Grandma's Potato Soup

...with Mom's adaptations, plus some extra Jolene lovin. Let's call this "Third Generation Potato Soup."

Ingredients:

•  3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 lg onion, finely chopped
• 4 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• (1 can of corn, fried)

1. In a large pot, saute celery and onions with a pad of butter until tender. Then add 4" of water and bring to a boil.
2. Add potatoes, bring back to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
3. Add butter, stirring gently until it melts. Add evaporated milk and corn.
4. Remove from heat, stir in instant potatoes and parsley.

Serve with corn bread and hot sauce :)

Won Ton Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground sausage
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root
• 24 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/8 cup finely chopped green onion

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine sausage, sugar, wine, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chopped green onion and ginger. Blend well, and let stand for 25 to 30 minutes.







2. Place about one teaspoon of the filling at the center of each wonton skin. Moisten all 4 edges of wonton wrapper with water, then pull the top corner down to the bottom, folding the wrapper over the filling to make a triangle. Press edges firmly to make a seal. Bring left and right corners together above the filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. Continue until all wrappers are used.





 





3. Bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil. Drop wontons in, and cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped green onion, and serve.

Grilled Cheese Tomato Soup

This soup is low-maintenance and has a little kick! The grilled cheese topper brings this classic together perfectly. Talk about comfort food!

Soup

• 2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock

Grilled Cheese Lid

• 15 slices from a thin baguette, lightly buttered on one side
• 1 c shredded cheddar 

Instructions:

1. Lay tomatoes out on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, coarsely ground salt, and pepper to taste. Wrap cloves of garlic in aluminum foil and toss them on the tray as well. Broil on low for 20-30 minutes (or on high for 5-10 minutes). The tomatoes will be charred and your house will smell amazing when they're ready to come out. Cool Slightly.

2. Unwrap and peel garlic. Coarsely puree tomatoes and garlic. 



3. In a soup pot, combine tomato puree, red pepper and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 30 minutes.





4. While the soup cooks down, toast the bread in the oven at 325 F. The toast will become hard throughout. It's important that it gets crisp enough because otherwise the bread won't hold up in the soup.









5. Ladle soup into bowls or large mugs. Top with toast, then cheddar cheese. Broil on high for 5 minutes.

Butternut, bean and ham soup

I've made butternut squash soup before, and it was SO yummy and refreshing! The smooth puree soup that I've posted before doesn't really serve as an all-in-one meal, though. This adaption has heartier ingredients and some texture to make it a big-bowl-of-soup kind of dinner.

A big hunk of the multigrain bread that I used for Reubens finished the dish perfectly!

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 c chicken stock (I use fat free, low sodium. You can also use 5 c of water w/ a couple of boullion cubes)
• 1 handful of fresh green beans
• 2 slices of ham, cut 1/2 inch thick (Casey's tip- get these from the deli rather than buying ham steaks)
• 3 T butter
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T freshly ground Parmesan cheese

1. Melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute on med-low heat until the onions are soft and almost clear. Then add the garlic and saute another minute.
2. Add the squash, potatoes and chicken stock. Let simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are all very soft.

3. Take the ends off the green beans and chop or snap them into 1.5 inch pieces. Bring 1/2 c of water to boil in a small pan and add the green beans. Cover, let simmer 10-15 minutes (until the green beans are soft).
4. When the soup veggies are soft, remove half of the contents of the pot and blend them together in a food processor or blender.

Half of your mixture will look like this:             Half will look like this:












5. Add the puree back into the pot with the un-blended veg. (Haha I'm going overboard on the photos now...)

6. Then add the cream, salt, pepper, ham and veggies. I threw in a few tablespoons of fresh grated parmesan for good measure. Stir it all together and let it simmer on the stove another 5-10 minutes before serving.

Reuben with French Onion Soup

Joe and I go to Ray's Place  in Kent, OH quite a bit, and many times we order the same thing. They have all kinds of great Americana, but the Reuben and French Onion Soup take the cake... So I decided to recreate our favorite Ray's Place item with a couple of personalized mods (crispy multigrain bread instead of Ray's soft pumpernickel, or the traditional rye).

Reuben:

• 1/2 lb of corned beef
• 1 loaf multigrain bread, sliced thick
• 1/2 c sauerkraut, squeezed
• 2 slices provolone cheese
• 4 T thousand island dressing
• 1 T butter

French Onion Soup:

• 1 can Progressive French Onion
• 2 end slices of the multigrain bread
• 2 thick slices of provolone cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter 4 pieces of bread and place on a baking tray butter side down. You'll use these for the sandwiches. Don't butter the heels and place them on the tray with the thick slices of cheese on them. Put the baking tray in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. On a skillet, lay the sauerkraut on halt, and the corned beef (kind of crinkled up) on the other half. Cook these for 5 minutes on medium-low before flipping the corned beef. Then add the thin slices of provolone to the corned beef and let it melt.
3. Bring the french onion soup to a boil in a small pan over medium heat.
4. Once the bread is done, put the sandwiches together with the buttered side (now-crispy side) on the outside. Generously lather thousand island dressing onto the bread, then add the beef, then sauerkraut and top with the other bread.
5. Put the cheesey crouton into a bowl and pout the soup over it.

ENJOY! This was so yummy, quick, and easy! Serve with a cold beer :)

Summer Squash Soup, Roasted Tomato and Cipollini

I think that dinner tonight may have been the highlight of my Goodies and Grub experience thus far. I'm so happy to have been blogging for a couple months because it's been opening so many doors (or cupboards) in the kitchen! 

Both of these recipes come from The Smitten Kitchen; they were such a perfect compliment to one another. I'm calling the combination of bold tomatoes and onions with subtle, comforting summer squash soup "Summer Lovin'." What an essential summer garden supper!

I'll stop with the veggie love story and get on to the how-to's...

Veggie mania

Squash Soup Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 pound), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. 

2. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

5. Working in batches, puree; soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a bowl. 

6. Return purée to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.  

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Roasted Tomato and Cipollini Ingredients:

• 1 pound cipollini onions
• 1 pound small Roma or large cherry tomatoes1/4 cup olive oil
• Coarse salt
• 4 slices of country or ciabatta bread, one-inch thick
• Garlic clove (optional)
• Few fresh basil leaves, slivered 
• 1/2 c ricotta cheese/spinach mixture (optional)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Directions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Boil a small pot of water and blanche the cipollini for 10 seconds, then plunge them into cold water. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in each, and slide them out of their skins and outer layer. 
  
  
  
  2. Spread peeled onions and tomatoes in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and a few good pinches of coarse salt. Toss everything together until well-coated and roast in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, reaching in every 15 minutes with a spatula to roll the tomatoes and onions around to ensure all sides get blistered. 
  
  
  
  

  

  Fuhgetaboutit!

  3. Just before you take the tomatoes and onions out, place your bread slices on the oven rack and let them toast lightly. You can rub the toasts with a halved garlic clove while still hot.   
  
  
  
  
  4. Use tongs to arrange toasts in one layer on a serving platter.
  
  
  
  
   
  5. I had some leftover spinach/ricotta mixture from stuffed chicken earlier in the week, so I spread some of that onto the toast. Then top the toast with tomato and onions, don't hesitate to pour some of the hard work of the tomato and onion onto the toast. 
  
  
  6. Sprinkle the dish with the basil and eat at once.