soup Archives - Bloom.

Lots of Babies and Butternut Squash

October 20, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 5 Comments

Last weekend I shared that Adam and I are expecting a baby, which is super exciting. But, even more exciting is that Adam’s brother’s wife and Adam’s sister are also expecting babies in early 2016. Emily is having a son and Amanda is expecting triplets!

It’s going to be so fun.

Actually, it’s already been a lot of fun.

It’s neat to share this time with everyone, compare notes, and just laugh about how wild and loud our lives are going to become. We have all spent the last couple weekends together celebrating the upcoming arrivals of Amanda and Emily’s babies at their baby showers.

Emily’s sisters hosted a great shower this past weekend that had a precious “Little Pumpkin” theme. It was really fitting not just because of the time of year, but because her bump is so perfect and cute; it seriously looks like she has a pumpkin under her shirt.

And then, Adam’s oldest sister, Aimee, hosted a luncheon shower for Amanda at her home the first weekend of October while Emily and I helped with some of the food.

When trying to determine what to serve for lunch at Amanda shower, Aimee and I talked about a handful of recipes that we have liked at other family events. We narrowed it down to a light, super-fresh avocado chicken salad and a very autumnal salad. Both taste great, are easy to do for crowds, and I had actually made both in September for another shower and a dinner with friends.

As I began to prep for the shower and sat down to make my grocery lists, I had to laugh: Both recipes we planned on preparing were introduced to the three of us by Amanda.

In fact, a lot of my favorite recipes have been introduced to me by Amanda.

Amanda is a great cook and is always trying new things. She is particularly good at baking and really shines as a hostess. Her husband, Mike, even gets into the action serving as the family mixologist at the Holiday’s whipping up fun and festive drinks… Although, this year, he may be out of a job with all these pregnant gals!

Last fall, Adam came home from work with one of Amanda’s recipes for a butternut squash soup.

Adam is a major soup fan; but, I had always been on the fence about butternut squash. I couldn’t really tell you what it was about butternut squash… maybe it was the sweetness or the texture? Maybe the color? Honestly, it was probably the name. But, I had never purchased one as an adult and, in the past, I have even dissed butternut squash right here on Bloom.

But, thanks to Adam’s persistence and Amanda’s history of great recipes, I gave the soup a try.

And… LOVED IT.

The combination of apples, butternut squash and spice marry well and create a flavor that is so perfectly, “Harvest.” I also enjoyed the addition of the spicy pepper and cool sour cream as a garnish as it adds even more depth of flavor but also dimension to the texture of the smooth soup.

I loved this soup so much it changed my whole perspective on butternut squash and I am now proud to say that I am a BIG butternut squash fan. (Although, maybe we could get somebody to still work on the name…?)

I even made it a point to make room for butternut squash in this year’s garden.

A budding butternut squash from August.

Room is one of the main things that butternut squash will need in a backyard garden because the plant’s vines can run longer than fifteen feet.

But, for the most part, good sun, well fertilized soil, protection from pests and moderate moisture is a good recipe for butternut squash plants. Be advised that the growing season is long; somewhere between 110-120 days. We started our butternut squash seedlings inside to ensure fruit maturation by fall.

This fall, our vines are full of great looking butternut squash and I can’t believe I resisted them for so long. They will be in the garden for years to come… Thanks to my favorite recipe curator, Amanda.

Spiced Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

2015-10-20 14:01:58

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks
4 apples, peeled, core and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 1/2 cups water
1 hot chili pepper (Jalapeño, poblano), finely diced or thinly sliced for garnish
Sour Cream, for garnish

Instructions

In a large sauce pan, melt butter and add onion, cooking until tender.
Add squash and cook, stirring occasionally until soft. (About ten minutes)
Add apples, salt, cumin, coriander, ginger, cayenne, black pepper, stock and the water. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about thirty minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Puree using an immersion blender or in batches using a food processor or blender and then return to the pan.
Heat pureed soup on low and thin with more water, if needed.
Serve in bowls and garnish with hot pepper and sour cream.

Notes

An immersion blender is a game changer for homemade soups. It's one of my favorite tools.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Trendy Pho

March 22, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

I have never really been a trend setter.

Trendy? Sure.

Trend follower? Okay, yeah. I’m not ashamed. I won’t deny it.

But, I have never really been the first on the scene with the latest and greatest.

I had a flip phone longer than some probably thought was socially acceptable and I resisted the iPhone for a long time due to a fear that I would ruin it in the first 24 hours. I drive a ten year old car. And, I don’t own a crop top. (And, that’s okay.)

But, something funny happened around the start of the year… I found myself ahead of the curve.

I was watching the Today Show and each anchor was sipping from what looked like a coffee cup. But instead of lattes, the cups contained the newest craze to hit NYC: Bone broth.

This winter, shops were popping up all over the city that offered warm cups of ($4.00!) broth that New Yorkers were drinking like Starbucks. Bone Broth is made with any animal bones that you roast and simmer for hours with vegetables. The broth is touted for it’s vitamins and minerals to help boost immune systems, relieve joint and gut pain, and to brighten skin and shine hair.

I have been making Bone Broth in my home every other week for almost two years.

And, not to be trendy. Or, even for the vitamins and minerals… although, that’s a nice bonus, I suppose. How’s my hair look?!

But rather, to take complete advantage of a whole chicken and ensure that nothing is wasted, not even bones.

After enjoying a whole chicken’s meat, I place the bones in a large pot or crock pot with whatever vegetables I have in the fridge and let it simmer for the good portion of a day. Once cool, I freeze the broth in mason jars with plenty of room for expansion. It’s great to have on hand because we make soups and risotto often. I cannot remember the last time I had to purchase broth or worry about the massive amounts of sodium in store bought broth.

The most recent good dent in our broth was to hop on another trend: Pho.

Pho is big. The chefs I work with make it often as it’s a common college request. My urban friends gush over it. My sister-in-law even claims that she and her husband are “pho-natics.” And, they aren’t alone: If you look up “#pho” on Instagram you will find over one million tags to filtered pho-tos.

It’s popularity is well deserved, but it is actually pretty simple. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup that typically contains broth, long, skinny noodles, herbs and meat.

And, with my homemade broth and already cooked chicken, I made it even more simple. However, while simple to make, it’s flavor is anything but.

This Pho is a symphony of flavors. There’s the deep, slightly sweet but spicy broth, bright herbs, and crunchy garnishes that literally sing with every bite.

The perfect transition to early spring soup.

Chicken Pho

2015-03-22 15:35:30

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Ingredients

8 Cups of Chicken Broth
4 Cups of Water
1 medium onion, roughly chopped in large pieces
4 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
3 whole cloves
1 inch knob ginger, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 TBS fish sauce
Salt and Pepper
5 Ounces Pho Rice Noodles (I used ramen because it's what I had. Even linguine works just fine.)
12 ounces cooked chicken, roughly chopped
Garnishes: cilantro, green onions, lime wedges, green onions, thinly sliced jalapenos, etc.

Instructions

Stir broth, water, onion, garlic, clove, ginger, cinnamon stick and fish sauce together in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Cook the noodles according to the package. Drain and rinse immediately to stop the cooking. Set aside.
Prepare the garnishes.
Add the chicken to the broth to heat back up.
When ready to serve, place noodles in serving bowl then cover with the hot broth and chicken. Top with garnishes and serve right away.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

The garnishes are one of my favorite things about Pho. You can really make it your own and create lots of flavor elements. Common toppings are green onions, cilantro, chili peppers, lime wedges, and bean sprouts. Adam loves to add sirracha for some more heat. I added kimchi to this one for color… and because kimchi is the bomb.com.

Pho reals.

Sniffles and Soup

January 28, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

Oh. My. Gosh.

You know that cold that is going around? Well, it has stuck me… hard.

I had it coming though.

I traveled a lot last week, stayed in hotels and was up later than normal doing activities like bowling with coworkers who were also in town for the meetings. I have not been bowling in years and it was a great activity for work… but the more I think about it, bowling is super germy.

So, it’s not really shocking that I am fighting some bug this week.

Just yesterday, I was pretty sure my brain was melting because there is no way that my nose could have ever housed the amount of liquid coming out of my face. I had to apologize to anyone I was on the phone with this week explaining that I typically don’t sound like a robot. I was even on a call with my counterpart in Texas and she said, “Honey. You sound terrible.”

And, she has a five year old… she knows bad colds.

But, thanks to lots of fluids, an earlier bedtime and the workout I have given my small collection of Plant Therapy essential oils, I think I am on the mend.

It may also be thanks to this hearty lentil soup.

I know it’s early, but lentils may be my favorite new ingredient of 2015.

I had never cooked with them, but I finally mustered up the courage to check out the bulk foods area of the grocery store. (I still use my Kuerig… I feel like such a poser around the bulk coffee beans.) While surrounded by oats, multiple kinds of flour, and lots of beans, I spotted lentils and became very intrigued.

I should have never waited so long. Lentils are great. They have a nutty, earthy flavor and they are packed full of nutrition. Lentils can help lower cholesterol, support a healthy heart and help you manage your weight.

Not to mention, they are one of the least expensive sources of major amounts of protein. Over a quarter of the calories from lentils are attributed to protein. So, if you feel your grocery bill getting a little out of hand because of the cost of meat, lentils are a great meatless option.

They are also very easy to prepare because they don’t require lengthy soaking like other beans. So, making this soup is an easy solution for a week night dinner even if you are feeling under the weather.

However, the one really sad part of making this soup was that I used the last of my frozen carrots from the garden! Gotta make a note of that for next year.

Vegetable Lentil Soup

2015-01-28 11:16:29

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Ingredients

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
4 Carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 tbsp. Olive Oil
2 cups Lentils
1 tbsp. Cumin
2 quarts Chicken Stock or Broth (Vegetable broth works great too)
1 Bay Leaf
2 Whole Sprigs of Thyme
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Place a large dutch oven over medium heat.
Add olive oil and saute garlic, onion, carrots and celery until tender.
Add the lentils and cumin, stir so that lentils are coated in oil.
Add broth, sprigs of thyme and bay leaf to pot.
Simmer until lentils are tender about thirty minutes.
Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf before eating.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Freezing Leftovers

November 30, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Leftovers get a bad rep.

Unfortunately for me, so do girls in their twenties who can vegetables.

And, just because I like my garden, putting food not flowers in Ball jars, and cooking more than going out to eat doesn’t mean that I am not like other twenty-somethings.

It doesn’t mean that I don’t like cocktails downtown with my girlfriends. Or Taylor Swift. Or Instagram. Or fun sparkly shoes.

But, because of my few “old-er lady” tendencies, I have made a conscientious effort to avoid things that might further drive this case home.

Potential Tweets about loving my vacuum and being really excited about my organized spice cabinet have been censored. I try not to let it be too well know that I belong to the library and use it… often. And blog posts with topics like freezer meals have been avoided… until now.

Freezer Meals have a reputation for being a busy mom’s BFF. Carting kids from one activity to another is apparently easier when dinner is already made at home in the freezer and just needs to be heated up.

I am not carting kids around yet, but I do have evenings where meetings go late and I still need to hit the gym. I have days where I have traveled for hours home from a university and have no plan for dinner. And, in the winter, there are plenty of evenings where the last thing I want to do is leave the house to deal with the grocery store.

Story of my life, I am here to break down the reputation: Freezer meals can be anyone’s BFF.

Soups are one of my favorite things to freeze. They defrost well and I also love how well soup stores in the freezer. I typically put the finished soup in a gallon freezer baggie and freeze it solid, flat on it’s side… so that I can save space and stack up even more meals.

Four days past Thursday, I am getting to the point where I am kind of over turkey. So, I decided to make this hearty turkey and rice soup with our left over Thanksgiving turkey so that I can enjoy it some other time when I am not on tryptophan overload.

It will be perfect for a cold January day. Maybe there will be snow on the roads and I won’t be able to go anywhere. Then, I can be thankful for this turkey twice.

And my new BFF.

Turkey and Rice Soup

2014-11-30 14:48:45

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced carrot
8 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk
5 cups turkey broth
3 cups diced cooked turkey meat
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
1 tablespoon dried herbs like oregano, thyme or sage
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Add oil and a little broth to a skillet with onions and carrots. Saute over medium high heat until nearly tender, but carrots retain a bit of their bite.
Using a large stock pot, melt butter with medium high heat.
Add flour to melted butter and whisk until combined.
Keep whisking and add a quarter of the broth until mixture thickens.
Still whisking, add remaining broth and milk and bring liquid mixture to a boil.
Remove from heat when mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon.
Add carrots, onions, diced turkey, and rice to liquid mixture.
Stir, adding seasonings like salt, pepper, and herbs.

To reheat

Let thaw in refrigerator over night and then heat in the microwave or on the stove.
OR,
Cook frozen in a large saucepan adding a 1/4 cup water so not to burn over medium heat until warmed through and bubbling.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Souper Soup Accompanist

October 9, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Ladies and gentlemen… Soup season is upon us!

Colder, dreary, gray days are brighter and cozier with a scratch made soup warming on the stove top.

Last weekend was a prime example: the weather was mean. It was windy. Brutally cold for the first weekend of October. And apparently, Chicago even saw snow…!

Miserable? Kinda… Okay, yes. But, a perfect weekend for soup.

And I hit it kind of hard.

I had soup for every meal (besides breakfast…) from Friday dinner to Monday lunch. There was a tomato soup that I had canned a few weeks ago with the garden tomatoes. A trip to Panera where I settled on black bean soup because they were out of broccoli cheddar and chicken noodle soup. (Apparently I wasn’t the only one with soup on the mind…) Adam even got on board with the desire for soup and made a chicken gumbo straight out of this months Bon Appetit using the garden’s carrots, celery and herbs.

Side Note: The gumbo was fab. Pick up a copy today. The tailgating story the recipe was a part of was so neat and made both Adam and I kind of wish we had gone to school in the south. Not that we don’t love our Boilers… but… yeah. It looked pretty fun.

As I was out by the herbs snipping a few sprigs of thyme for Adam’s gumbo, I also snipped a tall sprig of rosemary.

My rosemary has done amazingly well in comparison to last year. This time last year I had given up on it. But, this year, I am considering bringing my container of rosemary inside when the temperature dips below freezing to see if it will continue to grow throughout the winter.

I fanned the sprig of rosemary by my nose.

It’s piney scent reminded me instantly of Christmas. Some say that rosemary’s scent is good for your memory and if that’s true I don’t find it ironic at all that it transports my memory to Christmas time.

My mom was good about making gifts for the neighbors, family friends, people at church and our teachers at Christmas time. Some years it was cookies, others maybe candies and gourmet coffee grounds. But, one year in early high school, she made loaves upon loaves of rosemary focaccia bread. It smelled like I was walking into the freshest bakery every time I came home that December.

And, not only did the bread smell great, it tasted great too. Mom would, of course, also make plenty of loaves for the family and freeze them. They would be brought out throughout the winter on Sunday afternoons when she would make soup for lunch and it was awesome because it would feel like Panera in my own home.

As I ran my fingers along the piney leaves of the sprig I decided that it was time to make my rosemary parmesan focaccia.

(Plus, I was due for something other than soup…)

Every winter, by January, I have this recipe memorized. But, since I hadn’t made it for about six months, I was a little rusty and had to dig the recipe out of the archives.

It’s a little labor intensive (just a little, I promise) and isn’t something you can make quickly, but it is absolutely perfect for a Sunday afternoon as a soup simmers on the stove top or in the crock pot.

The recipe also makes a lot of dough so I typically make two loaves and it freezes great. So, it is good for a crowd… or for saving for the next Sunday when you want to be a little lazy.

Rosemary Parmesan Focaccia

2014-10-09 09:16:41

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cup warm water
1 package dry active yeast
1 TBS sugar
3 cups flour
2 cups bread flour
1 TBS salt, plus more for adding to top
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for lining bowl and topping
3 TBS fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper for adding to top

Instructions

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the warm water. Add the package of yeast and lightly stir with a wooden spoon. Set aside until the yeast is foamy. This will take at least fifteen minutes.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook bowl, combine the flours, salt, oil and yeast mixture.
Mix until ingredients just come together.
Once the dough forms a ball and pulls from the sides of the bowl, increase the mixer's speed to medium and knead for about ten minutes. The dough should be smooth. If it is too wet, add a little flour. Too dry, add a bit of water.
Transfer the ball of dough to a slightly floured surface and knead a couple times by hand.
Coat the inside of the mixing bowl with oil and put the ball of dough into the greased bowl, turning it to coat the dough with oil.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in size. This will take about an hour.
After an hour, prepare a pan (I divide the dough and use two round cake pans but you could use a jelly roll pan) with a little oil and spread dough out in the pans using your hands.
Once dough is fitted to the pan(s), poke holes throughout the top using your fingers.
Cover pan(s) with plastic wrap or a slightly damp towel and let rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Top the bread with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle on chopped rosemary and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake about thirty minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Rotate the pans halfway through to ensure even browning.
Let bread rest twenty minutes after removing from oven.
Cut and serve or store in a container or wrapped in foil for about a week. To freeze, wrap tightly in foil after completely cooling and use within three months.

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/