Smashed Potato Soup

It's February.  It snowed last night.  Again.  Time for some comfort food...

(If you are dreaming of summer and fitting into your swimming suit, Rebekah wants you to know this doesn't really count as true comfort food because it's not that bad for you, provided you go easy on the garnishes.)


Smashed Potato Soup
adapted from Cooking Light

24 ounces red potatoes, thoroughly scrubbed and trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups lower-sodium chicken stock (plus more for thinning)
2 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
salt
pepper

Garnish:
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
shredded cheddar cheese
thinly sliced green onions or chives

Place scrubbed potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water and bring to a gentle simmer on stove top.

While potatoes simmer, heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add diced onion and cook for about 10 minutes, or until onions are soft and just starting to brown.  Add flour and whisk until onions are evenly coated with flour, about one minute.  Add chicken stock and whisk until no lumps remain.  Add milk and continue to whisk until mixture comes to a gentle simmer.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Once the potatoes are very tender, drain thoroughly in a colander.  Add whole potatoes (with or without skins, your preference) to the soup base in the dutch oven, and using a potato masher, mash potatoes to desired consistency.  Stir to make sure everything is incorporated.  Thin with more chicken stock if desired. Serve immediately with the garnishes.

Serves 4

Pumpkin Soup

Photo by Rebekah

Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Croutons
adapted from a conversation with my friend Judy and Allrecipes.com


Soup:
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon salt
4  to 6 cups chicken stock
1/4 heavy cream


Melt butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven.  Add onion and saute until tender, 5 to 10 minutes.  Add cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, pumpkin puree, salt, and 4 cups chicken stock.  Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Working in small batches, transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  If using a blender, leave the lid slightly ajar and cover with a towel to prevent pressure from building up and spewing pumpkin soup all over the kitchen (and your face).


Return puree to pot, thin with more chicken stock, stir in cream and heat through.  Adjust salt and serve with cinnamon croutons.


Cinnamon Croutons:
8 slices of cinnamon bread (Pepperidge Farm is good)
1 tablespoon melted butter


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice bread into 1 inch cubes.  Drizzle melted butter over bread and toss to coat.  Place cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until crisp.


Serves 4

Beans beans the magical fruit…..

Black bean soup is not typically thought of as a romantic food, and I’m making no such claims about this recipe.  Seeing that today is the eve of Valentine’s day, maybe I should have thought harder about posting something rich and chocolate, but I kind of used up those recipes previously.  So I offer this consolation - if you are all alone tomorrow you can eat this soup for lunch and several hours later the beans will keep you company by talking back!

Black Bean Soup 

loosely adapted from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 medium red or green pepper, diced

2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

5 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you are vegetarian)

4 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne or ground chipotle pepper

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

salt to taste

Garnish: sour cream and tortilla chips

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven set over medium heat.  Add onion and bell pepper and sauté until the onion is soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.

While the onions and peppers cook, puree 3 cups of the drained beans and half the chicken stock in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne (or chipotle powder) to the onion and pepper mixture.  Stir for 20 seconds until spices are fragrant.  Add the pureed beans, the whole beans, the diced carrots, the remaining chicken stock, and the vinegar to the pan with the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour (or longer if you have the time).  Add salt to taste and simmer one or two more minutes.  Garnish with sour cream and tortilla chips, if desired.

Serves about 4 or 5

Notes on the recipe 

-I've tried tons of black bean soup recipes.  This one rules.  

-Instead of simmering for an hour, the soup holds well in a crock pot for at least 8 hours, set on low.  The onions and peppers still need to be sauteed first though. 

-Some smoked meat like sausage or bacon would be delicious in the soup.

-Don’t leave out the vinegar – it sounds strange but it balances all the flavors perfectly.

-The smoked paprika gives this soup a deep and smoky flavor. I prefer Penzey's brand, but the  McCormick brand from the grocery store will do. 

Moroccan Chickpea Soup with Lemon-Apricot Couscous

I’m going to say something shocking. Get ready. Here it is: I am sick and tired of chicken always thinking it’s invited to dinner. Every time I open the freezer, there it is, that bag of Costco frozen chicken tenders, front and center, waiting for the inevitable invitation. It’s not that I don’t appreciate all the good times we have had together – and there have been many. It’s just that I get tired of trying to make new conversation with my old chicken.

So when I found this intriguing recipe for Moroccan spiced chicken soup with apricot couscous I took a very bold step. I closed the freezer and told chicken, “nope, not tonight.” Instead I added an extra can of garbanzo beans to the pot and renamed the recipe Moroccan Chickpea Soup with Apricot Couscous.

And I am really sorry I don't have a picture. The photographer will be home for Thanksgiving next week and maybe, just maybe she'll help me out.



Moroccan Chickpea Soup

adapted from Cuisine at Home

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven.

Add:
2 cups diced onion

Saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Add:
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon each: paprika, ground coriander
½ teaspoon each: cumin, cinnamon, cardamom
¼ teaspoon each: turmeric, nutmeg, red pepper flakes

Cook over medium heat for about 1 minute until spices are fragrant.

Deglaze pan with:

½ cup dry white wine or chicken stock

Reduce until nearly evaporated, then stir in:

4 cups chicken broth
2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 ( 28 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes in puree, chopped to your liking
1 (13.75 ounce) can artichoke hearts or bottoms, chopped (NOT the marinated kind)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour. Serve with a big scoop of lemon-apricot couscous.

Lemon-Apricot Couscous

*2 cups water
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
minced zest of one lemon
pinch of salt
1 cup dry instant couscous
¼ cup dried apricots, diced

Bring water, honey, oil, lemon juice, zest, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Off heat, stir in couscous and apricots; cover and let stand until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving. *Adjust amount of water to the brand of couscous.

Notes on Recipe:
If you want to invite chicken to dinner go right ahead, I won't think any less of you. Just add a cup or two of shredded rotisserie chicken to the pot when simmering and use just one can of chickpeas.

Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup

I've developed a crush on sweet potatoes. They are sweet, mushy, earthy, and so handsome, especially when you break through the tough brown exterior to reveal that beautiful orange flesh. I've thought for a long time that sweet potatoes must get tired of being the stand-by date at the Thanksgiving table, usually only getting invited with marshmallows and loads of butter and maybe, on a good year, some pecans and coconut.

It's time for the humble sweet potato to have a new partner. I nominate the chipotle pepper. Try this match and you'll see that in moderation the smoky sauce from a can of chipotle peppers is just what the sweet potato needs to feel new and fresh and vibrant again.


Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup

2 medium sweet potatoes, about 1 ¼ pounds total
1 tablespoon butter OR olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 2 teaspoons (or more) adobo sauce from a can of chipotles en adobo
1 26 ounce container Swanson’s chicken stock
1 extra large Knorr chicken bouillon cube
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
salt to taste
¼ cup fined chopped fresh cilantro
garnish: sour cream or Mexican crema and tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce sweet potatoes with a sharp knife, place on a baking sheet and bake until very tender, about an hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Scoop flesh from potato and discard skins

In a dutch oven melt butter or olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until very soft and beginning to brown on the edges, about 10 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, and garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken stock, bouillon cube, adobo sauce, and sweet potato flesh. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Working in small batches, puree soup in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Return soup to dutch oven, stir in fresh lime juice, sugar (if necessary), and salt to taste. Add more adobo sauce if you prefer more heat. Thin with additional chicken stock, if desired. Stir in chopped fresh cilantro and simmer for several minutes until flavors are blended.

Garnish with a spoonful of sour cream or Mexican crema and a handful of tortilla chips.

Notes on the recipe:
1. I think roasting, rather than simmering the sweet potatoes makes them sweeter and more flavorful. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to peel and cube the tubers.
2. Cilantro is NOT optional, at least at my house. Scott only thinks he hates it, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. He liked the soup and I loaded it up with fresh cilantro. Bobby Flay once said, "If you don't like cilantro, try it again." And so it is. It took me at least 10 times of trying it again, and now i LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I'm thinking (hoping) Scott might come on board soon because I am kind of tired of telling him the green stuff is parsley.

White Chicken Chili

Many years ago we used to participate in an annual Valentine's Day Chocolate/Chili Cook-off at church. The men were supposed to make the chili and the women the chocolate. Not wishing to be confined to chocolate, I set about to create a chili recipe that could win. Also knowing that red chili dishes would all meld together in the judges mouths, I figured that a different sort of chili would stand out. I was right and this one took home the blue ribbon (really it was a gift card to McDonald's - but still...). Technically, Scott won, because even though I developed the recipe, he actually cooked it. If memory serves correctly, I stood behind him (literally) and coached him through the entire process.

White Chicken Chili

2 cans navy beans, drained with liquid reserved
1 large onion, diced
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Tabasco, if you like a bit of kick
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon white pepper, or to taste
two 4-oz. cans whole mild green chilies, drained and chopped
1 cup of cubed and cooked chicken breast



In a 6- to 8- quart dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened and just lightly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in flour, cumin and chili powder. Cook, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually add broth, half-and-half and reserved bean liquid, whisking constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in Tabasco, salt and pepper. Add beans, chilies and cubed chicken and cook mixture over moderately low heat, stirring gently, about 20 minutes.

If desired, garnish with shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, sour cream, and salsa. Crumbled up tortilla chips are good too.

Serves 4 to 6

If you are out of half-and-half use 1/4 cup heavy cream and increase the chicken broth to 1 3/4 cups.

p.s. I had a bit of a heavy hand when I added the chili powder for the batch in the photo. Okay, so maybe I even doubled the amount, but it was still good!