Clam Chowder in HM bread bowls April 21, 2010

Ok, so funny story.  I had a great clam chowder recipe.  It was very good and everyone liked it.  Clam chowder was on my menu last week and I went to make dinner and forgot that my clam chowder recipe was a crock pot recipe.  How did I forget this?  I have no idea!  So I scrambled over to recipezaar.com to find another.  Boy, am I glad I did!  This new recipe will completely replace mine and is SOOOO good!  I don’t even care that it has canned soup in it!  I changed up some stuff, so here is my rendition.  The original recipe had bacon, so if you like bacon in your clam chowder, by all means add it.  It didn’t need it.  It also called for fresh potatoes and I like to cheat and use cubed hashbrowns.   Yeah, I’m lazy like that.

Here it is:

Served 8

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 (5 ounce) cans baby clams, with juice reserved
• 4 cups  frozen cubed hashbrowns
• 4 (10 1/2 ounce) cans cream of celery soup (I used low sodium/fat)
• 4 cups half and half
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1. In a soup pot cook onion until translucent.
2. Add clam juice from both cans.
3. Add potatoes.
4. Cook and cover until potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes, stirring every so often so potatoes don’t stick.
5. Add clams, soup, cream, milk, and dill weed and stir to mix well.
6. Add butter and let melt into the chowder.
7. Cook for about 30-45 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

See how easy that is?

It’s unbelievably delicious.

I took a picture of the bread bowls but never got to them actually filled with chowder because… it was too good.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup in HM Bread Bowls April 9, 2010

Yummy.  Now this is supposed to be a copy-cat recipe of Panera’s Cheddar Broccoli Soup, but since I’ve never had soup at Panera I can’t tell you how close it is.  I can tell you it was good.  Very, very, very, (veryveryveryveryVERY) good.

And easy.  Can’t beat good AND easy!

I made my regular wheat bread dough (double recipe) and formed large bread balls about half the size I wanted the bread bowls to be.  They were all different sized.  Jaizy had a little one and Jason had a large one and everyone else was something in between.  Bake as directed on bread post for the most part.  I baked mine on a baking stone about 10 minutes less than normal.  If you need help with the bread bowls, just ask.  That made 6 bread bowls.

Here is the recipe as listed, my ingredients modifications are listed below.

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup

• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 8 slices Kraft Sharp Cheddar singles
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/3 cup diced white onion
• Pinch ground black pepper

1. Steam the broccoli however method you choose.  I used the microwave.  Chop broccoli into pieces that are about the size of peas with a knife or food processor.
2. Pour the chicken broth into a large saucepan with the half and half.  Whisk in the flour and then add the remaining ingredients including the broccoli.  Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until mixture begins to bubble.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender and the soup is thick.
3. Makes 4 servings

I have mondo family so I made 2.5 times the recipe.  Plus we like leftovers.

• 9 cups broccoli ( or thereabouts)
• 10 cups chicken broth (I made mine with Better than Bullion paste)
• 2.5 cups half and half
• 1.25 cups flour
• 4 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 large carrots, shredded
• 1 medium chopped onion

I must add that I like love adore pepper, so I sprinkle layer cover my food generously.

Chicken and Tortellini Soup February 17, 2010

Yum in a bowl.  And healthy too!  This is a BIG stock pot of soup and will feed us for days.  As it should!

Ingredients:
6 carrots, diced
5 celery stocks, diced
1 large onion, diced
20 cups of water


4 Tbsp Better Than Bullion paste
3 cups of chicken, shredded or diced (I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot and then picked it apart)
3 cups tortellini, either dehydrated or refrigerated

Instructions:
Coat bottom of stockpot with 2-3 Tbsp of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and place cut up veggies in pot.  Cook over medium/high heat until just soft.
Add water, Better Than Bullion and chicken.
Bring water to simmer and add tortellini.  Cook about 12-15 minutes until pasta is done.
Tada!  Dinner is served!

  Done!  

Tortilla Soup February 2, 2010

So, if you’re my friend on Facebook you may have noticed there was a bit of a debate about Tortilla soup: Thick or Thin? This is because I have never had it before I made it myself but it was requested by the husband. The first time I made it from a WW recipe and it was pretty good! His complaint: It wasn’t thick enough. Hence the question on FB.

So I was given a recipe of a thicker recipe to try. I altered it. A lot. But here it is to begin with and with my changes.

Original Pampered Chef Recipe, Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup (Thanks Geli!)

To prepare and freeze

1 portion Make-Ahead Chicken 3 cups tortilla chips, finely crushed

2 cups frozen corn kernels 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies

8 oz pasteurized process cheese spread,cut into 1-in. cubes

2 tbsp Chipotle Rub

To finish and serve

2 cans (14 oz each) reduced-sodium chicken broth

Optional toppings, such as shredded cheddar cheese, snipped fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes and additional crushed tortilla chips

1. Prepare and freeze

• In Bag 1, combine chicken, chips and corn. • In Bag 2, combine cheese spread, tomatoes and rub.

• Seal Bag 2 and place into Bag 1; seal. Freeze for up to three months.

2. Finish and serve!

To cook and serve immediately

• Add contents of Bag 2 and broth to (4-qt.) Casserole. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook 12-14 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth, stirring

occasionally.

• Add contents of Bag 1 to Casserole; simmer 4-6 minutes or

until soup is thickened.

• Serve soup with optional toppings, if desired.

To cook and serve from freezer

• Cook contents of Bag 2 and broth as directed above,

whisking occasionally using Silicone Sauce Whisk.

• Add contents of Bag 1 and cook as directed above,

breaking chicken apart as necessary using Bamboo

Spatula.

• Serve soup with optional toppings, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrients per serving (excluding optional ingredients):

Calories 370, Total Fat 16 g, Saturated Fat 7 g, Cholesterol 75 mg,

Carbohydrate 29 g, Protein 30 g, Sodium 1770 mg, Fiber 2 g

Ok, looked fine and dandy but as I started going through my kitchen there were some major flaws. Like I didn’t have any extra chicken. Whoops. And as I was cooking and adding things to the pot it didn’t look like very much, so here are my adaptations:

One nice piece of Steak, sliced thin and into bite size pieces. Brown in pan until just cooked.

Pour in 1 can of chicken broth and 4 cans of water to pan. Add 1 Tbsp Better than Bullion, Veggie flavor. Put 2 cans of diced tomatoes with chilis into food processor and blend until smooth. Add to pan with diced cheese cubes (full 24 oz). Bring to a simmer over medium heat until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally.

Add Crushed Tortilla chips (About 20 small corn tortillas, cut into 6 pie pieces with pizza cutter and baked to a nice crisp in the oven and then smashed into itty-bitty pieces.) and about 3 cups of frozen corn.

Cook until soup is thickened and corn is not frozen any longer.

Serve in a bowl with a nice drop of sour cream!