorns. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Strain the soup.

3) Return the soup into the pan over low heat. Stir in chicken, mushrooms, and corn. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. Add shrimps during the last 2 minutes of simmer. Stir in lime juice, fish sauce, and Thai chili paste until well incorporated. Serve hot in bowls with green onions and cilantro for garnish.

Mashed Potato Soup

Its been about a week since Thanksgiving, and I still have some leftover side dishes in the fridge that I have to decide whether to throw away or not. Specifically mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy and cranberry sauce. My co-worker, Stacy, had mentioned that a friend of hers had made tons of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and then used it to make some delicious potato soup for her because she was sick this past weekend. I asked her to try to get the recipe and she lead me to this from The Rachael Ray Show.

This recipe couldn't be any easier. It asks for leftover mashed potatoes and chicken stock, but I happen to have turkey stock from our Thanksgiving turkey carcass. It was so delicious and so comforting for a chilly evening like it was last night. Its a potato soup kind of night.

oil

6 slices of bacon, chopped

4 Tbsp. butter

1 medium onion, chopped

4 Tbsp. flour

4 cups chicken or turkey stock

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

chopped chives or green onions for garnish

1) In a medium pot, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.

2) Drain off excess bacon fat from the pot and add butter. When it is melted, add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour into pot and cook with a wooden spoon for 1 minute. Whisk in stock and bring to a bubble. Cook until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Whisk in mashed potatoes. Stir in cheddar cheese with a wooden spoon and cook until potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with bacon and chopped chives/green onions.

Green Chicken Enchilada Soup

With the fall season in full swing, the weather starts to somewhat cool down. Even here in SoCal. And with cooler weather comes the flu season. My daughter has been trying to shake off a cold for the past 2 1/2 weeks, and is now trying to fight off a low-grade fever. Hubby and I are trying to fight off the onset of a cold ourselves. Our cold isn't full blown, but we feel it starting to creep in. And if we're all sick, its no bueno.

This recipe popped up on my reader recently from What's Cookin' Chicago? that I felt it was fitting to make for this cool weather. It was super easy to make and tasted so good and comforting. When it first came out of the crock pot, I thought it was a little spicy. But after adding all the garnishes such as avocado and sour cream, the flavors and spice balanced so well.

The author of What's Cookin' Chicago?, Joelen, recently discovered she requires a gluten-free diet. Therefore, this recipe is gluten-free. One of my good friends, Cathy, has been requesting me to start making gluten-free foods for a while now. And honestly, I don't know a thing about being gluten-free. So I'm glad that Joelen's blog features more of this kind of cuisine. So this recipe (and all future gluten-free dishes) is for you, Cathy :)

1 (15 oz can) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz can) sweet corn, drained

1 (14.5 oz can) Rotel diced tomatoes and jalapenos

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers

1 (16 oz bottle) salsa verde or green enchilada sauce

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

salt to taste

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

3 Tbsp. water

Garnishes:

chopped avocado

crushed tortilla chips

chopped cilantro

sour cream

shredded cheese

1) In a crock pot, combine beans, corn, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, salsa verde/enchilada sauce, chicken broth and milk. Season with salt to taste.

2) Place chicken breast into crock pot and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

3) Remove chicken and cut or shred into bite-sized pieces. Return shredded chicken in the crock pot. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Stir into soup to thicken slightly. Serve with your favorite garnishes.

Egg Drop Soup with Corn

Its been quite hot around our neck of the woods. So what in the world am I doing making soup??? I recently discovered that my daughter loves Egg Drop soup. She had an upset stomach one day and didn't feel like eating anything. But I had to feed her something. So she agreed to eat soup. I quickly whipped up this recipe after looking at a few different versions and she loved it. She kept asking for more. Today, I decided to eat something light for dinner and made this again, which she was excited to have.

6 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 ear of corn, kernels removed (about 3/4 cup)

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1) Set aside 3/4 cup of chicken broth. Place the remaining broth, salt, ground ginger and corn kernels in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

2) Scramble together the eggs and egg yolk in a small bowl. Once the broth begins to boil, pour scrambled egg in the broth with a steady stream while stirring the broth in one direction to create threads.

3) In another small bowl, thoroughly mix together the 3/4 cup chicken broth and cornstarch. Pour mixture into soup. Stir until incorporated. Remove soup from heat and add sesame oil. Serve hot.

Corn Chowder

I'm off work today because I'm feeling a bit under the weather. You know that saying "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?" I think I caught the flu bug from our recent trip there, and it, unfortunately, didn't stay in Vegas. This is my second bout of the flu this year. So I was craving some comfort food to help heal me, and what better way to heal than a nice bowl of soup.

Corn is in abundance nowadays and they were on sale at the supermarket, so I bought a few ears over the weekend. Why not make some corn chowder? I haven't made it in a while and haven't included it on this blog yet. This recipe was adapted from one of Paula Deen's Corn Chowder recipe that I tweeked a little bit, and it always satisfies my need for some comfort food.

4 Tbsp. butter

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 of a large carrot, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

pinch of ground nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

1) In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add potatoes, carrot, onion and garlic. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add flour to make a roux. Continue cooking until roux begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

2) In a microwave safe bowl, combine chicken broth and corn kernels. Microwave just until broth begins to boil, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk broth mixture into roux. Continue whisking until lumps are almost gone. Return saucepan over medium heat. Cook mixture until it becomes very thick.

3) In another microwave safe bowl, combine milk and cream. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Whisk cream mixture into corn mixture until well combined. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking chowder until potatoes are softened. (Note: if chowder is not thick enough, combine a tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water and add to chowder to thicken). When ready to serve, stir in a pat of butter (optional) to enrich the chowder.

Slow Cooker Pozole (Mexican Pork & Hominy Stew)

I remember back in my Spanish classes in high school many years ago (I won't say how many), we would always have a potluck of international foods at the end of the semester. Many of my Latino classmates would bring dishes from their individual culture. One classmate brought banuelos, which were fried tortilla chips dredged in cinnamon sugar. Another brought Tamales. But one dish that stood out was the Pozole, a pork and hominy stew. I was hooked. I haven't had Pozole since then, but I often see it on the menus at Mexican restaurants. I've always wanted to order it, but worry that it wouldn't taste as good as the first time I had it. I was also intimidated to order it.

Pozole is said to be a cure for hangover. Well, I don't drink much. But I can tell you that this is easily a comfort food. Perfect to have on a cold day. I was finally inspired to try to make Pozole myself when I was looking through some blogs one day and found someone who made it. That pozole looked too chunky and didn't look like what I had years ago. So I decided to do a search for Pozole recipes. There were quite a few recipes out there and I couldn't tell which one came closest to that recipe. But I finally settled on this one from allrecipes.com. What made me decide on this one was the fact that its a slow cooker recipe. I've been busy all day today, baking almost 200 mini cupcakes for hubby's pinning ceremony tomorrow. So I wanted to just throw everything in the slow cooker and have it ready for dinner.

This dish was quite good. However, as one of the reviews on this recipe indicated, this was more like a soup than a stew. This wasn't the Pozole that I had back in high school. I'll probably continue my search for that recipe. But I don't mind making this one again.

1 dried chile negro pasilla (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. ground pasilla)

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin, cubed

2 cups chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (4 oz can) diced green chiles

2 (15 oz can) hominy

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1) Puree (or blend together) chile negro pasilla and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Pour in slow cooker pot.

2) Pour remaining chicken broth, beef broth, onion, garlic, green chiles, hominy and pork in slow cooker pot. Season with bay leaf, oregano, cumin and salt. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 6-7 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serve topped with chopped cilantro and avocado.

Crockpot Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

Pho (pronounced fuh) is a Vietnamese Noodle Soup. The first time I had Pho was a few years ago when a couple of co-workers of mine suggested we have it for lunch. It never really appealed to me before, but I was always up for trying something new. So I went along and I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated. Then my co-workers recommended I try the beef brisket Pho. They showed me which condiments to use and how to eat it and I was hooked. It was the perfect meal for that chilly day and it totally hit the spot.

I don't have Pho often because soup, as per hubby, isn't filling for him. But Pho restaurants are popping up all over the area with clever names like Good Pho You and Pho King (yeah, I got a laugh outta that one too). I once attempted to make Pho a few years ago. The original recipe required me to leave the broth to boil over low heat overnight. But fearing that I may burn the house down, I decided to slow cook it in the Crock Pot instead. It came out okay, but not pho-bulous (lol). So I never tried to make it again because I figured I should leave pho-making to the experts. Then I recently came across this Crock Pot Pho recipe from Steamy Kitchen that inspired me to make it again. And plus, I've been craving it for a while.

The Crock Pot Pho came out pretty well. However, it was hard to season the broth after cooking because it was really too hot to taste. So I had to play with the fish sauce and guess the taste. Overall, the dish was okay. I even got my daughter to eat it (minus the raw meat in it, of course).

Broth

4 lbs. beef bones

1/2 onion

4 inch section of ginger, sliced

2 cinnamon sticks

2 tsp. whole coriander seeds

1 tsp. fennel

3 whole star anise

3 whole cloves

1 cardamom pod

9 cups water

2 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce, or to taste

1 tsp. sugar

16 oz dried noodles, cooked according to package directions

1/2 lb. flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round steak, sliced as thinly as possible

lime wedges

cilantro, Thai basil, mint

2 hand fulls of bean sprouts

hoisin sauce

Sriracha chili sauce

1) Bring a large stock pot with water to boil over high heat. When it comes to a rolling boil, add beef bones and boil vigorously for 10 minutes.

2) In the meantime, heat a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add spices and toast until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Dump the spices into the crock pot. Return frying pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add ginger slices and half of an onion. Cook until the ginger is browned on both sides and the onion half is nicely browned and softened. Add ginger and onion to the crock pot.

3) When the bones have pre-boiled, discard the bones and rinse briefly to clean. Add the bones to the crock pot and fill with water to just 1 1/2 inch below the surface of the bones. Add the fish sauce and sugar. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Taste and season with more fish sauce if needed. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the solids.

4) To assemble the bowls, distribute noodles and thin steak among 4 bowls. Ladle hot pho broth in the bowls (the hot broth will cook the thin steak). Serve with lime wedges, cilantro/Thai basil/mint, and bean sprouts. Season with hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce to taste.

Sotanghon (Filipino Rice Noodle Soup)

This is one of those comfort foods my dad used to make often. Especially when we were sick with a cold. Or if he wanted to make a quick meal for us, because this is a very simple recipe. I haven't made any Filipino dishes in a while and was craving Sotanghon, so I decided to make some for dinner tonight. Just like dad, I make this often when I want to make a quick, hot meal. This is one of my daughters favorite Filipino dishes.

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (boiled and shredded)

6 0z package rice noodles (soaked in warm water for 8 minutes then drained)

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 inch long fresh ginger, julienned

2 quarts chicken broth

1 Tbsp. annato oil (optional for color)

salt & pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1) Heat oil in a pot. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add shredded chicken and cook for another minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in annato oil if using)

2) Add chicken broth and heat until it begins to boil. Add noodles and continue to simmer until noodles are cooked through, about 2 minutes. Serve hot in bowls.

Killer Cajun Shrimp

Its Fat Tuesday. And for those who are not familiar with what Fat Tuesday is really all about, its a day for many Christians (mostly Catholics) in the South indulge or binge on food before the Lenten season starts on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is usually a day of fasting for many of those who want to partake in some sort abstinence. Some fast entirely for the day of Ash Wednesday. Others, like myself, fast all sorts of meats or poultry for Ash Wednesday (and then every Friday after that until Easter). And since its our last day to really eat meat whenever we want, hubby and I decided to indulge (but not too much as we're still watching our caloric intake). However, I still had to prepare food for our lunch tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. That meant only seafood or vegetarian dishes.

I didn't have much of a selection of seafood recipes in my archives. So I decided to search through the archives of blogs I frequented and found this recipe from Steamy Kitchen. Living in LA, I've never been to a restaurant called Killer Shrimp, which is where the name of this recipe comes from. So I don't have much of a comparison as far as taste. But I can say that this dish was quite yummy. It reminds me of some dishes I've tried at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The recipe was quite simple to make, but required some ingredients that I didn't readily have. So I had to make a quick run to the supermarket. I served this with some french bread that hubby brought home to sop up all the spicy broth.

2 Tbsp. dried or fresh rosemary

2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 Tbsp. dried fennel seeds

2 tsp. celery seed

1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes (less if you like it less spicy)

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

1/2 small onion, diced

1 celery rib, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 quarts chicken broth

16 0z bottled clam juice

1/2 lemon (cut in half)

3 oz tomato paste

1 cup white wine

2 lbs. shrimp (de-veined)

1) Using a mortar and pestle, smash all the spices (rosemary, thyme, fennel, celery seed, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt). You can also quickly run a knife through the spices on a cutting board to help release its flavors. Set aside.

2) In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until fragrant and soft. Stir in prepared spices.

3) Add broth, clam juice, lemon, tomato paste, and white wine. Simmer on low for at least 1 hour. Add more salt if needed.

4) Just before serving, add shrimp and simmer until shrimps are pink, about 3-5 minutes. Serve in bowls with french bread or white rice.

Italian Wedding Soup

Its a cold and rainy day today in SoCal. I was planning on grilling some burgers for dinner today in honor of the NBA All-Star weekend. But that's out of the question. So I thought to make something that will warm us up.

I remember finding this recipe for Italian Wedding Soup from What's Cookin' Chicago? one day. I figured now was a good time to give this a try. This soup called for tiny pasta to go with the tiny meatballs. So I used a Pastina pasta. It also called for different types of ground meat. Whenever a recipe calls for some type of ground meat, I almost always use ground turkey because I always have ground turkey.

This soup really hit the spot for me. It had a little kick from the red pepper flakes, but the heat didn't overpower the soup too much that it was even safe enough to feed my 2 1/2 year old daughter. She actually really liked this dish, especially because I used a tiny pasta, shaped into stars. She even ate the spinach in the soup.

Meatballs

2 slices sliced bread (I used wheat bread), torn to pieces

1/2 cup milk

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 lb. ground turkey

1) Place milk and bread in a large bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, except ground turkey, and mash to combine. Add ground turkey and knead by hand until it's well combined.

2) Using a melon baller, scoop mixture and roll into uniform sized balls with damp hands. Place meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Soup

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 quarts chicken broth

1 cup pastina pasta (or any other tiny pasta like orzo)

1 large bunch fresh spinach leaves, cleaned and roughly chopped

3 Tbsp. chopped parsley

salt & pepper to taste

1) Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cooking until it's fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add chicken broth and meatballs. Simmer until meatballs are almost halfway done. Add pasta and continue simmering until pasta and meatballs are cooked through. Stir in spinach and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over soup and top with grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Its the last weekend before Christmas and its been raining for the past 3 days. We had planned a trip to Disneyland and the rain has, for lack of a better word, dampened our plans. So we stayed local and have kept busy by attending one of my nephew's birthday party and did our last-minute Christmas shopping. I'm pooped, its rainy and cold, and I wanted to have something to warm me up inside.

Last week, our office had a holiday luncheon at BJ's Brewery. I had a half-sandwich and a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup. Yummy. I have large bags of broccoli and shredded cheese that I bought from Costco that I could use, so I searched for a good recipe for Broccoli Cheddar soup and found this recipe from CD Kitchen. I've never tried anything from Panera Bread, but this is a copycat recipe of their Broccoli Cheese soup. This was a yummy comfort food that I'll definitely be making again. Its a great way to have your vegetables for the day.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 of a medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 all purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half (I used 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 lb. fresh broccoli

1 cup julienned carrots

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1) Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a stockpot. Saute chopped onions for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

2) In the same pot, add melted butter. Whisk in flour to make a roux and cook for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add half-and-half. Add chicken broth. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes, whisking constantly.

3) Add onions, broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Place mixture in a food processor or blender and puree (or you can use an immersion blender). Return mixture to the pot to heat. Add cheese and continue to cook on low heat until cheese has melted. Add nutmeg. Remove from heat and serve topped with more shredded cheese or croutons.

Turkey Stock

We had our office Thanksgiving luncheon today. And I guess tradition (its only been the 2nd time) is for me to deep fry a turkey for the office. Like last year, my boss bought the turkey, and I went to my dad's (which is only 10 minutes away from the office) to deep fry it.

Last year, one of the staff took home the leftover bones from the turkey. She told me she would make soup out of it. What an awesome idea. So when we had Thanksgiving at home, I used the turkey bones to make my own batch of Turkey stock. This year, I took the turkey bones from the office to make some stock again. It freezes well for later use in soups and other dishes that require broth. Its a great way to use up all the turkey bones from your Thanksgiving dinner. And it smells so good!

1 Turkey carcass

3 sprigs of parsley (I didn't have any, so this was omitted)

2 medium onions, quartered

3 ribs celery, cut up

2 carrots, cut up

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. dry thyme leaves

2 tsp. salt

a dash of black pepper

1) Break up carcass and place in a large stockpot. Add remaining ingredients and fill with enough water to cover all the ingredients in the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3-4 hours. Cool slightly. Strain broth into a bowl. Refrigerate then remove fat from the top of the broth.

Pumpkin Soup II

Its a chilly autumn evening and I'm feeling like I want something to warm me up inside. Last week I had roasted a few of the pumpkins we bought for Halloween for later use. Tonight is the perfect time to use some of the pumpkin puree.

I found this recipe from the Food Network website that I wanted to try out because it looked pretty simple. Although I already had another Pumpkin Soup recipe, I felt it lacked a little umph. Something was missing. So when I tried this new recipe tonight, its just what I was looking for. Maybe its the spices I used in this one that was better. I modified the recipe by adding some brown sugar in it because I like my pumpkin soup to be a little more sweet. It was perfect. I think I'll be sticking with this one more.

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup (I used pancake syrup)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 cup heavy whipping cream
toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

1) Place pumpkin, broth, water, syrup, brown sugar and spices in a saucepan and mix well. Heat on medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in cream until thoroughly incorporated. Serve in bowls, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. (Note: you can also serve the soup by hollowing out a medium sized pumpkin and placing the soup in the pumpkin)

Skyline Chili

Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers made his big announcement today that he's leaving Ohio to be in Florida (Miami Heat). In honor of the Ohioans losing King James, I decided to make Skyline Chili. Named after Cincinnati, Ohio's skyline, this popular chili is apparently a favorite of the Cincinnati Reds. While I've never been to Cincinnati to have the original, I've heard about this awesome dish from, where else? The Food Network. It looked so good. So I tried looking up a recipe and found this one from allrecipes.com.

Unlike its Texas-style counterpart, this chili is more runny and saucy than a normal chili. And its also normally eaten over a bed of spaghetti pasta, topped with lots of shredded cheddar cheese and chopped onions. I've made this a couple of times before and it definitely goes really well with the pasta. Its almost like a spaghetti sauce with a little kick. And you know how I am with spaghetti. Can't get enough of it. This is a chili dish that I can get addicted to. This recipe made so much chili that I froze most of it for later use.

2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

15 oz tomato sauce

8 oz tomato paste

5 Tbsp. chili powder

2 1/2 Tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

3 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. worcestershire sauce

4 cups water

1) Brown meat on stovetop. Place in crockpot. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook on low for 12 hours or more. Serve on top of cooked spaghetti, top with shredded cheese and chopped onions.

Cioppino

Pronounced cho-pee-no, it may sound Italian, but its not. I believe the origin of this dish was Northern or Central California. The fishermen in the area wanted to come up with a dish and they each "chipped in" their catch of seafood for the dish. "Chip in" came out to "chip-pee-no," and the name Cioppino was born.

Well, there's my history lesson on this dish that I learned from the Food Network. lol! I've been meaning to make this dish for a while. I was shopping at Costco last week and found a pack of seafood medley consisting of calamari, shrimp, scallops, and mussels. It inspired me to try to actually make this dish, so I bought the seafood medley and decided to finally make it for dinner tonight. Also, I promised my friend from work, Stacy, that I'd bring some for her once I made it.

I found this recipe from Allrecipes.com and looked pretty easy. But YUMM-O! This seafood stew was delicious. Its definitely a comfort food. So soothing yet delicious to eat. Hubby and daughter really liked it. This is one dish, not a pasta dish, that my daughter actually liked. It may not be real Italian, but it sure tastes like it. The original recipe didn't call for additional seasonings, but I added a teaspoon of salt for more flavor.

3/4 cup butter

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups white wine

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 lbs. bay scallops

18 small clams

18 mussels, cleaned and debearded

1 1/2 cups crabmeat or crab legs

1 1/2 lbs. cod fillets, cubed (or any white fish)

1) Over medium-low heat, melt butter in a large stockpot. Add onions, garlic and parsley. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.

2) Add tomatoes, breaking them into chunks. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, salt, water and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

3) Stir seafood. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until clams open up. Ladle into bowls and serve warm with crusty bread.

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I was sifting through my crockpot cookbook and found this recipe the other day. Its super yummy. A whole meal in itself. Having the creamy avocado on top makes it even more special. The original recipe didn't call for corn, but I bought a lot of fresh corn the other day from the supermarket so I decided to add some in the soup. Besides, I love corn in anything. I also added more broth than the original recipe because I wanted it more soupy.

This particular crockpot recipe doesn't require a whole day to cook. So I wouldn't use this recipe if I plan on being out all day like my other crockpot recipes. But here is my modified recipe:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups chicken broth

1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chiles, drained

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

For garnish:

crushed tortilla chips

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 avocado, peeled, diced and tossed with lime juice to prevent from browning

1) Place chicken in crockpot. Combine tomatoes with juice, 1/2 cup chicken broth, chiles, onion, garlic and cumin in a medium bowl. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on high for 3 hours.

2) Remove chicken from crockpot. Shred with 2 forks. Return chicken to liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining chicken broth and cook for another 30 minutes.

3) Divide soup in bowls. Top with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Pumpkin Soup

I've been feeling like I'm coming down with something. And as usual, I wanted to have some soothing soup to help cure me. Well, what's been the theme of my recipes lately? Pumpkin! So of course, I had to dig up my pumpkin soup recipe. I haven't made it since last year, so its perfect timing for it.

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. all purpose flour

2 cans chicken broth

1 cup fresh pumpkin puree

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup whipping cream

1) In a large saucepan, melt butter. Sautee onion until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the broth, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Return to heat and bring to a boil.

2) Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cream and cook for another 2 minutes, or until heated through.