Soups & Stews

So I’ve been dabbling with the whole Meatless Monday thing lately.  I’ve been noshing on salads and burritos because to me the idea of pigging out (pun fully intended) on factory-produced Boca or Morningstar Farms seems to defeat at least part of the spirit of the whole thing. Also it seems that a lot of vegetarian cooking can be time-consuming or expensive what with the roasting of the carb-laden root veggies and the purchase of vegetables that are more easily found at Whole Foods than your average grocery store in Upper Bubbastan.  I’ve found a couple of good-sounding fritter/patty recipes that I’ll be trying out soon, but this soup recipe that I’ve adapted from a 15 year old issue of Eating Well (?) was easy as heck, fast to make and only required a trip to the store for 2 ingredients.

Chickpea & Hominy Stew

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 minced, seeded Anaheim chile
4 cloves minced garlic
3 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
(15 oz cans or equivalent amount of soaked beans)
1 can hominy, your choice of color
1 can vegetable stock
2 cups chopped spinach OR
1 pack frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper, flakes or to taste

Directions

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pot.  Add onion, chile and garlic.  Saute until onion is just becoming translucent.  Toss in the next five ingredients (water thru broth) and bring to a boil.  Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Stir in spinach, black pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes and simmer a couple minutes more to allow spices to meld.

Serves 4-6

Soup Bowl:  Tuscan Orchard by Lenox.  Spoon:  Etruscan sterling by Gorham

I don’t know why this is called Cajun Shrimp Stew except for maybe the original recipe calls for okra which just blech, ok?  I’m a good little vegetable consumer but okra and beets are two that I will never eat...I’m not so fond of eggplant either but neither here nor there. 

One of my friends ate a bowl of this at my house, liked it and revised it a bit.  She adds sausage and chicken to make it more of a semi jambalaya.  It’s a recipe you can do pretty much what you want with really.  It’s just so freakin’ tasty and easy and pretty much everybody has most of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

1 small-ish onion, chopped
3 or 4 or 5 celery stalks, chopped
5 TBSP butter
5 TBSP flour
1 packet G. Washington Gold
salt
white pepper
1/8 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste basically)
1 TBSP dry parsely or 3 TBSP fresh
1/2 tsp thyme—I use powdered.  You can use fresh but I never have it so I don’t know how much.  I don’t use regular dry thyme because it doesn’t get soft when it cooks and I don’t like how it kind of pokes your mouth.  If you do use it, use 1 tsp and kind of crush it up a bit.  Powdered thyme is stronger, obviously.

2 cans low or no sodium chicken broth
2 cans (or more if you like) minced or chopped clams with liquid
1 large can stewed tomatoes
Tabasco
Frank’s RedHot Hot Sauce

1 lb shrimp, cleaned, tails off—I just use frozen large size shrimp thawed with tails removed

Directions:

Melt butter and add the onions and celery.  Cook until translucent.  Combine flour, G. Washington and spices.  Add all at once to celery and onion.  Cook and stir 5 minutes.  Add broth and clams with liquid.  Add tomatoes and juice, breaking up tomatoes with your fingers.  Bring just to a boil.  Season with tabasco and RedHot to taste.  You can make it as hot or mild as you like.  Turn off the heat and add the thawed shrimp.  Let stand 20 minutes or so.

I serve it in a bowl over hot white rice.  Serves 4-6 people depending on how much you pig down.

You really have to try this though.  Whatever you add...chicken, sausage, yucky okra...it’s just a really quick to make, low prep, tasty dish.  Since you really don’t have too much of a recipe to follow, you can add, subtract and adjust pretty much every ingredient.  I love this stuff.

Ok… I got this third party from someone else, so her notes are in brackets and mine are in brackets BOLDED

Ingredients:

1 to 2 pounds ground beef (I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb ground pork)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2 cans of whole corn - undrained
1 can of mexicali corn - undrained (just any corn with like, onions/peppers mixed in) (I couldn’t find these either so I just used the 2 cans of corn)
1 to 2 cans of Rotel (if you don’t have it, use regular canned tomatoes) (I bought chili style peppers at Walmart—yummy!)
2 cans of Ranch style beans - undrained (I can’t always find these, so I substitute canned black beans) (I couldn’t find any of those kinds of beans so I just used good ol’ Kidney beans)

Directions:

Cook the ground beef (I always brown my hamburger meat with onions and garlic - but that’s clearly your choice), drain the grease and return to the pot. Add the taco seasoning package and the ranch seasoning package and mix until the meat is thoroughly coated. Add all the corn (and juice), beans (and juice) and Rotel (or undrained diced tomatoes). Mix well and bring to a boil and serve. 15 minute meal.

(D Note:) NOW. When I make it, I usually add water to it as well to make it more like a soup. Especially if the cans of corn don’t have a lot of water in them. Allie says she’s also made it and let it simmer down until there was nearly NO fluid left in it and served on chips like nachos. That sounds good too, just haven’t tried it yet.

It’s easy to double or triple or whatever. And, it freezes well. And I suppose you could also make it with some other ground meat - chicken, turkey, etc if you were so inclined (I have not been so inclined....LOL).

I usually dip this up and coat the top of the bowl with shredded cheddar, plop a spoonful of sour cream in the middle of it and eat it with tortilla chips.

Tracy’s NOTE: I made it adding 2 tomato cans of water to it, and I simmered it all day. When serving I put the sour cream, cheese and crunched up the tortilla chips on top… so yummy!!!

So now that arctic temperatures have arrived it’s definitely chili weather.  This is based on a recipe that I found in a back issue of Eating Well or Cooking Light or something like that.  It’s rich, but not too spicy.  Also, if you reduce the liquid a bit more, it’d be awesome as a baked potato topping.  I also made coleslaw to go along with it.

Beef and red bean chili

Ingredients
2 cups dry red beans (1 pound)
10 cloves garlic; 3 left whole, 7 minced
4 dried ancho chiles
2 dried chipotle chiles
3 Tbs oil
2 lb stew beef cut into 1/2” chunks*
salt & pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
3 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs crushed red pepper
1 Tbs brown sugar
5 cups corn (or 1 lb frozen)

Directions:
Throw dry beans in a medium pot. Add the three whole garlic cloves and 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for about an hour.

Soak the Ancho and Chipotle chiles in 4 cups water for about 20 minutes, or until softened.  Weight down the chiles with a bread plate or saucer if necessary.  Pour off the soaking water and reserve.  You should have about 2 cups. Stem and seed the chiles and toss in the blender or food processor along with 1/2 cup of the soaking water.  Puree until smooth, adding up to 1/2 cup more chili water if needed.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown in shifts, transferring to a plate as needed.

Add onion and garlic.  Cook over medium heat until onion gets translucent.

Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pot.  Add the remaining chili soaking liquid plus 2 cups water, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, 1 Tbs salt and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

Meanwhile, drain the beans.  Put back in their pot.  Add 6 more cups of water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer until beans are tender--about 1 1/2 hours. 

When beans and meat are both done, drain the beans and discard the cloves of garlic. Stir the beans and corn into the chili and simmer until corn is warmed through. 

Serve over rice.

*Having worked in the Meat Department at the Grocery Ranch™ I’m leery of generic meat products like stew meat, cubed steaks and ground beef because I’ve seen what goes into it.  Some of it is made with beef that you’d be happy to eat otherwise, but most of the time it’s made with the leathery, gristle-riddled trimmings that, to be honest, I wouldn’t feed to my dog.  I recommend picking up a nice chuck roast or if you want to cut out fat, a London Broil.  That being said, this could probably be made with chicken, turkey or even extra-firm tofu and still be damn tasty.

Presentation details: Chili bowl-Maddoxware for Cunard Steamship Line, Coleslaw bowl-Ming by Lenox, B.C. comic glass-a premium from some no-doubt defunct gas station

I got tired of eating leftover christmas ham and didn’t really want to go the high fat ham salad route, so I raided the pantry and came up with this.  It’s healthy--low fat and high protein, but it tastes better than most healthy food. Lentils cook scary fast so you could probably also do this in about a half hour on the stove as well.  Serve with a salad and bread sticks.

Lentil Ham soup

Ingredients
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups water
1 onion cut into thin wedges
1 1/2 cup sliced celery
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup dry lentils
1 1/2 cups diced ham
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups shredded spinach
shaved parmesan cheese

Directions
Throw the first nine ingredients into a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or 3 1/2-4 hours on high (estimated).

Stir in the corn about 1/2 hour before serving.  Immediately before serving, stir in the spinach.  Garnish with Parmesan if you have it. 

The arctic winds, snow and cold on Wednesday night made it seem like a good night to cook up a big ole pot o chili and cornbread. I wasn’t in the mood for standard red chili so I decided to modify a regular chili recipe to make a white chili instead.  It didn’t turn out too bad.

Blond Chili

Ingredients

1 lb dry great northern beans, or
2-3 cans northern or cannellini beans
2 lb boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2 inch hunks
flour for dredging, seasoned as you see fit
2-4 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
6 cups chicken stock (if using canned beans, you can get by with 5 cups)
3 cups shredded jack cheese

Directions

If using dry beans, place in a large pot and cover with 3 inches of water.  Soak overnight.

Dredge pork in flour mixture and brown in a large pot with oil in batches, using more oil as needed. Remove to a platter and set aside as each batch is finished.

Drain beans if using dried ones. Heat 1 Tbs of oil in the same pot you browned the meat in.  Add onions and saute until softened.  Stir in the garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano and cayenne.  Saute for 2 more minutes. Add pork, rehydrated beans* and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until beans are tender (about 2 hours).  Add 1 cup of cheese and stir until melted in.

If using canned beans, drain and rinse, then add to the pork/onion/stock mixture after it has simmered for an hour.  Serve when heated through or allow to simmer for up to an hour more.

Season with salt and pepper if desired and serve topped with the remaining cheese. 

I asked a friend of mine, Deb, to send me her recipe for what she said was The Best Ever cream of potato soup.  I pshawed.  I’ve tried lots of “best ever” food that was far from it.  But, as I soon found out, Deb doesn’t lie.  The following is my take on the recipe she sent me.  The original recipe can be found by clicking “read more.”

4-5 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup diced onion
1 packet G Washington’s Golden
1 qt half & half
1/3 cup flour
2-3 cans chicken broth
A handful or two of shredded (or cubed) monterey jack or white cheddar cheese
1+ cup(s) cubed ham

Cook potatoes in chicken broth -enough to cover the potatoes- til just tender..do not over cook.  Saute’ onions and celery in butter.  Add flour and G Washington’s.  Cook 5 minutes.  Stirring constantly with a wire whisk, slowly add half & half.  Continue to stir until thick and smooth.  Season to taste.

Mash cooked potatoes right in the pot with the chicken broth then add to the half & half mixture.  Cook stirring frequently until soup reaches a simmer.  Reduce heat to low add ham and cheese and heat through.

Makes enough soup to feed four or 5 people as a main dish with leftovers.

NOTES: 
•If you like your soup smooth, you’ll want to whip them using a mixer, adding the chicken broth to make a thick potato slurry.

•My ingredients picture shows both red and white potatoes.  This would be because I had a few red potatoes left in a bag so I used them up.  You don’t need multiple types of potatoes.

•If you think the soup is going to be to runny remember that potatoes are a starch and will thicken up immediately.  If you follow this recipe, it won’t be runny at all.  You might want to add some milk if you think it’s too thick.

•Do not eat a second helping of this (or any other creamed soup) unless you want to be a big useless lump sitting in your chair going all, “Uuuggghhh.  I ate too much.”

•I use ham from a boiled ham bone.  I buy ham shanks frequently.  They’re good for dinner, leftovers, soups, ham salad and a million other things.  I always keep a lot of meat on the bone when I boil it.  I boil the bone down for several hours.  I then remove the bone, cool it, pick the meat off and bag it up in various portion sizes.  I put the cooled pot of water that it cooked in in the fridge overnight.  The next day I take off all the fat (which will have solidified) and then I put the broth in ziplock bags and keep it in the freezer.  I use the broth for pea soup.

•My SIL said this is “Restaurant quality soup.” My husband asks for it now at least once a week.  I told him we would be dead from heart attacks brought on by high cholesterol within a month.  He’s only allowed to have it once a month.

•A pot of this would definitely feed a ton of people as a soup course.  It’s very hearty and filling.

Deb’s original recipe

Cream Of Po-Cheesy Soup

4-5 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup diced onion
4 tsp. granular chicken bouillon OR 4 crushed cubes
6 cups cold milk
1 cup flour
1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed ham ( optional, but suggested )

Cook potatoes in water til just tender..do not over cook.  Saute’ onions and celery in butter and margarine; Add flour and bouillon, stir to blend. Add milk to make a roux, stir until thick and smooth. Add cooked potatoes and 2 cups ( yep the 2 cups in the recipe ) of the cooking water.  Add cheese, stir til melted, add ham.

I’m the first to admit that the ingredients don’t sound appetizing at all, but damn, this is good soup!

Ingredients

6 cups water
3 Tbs Dill
1 pound egg noodles, medium width
4 oz lean ground beef or lamb
1 pound bag California bled vegetables (broccoli, carrots and cauliflower)
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs minced garlic
unflavored yogurt
dried mint

Directions

Bring water to a boil.  Add the dill and continue boiling for five minutes.  Add your noodles and continue boiling until noodles are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

While the noodles are boiling, brown the ground meat in a separate pan and drain off the fat. Add the ground meat to the noodles along with the vegetables, then add the cayenne, salt and garlic.  Simmer for another 15 minutes or so.

To serve, stir about 2 tablespoons of yogurt into each bowl of soup and top with a sprinkle of mint.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs olive or canola oil
2 strips bacon, chopped (optional, but if not using, you may need to add a skosh more oil))
3 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 or 2 pounds)* cut into bite sized pieces
2 cans diced tomatoes (flavored is okay)
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 can chicken stock
1 or 2 cans cannelini or garbanzo beans, drained

Instructions:

Heat oil over medium-medium high heat. Add chopped up bacon and saute until the bacon renders it’s fat. Add the garlic and vegetables and saute until the onion is translucent.

Add the chicken. Stir occasionally until the chicken pieces are opaque outside but not cooked through; about five minutes or so.  Add the tomatoes and bay leaf, and let return to a bubble.

Add chicken stock, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the beans and simmer until they are warmed through. Remove bay leaves and serve. 

Alternately, turn the heat down until you’re ready to eat, and add a bit of water if it gets too thick.

*Yeah, I know that boneless, skinless breasts are the darling of the health-conscious, but in a recipe like this?  Trust me on the thighs. They’re much more tender, flavorful and less dry than breasts. 

Not So Wild Boar Ragout

Wild boar isn’t all that easy to come by here in whitest northeast Indianapolis.  Go figure.

That’s the major, but not the only substitution in this recipe. 

Ingredients:
1 large red onion, chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
2 pounds boneless pork, cut for stew
28 oz can chopped tomatoes*
3 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
5 cloves garlic, crushed
3 dried chili peppers, crushed
1 stick cinnamon
5 cloves (not to be confused with the cloves of garlic)
3 sun-dried tomatoes, cut up randomly with a knife or scissors
3 anchovies, or 1 tsp anchovy paste
fresh or dried oregano, basil and sage
1 T or so balsamic vinegar**
salt and pepper to taste
pasta (fettuccine works best)
grated percorino, myzrithia or other hard sheep’s milk cheese

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent.

Bump the heat up to high, add the pork and sear on all sides.  Do not cook it through. Turn/stir it frequently just until it’s cooked on the outside.

Stir in the tomatoes and bay leaves, followed by the wine.

One ingredient at a time, stir in the garlic, crushed chilis, cinnamon stick, cloves, sun dried tomatoes, oregano/basil/sage and balsamic vinegar.

Put a lid on the pot loosely and reduce the heat enough to keep the whole mess just at a low simmer. keep it simmering for a minimum of two hours (adding water if necessary)and stir occasionally. The idea here is to get the meat to be falling-apart tender, and the longer it simmers, the more tender and broken apart it’ll be.

When the meat has pretty much lost all definition and most of the liquid has either evaporated off or been absorbed by the meat, it’s done.  It’ll kinda resemble the consistency of pulled pork barbeque, but not so long and stringy because it’s been chunked up for stewing (see note below).

Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, ladle over the pasta and garnish with the grated cheese.  Make sure to have some good crusty bread around to mop up the sauce too.

* I used a can of whole stewed tomatoes that I cut roughly with kitchen shears while they were still in the can. Fresh tomatoes would be exponentially better, of course.

** The original recipe called for red wine vinegar, but I’m a sucker for the depth that balsamic gives.

Note: This would also make an awesomely simple pork stew.  Just add the vegetables of your choice and don’t cook so long that the meat disintegrates

Potato Cheese Soup (not for the diet impaired)

4-6 medium potatoes (chopped into medium size chunks)
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (chopped fine)
5-6 celery stalks (chopped)
3 medium size peeled carrots (chopped)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon season all
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 cup butter
1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2 cans chicken broth

Chop your onion, celery, garlic and carrots and saute in the butter in a 5 quart pan. When your celery is just about done, add the two cans of chicken broth, your spices and chopped potatoes (I leave the peels on, feel free to peel yours). Add the cream and bring to a boil. Once it is rolling, put on a lid, turn it down to a simmer and let it go for about 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 2 hours. Bring to a slow boil once more and thicken with the cornstarch (mix cornstarch in 1/2 cup cold water add slowly to the soup). Once thickened, remove from heat and slowly stir in the shredded cheese. IMPORTANT - add cheese AFTER you thicken otherwise it will all go to the bottom and not blend correctly. Walla, you are done. Enjoy!

Freezes well also. I store it in ziplock bowls for about a month. It will look something awful when you’re reheating it but once you stir it, it is just as good as the day you made it.

The three essential ingredients in this soup--garlic, bread, and water--all need to be of good quality. Do not be tempted into thinking that stock is an improvement since it masks the other flavors. Beyond that, though, you can improvise around the local variations in ingredients: lard is used rather than olive oil in Zamora, for example, and pepper seeds and chopped tomatoes are added in León. You can also sauté the garlic first. Usually the bread is broken into small pieces so it swells into sops, but I like this fried-bread version given to me by Vale Riana, who was born in the Burgos countryside but cooked for a Madrid family for thirty years. Garlic soup was often eaten early on winter morning before going out into the bitter cold, and I really enjoy it that way.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

3 cups water
4 plump garlic cloves, peeled
3 inch length of French bread or an equivalent chunk of coarse crusty bread, not processed or steam baked, and at least 1 day old
3 oz olive oil
1-2 tsp pimentón de la Vera smoked paprika (mild, bittersweet or spicy-hot)
Salt
4 eggs

Preparation:

Heat the water in a flameproof casserole. Chop or pound the garlic to a paste, using a mortar and pestle, a garlic press, or the blade of a knife. Add the garlic to the water and leave it to cook through for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the bread very thinly (leave the crust on) and fry it in the olive oil, sprinkling a little pimentón and salt in the oil. Add the bread and oil to the water and simmer gently for another 10-15 minutes. You can leave the soup for several hours or overnight at this stage.

Just before serving, poach the eggs in the soup: break each egg, in turn, into a ladle and lower into the soup. Remove from the heat as soon as the white is set and serve into deep bowls. The idea is to stir the soup around so the egg breaks and continues cooking in threads.

Buen provecho! We've put together this in-depth guide to Spanish foods for your reference and enjoyment. Within these pages you can learn more about how our Spanish food products are prepared for market, and how to use them in your home. We've included several charts to help you pick the the product that's right for you, and lots of extra information, too.

Enjoy your reading!

Spain's Regional Cooking

While certain dishes are common across Spain, each of its regions offer particular culinary pleasures

Alicia
This region is known for savory empanadas made with meat and fish; hearty caldo gallego (Galician soup) made with greens, beans, and meats; wonderfully moist country breads; and bountiful seafood, including scallops still attached to their shells.

Asturias
The cuisine of this land of spectacularly abrupt green mountains and rugged coastlines features fabada bean stew, Cabrales blue cheese aged in mountain caves, salmon, trout, and hard apple cider.

Basque Country
Food is preeminent in Basque culture, where traditional male-only gourmet clubs still flourish. Dishes made with the freshest fish coexist with classic preparations based on the traditional salt cod.

Aragon
The highest peaks of the Spanish Pyrenees offer a dramatic backdrop for this region. Navarra is renowned for its trout streams and the legendary running of the bulls; La Rioja is celebrated for its wines. Both border the fertile valley of the Ebro River. The peppers that grow here are essential to such regional dishes as chilindron stews of lamb or chicken and traditional vegetable medleys. Delicate fire-roasted piquillo peppers, sauteed or stuffed, have recently captured the attention of the wider culinary world for their versatility and flavor.

Cataluna
This privileged region encompasses the Pyrenees and its valleys, the agricultural lands of La Cerdanya and L'Emporda, the stunning Costa Brava, and Barcelona, where fine eating is a way of life. Catalan cooks are fond of sweet and savory combinations, and of sauces flavored and thickened with almonds, pine nuts, and hazelnuts (like the saucein the fish medley romesco de pescado).

Valencia
The orange groves of this region alternate with vast, swampy rice fields. Paella valenciana, the classic rice dish, was created here.

Andalucia
Hillsides in this region are lined with the olive trees responsible for the exceptional oils essential to Spanish cooking. Andalusians still accent their cooking with Eastern spices inherited from the Moors. Chilled gazpachos, both red and white, are wonderfully refreshing in Andalucia's warm sunny climate; so, too, are shellfish vinaigrettes drizzled with the region's superb sherry vinegar. Iberian ham is revered for its singular texture and nutty flavor. Devotees will recognize the name Jabugo, the town where hams by the hundreds of thousands cure in cool mountain caves.

Castilla
Although Madrid is at the center of landlocked Castilla (comprising Castilla y Leon to the north and Castilla La Mancha to the south), the freshest seafood is rushed overnight from every coast to satisfy the locals' demanding palates. Other gastronomic pleasures from the region: chorizo, Spain's typical sausage spiced with garlic and paprika; manchego, sheep's milk cheese; garlic soups and bean stews; and suckling pig and baby lamb, roasted in wood-burning, brick-vaulted ovens. 1 lb. lean ground beef*

1 can (28oz) tomato sauce

1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes**

2 large green peppers, seeded and chopped (med. size pieces)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 small diced onion

2 beef bouillon cubes

2 cups of cooked rice

In a big soup pot brown the beef, season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove beef from pot and add peppers and onions. Sautee them until they just start to turn soft. Add the beef back in, add the tomato sauce, the diced tomatoes, brown sugar and bouillon cubes. Mixture will be thick. Let simmer for about 40 minutes and the mixture will loosen up. Spoon into bowls and add some of the cooked rice. This is a thick and hearty soup.

*I have used ground turkey with great success.

**Any flavor (or plain) of diced tomatoes except for Mexican or spicy varieties.

You can also make this in the crock pot. Just throw everything in and set it to low. Let cook for about a work day. 3-4 chicken leg quarters
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
4 cans chicken broth
2 1/4 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup celery (optional, I don't use it)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the chicken in the broth (or boil it in water and add 4-5 chicken buillion cubes) until it's very tender. Skim the fat off the top of the liquid and add the onion and garlic and let simmer while you skin/bone the chicken. Add the chicken back to the stock. Mix together the Bisquick and milk - it should be sticky and doughy - and drop by teaspoonfuls into the stock. The dumplins will rise to the top as they cook - stir it frequently to help thicken the liquid. If it's too thin, mix a teaspoon or so of flour or cornstarch in with a quarter cup of cold water, and then add it in.

*Note: This recipe can be made in larger batches and frozen, but for reasons I can't figure out, the dumplins usually kinda dissolve upon thawing and reheating. It still tastes as good, though. 4-5 cups chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 T olive oil
Parmesan cheese toppers (instructions below)
Diced tomato and sour cream for topping

In a large pot, heat the olive oil, and add the onion. Cook long enough to soften, but don't let them brown, then add the red bell pepper and garlic. Sprinkle in the flour a bit at a time and stir well. Add in the chicken broth, milk, and heavy cream and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes, then stir in the cheddar cheese.

Parmesan toppers:
Put teaspoon-sized heaps of parmesan on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 until the edges are browned. They should solidify somewhat, and can be placed on top of the soup, along with sour cream and chopped tomato (optional).

We served this soup with grilled ham and provolone sandwiches on sourdough bread.. Mmmmm!

A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament.
~X. Marcel Boulestin

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