Italian Sausage with Tortellini

This soup comes from Is it Soup Yet? It is written by Dot Vartan. I used Italian sausage that was not in casing. I made the soup up to the point of putting in the tortellini. My choice is to ladle out the soup for a meal and then add the tortellini. That way you eat all the pasta at one sitting.  Then the next time we have it, I add more pasta and reheat what I need for that meal.  This will make enough soup for 3 meals of two bowls each time.  Try it!  It is a great soup.




Printable Version
Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 (13- 3/4 oz.) cans beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28oz) can peeled whole tomatoes, cut-up
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 cup sliced zucchini
9 oz. package of fresh cheese-filled tortellini
1 medium-sized green bell pepper, chopped
Parmesan cheese
Method:
Remove the casing from the sausage. In a 6 quart stock pot, brown the sausage over medium heat. Set aside, reserving drippings in stock pot. Cook the onions and garlic in the sausage drippings for about 10 minutes. Add the cooked sausage, beef broth, red wine, crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, basil, oregano, and parsley flakes. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Stir in the zucchini, tortellini, and bell pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes or until the tortellini is tender. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese

Cheddar Chicken Corn Chowder

Cold days call for warm soup.  This is a soup that I have made several times, but for some reason it is not on my blog.  It is worthy of a 10.

I put the Parmesan cheese on top just to make the picture look better. If I had some parsley, I would have added that for a little color.
One day I cut the chicken breast off the Rotisserie chicken for a meal. The next day I use all the left-over in a soup or casserole.




Printable Version

Ingredients:
3 slices bacon, diced
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 cups unpeeled cubed red potatoes (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (I used a Rotisserie chicken from grocery store)
1 cup seeded, peeled, chopped tomato
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. Transfer bacon to a plate, leaving 1 tablespoon drippings in Dutch oven. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add stock and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in corn.

In a bowl, blend flour and milk. Stir into soup. Increase heat to medium-high and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken, reserved bacon, tomato, cheese, salt, and pepper. Simmer uncovered, until flavors are blended and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes longer.

Simple Tried and True Texas Chili

 

My daughter has a tradition of Halloween at her house with Frito pie and all the trimmings.  I volunteered to make the chili today and this is the recipe that I adapted to my taste.Simple Tried and True Texas Chili  I added tomatoes and beef stock  instead of water. I can't imagine chili without tomatoes.  I'm just saying. So the recipe that follows is with my variations.







Printable Version
Ingredients:
3-4 pounds of beef, chuck or round
1/2 pound of bacon
2 large onions, chopped
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
4 cloves garlic (optional) I love garlic so I added it
2 cans tomatoes (any kind--whole, (broken-up) diced, stewed
1 cup beef stock
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Dice the bacon and cook in a large pot until crispy, but not overdone. Scoop it out and set aside.
2. Cook the ground meat in the bacon fat until cooked through. Scoop out the meat and add to the bacon.
3. Saute the onions and garlic in the bacon fat. You may take some of the fat out, but as the author says, "it won't be true Texan at that point.
4. When onions are soft add the cumin, chile powder, and paprika and cook briefly.
5. Return the meat, cover with tomatoes and beef and bring to a boil. Taste and add salt and pepper to your taste.
6. Let simmer for several hours. At this point, I place it all in my crock.  I will let it simmer all day and take it to my daughter's for tonight's Halloween festivities. - S-c-a-r-r-y good!

Mexican Chicken Soup

Mexican Chicken Soup--Barefoot Contessa at home

 

Since Barefoot Contessa has a link for a printable version of this recipe, I'll leave this for you to print.

Gumbo

 

 I found this recipe on Food Network. Paula's Gumbo

Printable Version:
Ingredients:
3 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems and leaves, coarsely chopped, plus leaves for garnish
4 cups hot water
5 beef bullion cubes
1 (14oz) can stewed tomatoes with juice
2 cups frozen sliced okra
4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts
1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked
Directions:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. Add the sausage and cook until browned, then remove. Sprinkle the flour over the oil, add 2 tablespoons of margarine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown, about 10 minutes. Let the roux cool.
Return the Dutch oven to low heat and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons margarine. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, and celery. Cook for 10 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste and the 1/4 bunch parsley. Cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add 4 cups hot water and bouillon cubes, whisking constantly. Add the chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes and okra. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Just before serving, add the green onions, shrimp and chopped parsley.

Sausage, Mushroom, and Red Pepper Soup

I'm back on the blog after being out for a move to the Austin, Texas area. We are finally settled in to our new home and now I am ready to get back to cooking. This recipe comes from my favorite soup book, The Big Book of Soups and Stews  by Maryana Vollstedt. It is easy to get in a rut and just make the same soups that we have already tried and know we love. This time, I'm glad that we tried a new soup because this is a winner.  It only takes about 30 min. to make and the sausage adds amazing flavor.  We doubled this recipe.

Printable Version: Sausage, Mushroom, and Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
1 teaspoon vegetable oil, if needed (I didn't need it)
1 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 oz. medium mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup long-graine white rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley for topping (as you can see by the picture, I used Parmesan cheese instead)

In a large soup pot over medium heat, cook sausage for 2 minutes, breaking up meat with a spoon. Add oil if needed to keep sausage from sticking. Add onion, celery, mushrooms, and bell pepper and saute' until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes longer. (Since we doubled the recipe, we had to cook it about 15 minutes)  Add stock, rice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parsley.

Jud made this soup tonight, one year later.  I think it tastes even better when you have someone make it for you.  Hope you have someone to make you this soup.



Bistro Stew

This came from our favorite soup book,The Big Book of Soups and Stews by Maryana Vollstedt. We have been using this book for years, but decided to try something we had never tried before.  It is a very hearty dish with lots of beef cubes and chunky vegetables.  We gave it a 10.







Printable Version: Bistro Stew
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat
2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef stock or broth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
4 cloves garlic, halved
4 medium new potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
3 cups baby carrots
6 baby pattypan squash, quartered I used zucchini
8 ounces mushrooms, halved
Mix flour, salt, and pepper on a piece of waxed paper. Roll meat in mixture to coat. Use all the flour.
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add meat and brown in batches, about 5 minutes for each batch. Remove meat to a plate as it browns. Add onion and saute" until tender, about 5 minutes. Add more oil if needed to keep onions from sticking. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Add stock, tomato paste, marjoram, and garlic. Return meat to Dutch oven. At this point, I put it all in the crock pot and cooked it on high for about 2 hours. Then I turned down the heat to low and added the potatoes and carrots and cooked it an additional 2 1/2 hours. Then I added the squash and mushrooms and cooked about 45-min. --1hour. Back to the recipe: Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Add squash and mushrooms and simmer, covered, until all vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes longer. Taste for seasonings.