Category: Soup of the Week (Page 24 of 25)

My father and I share a love for this simple soup.  It’s a great tummy settler for those of us who may have over indulged this weekend.

Ingredients

• 2 6 oz. cans Oysters – with Juice
• Whole Milk
• 1 Cap, Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 Dabs Butter
• Salt and Pepper

Pour oysters and juice into medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Fill one of the oyster containers 1 ½ times with milk, add to saucepan and bring to a near scald.  Reduce the heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from the heat and add the butter.  Let it melt across the top of the milk. Serve in big bowls with a side of Nabisco Saltines and some more of that butter!

By David Lee

It is Christmas week, so we needed a Soup of the Week that represents Christmas.  For me, there was never a question whose soup we would put on the site for this first Into the Soup Christmas. So, if you will please indulge me, I would like to tell you about someone who is quite amazing.

There is one place that truly means Christmas to me. When I was a kid, we moved a lot, so I don’t remember how many Christmas’ I actually spent there, but this place lingers in my memory. I am sure most everyone has just such a memory, usually from your childhood, that sticks with you so that no matter where else you spend Christmas, that place and time is the measure for all subsequent Christmas’. For me, it is a house just a few steps from the train on the North Shore of Chicago and, more importantly, the woman who lives there.

As a child, the house seems massive with a great staircase, four rooms upstairs, a basement where the kids played and a large, elegant living room with a fireplace, the perfect spot for the Christmas tree and plenty of room for presents. As the snow fell outside, the house was warm inside, and a series of great smells were always rising from the kitchen. Cherry pie, apple pie, cinnamon twists, the world’s best ginger cookies, or my favorite banana bread arrived as if off an assembly line. But, they were all baked by just one person, Mrs. Co McArthur.

Now, she would not like me disclosing this, but CoCo (or Co or Cozy if you wish) is my grandmother. This fact is an admission similar to what magicians call the “reveal.” You see, at 95 years old, Coco bears no resemblance to the typical grandmother. She has more energy than most people a third her age, and she gets more done before 9 A.M. than the US Army. She drives her own cherry red Cadillac, takes care of her house with little assistance, still plays the odd round of golf and arrived at her last birthday party on the back of a Harley motorcycle. This is the same party, by-the-way, where she took it on herself to order an Elvis impersonator to entertain the crowd.

CoCo has many activities that mean a lot to her, but two are very special. One is her curling club. She and my Grandfather, Chuck, joined the Chicago Curling Club in 1968, and she has been an active member ever since.  At age 93 she became the most mature woman to curl in a bonspiel (tournament) at the club, and then the bonspiel was named after her. If that were not enough, she manages the scoreboards for all major club events. In 1971, Coco became Secretary of the Women’s Western Golf Foundation which is a position she still holds today. The cause of the WWGA is education for women. The organization provides scholarships for worthy and deserving women to attend college.

Most importantly, CoCo has 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren all of whom look at her as a great role model and inspiration. I have not surveyed my cousins, but if I did, I have no doubt that they would hold similar memories of Christmas with Coco – the world’s greatest baker (and a darn good soup maker too). So, it is with great pride that I wedge myself into this weeks Soup of the Week to submitted by and dedicate to CoCo.

To learn more about the Women’s Western Golf Association, click here.

Merry Christmas from Into the Soup

Co McArthur’s Minnesota Heartland Soup

• 1 pkg. Dry Beans
• 3 qts. Water
• 1 T. Salt
• 1 Smoked Ham Hock
• Bouquet Garni [in cheesecloth bag]

Rinse and drain beans.  Place all ingredients in 8 qt. pot and simmer 3 hours.

• 1 28-oz. Can Italian Tomatoes
• 2 C. Onion, Chopped
• 2 C. Celery, Chopped
• 1 Green Pepper, Chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• Freshly Ground Pepper

Chop all vegetables and add to pot.  Simmer uncovered 1 ½ hours.

• 1 lb. Sliced, Smoked Kielbasa Sausage
• 1-2 Whole Chicken Breasts, Sliced Into Small Pieces While

   

  Raw or Slightly Frozen

Add sausage and chicken and simmer covered 40 minutes. This soup can be made a day or more ahead or frozen.  With an optional garnish of 2C. cooked white or wild rice, French bread and a green salad, this soup serves 10 to  12.  A Hearty Winter Dinner!

This is a recipe from an old friend of mine from my home of  Spokane, Washington – R.G. Schultz.  We went to school together and he was a close friend of my brothers’. I always see him talking about what he made for dinner on Facebook, so I asked him for a soup.  I think he probably pulled this out of his…. um, head.  Looks good to me!! Fisherman’s Wharf Cioppino (4-2 cup servings recipe).

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 Table spoon fresh minced garlic (or more)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 16 oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes cut up
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons crushed dry basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves crushed
• pepper to taste 1/4 tsp. or so
• 1 lb of cod fillets cut into 2″ cubes
• 1 lb of crab legs cut into 3″ lengths and slit for easy opening
• 8-10 steamer clams scrubbed and in the shell
• 1/2 lb of nice shrimp peeled and deveined.
• 1/2 lb of small scallops.

In a heavy 4 quart sauce pan over medium heat, saute onion green pepper and garlic until onion is happy and transparent.Add tomatoes, wine, parsley, tomato paste, bouillon, basil, oregano and pepper; stir and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes while you treat yourself to a nice glass of White Zin.Add cod crab and clams. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 8 minutes while you reload on the Zin. Add shrimp and scallops into the love. Bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes or until fish and shrimp and scallops look happy and the clams open.Sourdough bread, lemon wedges sprinkle bowls with parsley. Serve immediatly with wine and bibs.

Love You Chipmunk !

Heidi

Chef Rene Jacobus is a good friend of into the Soup, a die-hard ACF member, and a teller of some great risque jokes. Let us know if you would like to hear some. This soup is dedicated to the Susan G. Komen Run for the Cure. For more information click here.

Ingredients:

• 2  eggs
• 2  Tbsp grated Piccorino Parmesano or any imported parmesan cheese
• 2  Tbsp Parsley, flat leave or Italian, chopped
• 1  Pinch Nutmeg, grated or ground nutmeg
• Salt to taste
• 1  Qt. Chicken stock, fresh or canned

 In a small bowl, beat the eggs until well blended, mix in the cheese, parsley, nutmeg and salt. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a 3 qt. pot over high heat. Pour in the egg mixture, stirring with a wisk very gently, for two minutes. The egg mixture will form tiny flakes. Taste the seasoning, serve hot.

Chef Rene Jacobus’ Bio

Born in Quito / Ecuador, South America, Chef Rene did his apprenstiship at the Grand Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland. He worked for the Moevenpick Restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland, returned to Quito, and became Sous Chef at the Hotel Colon and Inter-Continental Hotel Quito. Chef Rene came to the United States in 1969 and worked for Brennan’s French Restaurants in Houston and Dallas, TX. He then worked for Sheraton  Hotels in Chicago, St. Louis and Norfolk, VA. For  28 years, he was Executive Chef  and Regional Chef for Club Corp. Presently, he is the Executive Chef for Banner Boswell Memorial Hospital in Sun City, AZ

Barb sent us this soup via the website. Thanks, Barb. We ate every last bit.

Barb: This recipe makes a rich corn chowder that is easy to make in a large (5-6 qt) slow cooker (could also be made stovetop).  I took this soup to a church soup supper, and there were NO leftovers. I like to enhance it with bacon; but depending on your taste, you could also add shrimp and/or jalapeno peppers. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 16-oz bags frozen corn (or 6 c fresh corn cut from the cob)
• 1 20-oz bag refrigerated or frozen Southern-style hash browns
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cans cream of potato soup
• 2 c chicken broth
• 2 c heavy cream
• 2 T fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 8 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• Optional: 1 c small shrimp, shelled and deveined
• Optional: 1-2 jalapeno peppers, minced
• Optional: shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

In a large (5-6 qt) slow cooker, combine first five ingredients, bacon (if desired), and jalapeno pepper (if desired).  Cook on Low setting for 4 hours. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to the desired degree. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could remove some of the soup, puree it in a blender, and return it to the crock pot.) Add cream, parsley, salt and pepper, and shrimp (if desired).  Cook on Low 1  more hour.

Serve in generous mugs or bowls. Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Gail Harris is a member of the into the Soup fan page who “loves making soup” and that “some of my best soups are from what ever I can find in the refrigerator and freezer.” We agree with Gail and this one looks particularly yummy. Thanks for submitting.

Ingredients 

• 3 T butter
• ½ C chopped scallions
• 2 C blanched spinach (well drained)
• 2 C chicken broth 1 C water
• ¼ C uncooked rice
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ – 1 C heavy cream

Melt in a large saucepan 3 T of butter. Add ½ C chopped scallions and sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 C blanched and well drained spinach and sauté for 1 minute. Add 2 C chicken broth, 1 C water, ¼ C uncooked rice, and 1 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer until rice is done, 15-20 minutes. Puree in a blender in small batches. Return to pan and stir in ½ -1 C heavy or to taste and correct seasonings.Can be served hot of chilled.