Archive for the ‘SOUPS, STEWS, CHILI’ Category
Turkey or Chicken Noodle Soup
This is a from a good friend and it sounds wonderful, I really like the addition of the potatoes. This recipe as listed is for using leftover turkey or chicken, which is perfect, especially with a leftover turkey. If you wish to make this with fresh chicken, or even turkey legs or wings, use the fresh meat to make the broth with trinity (carrot, onion, celery) first, then proceed as this is written. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams turkey or chicken, shredded or chopped
- 8 cups broth, chicken or vegetable, low salt
- 7 cups water
- 1 tablespoon sea salt, or 1 teaspoon table salt
- 6 medium potatoes, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced if big, sliced if medium or small
- 1/2 cup dry spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Seasoning, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- I boiled 5 chicken quarters, separated, and made the broth for this soup. Here is the chopped leg and thigh meat, fork tender and juicy.
- Add the broth and water to a large pot and the salt, note the differences between sea salt and table salt as well. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
- For the carrots, if using large Thai carrots, only need two, go ahead and dice those, if using the slender carrots like in the US, slice those into rings and add them to the pot once the water is boiling. Add the bay leaves as well. Add the broken pasta to the pot.
- Heat a large non stick pan on medium heat and add the olive oil, when hot, add the celery and onion, saute until golden and soft then add to the soup pot with the soup.
- Add the chicken or turkey meat to the pot, also add the Mrs. Dash seasoning and black pepper. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your desired liking.
- Simmer the soup until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
For a leftover dish, this is low cost as the turkey or chicken is already paid for in another recipe. If using fresh chicken to make a chicken soup, still low cost for 10 servings.
Shortcut: Mrs. Dash Seasoning.
This recipe for Turkey Noodle Soup is from Natasha's Kitchen.
Crab Bisque
Sounds good, and reasonable enough to use imitation crab for cost saving instead of lump crap, which is what I will do the first time I make this to verify the consistency of the bisque. There is several shortcuts for additional savings. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups milk
- 1 can condensed cream of asparagus soup, Shortcut
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, Shortcut
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 170 grams lump crab meat, drained, (6 oz)
- fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, mix together the milk, soups, and cream, bring to a boil stirring often, then reduce to a simmer.
- Stir in the crab meat and warm through.
- Serve garnished with chives sprinkled on top and crackers or bread on the side.
Notes
I will price this when I either pick some fresh crabs (cheapest way) or buy lump crab meat frozen. This should be easily low cost.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Asparagus Soup, Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Oyster Chowder
Sounds like a great chowder, and oysters are readily available at Tesco in the small containers.
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- 250 grams oyster meat, with liquid, (8 oz)
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup flour
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, add the milk and scald, which means bring it just to a boil.
- Strain the oysters and reserve the liquid. This is the type from Tesco I will use and I will verify the weight of each container and will update this with what I find out.
- In another pot, melt the butter then add the onion and parsley and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the Worcestershire sauce, season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.
- Add the oyster liquid and stir constantly and bring to a simmer, stir in the flour and stir continuously to thicken the mixture.
- When thickened, stir in the oysters and simmer until the edges curl, about 5 minutes, do not overcook the oysters.
- When the milk is scalded, stir that into the chowder until well blended.
- Serve with crackers or bread.
Notes
I will price this when I figure out how many containers of oysters I need, but reasonable to say this is low cost.
Damn Good Taco Soup
This comes from a good friend, and it sounds delicious. On my to cook list for sure. Several shortcuts to use for cost savings as well as preparing dried beans. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 packet dry ranch dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can toasted corn, OR 2 cups of fried corn from shortcut
- 1 can black beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked from dry beans
- 1 can red Kidney beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked from dry beans
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
- 2-4 green Bird's Eye chilies, chopped
- tomato juice, as needed
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a medium sized pot, drain the fat, then add the water and the taco seasoning and mix together.
- Drain and rinse the canned beans and if using those, add beans to the pot, plus the corn, tomatoes, chilies, ranch dressing and stir everything together.
- Adjust the soup to your desired consistency with tomato juice. Simmer until hot and everything is heated through.
- Serve.
Notes
Figure about 150 Baht for the beef. For 4 servings, this is about $1.10 per serving.
Shortcuts: Taco Seasoning, Ranch Dressing Mix, Fried Corn.
Recipe and photo provided courtesy of good friend, Jerry Collins.
United States.
United States.
Clam Chowder
This is delicious, and very easy to make, and very versatile. I made this on 16 Nov 2017 and substituted oyster meat for clams, which turned out perfect. The Thai family loved this.
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, chopped, fried crispy
- 1 carrot, halved and sliced
- 2 stalks import celery, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, fresh or from powder
- 1-2 cups canned chopped clams, see Step 1
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- 750 grams potatoes
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- The recipe calls for canned clams, chopped, with juice, not baby clams. If you have the chopped clams available in your location, very good. What I am going to do is use the small oyster meat available at Tesco here first. This is the oyster meat available at Tesco. These containers will be on ice with the fresh fish. Pour the oysters and liquid (no need to chop them as they will shrink when cooked) in a measuring cup, the amount of liquid is between 3/4 and 1 cup, I poured the liquid out to make is just 3/4 cup, and I used 3 containers for 2 1/4 cups of oysters and liquid.
- Heat a large pot on medium heat and add the bacon, cook until crispy, remove the bacon to a plate with paper towels to drain, set aside. Pour out the fat but leave 3 tablespoons in the the pot.
- Same pot, add the carrot, onion, and celery and cook on medium heat until the vegetables are starting to brown and soften, stir often. Mix in the flour and stir continuously for 1 minute, then add the broth, clams and their juice, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, thyme, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil.
- Prep the potatoes now, diced, skin on or off is up to you. Add the potatoes to the soup and stir in the milk and cream, once boiling, reduce to a light simmer and cover, simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes or so.
- Once the potatoes are tender, taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking, serve with bacon and cilantro sprinkled on top of each bowl.
Notes
I used 3 containers of oyster meat with liquid, 45 Baht per container, so 135 Baht for oysters. For 8 servings, this is about 50 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Use oyster meat in place of chopped clams for the chowder base. 2. Add peeled and deveined shrimp, crab, imitation crab, whitefish, or mushrooms.
This recipe for Clam Chowder is from Natasha's Kitchen.
Beef Stew Gratin
Sounds very good, on my to cook list. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams beef, cubed
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- olive oil, as needed
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks import celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- pinch dried rosemary
- 200 grams tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 1/4 cups beef stock, fresh or from powder
- 2 potatoes, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- salt, pepper, thyme, as need and to taste
- 50 grams Gruyere cheese, or Swiss cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C. You will need a deep oven proof pan with a oven proof lid, if no lid, just use foil.
- Add salt and pepper to the flour and coat the cubed beef. Brown the beef in the deep ovenproof pan with a splash of olive oil. Remove the beef from pan.
- Add a bit more oil to the same pan and cook the onions until translucent, then add the carrots and celery and cook for another 3-5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Add in the tomato puree and rosemary and stir in, cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and cook for 2 minutes. Add the red wine, simmer to reduce slightly. Add the beef stock and allow to reduce for about 10 minutes.
- Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Remove from the oven and remove the lid or foil. Give the stew a quick mix, smooth out the stew and cover with thinly-chopped peeled potatoes, arranged so they are overlapping slightly. Drizzle with the butter, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
- Increase the oven temp to 200 C, leave the pan uncovered and place in the oven again and bake for another 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Remove from the oven, sprinkle the Gruyere cheese over the potatoes. Place the oven again for 5 to 10 minutes on until the cheese is bubbly.
- Serve.
Notes
Figure about 100 Baht for the beef, the cheese in minimal. For 6 servings, this is about 50 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Tenderizing Beef with Tomatoes.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Egg Flower Soup with Oyster Mushrooms
Most of you will know this as egg drop soup, the Chinese name is 蛋(dàn) 花(huā) 汤(tāng), literally means 'egg flower soup'. There is your language lesson for the day. This is a basic soup that can be made with water or broth. The stirring speed determines the size of the 'egg flowers'. When I was in the Navy, egg drop soup meant a near clear broth with egg you could hardly see. This recipe is from a Chinese friend, so I will go with this as very accurate. This recipe calls for Oyster mushrooms, do not confuse them with King Oyster mushrooms, lot of difference.
Ingredients
- 150 grams Oyster mushrooms, root end trimmed, seperated
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- pinch salt
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 egg, whisked, not beaten
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4-6 cups chicken broth, or water
Instructions
- In a pot or wok, heat the oil, then cook the mushrooms for about 30 seconds or until soft and wilted, then pour in the stock and add the ginger slices, bring to a boil for about 5 to 8 minutes.
- At a near boil, stir the soup slow for larger 'flowers' or faster for smaller 'flowers', when the egg is in and formed, remove from heat and add the sesame oil and a pinch of salt and stir.
- Serve as a side dish by spooning the soup into 2 bowls, top with chopped spring onion.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: 1. This recipe screams of white pepper powder, just a pinch. 2. Swap out the Oyster mushrooms with Straw mushrooms sliced in half lengthwise.
This recipe for Egg Flower Soup with Oyster Mushroom is from China Sichuan Food.
Fish Chowder I
This is delicious! I used Pangasius but any type of boneless and skinless whitefish can be used in this. I made this on 16 Oct 2017 and this is my new favorite. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo whitefish, boneless, skinless, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups onion, chopped
- 4-8 fresh Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 stalk import celery
- 4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 4 cups potatoes, diced
- 1 cup clam juice, or shrimp stock
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cans evaporated milk
- 1/8 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning, OR make from a shortcut, optional
- bacon, cooked and crumbled, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot melt the butter on medium heat then cook the onions, mushrooms and celery until tender.
- Add the chicken stock and potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the fish and simmer for 10 minutes more. This photo was just after I added the fish.
- Mix together the clam juice (or shrimp stock) and flour until smooth, add to the chowder and season to taste with Old Bay, salt and pepper.
- Stir in the evaporated milk and on a low simmer heat until just before boiling, remove from heat.
- Serve with crumbled bacon on each bowl if desired.
Notes
Pangasius would cost about 120 Baht/kilo. For 8 servings, this is about 45 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Old Bay Seasoning.
Variants: 1. Use mushroom stock in place of chicken stock. 2. Omit the clam juice and flour part, it comes out very nice without this part. 3. Omit the Old Bay, not needed, and I like to taste the flavor of the chowder, not the flavor of a seasoning mix.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Mushroom Soup II
This makes a lot of soup and uses fresh mushrooms, 1 kilo (2 pounds) of mushrooms. This can be made with just the clear broth or with cream. I made this on 9 Sep 2017 and served it both ways, clear broth and creamy, family actually prefers the clear broth version.
Ingredients
- 10 cups water
- 1-2 cubes mushroom stock
- 3-4 medium potatoes, skin on, diced
- 1 kilo fresh Straw mushrooms, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- olive oil, as needed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the water, the mushroom stock cube or cubes. and the potatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are near cooked through.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prep the onion, carrot, and mushrooms. When the mushrooms are sliced add them to the soup pot.
- The mushrooms are just rinsed and cut in half lengthwise. This is just the start, 1 kilo of Straw mushrooms is a lot!
- Mushrooms added to the soup pot.
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Saute the onion and carrot until soft and starting to brown, then add those to the soup pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste, stir in the parsley. Continue to simmer.
- At this point you can serve for those who do not want any dairy in the soup.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, add the milk, cream and flour and whisk until smooth, stir that into the soup.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
This recipe for Mushroom Soup is from Natasha's Kitchen.
Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup
I like chicken noodle soup, and it is apparent that every culture has their own version. There is the Thai version, the US version, and now I have found the Chinese version, and this version is based on simplicity. I think we could learn a lot from the Chinese way of cooking. This is a modified version of the original recipe as I am going to state making the broth, and using dried Chinese egg noodles.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs, skin on, bone in
- 2 1/2 cups Chinese egg noodles, cooked, see Step 4
- 2 bunches bok choy, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon spring onion, finely sliced
Instructions
- First thing you need to make is the broth, which will give you broth and the chicken meat needed for the recipe. In a pot, add the chicken legs, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the legs are cooked through. During the cooking, skim off any scum on the surface. Now you just made broth and cooked the chicken legs.
- Remove the legs to a plate and strain the broth, retain 4 cups for use in this recipe. And retain the rest of the broth to use for cooking the noodles.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken meat and discard the skin, bones and cartridge (good treat for your dog).
- After retaining 4 cups of broth, add the rest to a pot, add the dry noodles, add water as needed to about 2 inches above the noodles and bring to a boil and cook until the noodles are tender.
- In another pot heat the 4 cups of broth to a simmer, season with salt and white pepper powder (white pepper powder is important, it is strong and imparts a great flavor, mix that in well).
- When at a simmer, add the noodles and the Bok Choi, when the Bok Choi is wilted, spoon about a cup of noodles into two bowls, top with the shredded chicken, pour in extra broth to cover the noodles.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
This recipe for Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup is from China Sichuan Food.
