A wonderful, quick, warming, and nourishing soup. This will serve 3, generously.
Slice the Italian sausage into little rounds. If you have time to freeze it first, this makes the slicing easier.
Peel the onion and chop coarsely.
Scrub and cube the potatoes.
Wash and drain the kale. Remove the tough ribs. Roll together, then slice the roll and finish by slicing in the other direction. This is an easy way to “chop” kale.
Peel and dice the garlic cloves.
Melt 1 Tablespoon lard in a heavy bottomed soup kettle on medium/low heat.
Add to the kettle, the sausage, onion, and garlic. Saute, stirring, until the onion is translucent.
Add the chicken stock, 2 cups water, kale and potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to simmer.
Simmer for 20 minutes. Check to see if it needs more salt, but it probably won’t.
Fabulous on its own or served with some fresh crusty bread and real butter!
Ok, this is what I put together when everything needs to come out of the fridge. It is great way to use up your holiday leftovers.
In a large soup pot heat up olive oil.
Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic saute until tender (3 minutes).
Add salt and pepper taste.
Add stock and vegetables, heat until a low boil.
Add pasta, cook until pasta is tender.
A creamy, satisfying tomato soup. Great with a grilled cheese sandwich!
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onions have softened.
Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes, onions, and garlic are soft. Then add the half and half and the chopped basil.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it’s smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches in your regular blender.
* I tried using just whole milk instead of a combination of cream and whole milk, and it wasn’t very good. I don’t recommend it.
A hearty soup, perfect for post-Thanksgiving. Loved by young and old alike. Serve with sourdough bread and butter.
In a medium stockpot, sauté onion in butter until soft.
Add turkey stock and potatoes. Cook until potatoes just tender.
Add lentils, pinto beans and black beans (with their cooking liquids), turkey, sea salt, and pepper.
Simmer until lentils are tender.
This is a robust, thick and rich version. It has a nice balance of meat and vegetables. Since it simmers for a good amount of time, all the flavors meld and you don’t taste one vegetable in particular.
Soak beans in two cups water and two tablespoons lemon juice for 24 hours.
Brown ground meat in a large pot; add onions, celery, carrots, and peppers. Stir vegetables and let heat through.
Melt butter in pot and sprinkle flour on vegetables, stir to coat.
Add garlic and spices. Stir in stock and tomatoes and heat to a simmer. Rinse soaked beans and add to the pot.
Simmer for one hour. Serve with homemade sour cream.
This way of making stock uses the “leftovers” from my chicken and vegetables getting the most out of everything and wasting as little as possible.
Grab yourself a large 2.5 gallon zip lock bag. If you would like label it stock. The ingredients for this stock do not all gather at once. They accumulate over time. Store the bag in your freezer until full.
When you have chicken bones put them in the bag.
When you have the skins and ends of carrots out them in the bag. Any celery tops and ends? In they go. Also onion ends,(just don’t use the skins) mushroom stems, pepper tops. When you have the ends and other pieces of vegetables that would normally go into stock just put them in your bag.
When the bag is full, pour the contents into a 12 quart stock pot.
Fill stock pot with cold filtered water.
Put on stove over high heat until it boils. When it boils turn down the heat to simmer the stock.
Simmer for 6-8 hours.
When done strain stock getting all the bits and pieces out.
Now you have 2 options. If you have a large enough freezer you can pour the stock into freezer containers according to the amount you want to use at one a time. Put some in 2 cups and some in 4 cups and some in a larger container. Then you can pull out a large one for soup or a smaller one for adding flavor to vegetables. If you don’t have the freezer space you can do what I do. Make stock concentrate.
If making concentrate put the stock back on the stove and boil. Boil and boil until it reduces to a more reasonable amount. I normally go from 8-10 quarts to 4 ice cube trays.
When frozen take out of trays and put in a freezer bag.
When the stock is reduced pour into your desired container and freeze. When using it I normally add about 1 cube to 1/2 to 3/4 cup water depending on how much flavor I want from it. This is something you will have to experiment with to get the flavor you want.
A sweet and savory stew, perfect for fall or winter.
In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onions and garlic, stirring frequently. Cook until soft.
Add in the stew beef and continue to cook, stirring frequently until the beef is browned on all sides.
Add in the chopped carrots, sweet potatoes and beef stock.
Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for 45 minutes until the carrots are tender. The sweet potatoes will be falling apart at this point.
Mix the arrowroot with 1/4 cup cold water, pour into the stew and stir until the stew thickens.
Add in the nutmeg.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Like a mole soup with spicy chocolate sauce paired with savory chicken and sweet potatoes. It is even better the next day after the spices have penetrated the chicken and sweet potatoes even more. You won’t be disappointed!
In a heavy bottomed soup pot, melt better on low heat. Add chopped onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute another minute. Add salt and rest of the spices and saute until fragrant.
Slowly pour in chicken broth. Add cubed sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until sweet potatoes are tender.
Add tomatoes and chicken. Bring up to a simmer.
Dissolve arrowroot powder in cold water. Slowly pour in while stirring. Simmer until chicken in warmed through and stew has thickened.
Serve topped with cilantro, sour cream and a squeeze of lime.
A great recipe and way to get the most out of your Thanksgiving turkey! Can be used in any recipe that stock or broth is needed.
Put turkey juices in crockpot
Then add carcass (it is great to have some of the meat still on the bones. This adds great flavor)
Then add offal and neck (make sure that they have been rinsed and pat dry)
Add vegetables
Add seasonings
Add water
Then add vinegar and let set for 1 hour (This helps to extract the minerals from the bones)
Turn crockpot on low and cook for 18-24 hours.
A simple chicken soup that is perfect for the winter months when we need to get extra chicken broth into our bodies to nourish us.
Place rice in a small bowl and cover with a cup of water and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or whey. Cover and leave on the counter overnight or up to 24 hours.
In a heavy bottomed soup pot, melt butter and add chopped onions, carrots and celery. Saute until onions are translucent. Add in garlic and saute another minute.
Pour in the chicken stock and add rice. Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that rises to the top.
Add thyme. Simmer for about 40 minutes. Add the cooked chicken pieces and heat through.
Remove thyme sprigs before serving and season to taste.
Here is a way to have celery on hand for soups and stir-fries without having your nice fresh celery go to waste in the refrigerator.
Trim and carefully wash fresh celery.
Using a sharp chef’s knife or a food processor, slice all of the celery into small pieces.
Measure batch-sized amounts into freezer bags or Food Saver bags. If using a Food Saver, vacuum process the bags.
If using freezer bags, close each bag, leaving a small opening. Immerse the bag in water up to the opening and let the air escape as the water squeezes it out. Then complete the seal and wipe the bag dry.
Put all of the smaller bags into a larger freezer bag for extra protection and store in the freezer.
I have stored fresh celery this way for at least 6 months and it is still good to use.
A little kick and a whole lot of nutrition. This soup is easy on the budget and easy to make. Sprouting beans makes them even easier to digest, and they cook in a fraction of the time to cook soaked beans.
How To Sprout Pinto Beans
Rinse and sort beans. Place in a bowl and cover with slightly warm water. Cover and leave on the counter overnight.
In the morning, drain and rinse the beans. Drain again. Do not refill with water, but leave the rinsed beans in the bowl covered on the counter. Rinse and drain 2-3 more times during each day until “tails” of the sprouts poke out. The time to sprout varies depending on the weather and temperature of your kitchen. Average sprouting time for pinto beans is about 48 hours.
For the Soup
In a heavy bottomed soup pot, add chicken stock and beans. Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Lower to a simmer and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Melt butter in a skillet and sautee onions until translucent. Add peppers and carrots and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add spices and sautee until fragrant.
Add sauteed vegetables to beans and stock. Add crushed tomatoes.
Simmer until beans are tender. Serve topped with creme fraiche, shredded raw cheddar, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.