Archive for the ‘SOUPS, STEWS, CHILI’ Category
Cha Lua Soup
Asian soups are very easy to make, and most times, normally no quantities of ingredients is needed and is easily adapted to suit your choice for a soup. I made this on 28 Oct 2017 and I wrote down what I used, so the quantities listed are in fact, a good base to work from. This soup was very much liked by the Thai family as well as myself. This soup is a keeper. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
- 360 grams Vietnamese sausage, cut into ½ inch cubes, (13 oz)
- 12 hard boiled quail eggs, peeled
- 225 grams crab meat, or crab sticks, (8 oz)
- 2 cups sweet corn, fresh cooked, frozen, or canned (drained)
- 5 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts
- fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for serving, or chopped dill
- raw chicken eggs, for serving, optional
For Thickening, Optional
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- In a medium pot, fill about ¾ full with water and add the chicken breasts, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, you are making the broth. Skim any foam from the water as that forms. About 30 minutes for bone in chicken breasts and 15-20 minutes for boneless and skinless. When the chicken is done, remove from the pot, shred or chop, and add back to the pot. Here I am cooking the chicken breast and three small ears of corn, which provided 2 cups when cut off the cobs.
- This is optional but if you want to make a really great broth, add a chopped carrot, an onion cut in half, and a chopped stalk of celery (Trinity), after the chicken is cooked through, let it cool to room temp, then your chicken will be juicier, strain the broth and return it to the pot, discard the vegetables. I made some great broth 3 days ago, had a quart of it I put in the fridge, I added that to the pot you see in the photo after the chicken was cooked.
- While the chicken is cooking, cube the sausage, chop the spring onions and cilantro, and if using crab sticks in place of real crab meat, chop that up as well.
- After the chicken is shredded and added back to the broth, add in the sausage, spring onion, crab meat, corn, and quail eggs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to heat everything through.
- Ladle into bowls, sprinkle on some cilantro or dill, and optionally, crack in a fresh egg if desired, enjoy.
For Thickening, Optional
- Mix the cornstarch in the cold water, and mix that into the soup to slightly thicken the soup. This is totally optional, and I did not do this step as I was very happy with the consistency of the soup.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs.
Variants: 1. I think spaghetti, just bit, broken into 1-2 inch pieces, added to the soup would be good way to change it up. 2. Use Cha Hue (peppered Vietnamese sausage) in place of Cha Lua.
Wendy's Chili
Chili always a great meal and this sounds very good. This can be made on the stove top or in a slow cooker. The beans can be cooked from dry beans the day before, or you can use canned beans in the standard size can. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo ground beef, (2 lbs)
- 4 cups tomato juice, OR make from a shortcut
- 4 cups tomato puree, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can red Kidney beans, 15 oz or 425 g, drained, or 2 cups cooked
- 1 can Pinto beans, 15 oz or 425 g, drained, or 2 cups cooked
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 2-3 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin, or to taste
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the garlic. Drain off most of the fat, not all.
- Put the beef and the remaining ingredients in a large pot, cover, and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
- You can also cook this in a slow cooker on Low setting for 3-4 hours.
Notes
Figure about 200 Baht/1 kilo of beef. For 6 servings this is about 98 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Tomato Juice, Tomato Puree.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Job's Tears & Red Bean Soup
I have never had Job's Tears or red beans, so one way to solve that is to try a recipe. This is very straight forward.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry Job's Tears
- 1/2 cup dry red beans
- seasoning, as you desire
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and put in a pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium and cook for about an hour or to your desired softness. When serving, add honey or sugar to taste if preferred.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Eduard's Bean Soup
This recipe comes from a good friend and is highly recommended. This is a straight forward bean soup and would pair perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried beans, Pinto, Navy, Great Northern
- 2-3 slices bacon, chopped
- ham, cubed
- ham hock, smoked if available
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 potatoes, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 tablespoons chicken stock powder
- 10-12 cups water
- salt and pepper, to taste
- dried thyme, to taste
- dried sage, to taste
- garlic powder, to taste
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans then soak beans overnight, drain and rinse the beans and add to a large pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the potatoes and carrot. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce to a low simmer and simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and the ham hock is falling apart. In the last hour, add the potatoes and carrot. Remove the ham hock, chop it up and remove the bone, put the meat back into the pot and stir that in, when the potatoes and carrot is tender, serve. Grilled cheese sandwiches would go great with this soup.
Notes
Low cost.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Eduard Wijers.
United States.
United States.
Khow Suey (ခေါက်ဆွဲ)
This is a Burmese dish consisting of curried chicken with coconut milk served over Chinese egg noodles as a soup. I made this on 17 Aug 2017, delicious to say the least.
Ingredients
- 600 grams chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces, (1-1 ¼ lbs)
- ½ cup cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or 1/4 teaspoon powdered
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground corriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 200 grams egg noodles, (6 ozs)
- 4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large deep skillet, heat then add the onion and cook until translucent, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for a few more minutes, then mix in the cinnamon and add the bay leaves.
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook 8-10 minutes or until it changes color, then add the turmeric, coriander, soy sauce, cumin, chili powder, chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
- Add the corn starch to half a cup of water, and stir that into the pan and reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened. Then add the coconut milk. and simmer for 5 minutes.
- While the pan is simmering, boil some water in a pot and cook the egg noodles until tender, and drain.
- To serve, add some egg noodles to a bowl, spoon some curry over the top and top with condiments of your choice, such as a hard boiled egg, Bird's Eye chilies, chopped onion, etc.
Notes
The chicken would cost about 50 Baht/600 grams. For 4 servings, this is about 37 cents per servings.
Variant: In place of the chicken, you can use prawns, fish, pork, or beef.
Amish Church Soup
This is a one pot dish and only 6 ingredients. The original recipe called for a quart of beef, I take that, thinking of the name Amish, as this is a quart jar of canned beef, which would be good. If you can your own beef, perfect, or do what I will do and just use ground beef.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo ground beef, OR 1 quart canned beef
- 4 potaotes, diced, or more
- 500 grams dry spaghetti
- 1 onion, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the pasta, potatoes, and onion. add water to cover by 2-3 inches and cook until the potatoes are tender. Do not drain.
- Add the ground beef or canned beef to the pot and cook until the ground beef is cooked through or warmed through if using canned beef. Skim off most of the fat.
- Serve as is or with sandwiches.
Notes
Figure about 200 Baht/1 kilo of beef. For 6 servings, this is about 98 cents per serving.
If you are cutting back on beef, you can used beef soup base in place of the beef.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Mushroom Soup I
This is based on the canned condensed cream of mushroom soup, do yourself a favor and make this from scratch, then follow this recipe. This comes from a good friend. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 cup canned mushrooms, sliced, plus liquid
Instructions
- Put everything in a saucepan and mix, heat, and serve.
Notes
Low cost.
This would pair perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich to make a light meal.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Hans Schmidt.
United States.
United States.
Cream of Green Chili Soup
Sounds good!
Ingredients
- 2 cups big green chilies, roasted, diced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 3-4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and salt. Cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, another minute or so until the mixture is very fragrant.
- Add the chilies and broth (3 cups for a thicker soup, 4 cups for a thinner soup) to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook until vegetables are extremely soft and flavors have blended, about 15 minutes.
- Blend until very smooth in blender or food processor (about 2 minutes).
- Return the mixture to the pot and stir in cream. Gently heat until the soup is heated through. Add more salt to taste, if you like. Enjoy.
Notes
This would be low cost.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Jerry Juliana.
United States.
United States.
Chicken Stew with Biscuits
Sounds like hearty and filling meal for sure. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts, skin on
- olive oil, as needed
- salt and pepper, as needed
- 5 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, this 3/4 of a 227 gram block
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, OR make from a shortcut
- 4 cups frozen peas and carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
For the Biscuits
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, diced, this is 1/2 of a 227 gram block
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 egg, for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 C. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Place the chicken breasts on the baking sheet and rub them with olive oil on both sides, then position them skin side up. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the skin. Cut the chicken into large cubes. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.
- In a large pot melt the butter and saute the onions over medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thickened. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the milk.
- Then add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, and parsley. Mix well. Place the stew large, deep casserole baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the milk and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter.
- Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash mix 1 egg with a tablespoon of water), and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.
- Remove from oven, let rest 5-10 minutes, serve.
Notes
Figure about 120 Baht for 6 chicken breasts, for 8 servings, this is about 45 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Heavy Cream Substitute.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Garland Davis, US Navy Cook (Ret).
United States.
United States.
Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup
This is a easy Thai soup that even I make, and it is so good. To make good Thai food, think like a Thai, boil meat, add vegetables, add flavorings, I know that does not sound right or even good, but that is the basic premise for Thai soup and curry cooking. This is an adjust as you go recipe, many ingredients are general in amount.
Ingredients
- 4-8 chicken legs, or legs and thighs, skin on
- 1-2 cups coconut milk
- mushrooms, Straw would be best, button is ok
- 5-6 slices ginger, OR galangal
- 4-5 Bird's Eye Chilis, sliced
- 4-5 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 stems lemon grass, see Step 1
- fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce, OR soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- For the lemon grass, take each stalk and on a heavy cutting board and using a pestle, the flat side of a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, etc, smash the stem until it is pliable then tie into an overhand knot. This does 2 things for you, releases the oil, and keeps everything in one bundle so it can be removed (last thing people want to do when eating is to remove items that cannot be eaten from their dish).
- In a large pot, add the chicken and cover by about 2-3 inches of water, and add the ginger, lemon grass bundles, lime leaves, and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce to a medium heat. You just made a chicken broth, basis for your soup. At this point you can remove the skin if you like.
- Now add the coconut milk, chilies, simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Adjust taste to your liking with lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. As more water as needed.
- Add the mushrooms and some cilantro, cover and cook for 5 minutes then remove from heat. This will cook the mushrooms.
- Remove the lemon grass bundles, lime leaves, and ginger, Serve with rice.
Notes
Chicken legs cost about 65 Baht/kilo, for this, maybe 40 baht. For 4 servings, about 30 cents per serving.
Recipe I have made many times.
