Mum's Minestrone Soup

This is a recipe that I love to make in the winter. It's definitely one of my favourite soups and it comes from none other than my mum. She doesn't like to cook that much, but she does have a couple of stellar signature dishes, and this is one of them. Its a hearty, healthy soup that always last for a few days and is absolutely delicious served with fresh, crusty bread. I made this for dinner tonight and thought I would share with the rest of the world. Hope you don't mind, Mum!! :)

Minestrone Soup
(Makes about 8-12 servings)

1-2 Bacon Bones
1 onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 litres (12 cups) of beef stock
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 large carrot, chopped
2 zucchini's, sliced
1-2 potatoes, chopped into cubes
a handful of green beans, cut into small pieces
as much broccoli (cut into small florets) that you like
1 tbs dried basil
1 tbs dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 -1 cup of small macaroni
grated parmesan cheese to serve
crusty bread with butter to serve

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a little olive oil, then saute bacon bones, onion, celery and garlic over low heat until onions are transparent.

2. Add stock and tomatoes, then turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Whilst waiting for the soup to boil, add the vegetables, basil, oregano and bay leaf.

3. Lower heat and simmer, covered for at least 2 hours. Add macaroni 10 minutes before serving, then serve with cheese and bread.

# This soup gets better the longer you leave it. I like to leave it simmering for at least 3-4 hours and it is even better the next day. Enjoy!

Spicy Turkey and Sweet Potato Gumbo

I'm sorry for leaving my blog unattended for so long, but life and work have been crazy lately and I needed a bit of a break. I hope to be a little better leading up to Christmas.

So to get back into the swing of things, I am putting up a recipe I found on the cooking light website, from December 2001. I had some leftover turkey to get rid of and I found this whilst doing a search for turkey soup. I thought it would be much more interesting and I was right! This was delicious, we both really liked it.

The only change I made to the recipe was that it said to serve it over rice. I wanted to freeze the gumbo, so I just mixed all the rice in at the end. It all ends up in the same place anyway, so no big deal and it still tasted fantastic. It was also really quick and comes in at only 379 calories a serving.

Spicy Turkey and Sweet Potato Gumbo
(Serves 6)

1 (6 oz) box of long grain/wild rice mix (such as uncle ben's)
2 (4 oz) links hot turkey sausage
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups cubed, peeled sweet potato
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
2 (14 oz) cans fat free and reduced salt chicken broth
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion, undrained
1 bay leaf
2 cups cooked turkey (dark, or white, or both)
1/2 tsp hot sauce

1. Cook the rice according to package directions, omitting seasoning packet.

2. remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a dutch oven over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion, celery and green pepper. Cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Stir in flour, cook for 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Add sweet potato and next five ingredients (through bay leaf). Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add turkey and hot sauce, cook uncovered for 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf and serve over rice.

Brunswick Stew

As I sit here looking out my window at a cold, windy and rainy afternoon (it looks like 7pm at 4pm), I thought it would be a good time to post this recipe that I made at the start of the week. This stew, is kind of a cross between a soup and a stew and is very satisfying for a wintery day like today. The chicken makes it very hearty, but with loads of veggies, this is a low calorie and extremely tasty dinner, that's good for you too. And its served with garlic bread, my fave!! yum!

The recipe is from the October edition of Cooking Light.

Brunswick Stew
(Serves 6)

1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tbs peanut oil
1 tbs all purpose flour
1lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups fat free, less sodium chicken stock
2 tbs no-salt added tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
1 10 oz package of frozen corn, thawed
1 10 oz package of frozen Lima beans, thawed
6 slices Italian bread, toasted
2 garlic cloves, halved

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan in cooking spray, then add bell pepper, onion and celery to pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oil to pan. Combine flour and chicken in a bowl, tossing to coat. Add chicken to pan and cook until lightly browned. Gradually stir in stock and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste and next 5 ingredients (through to Lima beans) to pan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Rub toasted bread with cut sides of garlic bread and discard garlic. (Optional: I also like to add a bit of olive oil to the bread before rubbing the garlic, but this adds a few extra calories). Serve 1 slice of bread with each serving of stew.

Apple-Cheddar Soup

This has been a crazy week weather-wise. We started off in the 90's and today was in the low 60's! A nice excuse to make some soup though. This recipe comes from this month's Better Homes and Gardens in a section on apple's. I have never even heard of apple-cheddar soup, but thought it would be fun to try...and I'm glad I did. This soup was actually delicious. Almost like having cheese fondue (one of my favourite things) for dinner, but not as bad for you!!

I decided to serve it with cheddar roles that I got from Shawnda at Confections of A Foodie Bride. My only problem was, I ran out of bread flour, so had to substitute one of the cups with some whole wheat flour. This made the roles a little heavier, but still delicious. A nice accompaniment to the soup.

This was a very "fall-inspired" recipe, that was great for a windy, autumnal day....enjoy!

Apple-Cheddar Soup
(Serves 4)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1tbs butter
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups apple cider
1tsp snipped fresh thyme
1/2tsp salt
dash cayenne pepper
1 medium cooking apple, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup milk
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
fresh apple slices
green peppercorns

1. In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in potatoes, cider, thyme, salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chopped apple and simmer, covered, for another 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

2. In a small bowl combine milk and flour. Stir into soup and cook until bubbly. Slowly add cheese, whisking until cheese is melted. Divide evenly among serving dishes and top with apple slices and peppercorns.

Curried Squash Soup

I found this recipe in my Good Food, Fast cookbook by Martha Stewart and I decided to try it to get rid of some of the excess summer squash that I got from my CSA this week. The original recipe is for zucchini, but I had crookneck and courge longue de Nice.

I found that the soup was a little watery for my taste. I think if I made it again I would use less water. So, depending on how you like your soup, you may want to play around with the amount of water. Because I found it watery, I added a small amount of single cream at the end to give it a bit more body and I think this was a nice addition.

I wouldn't rave that this was the greatest soup I ever had, but it was pretty good (although hubby didn't like it). However, it was a good way to use up your excess squash. I think this makes more than the 4 serves that Martha suggests.

Curried Squash Soup
(Serves 4-6)

1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
course salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 pounds squash, sliced 1 inch thick
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup single pouring cream (optional)
1/3 cup sliced almonds for garnish (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a tbs of salt. Cook, stirring constantly until onions are soft, then add garlic and curry powder. Cook for another minute, stirring, until fragrant.

2. Add squash, potato and about 4 cups of water (less if you want it thick). Bring to boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender.

3. In batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Pour back into the pot to warm through, then stir in the cream if desired. Serve warm or cold.

Scrumptious Spanish Soup

Tonight's dinner comes once again from Jamie Oliver's - Jamie's Dinners. The photo for this soup in the cookbook looked so tempting, I had to make it. It also allowed me to use some leftover chorizo sausages I had in the freezer. The only thing that was a little off putting for me, was the addition of grated egg....at first, when I looked at the picture I thought it was cheese...grated egg on soup is not something I would have ever thought of. However, Jamie also mentions that he thought this was unexpected when he had this soup in Barcelona, and after trying it, decided that it added a "lovely richness". I figured if he could give it a go then I could too and he was right...it was lovely.

This is a great healthy soup (I'm always on the lookout for good soup recipes), was not hard to prepare and tasted delicious. I will say that Jamie Oliver must be a huge eater....every recipe I have made out of his books so far (which admittedly is not that many....but enough) has served way more than he says. For instance, this recipe says it serves 4, but I easily got 6 servings out of it.




Scrumptious Spanish Chickpea and Chorizo Soup
(Serves 4-6)

Olive oil
5 1/2oz chorizo sausage, finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1lb of fresh spinach, washed and chopped
8 fresh tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained
5 cups chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2oz pata negra, spanish ham or prosciutto, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil
2 hard boiled eggs

1. Add olive oil into a large pot and add the chorizo. Allow to heat up and cook for a couple of minutes until the fat comes out of the chorizo. Add onion, garlic and celery. Turn down heat and cook slowly for 15 minutes with the lid on. Now take the lid off, stir and add spinach, tomatoes, chick peas and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for 40 minutes.

2. Remove about 1/3 of the mixture and puree in a food processor. Pour it back in the pot, stir and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in pata negra or ham and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Divide into bowls and grate the hard boiled egg on top.