Showing posts with label Soups and Stews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soups and Stews. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Cream of Broccoli and Mushroom Soup

This is a delicious, creamy vegetable soup to put together. 















Cream of Broccoli and Mushroom Soup

2 (10-3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of broccoli soup

2 (10-3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

2-1/2 cups milk (I use 2% milk)

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen chopped broccoli

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

black pepper, season according to taste

2 (4-oz.) cans mushroom stems and pieces, drained


1.)  In a large stock-pot, add the cans of soup.


2.)  Gradually stir in the milk.


3.)  Add the frozen broccoli and remaining ingredients, and stir.


4.)  Cook soup over low heat until it's heated through; stirring often.


5.)  Ladle soup into bowls and serve.


6.)  Yields: 7 servings 




















                                     

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Beef Stew (or) Venison Stew

I've been making this stew for over 30 years. It can be made with either beef or venison. A friend of my daughter's really likes this stew. He even told me... "It's the best stew he's ever had!"




Beef Stew (or) Venison Stew 

1-1/2 lbs. beef or venison stew meat, cut into 3/4" pcs.
1/2 cup flour
2-3 tablespoons shortening (add more if need be)
salt and pepper, season according to taste
1 medium onion, chopped fine
several large dashes of Worcestershire sauce
6 cups hot water
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
pinch of dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (This tenderizes the meat while cooking)
4 whole cloves
5 carrots, sliced thin
4 medium-sized potatoes, cubed small
1/2 to 1 green, or yellow bell pepper, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems & pieces, drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can whole tomatoes, cut up
1/2 cup frozen peas, optional (See *Note)
4 tablespoons flour (I use cornstarch)
1/2 cup cold water
1 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce (opt.)

1)  Coat beef stew meat (or venison stew meat) with flour.

2.)  In a large skillet, melt the shortening.

3.)  Add the flour coated meat; season with salt and pepper.

4.)  When the meat is almost browned, add onions, and finish browning.

5.)  Add the Worcestershire sauce, and stir for another minute.

6.)  Transfer to a 5-quart Dutch Oven, or a large soup kettle.

7.)  Add the hot water, bouillon granules, thyme, bay leaf, lemon juice, and whole cloves.

8.)  Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 2 hours.

9.)  Add the carrots, potatoes, green peppers, celery, mushrooms and tomatoes. 

10.)  Cover, and simmer 1-1/2 hours.

11.)  Remove the bay leaf and whole cloves at this point, then bring back to a boil.

12.)  Combine the flour and cold water, and add this to the boiling stew; stirring constantly.

13.)  Finally add the Kitchen Bouquet, and thoroughly mix through.

14.)  Yields: 8 to 10 servings.

*Note: Sometimes you'll only need 3 tablespoons of flour, mixed with 1/3 cup cold water to thicken the stew.  Also, if wanting to add peas to the stew, add the frozen peas within the last 20 minutes of cooking time (while the vegetables are simmering).



I thought I'd add another photo of the stew.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

I really enjoy this soup.  It has a nice buttery taste to it.  I happen to come across this good, basic, tomato soup recipe at allrecipes.com, but I did tweak the recipe just a bit to suit my taste.  This recipe is great for those who want to use up the numerous tomatoes they have in their vegetable garden.  By the way, you can also freeze this soup.  This soup is definitely Mmm Mmm Good!




Garden Fresh Tomato Soup 

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped (1/2 of one large onion)
4 whole cloves, or use 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons butter (I used 3 tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons flour (I used 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt (I only used 1/2 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1.)  In a large stockpot over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, and gently boil for 20 minutes.  (If making more than one batch of soup in the stockpot, like I did, I suggest covering the pot with a lid.  This allows the vegetables to come to a boil much quicker.  And after the vegetables come to a boil, remove the lid, and then I gently boil the vegetables for 25 minutes.)

2.)  Remove the stockpot from the heat, and run the vegetable mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan.  (I did try to remove any cloves I spotted, before running mixture through the food mill.) Discard any tomato/onion mixture left over in the food mill.

3.)  In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is light golden brown in color.

4.)  Quickly whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest of the tomato juice mixture.

5.)  Season soup with the salt and sugar.

6.)  Heat the soup through, then serve.

7.)  Yields: 6 servings



Cream of Potato & Cheddar Cheese Soup

One day my daughter had given me some of her Yukon Gold Potatoes from her garden.   I then decided I'd quickly  throw a potato soup toge...