A favorite of mine this time of year is a hearty beef, mushroom and barley soup.
Some might call it a "beef stew" - and they'd be right. But it's got a lot of liquid - assuming you use all of the liquids called for - yet has the great flavor of a beef stew. We made this for a second time today - using an amalgamation of one of Mark Bittman's recipes along with a slow cooker recipe from Cooks Illustrated.
We tried a modified version of our Harvest Time Roasted Tomato and Sweet Corn Soup recipe tonight - suggested by our friends at Bogle Vineyards and a recipe they sent out in their latest newsletter. Truth be told - we're suckers for roasted tomato soup!
Essentially it's the same as our original recipe - except after doing the puree at the end, we added about 8 oz of Trader Joe's Super Sweet Frozen Corn kernels in lieu of any fresh corn (no longer available) along with 4 oz of crumbled TJ's Blue Cheese and about 6 oz of Niman Ranch Uncured Maple Bacon chopped into bacon bits. Add a dollop of Creme Fraiche into each bowl after serving - and you're good to go! Yum!
At lunch out yesterday at Mike's Cafe in Portola Valley, the special soup was roasted tomato and corn - and it was really lovely. While it's not exactly a soup day here today (temps heading into the 90's), it's the perfect time for both tomatoes and sweet corn so I decided to give this a whirl. It turns out magnificently - if I do say so myself! Total time to prepare - about an hour and 15 minutes.
Sunday's are Farmers Market day in Menlo Park so I headed out first thing to pick up the ingredients - basically 3 pounds of tomatoes (mostly San Marizano's but some yellow plum and others mixed in) and 3 ears of fresh sweet corn. I stopped by Trader Joe's to pickup a 28 oz can of plum tomatoes - we had everything else at home. The core recipe was inspired by one of the Barefoot Contessa's.
We're having a struggle this Spring weather-wise - trying to shake off the winter storms and get into the usual - boring - late spring and summer weather in northern California. Today, a blustery set of heavy rain below in - with chilly winds, etc.
Anyway, it was a great day for soup - so we dusted off one of our favorite recipes from last year - Barley Soup With Mushrooms and Microgreens - made mostly with ingredients from our local Trader Joe's. It's a tasty and healthy soup that goes just right with days like today.
PS: For some reason, the right sidebar of Scott's Kitchen got disabled. We've identified and fixed the problem - everything seems to be back in working condition. If you notice any quirks, please let me know!
Out of a can, a couple of my favorite soups are barley-based - either chicken or beef with barley, I'm not picky! Good flavor, good fiber - and there's something about barley that "beefs" up a soup in terms of chunkiness and flavor.
Recently, I came across this recipe in the New York Times for Barley Soup With Mushrooms and Kale - which I made in a modified form for dinner Monday evening last week - it was delicious!
Kale wasn't easy to find - and being a regular Trader Joe's shopper I had noticed they carry a small box of "microgreens" - so I substituted those for the kale.
Trader Joe's also sells a dried mushroom medley (which includes some porcini mushrooms) which I used to replace the dried porchini's ($1.99 for the medley vs $5.99 for the pure dried porcinis!) I also had a cup of beef broth left over so it went into the soup along with a quart of chicken broth instead of just chicken broth. Otherwise, I pretty much followed the rest of the recipe.
It's late on Thanksgiving weekend (back to work tomorrow - ugh!) and time to use up some of those turkey leftovers making homemade turkey noodle soup.
Unlike us, braver souls actually make turkey stock from the bird's carcass on Thanksgiving evening (frankly, we were falling asleep after dinner and struggled to get just some of the dishes cleaned up that night!). But, if you're looking for that real turkey noodle soup make from real homemade turkey stock, be sure to checkout Elise's Mom's Turkey Soup!
This year, as the cool fall weather has moved in and the daylight is fading faster, we've been experimenting with various chicken soup recipes to find one that really "hits the spot." There is something special about chicken soup - for both health and attitude! After several tries and variations, we think this one is just about perfect - and now it's famous!
It's a great Saturday or Sunday late afternoon treat to make in the fall and winter months. Hope you enjoy it - let us know by posting a comment!
Out our way, the fall was warm and sunny this year - with the shortening days eventually delivering on cooler days and cold nights only over the last week or two.
We love to make onion soup on cool days like this - see my earlier "Scott's Favorite French Onion Soup" recipe for one of our favorite recipes. The problem with that recipe is that it's one of those "stand over the stove and stir" recipes - and, if you get a bit impatient and over eager with the heat, you'll subtly char the onions and have a bitter result. It's frustrating - you're looking for a great soup but it just takes a bit longer than it should.
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This year, as the cool fall weather has moved in and the daylight is fading faster, we've been experimenting with various chicken soup recipes to find one that really "hits the spot." There is something special about chicken soup - for both health and attitude! After several tries and variations, we think this one is just about perfect - and now it's famous!
Out our way, the fall was warm and sunny this year - with the shortening days eventually delivering on cooler days and cold nights only over the last week or two.
