Ingredients
- 5-6 Russet potatoes
- 4 cups of chicken stock or water
- 2 small leeks, sliced
- 4 T butter
- 1/2 c. half and half
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- chives to garnish (optional)
Method
- Leeks can be very sandy, to be sure to wash them well before slicing.
- Saute leeks in butter until soft and bright green (about 15 minutes), then set aside.
- Dice potatoes into bite-sized pieces and place into large saucepan or Dutch oven.
- Cover potatoes with stock. If you need a little more liquid to cover the potatoes just add water until potatoes are just covered.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Bring potatoes to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
- Smash potatoes against the side of the pot until the soup is a texture that makes you happy. You can use a hand blender to make it smoother if you like, but we prefer it a bit chunky.
- Stir in leeks and half and half.
- Adjust seasoning if necessary.
I know it seems just too easy, but you're gonna love it, especially with a green beer!
Ingredients:
- 2 each 2-3 pound chickens
- 1 bunch celery
- 2 white sweet onions, peeled and quartered
- 8 carrots
- 1 bunch curly parsley
- 1 head chopped fennel
- 1 cup peeled garlic
- 1 lb. dried pasta- your choice
- 1lb. sliced smoked bacon
- 1lb. fresh shucked green peas
- 2 cans sweet corn, or 5 ears shucked sweet corn
- 2 cans cooked white beans
Method:
- Cut chicken into quarters and rinse with cold water.
- Place the ends of the celery and carrots, the heart of the fennel, and all of the white onions into a pot along with the chicken and the parsley.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and cool.
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat from the bones. Throw the bones and skin in the garbage and shred the chicken.
- Remove all of the other vegetable pieces from the broth.
You now have the perfect base for your soup!
- Add the chopped carrots, celery, and fennel to the broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the sweet peas, sweet corn, and white beans. (*note: If you are using canned corn and beans, rinse them with cold water in a strainer.)
- Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
- In a separate sauté pan, render sliced and chopped bacon until crispy. Discard half the fat and then add the crisp bacon and fat to the soup.
- In a separate pot of salted boiling water, cook the small pasta pieces, strain an then add to the soup. (*note: If you are not eating all of the soup in one sitting, just add a small amount of cooked pasta to the soup and save the remaining pasta in a separate bowl for the next time you serve the soup. Otherwise, the pasta will continue to grow, get mushy and soak up all of your soup.)
- Season with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper and add the shredded chicken.
Serve with roasted olive oil soaked sourdough bread and a good bottle of dry white wine!
Enjoy!
Feeds- 6-8 peeps
Ingredients
- 2 each 2-3 pound chickens
- 1 bunch celery
- 2 white sweet onions/ peeled and quartered
- 8 carrots
- 1 bunch curly parsley
- 1 head chopped fennel
- 1 cup peeled garlic
- 1# dried pasta- your choice
- 1# sliced smoked bacon
- 1# fresh shucked green peas
- 2 cans sweet corn- or 5 ears shucked sweet corn
- 2 cans cooked white beans
Method
- cut chicken into quarters and rinse with cold water
- place the ends of the celery and carrots, the heart of the fennel and all of the white onions into a pot along with the chicken and the parsley.
- bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
Remove the chicken and cool.
- once the chicken is cool enough, not to burn your hands- remove all the meat from the bones. Throw the bones and skin in the garbage and shred the chicken.
- remove all of the other vegetable pieces. (Now you have a base to your soup)
- add the chopped carrots, celery, and fennel to the broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
- add the sweet peas, sweet corn and white beans. (*note- if you are using canned corn and beans, rinse them off with cold water in a strainer)…
Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
- in a separate sauté pan- render sliced and chopped bacon until crispy – discard half the fat and then add the crisp bacon and fat to the soup.
- in a separate pot of salted boiling water, cook the small pasta pieces, strain an then add to the soup. (*note- if you are not eating all of the soup in 1 seating, just add a small amount of cooked pasta to the soup and save the remaining pasta in a separate bowl for the next time you serve the soup. Otherwise, the pasta will continue to grow, get mushy and soak up all of your soup.)
- Season with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper and add the shredded chicken.
- Serve with roasted olive oil soaked sourdough bread and a good bottle of dry white wine!
Enjoy!
My mother in law has been living with us for over two years. Some people look at my and roll their eyes and ask me if I am crazy. Well, first of all my wife negotiated this deal ten years ago, so when it finally happened, it was smooth as silk. My mother in law has added so much fabric and layers to our warm and loving home.
Not only does she always make me laugh, but boy can she cook. One of my favorite dishes she makes is Sopa de Hueso. It is common in many Latin American countries and this is her version, with a little twist from me. Listen to this song, while you are getting your soup on………..
My favorite request from her when I asked her for the recipe was, “Please arrange this recipe in your professional way.” Would I do it any other way?
Ingredients
- 5 pounds Beef neck bones or oxtails, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander
- 1 whole onion medium-cut into quarters.
- Beef stock (optional)- 2 ounces
- 1 head of white Cabbage cut into 3 inch wedges
- 5 ears of Corn on a cob, cut into halves
- 1 pound Yuca- (to make things easy, buy the pre-cooked frozen product)
- 1 pound String beans
Method
- Simmer the bones, coriander and onion at least an hour
- After the hour, remove the onion and coriander from the broth
- Add vegetables and cook until tender
- Season with crushed red peppers, sea salt, cracked black pepper and a wedge of lemon.
Feeds 4 people
Ingredients for Soup
- 6 Idaho potatoes- peeled, washed and chopped
- 1 chopped Spanish onion
- 1 cup peeled garlic
- 2 quarts Chicken stock
- 4 oz Heavy Cream
- Fresh Cracked Black pepper to taste
- Sea Salt to taste
Method
- Roast garlic in a 350 degree oven until golden brown and soft
- In a Pot- sauté chopped onions in olive oil until tender and golden brown
- Add chopped Potatoes, Chicken broth and Roasted Garlic
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes or until the onions, potatoes and garlic are tender.
- If you have a blender on a stick, then just blend all of the ingredients until they are smooth.
- If no stick blender is around- go nice and slowly and use your counter blender.
Note- do not fill the blender container to full or you will have potato soup all over your kitchen walls.
Once the soup is smooth, add the heavy cream (Bring the cream to a boil first).
Season with salt and pepper and garnish each bowl of soup with a healthy spoonful of pesto….see recipe below:
Pesto Recipe
- 2 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup (4 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- In a blender or food processor, combine the basil, Parmesan or Romano, and olive oil. Whirl to form a paste.
- Stir in pine nuts; season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Roasted sourdough bread and a yummy Pinot Noir complete the meal!
