Soups from National Soup Month

Image Credit: Keshia Pace (http://www.coroflot.com/)

Not only is it the last day of January but today marks the last day of National Soup Month - a fun way to celebrate this beloved and comforting dish. Hopefully you had a chance to try a new recipe or at least enjoy a bowl or two this month. I loved celebrating by teaching a class at the Brooklyn Cookery,  holding a Soup Cook-Off and contributing soup recipes to Food 2 and Mom in the City. I also enjoyed making the Creamless Asparagus and Leek Soup and Italian Wedding Soup for the first time as well as sharing Deja Vu Cook's top picks for the month. Even though this exciting month has come to an end, you can always find soup recipes on this site and hopefully some of these recipes will inspire you to continue the celebration all year.

Interesting Recipes from National Soup Month:

Texas Penicillin - Soup is said to cure all and heal the soul and Ginnie Bivona, a chef from Texas, also said that about her Texas Penicillin - except for a cure of a broken heart. A variation of chicken noodle soup, this recipe includes a Southwestern twist with chili powder, green onions, corn, red pepper and cilantro. The soup is an also an award-winning recipe and won the Best of Show and First Prize at an Ohio State University Chili Cook-off!

Garlicky Tortellini Soup -  As a staple in most soups, garlic has a way of making any soup better. This soup, created by Mignardise, uses the delicious flavoring in question, as well as spinach, tomatoes and tortellini - creating a soup simple that also uses ingredients you may have lying around the house.

White Lentil Soup with (or without) Spicy Sausage - I'm a big fan of lentil soups, so I was really excited to see this variation on the classic using white lentils ("black lentils with the outer skins split and removed.") Not something you will find in your standard grocery store, Soup Chick says that you can find white lentils in a gourmet or Indian market or if you can't locate them red lentils also work. This interesting recipe also uses Turkish urfa biber pepper, kale, some hickory-smoked barbecue sauce and the option to add turkey sausage. If I could locate white lentils, I know what recipe I am going to try.

Pear/Coconut Soup - Another amazing thing about soup is that it is packed with tons nutritional properties to help the digestive system, skin or the lungs and kidneys such as with this light and summery soup. Created by Five Flavors Kitchen, this pear and coconut soup uses simple ingredients such as pears, coconut water, cinnamon, lemons, salt, and honey that is sure to inspire thoughts of chilled and lighter soups for the warmer months ahead.

Brazilian Shrimp Soup - Featured on FoodandWine.com, this delicious soup uses coconut milk, tomatoes, shrimp, and rice that the writer says "will keep you coming back for more." With its unique combination of flavors and easy preparation, I think I know what soup I am going to try next week.

What soups did you try this month?


Seriously Soupy Serena

How to Make Chicken Soup and Chicken Stock

Chicken Noodle Soup by Cindy Feingold of Salt and Serenity

I recently had the pleasure to learn more about Cindy Feingold and her food blog - Salt and Serenity from a casual email discussing soup. Cindy passionately stated that "making your own stock seems to be be a lost art these days and while stock in a box is fine, nothing beats homemade stock." As I have been learning through this Soupy experiment that couldn't be more true. Cindy also kindly shared with me a chicken noodle soup recipe and easy chicken stock recipes -- taking the mystery out of this not-so-mysterious cooking experience. Be sure to check out Cindy's 'Wishing for Chicken Soup' post (including preparation tips through pictures) on Salt and Serenity and of course follow her recipes to make your very own cup of comfort this weekend.


Chicken Soup By Cindy Feingold of Salt and Serenity
Serves 6  

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken

7 pounds chicken bones

12 cups chicken stock (recipe below)

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths

2 celery stalks (with leaves), cut into 2 inch lengths

2 parsley stems (not the leaves)

10 black whole peppercorns

1 dried bay leaf

salt and black pepper to taste
 
chopped parsley and/or dill
 
cooked egg noodles or white rice, if desired

Directions:
    1.    Pour chicken stock into a large stockpot.  Add chicken bones and whole chicken and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to low and, using a slotted spoon, skim off the foam that has risen to the top.  Add vegetables, bay leaf, parsley stems and whole peppercorns.  Let simmer for about 2 hours.
    2.    Strain the soup and transfer it to a clean pot.  I love the flavour of the cooked carrots, so I always save them to serve in the soup.  Using 2 forks, remove skin and bones from whole chicken and shred the meat into bite sized pieces.  Discard all bones and other vegetables.
    3.    Put reserved carrots and shredded chicken into fridge. Let pot of strained soup sit on the counter until cooled a little bit.  Cover pot and chill in fridge overnight.  The next day, remove layer of hardened fat off the top.
    4.    Bring cold soup to a boil. Turn down heat and add cooked egg noodles or rice, reserved carrots and chicken and simmer for about 5 minutes,  Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and/or dill.

Chicken Stock By Cindy Feingold of Salt and Serenity
Makes 12 cups

Ingredients:
8 pounds chicken bones

12 cups cold water

2 onions, peeled and quartered

2 carrots , peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths

2 celery stalks (with leaves), cut into 2 inch lengths

2 dried bay leaves

2 parsley stems (not the leaves)

10 whole black peppercorns

Directions:
    1.    Place bones and water in a stockpot and bring to a boil.
    2.    Reduce heat to a simmer and using a slotted spoon, skim off any foam on the surface.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours.
    3.    Strain liquid and discard all the vegetables and bones.
    4.    Refrigerate stock and remove layer of fat from the top.  Use stock as needed, or freeze in small containers for a later use.  Stock keeps well in the freezer for 4 months.


Cindy Feingold is a passionate foodie that runs the popular blog Salt and Serenity, both of which she states she craves. She had had a passion for food since high school in Toronto but never considered a culinary career until after she received her MBA. Cindy later went onto the Culinary School in Toronto and worked for several years in the industry, cooking at restaurants, gourmet take-out food shops and catering.  In 1989 her and her husband started a family and shortly after that they moved to Ottawa.  Now that her kids are almost grown up (20, 19 and 17), Cindy has been slowly easing her way back into the food world and writing writing a food column in Ottawa.  She also recently decided to start Salt and Serenity after joining the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge as a way to chronicle her baking journey.  After the challenge was over, she was hooked and decided to continue exploring her love of food through blogging.

 

Quinoa Chicken Soup

 Quinoa Chicken Soup

It was one of those days-I needed a quick and easy soup for dinner and the rainy day had me jonsing for a classic chicken. I mixing it up a bit by using Quinoa, chickpeas, chicken breasts (instead of a whole one) and various seasonings (sea salt, tumeric and curry) that was pretty true to a standard chicken soup. Enjoy!

Quinoa Chicken Soup
Ingredients:
6-8 cups of water
2-3 chicken breasts
1 whole leek, chopped up
2-3 carrots, chopped up
1 cup of Quinoa
1 yellow onion, diced
1-2 cups of chickpeas

1 tablespoon of garlic
bunch of fresh dill
bunch of fresh basil

pinch of sea salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of celery salt
pinch of tumeric
pinch of curry

Directions:
Add water to a pot and start boiling the water. Cut up the onions, garlic, leeks and carrots and add them to the pot, along with the fresh dill and basil. Cut the chicken into one-inch squares and add to the pot. Cover and let cook for 20-30 minutes. Add the Quinoa, chickpeas and various seasonings (sea salt, pepper, celery salt, tumeric and curry). Taste to adjust. Let cook for another 15 minutes. Turn off the flame and enjoy! So easy!

Seriously Soupy Serena

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 The Return of Seriously with a Chicken Tortilla Soup

Seriously Soupy has been seriously absent these past few days (if you hadn't noticed). And I am not happy about it. The past week involved regular toddler madness/fun-times, new employment opportunities (yippee!), trying to figure out childcare, finish up some freelance projects, and of course life in general that made it very difficult to devote the time and attention needed to making soup. This also had me realize that as a one-person operation I still want to focus on the site, but that I would have to go back to my original intention, which was to "create a new soup every week and write about it," as opposed to providing daily content. Although I still want to do that and think soup deserves to be talked about daily, I'm just not able to do that right now. But, of course this can (and hopefully) will change very soon with the addition of more soupy contributors (like you!) who will share their favorite recipes or new ideas to the site. After all, I do want to make this site more of a soupy community, and not just me sprouting off my own ideas of bean and vegetable soups all the time! If you are interested in contributing to the site, please email me directly at seriouslysoupy@gmail.com.

Anyway, so for this week I was trying to figure out a simple, yet hearty meal-in-a-soup concept by sticking to using items I had in my home. I decided on making a chicken tortilla soup—a pretty common little soupy, but one that I had never made before. I ended up having to buy many of the ingredients, but it was worth it! This soup was both spicy and a little tangy, and of course pretty darn good. Let me know what you think!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
32oz of Pacific Organic Chicken Broth
2-4 cups of water (start with two and add more, if needed)
28oz can of Plum Tomotoes
3 organic chicken breasts
1/2 of a red onion, chopped up
1 tablespoon of pre-minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 scallion, cut up
1 jalapeno pepper, cut up (can be omitted)

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Medley of various peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
1 can of corn or 2 ears of corn
2 cups of kidney beans (or bean of your choice)
Splash of lime juice (use your discretion)
1/2 of an avocado for garnish
couple of tortilla chips for garnish
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:
In a soup pot or large pan, drizzle about one-two tablespoons of olive oil. Chop up the onion, scallion, garlic, and jalapeno peppers, adding them to the pot. Let cook on a low heat and cut up the chicken into small squares, add to the pot and let cook. Add the tomatoes. I used plum (what I had), but it might be easier to use a pureed can of sauce since I had to cut up the tomatoes. Or, you can be really adventurous and use whole tomatoes. Chop up the rosemary and various colorful peppers, pour in the water, chicken broth and lime juice, and let cook on a low-to-medium flame, stirring and checking on the soup periodically. While this was cooking, I decided that the soup would also have beans, so I started a second pot of water, let it boil and added the dry kidney beans. When the beans were finished (about two hours later), I added the corn to the soup and added some seasonings as I tasted (cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper). I also added about 2 more cups of water (it was pretty spicy-never deny the strength of a jalapeno!), grabbed some chips, and cut up some avocado for a garnish and it was go to good!

How have you made Chicken Tortilla Soup?

Seriously Soupy Serena

Chicken Orzo Soup with Spinach

Chicken Orzo Soup with Spinach

Being sick is no fun and that is a very mild way to put it. Even though Seriously Soupy and the Seriously Soupy household obviously gets a good dosing of soup and healthy eats (in general) that doesn't mean ugly viruses can't rear their head into our lives, and this was certaintly the case this week. This ugly virus was so bad that I literally couldn't sit up-leaving me unable to post on my beloved blog. Today, things are MUCH better and this is mainly due to actually getting rest, drinking tons of liquids, and of course downing soup, specifically chicken orzo soup. Although the first couple of days, eating was nearly impossible, as I got better and my appetite slowly came back the only soup that I craved was a classic chicken-noodle type of a soup that was light, provided some sustenance, and simple enough to prep in my weakened state. I decided to use orzo instead of noodles and added in some spinach, zucchini, and mushrooms for a much-needed veggie boast. Pretty simple and nothing too inventive, but a soup I needed and one that I am sure glad to have now that there is an impending blizzard over here in NYC.

Chicken Orzo Soup with Spinach
Ingredients:
water, enough to cover chicken
1 whole chicken
2-3 carrots, cut up length wise
2 parsnips, chopped up
1 zucchini, chopped up
1 cup of orzo
1 chive, chopped up
Handful of mushrooms, chopped up
Bunch of dill, tied together with white thread
Bunch of parsley, tied together with white thread
1 yellow onion, chopped up into small squares
handful of spinach
pinch of sea salt, adding and tasting as you go
White string or thread

Directions:
Add water to the pot and let boil on a low flame. Chop up the onion and chives and tie the the parsley and dill together with white string and place these items into the pot. When the water starts boiling add the chicken, parsnips, and carrots and allow the broth to cook for two-three hours, checking on it periodically adding salt as you go. After that time, chop up the mushrooms and zucchini and add this to the pot. Let cook for another 30 minutes and add more water to a another pot for the orzo. Let boil and add the orzo. This is a really quick cooking process (about 10 minutes) and then grab a bunch of fresh spinach (wash first) and place it in a soup bowl along with a scoop of cooked orzo. Turn off the soup pot, test your broth, add salt (if necessary), and the pour it into your bowl. The spinach will wilt due to the heat and your soup is ready to go. Enjoy!

 

What soups get you through the cold or the inevitable winter months?

Seriously Soupy Serena

Citrus Barley and Chicken Soup

 Citrus Barley and Chicken Soup—Adventures with Barley-Part One

Citrus Barley and Chicken Soup

You may be asking yourself, what exactly prompted me to make a chicken soup with citrus? Well, basically the answer to that would be barely. I love this hearty grain and I especially wanted to test out a soup with it since one of my dearest, but not so nearest friends-Creative Flutter created a recipe using it as well. So instead of featuring one barley recipe this week I thought it would be interesting to feature two recipes that used a similar combination of ingredients, but that were prepared in two totally different ways. Where the citrus part came from, I haven't the faintest idea. I did know that I wanted to create a twist on a chicken soup and lemon chicken in a soup sounded interesting to me, so that was it. I then decided to include oranges, cranberries, and lemons as the base of the soup, hoping to create a tangy/semi-sour/savory soup with a zip without having any idea if this was even possible! Although I didn't know what the concoction would turn into, I enjoyed the process of trying to figure out the right level of citrus/sour, while attempting make it well, taste good! Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this tangy and refreshing little citrus soup, although other people (Lonnie Feldman-occasional soupy writer) begged to defer by stating "I don't get why these flavors are put together." Oh well, to soup his own. Be sure to check out another variation of a chicken and barley soup tomorrow by the extraordinary Creative Flutter. Until then, here's how to create your own citrus soup:

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
6-8 cups of water
2-3 cups of barley
1 zucchini, cut up
2-3 oranges, cut up into thick strips
2 lemons, cut up into thick strips
1/4 bag of fresh cranberries
1 leek, cut up
1 yellow onion, diced into squares
1 stalk of celery, cut up
1/2 bag of carrots, cut up
1 parsnip, cut up
dill, bunched together by string
parsley, bunched together by string
approximately 1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:
Essentially, you are beginning by making a chicken broth. I used Grandma Fay's recipe, but added leeks (had them on hand) and used a whole chicken (as opposed to chopping it up like I did in the past). Let the broth cook for about 2-3 hours, checking on it periodically. I found I had to keep the flame low and add some more water.  Then, cut up and add the oranges and lemons to the pot. While the soup is boiling, start boiling another pot of water (approximately 2 cups) where the cranberries will cook. While they cook the cranberries will make a popping sound as the berries release, so it's best to keep this pot covered as it cooks. I also didn't include the cranberries in the soup pot because I didn't want to add a red color to the soup, but if that doesn't bother you then no additional pot is required. When the cranberries are finished (approximately 10 minutes) add it to the soup pot, along with the barley and let that cook for another 30 minutes. I also added additional carrots, zucchini, and onions since they got very soft after cooking for 2-3 hours. This is completely optional though. Then add salt, pepper, and taste. The soup will be tangy, which is the intent, but if you prefer something a little more subtle, you can add more water and salt to dull some of the citrus. You can also opt to use less lemons/oranges if you like. Lower flame and enjoy!!!

P.S. Although I used chicken, there is no reason why you couldn't omit that part and use a veggie stock. Remember most recipes can be made vegetarian, you just have to tweak them a bit...

Seriously Soupy Serena

Vegetable and Chicken Medley Soup

For the past couple of days I have been really sick, which is no fun as we all know. One of the best remedies for a cold is soup! I wanted to create a hearty soup and one that would make me feel good as well as provide me with a substantial amount of nutrients, so I decided on a vegetable/chicken creation. This variety was incredible and made 6 large bowls of soup, making it less than 2.00 per bowl. Dig in and slurp it up!

P.S. A vegetable/chicken medley soup is also called garbage soup since it can be changed and varied, depending on your preferences and dietary restrictions. Take out the chicken, if you are a vegetarian and add tofu, or switch up the potatoes for pasta. whatever you want to change you can! One of the best things about soup is the choice is yours.
 
Vegetable and Chicken Medley Soup 
Ingredients:
Organic vegetable broth (I used organic cause I happened to go into a health-food store. A chicken broth is fine, but a beef broth may not add the same flavors…
2-3 cups of water
2-3 red potatoes
Half a bag of mixed frozen veggies or veggie of your choice
Half a bag of chopped organic carrots
Organic chicken breasts cut up into cubes
Salt and Pepper (Taste to determine how much)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 clove of garlic chopped up
Half of a red onion chopped up
Rosemary (Fresh is better, but I used dried) 

Directions:
Pour broth and water in a large soup pot. Bring to a slight boil and add onions, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and bouillon. Add chicken to the pot. After around 20 minutes add carrots, potatoes. Mixed veggies can be added during the last 10-15 minutes, since they cook so quickly. salt and pepper to taste and devour! Approximate cooking time: 2 hours.

Side note: For this soup, I added raw spinach to the bottom of my bowl and poured the soup on top. Since the soup was super hot it essentially cooked the spinach. I also added a bit of cheese to the top. Again, soup variations are so easy and can be catered toward your palate.

Seriously Soupy Serena
PS. No pic on this one, but I will post for the next…Enjoy the soup and let me know about how your vegetable medley turns out.