Creamy Corn Soup with Red Bell Pepper (take two)

Kristi is in town!  It was great to see her and catch up.  While usually Kristi, Heather, Maria and I do happy hour, we decided to do soup instead!  It worked out to do soup on Monday night best for everyone, so we did Monday soup.  I decided to take another shot at the Creamy Corn Soup I did a few weeks ago.  This is such an easy soup, it's almost all cans!  I made the soup with regular green chili's this time, if you recall I used an entire can of jalapenos last time, which made the soup too hot.

Heather brought chips and salsa... and guacamole!  I made the soup and margaritas!  It was great for us to all be together again.  Kristi has been working in California for the past year, so it isn't very often that we can all get together and gab.  Heather, Maria and I still do happy hour semi-regularly, we are always tyring new places in Portland and have found a few winners.  We met in college through Alpha Kappa Psi, the professional business fraternity. 

Maria, Kristi and Heather

Each one of us are strong, business minded, independent women.  We're able to encourage, support and push each other to be our best.  What is so great about this is the amount of respect shared between us which means we might not like what we're hearing, but we can appreciate it and then continue on.  It was a good soup evening indeed shared with good friends and good conversation.  We miss you Kristi!  And thanks for the flowers Heather!

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This evening I made a classic, grilled cheese and tomato soup, although I did not make either of them the classic way.  I was inspired by one of my favorite chefs, Ina Garten, and the Glenwood restaurant in Eugene, OR.  My friend Jo came over for soup, Jo and I met at U of O our freshman year.  In our five years there, yes five, we used to frequent the Glenwood for cheap, always good, classic meals... the Glenwood is known for their tomato soup!



Jo checking out The Sunday Soup!



Jo and tomato soup were a perfect match for the evening, Jo is one of my favorite people and grilled cheese is one of my favorite foods!  I always enjoy seeing her, and we have no trouble picking up where we left off.  Jo is one of those people who loves life and it is infectious.  We had great conversation about life, religion, and work.  Jo and her roommates do Taco Tuesday every week and I got an invitation, which I will definitely take advantage of! 

Both the soup and grilled cheese recipes came from Ina.  I stuck exactly to the recipe for the soup, which turned out very good, it was nice and light with great flavor.  For the grilled cheese I used Dave's Killer Bread, Good Seed, and replaced Gruyere with Havarti cheese.  It was a rich sandwich and the mustard gave it a tang that went well with the creaminess. I got to use my panini machine and handheld immersion blender, yay!

Soup Recipe:
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup, Ina Garten

• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 quart chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Sandwich Recipe:


Ultimate Grilled Cheese, Ina Garten, How Easy is That?

12 slices thick-cut bacon, such as Nodine’s applewood smoked
1 cup good mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 white pullman loaf or sourdough bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick (12 slices)
6 tbsp salted butter, at room temperature
6 oz aged Gruyere or Comte cheese
6 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, such as Cabot or Shelburne Farms

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange the bacon on a baking rack set over a sheet pan in a single layer and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until nicely browned.  Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and cut in 1-inch pieces.

Meanwhile, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Lay 12 slices of bread on a board and spread each one lightly with butter.  Flip the slices and spread each one generously with the mayonnaise mixture.  Don’t neglect the corners!

Grate the cheeses in a food processor fitted with the largest grating disk and combine.  Distribute the bacon evenly on half the slices of bread.  Pile 1/3 cup grated cheese evenly on top of the bacon and top with the remaining bread slices, sauce side down.

Heat an electric panini press.  When the press is hot, cook the sandwiches for 3 to 5 minutes in batches until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted.  Allow to cool for 2 minutes.  Cut in half and serve warm.

Trader Joe's French Onion Soup

After a busy week and weekend, tonight was a chance for me to catch up on things around the house.  So, I did a little cheating... I made soup from Trader Joe's, and by made, I mean thawed!  Well come on, they are known for many wonderful freezer delights, and one of them happens to be French Onion Soup, at least in my family!

Asparagus Potage with Garlic "Cream"

Big night, Oscar night!  It was also a big night because I bought a hand held immersion blender and used it for the first time, discovered google books and learned a new word, potage (a thick soup).  Maria joined me for soup and the Oscars!

Love the shoes on Anne!

First, the Oscars.  It was a good show overall I would say, no surprises.  Anne Hathaway was great, James Franco was lame.  He looked bored at times and at others he seemed like he was above hosting the show.  Anne seemed to embrace it and she got props from Billy Crystal.  I wasn't able to find the clip, but her flub while introducing Sandra Bullock was hilarious.  She messed up on lines and suggested that everyone at home take a drink. 

It was also great to see Gwyneth, if she can get herself a leading role in a Broadway musical she just might perform at each of the big three award shows this year!

The soup... vegan and tasty, yes vegan.  As the story goes Maria bought a house in 2009.  She had a house warming party and I forgot the gift.  It has taken me nearly two years to finally give Maria the cook book I got for her, Voluptuous Vegan.  Maria is a vegetarian not a vegan, but I had heard good things about the book.  I have hauled that book around for that long and never opened it!  I can't believe that and now I am kicking myself, there was an entire section on soup.  I made the Asparagus potage with garlic 'cream'.  Because this is a vegan dish the 'cream' was made out of water, oil, tarragon and garlic cloves, my first chance to use my new immersion blender!

This takes me now to maybe the biggest discovery of the night... google books.  At google books you can search for books, naturally that is in the name.  After you search, results will pop up.  If a preview link appears next to the search results you can then view images of pages of the book.  Now, I have not tried to read an entire book, but it looks like the entire Voluptuous Vegan cookbook is on here.  I don't know the legalities of this, I'm sure google has this covered.  Nonetheless, google books allowed me to give Maria the cookbook and still have access to the recipe.

Recipe:
The link will take you to page 42 in the book for the recipe via google books.

Overall, good recipe.  It needed a little salt and the asparagus tops were a nice touch.

Tonight I had my good friend Katy over for soup.  When Katy said she wanted to come for soup I knew just what I was going to make... curry.  Last time I had Katy over for dinner I attempted to make a chicken curry with rice, somehow I burned the rice.  Yes, it is possible to burn rice.  It also happened to be the end of the rice, so we ended up having curry over noodles and by noodles I mean spaghetti.  Did I redeem myself this evening, I would say so.

We shared in great conversation, chicken curry soup and Portlandia.  Portlandia you say?  We were going to relive our childhoods and watch a favorite, Newsies, but somehow go sucked into Portlandia.  The show has become quite popular around town, not sure if it is gaining popularity anywhere else.  It is available OnDemand so we watched all five episodes.  While the first two are entertaining, the show becomes progressively off the wall.  If you haven't seen the show here is a clip from the first episode, Dream of the 90's.

The recipe I used tonight is from epicurious.com, it seemed to have good reviews and was super simple.  I did a quick curry rub on the chicken and cooked it on the stove.  I used 1.5 cans of lite coconut milk and tripled the curry to 1.5 Tablespoons.  I would recommend cooking the chicken before adding it to the soup.  I served the soup over brown bazmani rice, which I think was a little nutty for the curry.  I would make this soup again and add move vegetable like red peppers or eggplant.

Recipe:

Chicken Curry Soup with Coconut and Lime

• 1 14 1/2-ounce can low-salt chicken broth
• 1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 jalapeño chili, seeded, minced
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup freshly cooked white rice
• Lime wedges

Bring chicken broth, coconut milk, curry powder and chili to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chicken and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Mix in lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer soup to bowl. Sprinkle green onion and cilantro over. Spoon rice into each bowl. Ladle soup over. Serve, passing lime wedges separately.

Tonight was a night for organizing.  I have piles everywhere, so I decided I would make soup, get organized and watch the Grammy Awards... good decision.  After three file boxes and two bags of recycling I'm done!

Also, can I just say I love the Grammy Awards.  There is something about music that is so refreshing and inspiring.  Everyone on the show is following their heart and dream.  Music is all around us, in Portland you don't have to go far to find good music... Esperanza Spalding won Best New Artist award!

My favorite performance of the night Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan:




For the soup... I went with a super easy corn soup, and by super easy, I mean most of the ingredients are from a can.  Instead of water I used chicken stock.  Also, I used diced jalapenos instead of the chipotle peppers, I don't care for the chipotle pepper taste.  I used the entire 4oz. can of jalapenos which was too much and too hot, next time I will use half the can.  Overall, good flavor and I would make this soup again.


Recipe:

Creamy Corn Soup with Red Bell Pepper

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
• 2 cups (or more) water
• 2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chilies*
• 2 14 3/4-ounce cans cream-style corn
• 1 16-ounce package frozen corn
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic; sauté until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices to pot; cook 2 minutes. Combine 2 cups water and chipotle chilies in blender and puree. Mix puree and cream-style corn into vegetables in pot. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add frozen corn, cream and oregano; simmer 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

*Chipotle chilies canned in a spicy tomato sauce, sometimes called adobo, are available at Latin American markets, specialty foods stores and some supermarkets.

Otto's Beer Cheese Soup

Well, today was the Super Bowl... so I needed a Souper Bowl Soup!  I was cheering for the Packers, but I took it facebook.... chili or beer cheese soup?  Well beer cheese won by 2 votes, so beer cheese it was to cheer on the Packers!

For the second week in a row I did not make the soup at home, well last week I didn't even make the soup (thanks mom!)... I was at my Aunt's house to celebrate her mom Jo's, 85th birthday!  Jo wanted a southern meal, and while the beer cheese soup didn't go perfectly with it, it did go with the Super Bowl!

When I was searching for a beer cheese soup, all roads lead to Portland's own Otto's Sausage Kitchen.  The recipe itself was very simple.  If you know me, then you know I don't like beer... so I substituted Woodchuck Hard Cider for beer. 

I am a little under the weather, I have had a head cold all week, so I couldn't really taste the soup all that well, but everyone at the party enjoyed it.  I had a little help in the kitchen from Auntie and Emod, thanks!

Recipe:

Otto's Beer Cheese Soup

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 chopped medium sized yellow onion
• At least 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• At least 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 (12-ounce) beer of choice (recommended: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Blind Pig)
• 7 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, shredded
• 7 ounces processed Swiss cheese, shredded
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound smoked sausage (recommended: Otto's Smoked Polish Ring)

Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrot, and celery. Saute until softened. Add flour. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth and beer. Heat until it comes to a boil. Slowly add cheese while stirring until just boiling and smooth. Add half-and-half, salt, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook until soup has thickened. Cut smoked sausage into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a saucepan. Saute sausage over medium heat until heated through. It will probably take about 5 to 7 minutes. Add sausage to the soup, transfer to a large serving bowl and serve hot.