Ham and Bean Soup

A simple dish, nothing spectacular, yet comforting at the same time. An excess of ham after Easter leads to a few days of ham omelets and ham sandwiches. As I get down to just the bone and just a bit of meat left, I start thinking of soups. This year I went with a white bean soup, simple and filling! This requires a bit of prep, which should start about 10 hours before you want the soup ready. If you start the night before it will be ready for lunch, if you want it for dinner, start first thing in the morning. I like to serve this with Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread. You probably won't need any salt, but if you use low-sodium chicken broth you may want to add a bit.

Ham and Bean Soup

INGREDIENTS
1 lb dried white northern beans
ham leftovers, approx 1 lb
6 cups water
1/2 lb bacon
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup cream
thyme
white ground pepper
salt

DIRECTIONS
Prep time:6-8 hour bean soak, 15 minutes active prep, 60-90 minutes cooking time.

Place dried beans in 6 qt stock pot and cover with water to 2 inches above the beans, let sit 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse well, set aside.
Remove all meat from ham bone and cube, set aside.
Rinse stock pot and fill with 6 cups water, add ham bone and scraps/trimmings from meat. Bring to a boil and reduce to approx 4 cups. Strain ham stock and set aside.
In the same 6 qt stock pot, add bacon and render until crispy, remove bacon to a plate and break into small bits.
Add carrots and onions to bacon fat in pot and cook over medium low until slightly translucent, add garlic, cook until onions are just beginning to caramelize and then go for about another 30 seconds. You don't want them brown, but you want the caramelized flavor.
Add beans, ham, ham stock, chicken stock to the pot and cover, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour, remove lid and simmer for additional 30 minutes.
Add white ground pepper and thyme to taste, add cream, stir well and simmer 5-10 minutes uncovered to thicken a bit.
Serve and sprinkle with crispy bacon bits.

Chili with a Little Sass

As temperatures starting dropping, I can't help but crave some chili and cornbread. Well, the air is cooler and I haven't made chili yet this autumn. Time to rectify that! The cornbread will come on Tuesday. I love mixing dark and light kidney beans. I like the heartiness of the dark kidney beans, but the light ones seem to have a softer bite to them, which I prefer. I also make chili in bulk. Why? Because the flavor only gets better with time, so each bowl is better than the last.



This isn't quite Chili with a Kick, not too spicy... More like Chili with a Little Sass, just enough attitude without being too spicy.

Chili with a Little Sass

INGREDIENTS
3 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, diced
32 oz can of tomato sauce
32 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans of light red kidney beans
2 15 oz cans of dark red kidney beans
2 4 oz cans of diced green chilis

SEASONING
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt

-OR-

2 packets of your favorite chili seasoning

TOPPINGS (all optional)
sour cream
shredded cheddar
tortilla chips
diced jalapenos

DIRECTIONS
Brown the ground beef, strain the drippings
Keep the ground beef in the strainer while you saute the diced onion
Once golden brown and slightly translucent, add ground beef back and rewarm
Mix together the seasoning (or use the packets)
Rinse the beans in the strainer
Add beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and seasonings to the ground beef mixture
Mix thoroughly, and simmer over medium low heat for 8-10 minutes
Serve with toppings

Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings

Growing up we moved every year or so, but my grandmother lived in Oklahoma much of that time. Every year we'd go visit her and once in a while we would go to a restaurant called Po' Folks. They had the best Southern-Style Chick'n 'n' Dumplin's, the large soft noodle style dumplings. This is my attempt at mimicking my favorite dish off their menu. I haven't eaten at a Po'Folks in years plus it's my first attempt so it may be WAY off. I'm open to suggestions on changes if anyone lives close enough to frequent one and can guide me on flavors. I don't think the Po'Folks recipe has any chopped veggies in it, but I like them, so I added them. This is inspired a bit by Tamy's Pot Pies.

I wish you could see the dumplings better, they are sooooo good. This turned out so amazing! I'd definitely make this again, even better than the Chicken and Wild Rice soup base. I'd make this as the base for that in the future, and just add rice instead of dumplings.

Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings

INGREDIENTS
1/2 onion
3 stalks celery
2 medium carrots
3 Tbsp butter
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp Ground Thyme
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Salt (to taste, add more at end if needed)
1 tsp Pepper (to taste, add more at end if needed)
64 oz chicken stock/broth
1 can evaporated milk
3/8 cup flour

DUMPLING INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
3 Tbsp shortening
1 tsp salt
cold water (I just grab a 2 cup glass measuring cup and fill it)

DIRECTIONS
Dice onion, carrots, and celery. Add 1 1/2 tsp butter to a large 12" skillet or small stock pot, saute onion, carrots and celery over medium low until onion is browned and carrots just start to soften, stirring occassionally.
While the vegetables are browning, dice the chicken breasts and thighs.
Once veggies are browned, remove to small bowl.
Add remaining butter to skillet, add chicken and mix with onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper and saute until just cooked through, stirring occassionally.
While chicken is browning, combine flour, salt and shortening in food processor. Pulse a few times. Drizzle in water while pulsing, until it forms a soft dough. Form dough into two balls, roll out as thin as possible (work with 1/2 at a time). Cut into 1" x 2" pieces.
In a small bowl add flour and 1 cup broth and mix well.
Once the chicken is browned, add the veggies back in, pour in the remaining broth, the flour mixture and the evaporated milk. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Drop in dumplings, and lower heat to medium. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Taste broth at this point and add additional salt and/or pepper if needed. Cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes over low, should be thick and bubbly like a cream soup. If needed mix a little more flour and water together and add until desired consistency is reached.

Spicy African Peanut Soup

I made this on Wednesday, and it was delicious. It's going into my favorite winter soup recipes stash. Not my recipe, so I won't post it, instead I'll direct you to Prairie Bounty Catering for the recipe. Instead I'll just post some pictures of this yummy soup. I had this with a slice of Oatmeal Bread to dip in, and it was absolutely heavenly. Spicy, but not overly so. Paul's comment was "It tastes like peanut butter toast dipped into tomato soup, you wouldn't think that would taste good, but it really does."





Cross-posted to Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers

Chicken Noodle Soup

I took a whole mess of pictures, but by the time I got everything on my computer and realized they were all too steamy and blurry to use, the soup was gone. So I hope you enjoy the picture of the stock!



Disclaimer: the stock started out too bland, so I started dumping in Southwest seasoning. Unfortunately I didn't measure, so it's to taste. You do sample while cooking, don't you?

All measurements are approximate, it's soup, add what you like and as much as you like. I use the meat left after serving a whole chicken, but you can use whatever you like. This makes a very large pot of soup. I always make a lot so I can take it for lunch and have it for leftovers on weekdays I don't feel like cooking, reduce ingredients as necessary for your pot size.

Chicken Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery stalks (with leafy tops), chopped
1 pkg mushrooms, chopped (approx 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 cups of cooked chicken (shredded, diced or cubed; white or dark meat)
8-12 cups of chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
2 cups uncooked egg noodles

DIRECTIONS:
In the bottom of a large stock pot, add butter and olive oil over low heat until butter melts.
Add onion and celery and saute until onion just starts to get translucent (about 2-3 minutes, depending on your stove).
Add mushrooms and garlic, saute until onion is soft (approx 2 more minutes).
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil over medium heat.
Turn the heat down until the pot is barely simmering, simmer for 30 minutes.

Makes approx 14 cups of soup, serves 10-12.

Chicken Stock

INGREDIENTS:
1 cooked chicken, picked clean (with a little of the dark meat and skin, if possible)
2 large onions
4 large carrots, peeled
8 stalks celery, washed well with leafy tops intact
1 pkg mushrooms
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh thyme, roughly chopped
4 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp southwest seasoning, if you like some kick to your stock

DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken in large stock pot (should be able to fully submerse the chicken carcass)
Cut onions in 8 chunks, and add to pot
Cut carrots in 2" long pieces, and add to pot
Cut celery in 2" long pieces, and add to pot
Add remaining ingredients
Fill pot with cold water to completely cover chicken and all ingredients.
Heat on medium-low until just starts to simmer, turn down to low so that it barely simmers. Simmer for 6 hours.
Every 15 minutes check the pot and skim the foam and fat off the surface, you should have less and less after the first hour you should be able to check every 30 minutes.
If the water gets down below the carcass, add more cold water.
When the soup is done, strain the liquid into a large container.
Set it in a sink with cold water and ice in it. You want to cool the stock quickly so it can go right into the refrigerator or freezer.

For refrigeration:
Put the stock direcly in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 3 days. The fat will harden on top of the stock, you will be able to skim it off after a few hours.

For freezer:
Follow steps for refrigeration, then transfer into the freezer after the fat has been skimmed off. I will keep in the freezer to keep for up to 3 months. When freezing, I portion it into separate bags in 1 cup servings, so I can just grab the amount I need for a recipe.

The stock should be made at least 1 day before you plan on using it, to allow time for the refrigeration and to give the flavors time to meld. Make sure you bring it to a boil for 2-3 minutes before use in any recipe.

Mmmmm Soup

I spent this afternoon making 2 soups, similar bases, a few different additions, 2 totally different soups. Soup is one of my favorite comfort foods, it always reminds me of being taken care of, especially when I was sick. Only now I'm the one doing the nurturing, and it's myself I'm nurturing.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:


The two big batches of soup will supplement my dinners for the next couple of weeks so I have less cooking to do and can spend more time on the Spring Cleaning. One is a brothy Chicken Tortilla Soup, the other is a creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Both of these soups start with 2 lbs sauteed chicken, 1 cup sauteed onions and celery, and a lot (approx 64 oz) of chicken stock.

To the Chicken Tortilla Soup I add 1 can tomato sauce, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 2 cans diced green chiles, 1 can black beans, and a few liberal shakes of a Southwest seasoning blend. Bring to a boil, turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes. I like to top this with tortilla chips, a little shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.

To the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup I add 1 qt half & half, 1 1/2 cup wild rice, 3 cups water, 1/2 cup of flour. Simmer on low for 40 minutes. I like to top this with a little crumbled bacon.

Need I mention, the house smells absolutely yummy right now!!!