How To Cook Everything Lightning-Quick Fish Soup

How to Cook Everything Lightning-Quick Fish soup

5 c. fish stock (Joy’s Fumet)

1 onion

1 tbsp garlic

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp olive oil

1 c. canned tomatoes with juice

Salt and pepper

1 ½ lbs seafood (I used shrimp)

Minced fresh parsley for garnish

Combine all ingredients except for fish and parsley. Boil, then turn to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Add the seafood and cook through—about 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley!

Rating: A, easy, yummy, hearty.

Julia's French Onion Soup

Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
French Onion Soup
5 c. sliced yellow onions
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
3 tbsp flour
2 quarts boiling beef stock
½ c. white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
2 oz swiss cheese, slivered
1 tbsp grated raw onion
Several rounds of hard-toasted French bread
1 ½ c. grated swiss and parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
In a large OVENPROOF pot, heat the butter and oil on medium low. Add the onions and cover, cook for 15 minutes. Uncover, raise heat to medium, add salt and sugar. Stir frequently for 30-40 minutes, until the onions are deep brown. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes. Off heat, blend in the boiling stock and wine and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes more.
Preheat the oven to 325. Stir the slivered cheese and grated onion into the soup. Float the rounds of toast on top, and spread the grated cheese over them. Sprinkle with the oil. Bake for 20 minutes, and set for a minute or two under a broiler to lightly brown the top. Serve immediately

Rating: B.

Notes: This sounded so good, and the final product was yummy… but it was not-homemade tasting. It almost tasted like French onion soup from a can! Next time I would add herbs and spices and skip the last bit with the grated onion and all that—just serve the soup with toast on the side.

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage Soup

Olive oil

2 cups chopped cabbage

1 onion

1 sweet potato

5 c. beef broth

Saute the cabbage, onion and potato in the oil on low heat for10 minutes or so—until the veg is getting tender. Add the broth and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Stir in a little fragrant cheese or whole wheat croutons, and voila!

Deceptively Delicious Turkey Chili

Turkey Chili
From: Deceptively Delicious

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
pinch pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 liters chicken broth
1/2 c. red pepper puree
1/2 c. carrot puree
1/4 c. cornmeal
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 can kidney beans

Cook the onion in the olive oil in a large pot, till it softens. Add the Turkey to the pot, and sprinkle with the spices. Stir until the meat is cooked through, 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, beans broth, purees, cornmeal, flaxseed meal, and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes, until it's nice and thick.

Rating: A
Notes: I like adding the beans with the tomatoes, earlier than the original recipe suggests , so that the beans can absorb all those flavors.

Becca's Sweet Potato Soup with Crusty Toasts

Sweet Potato Soup
Saute in a pot:

Olive oil
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 big or 2 small bell peppers, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
salt

Add and stir until well-combined:

1/2 to 1 tsp turmeric
fresh ginger
2 cups shredded sweet potato

Add:

3 or 4 cups Beef Broth
Simmer for 15 minutes or so, until all the flavors are combined. Serve garnished with chunks of cheese (I had sheep feta on hand, yum!) and chopped basil.

Crusty Toasts

whole wheat bread slices
olive oil/butter or both
sea salt
black pepper

Preheat oven to 400, slice whole wheat bread. Drizzle with olive oil or spread with butter. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Toast for 5 minutes or so.

Joy's Brown Beef Stock

Brown Beef Stock

5 lbs meaty beef bones
2 onions with skins on, quartered
2 carrots cut up
2 celery ribs cut up
2 c. cold water
cold water to cover
1 leek split lengthwise and cut up
1 bouquet garni, including 1 whole clove
tie together:
3 or 4 sprigs parsley
1/3 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
1 leek
2 cloves

Preheat the oven to 425. roast the bones for 15 minutes, then add the onions, carrots and celery. roast for 40 minutes, until the bones are well browned. Transfer to a stockpot. Add 2 cups water to the roasting pan, scrape up any delicious brown debris, then add the liquid to the stock pot. Add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer gently for 30 minutes, skimming off the foam. Add the leek and the bouquet garni, and simmer uncovered for 6-8 hours, adding water as needed to cover. Strain and cool uncovered, then refridgerate covered.
Rating: B for basic, useful, pretty simple.
Note: I like to add a splash of apple cider or balsamic vinegar to the stock

Joy's Spicy Seafood Stew

Joy's Spicy Seafood Stew

Olive oil
onion
celery
1 jalapeno pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 28 oz. can of tomatoes
2 cups clam juice
1/2 cup red or white wine or additional clam juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb skinless cod fillets, cut into 1" cubes
8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined.
salt and pepper
1/4 c. chopped basil or parsley

Heat the olive oil and brown the onion, celery, pepper and garlic in a skillet for 3 minutes.
Transfer to a slow cooker, add the tomatoes, liquid, and red pepper flakes.
Cover and cook on the low setting for 4 hours. Turn the setting to high. Add the seafood. Cover and cook until the fish is opaque-- 10 minutes. Add the chopped herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: A
It would be lovely with some crusty bread, and a drizzle of olive oil over the finished soup.

Becca's Creamy Coconut Curry

Becca's Creamy Coconut Curry

Some olive oil
1 tbsp fresh turmeric
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 tbsp fresh garlic
some cumin
some salt (red, thanks!)
some paprika
some pepper
2 carrots
an onion
3 potatoes
handful of corn
2 c. sweet potato
3 cups coconut water (if you don't have, leave out the cream and use coconut milk)
1.5 cups cream
1.5 cups chicken stock
Some cheese (I used Gouda)

Heat the olive oil, add all of the spices until they combine into a fragrant paste. Add the chopped vegetables and saute them until they are nice and browned and coated in the spices. Add the coconut water and cook the vegetables until they are almost done. Add the cream and the chicken stock and simmer gently (no boiling the cream) until everything is nicely combined and the veg are soft.
Serve with cubes of cheese.

Roy's Roasted Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

Roy's Roasted Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

5 ears of corn with husks
1 bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 green pepper
1/5 lbs of sweet potatoes
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 onion
5 garlic cloves
1/4 c. leeks
1/2 stalk celery
3 quarts vegetable stock
1/2 tbsp each fresh thyme and basil and chives
1 bay leaf
2 quarts cream
salt and pepper to taste

Roast the corn and bell peppers in a 350 oven. Remove peppers to a plastic bag after 20 minutes, let the corn go 10 more minutes. When the peppers are cool, peel seed and dice them.
Shuck the corn and cut the kernels from the cobs. Keep the cobs.
Boil the sweet potoatoes until soft, then dice.
Saute the onion, garlic, leeks, celery and corn COBS in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Add stock and herbs, boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until it reduced to 1 quart. Add the cream and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat to reduce. No boiling!
Strain into a clean pan. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes. Add the sweet potato, corn, and bell peppers, and season with S & P.

Rating: B- for excessive fussiness.

note: Sorry Roy, I took this one for a little ride. I just sauteed the corn and peppers with the onions, added the cooked sweet potato with the cream, halved the liquid, and voila. Tasty results in a fraction of the time. I'm sure the long drawn out version would be lovely, but not tonight. I'm thinking I might puree half of it.

Roy's Tuscan-Style White Bean Soup

Roy's Tuscan-Style White Beans

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 c. onion, diced
1/4 c. pancetta (I used bacon), diced
2 tbsp celery, diced
2 tbsp red pepper, diced
2 tbsp carrot, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 c. dried white navy beans
5 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Note: I presoaked the beans by placing them in cold water, boiling them for 5 minutes, then letting them soak till cooking time.

Heat the oil, saute the garlic, onion, pancetta (bacon), celery, pepper, and carrot (*I add a pinch of salt here) over medium heat for till the bacon becomes a little crispy. Add the tomato, thyme, and rosemary and stir to combine. Add the beans and the stock and simmer until the beans are soft but still firm in texture (45 minutes to an hour). Season with salt and pepper.

Rating: A. This was easy and simple and delicious.

Roy's Red Chile Lentil Stew

Red Chile Lentil Stew

1 c. lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz pancetta (I subbed bacon)
1 onion, diced
1.5 tbsp garlic
2 tbsp diced carrot
2 tbsp diced celery
3 bay leaves
1 tsp chile flakes
1 lb peeled and seeded tomatoes (canned ok)
2 cups veal or chicken stock
1 1/2 c. tomato juice
2 tsp fresh basil
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh tarragon
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Vinaigrette
1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1.5 tbsp olive oil

Soak the lentils for 30 minutes.
Saute bacon, onion, garlic, carrot, celery over high heat till lightly browned. Stir in remaining ingredients except lentiles and vinaigrette. stir for 1 minute, then add lentils. cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Just before serving whisk together vinaigrette and stir it into the lentils.

Rating: A+

Note: this is lovely vegetarian-- leave out the pancetta or bacon, and substitute vegetable broth for the meat stock.