Mimi's Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

2 tsp butter

2 stalks celery

1/2 cup onions chopped

4 cups water

1 bay leaf

1 potato peeled and cubed

1 15 oz can creamed corn

1 15 oz. can corn with liquid

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sale 1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup half and half

Directions:

Saute celery and onion in butter. Add water, potato, and bay leaf. Add creamed corn, corn, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes. Combine flour and half and half in a separate bowl. Add to soup and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.

*I don't know if you have ever had this soup at a Mimi's restaurant, but this is my favorite soup out of any restaurant. However, it didn't quite taste as good homemade but it was still good. I think part of the problem was me, I don't think I mixed the flour and half and half well enough, I kept on getting flour chunks when eating it so make sure you mix it really well and stir it while it is simmering.

Fall Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Servings: 4-6 good size bowls.

Ingredients

28 oz. chicken broth

1 butternut squash, baked at 350 degrees for 1 hr., scraped out of skin and pureed.

1 small onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. garlic

1 T. canola oil

1 c. carrots, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. oregano

2 T. honey

1/4 tsp. cumin

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in a stockpot. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft but not brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the pureed butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes and carrots are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and add cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano, honey, and cumin. Serve topped with Sour Cream.

*This is actually a recipe that I made up! I have made it twice now to verify my measurements and that I really did like it. I actually made this with my little 14 month old daughter in mind. I wanted to find a way to get her to eat her squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes that she used to eat so well and she didn't seem to care for anymore. This definitely worked! It is a sweeter soup with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey added to it so it is one that both kids and adults like.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 leek, thinly sliced, or 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper
• fresh chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, cook leek or onions in butter over medium-low heat until tender. Add flour and stir until well incorporated. Add chicken broth, chopped asparagus, and parsley. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until asparagus is tender.
Carefully, working with about 1 to 2 cups at a time, blend or process until smooth; return to the saucepan and add cream. Heat through. Add a dash of pepper and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.

*This is a very simple and yummy soup. It says that it makes 4 servings but in my opinion, those are small servings so I would definitely double the recipe if you are wanting to serve more than 3 people with this. Also, I didn't think that it called for enough chicken broth so I added some extra (actually beef broth I had) to the chicken broth and just a bit more cream. Definitely a keeper on those cold nights. Because this is a cream soup, it isn't as filling as one that has some substance inside of it, I would recommend serving this with bread or biscuits to help fill you up.

Santa Fe Tortilla Soup

Approximate Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tbsp-2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
1 lb. chicken breasts tenders
1 tsp poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
1 tsp cumin, 1/3 palm full
salt and pepper
1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 28 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
3 c chicken stock
4 c blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
1 c shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
1/2 c sour cream
Optional Garnishes:
1/4 red raw onion, chopped
2 to 3 tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium-high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill pan. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes, total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.

While vegetables cook, dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown the chicken. Add zucchini, onions, garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.

* I actually changed this soup quite a bit, that is the nice thing about soup, you can adapt it to what you have in your cupboards. I had some leftover rottisserie chicken and corn on the cob that I used and I didn't have a red pepper or zucchini, so I added a can of black beans and some extra corn instead. I was very pleased with how it turned out and it was delicious with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado all on top as the garnish. I surprisingly had the chipotle peppers in my fridge from making the pressure cooker chili reccently.

Pressure Cooker Chili

Approximate Time: 1 1/2 hrs (with cutting meat)
Servings: 4

Ingredients
3 lb stew meat (pork is the best, it is more tender than beef)
2 tsp. Peanut oil
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 16 oz. container of salsa
30 t0rtilla chips, crunched up
2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
1 T. adobo sauce from peppers
1 T. tomato paste
1 T. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin

Directions
Place cut up meat in large mixing bowl and toss with peanut oil and salt. Heat 6 qt. pressure cooker and add meat and brown in 2-3 batches (all can't fit in one batch). Remove all meat and pour in broth, bring to a boil & stir (getting anything that may be on the bottom of the pan off.) Add brown meat into pressure cooker. Add salsa, chips, peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and cumin. Lock lid in place until steam comes out, cook for 25 minutes.

*This recipe is one that we got from my father-in-law. He makes it when we go out. I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and then again for New Year's Eve dinner with my entire family and it was a big hit. This is quite spicy, so if you don't like spicy, you could try to make it with everything but the peppers (but still add the adobo sauce.) It's not your normal kind of chili, but it is SO GOOD!!!! We always double the recipe and eat as leftovers or serve it on top of egg breakfast burritos.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Approximate Time: 30 min
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock, recipe follows
8 ounces dried wide egg noodles
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Directions
Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Chicken Stock:
1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), rinsed, giblets discarded
2 carrots, cut in large chunks
3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
2 large white onions, quartered
1 head of garlic, halved
1 turnip, halved
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Place the chicken and vegetables in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in only enough cold water to cover (about 3 quarts); too much will make the broth taste weak. Toss in the thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and allow it to slowly come to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, partially covered, until the chicken is done. As it cooks, skim any impurities that rise to the surface; add a little more water if necessary to keep the chicken covered while simmering.
Carefully remove the chicken to a cutting board. When its cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones; hand-shred the meat into a storage container.
Carefully strain the stock through a fine sieve into another pot to remove the vegetable solids. Use the stock immediately or if you plan on storing it, place the pot in a sink full of ice water and stir to cool down the stock. Cover and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze.

* I needed to make a meal for my husband and my step-dad (who is the very simple eater), we had some left over chicken from a couple of nights ago so I thought I would try making this. I didn't want to spend the time or have the stuff to make homemade chicken stock, so I had half of the amount needed with Swanson's Chicken Stock that they have just recently come out with and the other half I just used chicken broth. It was a really easy and simple recipe and it was something that my step-dad really liked.

Southwestern Corn Chowder

Approximate Time: 1 hr total
Servings: 6

Ingredients
2 pounds frozen corn kernels, thawed, and drizzled with olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
10 Roma tomatoes, rubbed with olive oil
1 medium red pepper, rubbed with olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 small yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups corn tortilla chips, chopped
Cumin
Chili powder
1 medium avocado, small diced, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Put the oiled corn on a baking sheet and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Put the oiled tomatoes on another baking sheet and roast them both for 10 to 12 minutes until the tomato skin blisters and the corn is lightly browned. In a medium skillet, grill the red pepper over medium-high heat until it is black on each side. Put the tomatoes and the pepper in the refrigerator, and peel them when they have cooled.
Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic and saute. Add the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, roasted corn, peeled tomatoes, half-and-half, and 1 1/4 cups of the tortilla chip pieces and mix well. Pour this mixture in a food processor or blender* and puree until smooth. Strain the chowder, and then season it with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, to taste. Peel and dice the roasted red pepper. Serve the soup topped with diced avocado, red pepper, and the remaining tortilla chip pieces. Serve immediately.
*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

*I actually blended part of the red pepper in the soup, added some cilantro to it and topped the whole thing off with sour cream. I loved the flavor and texture of the avocados and I am normally a little bit iffy about avocados, so I do highly recommend putting it on top. I believe this recipe is from a restaurant in Park City called the Windy Ridge.