Category Archives: On the Back of the Stove

Soup is a staple at our house, and whatever is on the back of the stove is served for lunch and sometimes as a first course at dinner. Soup is nutritious, delicious and really easy to make.

Winter Warmup with French Onion Soup

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French onion soup sounds like one of those time consuming, only eat it in restaurants kind of dish.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  French onion soup is really easy to make and one of my favorite homemade winter day treats.  So break out the slow cooker and get started.

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 5 large onions, sliced thinly and separated
  • 1 tsp sugar, divided
  • 3 ½ pints beef broth
  • 4 tbsp ruby port
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup of your favorite melting cheese (provolone and/or mozzarella cheese, swiss, gruyere) grated
  • 6-8 slices sourdough bread, lightly toasted – I like to use a full baguette from the  bakery

Directions

onion soup 002

 

 

 

Cut the onions in half and slice the halves. Sliced Onions

 

 

 

 

Heat the butter in the slow cooker until melted.

Butter and garlic

 

 

Add the onions, cover and cook, on low, until the onions are soft and just beginning to brown.

onion soup 010

 

 

 

 

Next I add the port, beef or vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

Divide the soup into individual oven-proof bowls and place the bread slices to cover evenly.onion soup 014 Sprinkle with the grated cheese and put under the broiler about 6-inches from the heat until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy!

After the Garden

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Well, the garden is done and everything has been canned, preserved, frozen, or eaten. Fortunately, broccoli is still in season somewhere, so it’s an inexpensive item in the supermarket. So, the soup this week is broccoli cheese. Now, I usually avoid broccoli cheese soup because it always looks like a few chunks of limp broccoli floating in a sea of mystery cheese. Just too much carb and dairy and too little lovely green stuff. Until Broccoli Cheese Soupnow. Recently, I discovered a recipe, thanks to the Test Kitchen, that does broccoli cheese soup with emphasis on the broccoli and it’s rich as butter without all the fat.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable broth
• 2 heads (pounds) broccoli, peel and trim the stems and cut in cubes, roughly chop the florets into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard powder
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• 3–4 cups water
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda (helps get rid of those sulphur containing compounds and brings out the taste of the broccoli)
• 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth (or chicken)
• 2 cups baby spinach (if using frozen, thaw and squeeze the water out)
• 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3/4 cup)
• 1 ½ ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine (about 3/4 cup), plus extra for serving
• Ground black pepper

1. Heat oil or broth in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes until fragrant. Add 1 cup water and the baking soda. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.

2. Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. You can transfer half of soup to blender, add cheddar and Parmesan, and process until smooth or leave the soup in the pot and use that immersion blender you got for Christmas. Over medium heat, bring to simmer. If the soup seems too thick, adjust consistency by adding up to a cup of water or broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Broccoli Cheese Soup VSprinkle with croutons and grated or shaved Parmesan and serve with some crusty bread.

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The Corn is High

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It’s been a busy few weeks for me.  I changed hosting companies in preparation for setting up an e-commerce page for a line of handmade floral jellies (more about that later.)  And there’s almost daily weeding to be done in the garden.  It’s the heart of summer here in the upper Midwest, and that means fresh sweet corn, something I look  I look forward to all year.

Even in the summer I always make a soup of the week, and the corn at the farmer’s market was calling my name.  Corn chowder is rich, creamy and irresistible, and we’ll eat it for lunch all week, usually with a little fresh salad from the garden on the side.

When it comes to corn, I try not to waste any of it, the first thing I do is make corn stock.  You’ll need 5 to 6 ears of fresh sweet corn.

Corn Stock

Fresh Sweet Corn

The first step is to remove the husks and silk.  Once the ears are silk free, stand the cob upright with the big end down, and using a sharp knife, slice the kernels from the cob moving from top to bottom.  Sorry, I don’t have any pictures since I needed both hands for this process, but this is what it looks like when you’re done.

Ater the kernels are removed

Set the corn aside and turn your attention to the cobs and the delicious corn stock that is the base for corn chowder.  You can use it as a base for any soup, but it really adds something special to corn chowder.  The method I favor is to put the fresh cobs in the slow cooker, cover with water, add a couple of bay leaves, and some salt and let it simmer on low for 4-6 hours.

Slow Cooker Corn Stock

It smells wonderful.  After 4-6 hours, you can strain the stock and pour it into jars and refrigerate for later, or use it straight away for chowder.

Creamy Corn Chowder

  • 4-6 cups corn stock
  • 3 cups fresh corn kernels (you can use canned or frozen)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • 2-3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 small bay leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup half & half or heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup butter

In a large pot (you could also do this in the slow cooker, it just takes longer), sweat the onion, carrot and garlic in a small amount of stock.  When the onions are soft, add the rest of the stock, the corn, potatoes, salt and pepper, bay leaves and simmer for about an hour until the potatoes are soft.

Corn, potatoes and carrots

At this point, if a smooth texture is desired, you can puree in batches in the blender and return to the pan.  (I have a stick blender so that makes it easy.)  Add the cream and butter, and simmer gently for another hour.

 

Serve with crusty bread and a side salad for a great summer lunch or light supper.

Creamy Corn Chowder

 

 

 

 

 

Forget About it Until the Smell Makes You Crazy

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Sometimes you find a dish that’s just so delicious you can’t believe it’s made from something as ordinary as lentils.  At my house, vegetarian lentil soup is a huge favorite, and since it’s one of those soups that’s great on Monday and just gets better and better by lunch time Thursday, I’m making plenty of it.  It’s also really easy and cheap so what’s not to love about that.   Best of all you can do something else while it cooks.

There are countless recipes for lentil soup, but this is my version and I encourage you to use whatever combination of ingredients suits your tastes.

Really Easy Vegetarian Lentil Soup

  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 2 carrots, rough chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, rough chopped
  • 2 cups fresh kale (any kind), rough chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 red pepper (jalapeno, anaheim), rough chopped
  • 2 cups dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves (mine are small, so I use two)
  • 4-6 cups vegetable broth
  • Salt and pepper

Sometimes you just get tired of chopping vegetables, so I really like this dish because I get to use my food processor.

  1. Put the onion, carrots, celery, kale and red pepper into the food processor and pulse several times until you have a small chop mixture.
  2. Spray the bottom of a soup pot or dutch oven, and bring to a medium heat.  Add the vegetable mixture and sweat until the fragrance is unbearable.

Lentil Soup Veggie Base II

 

 

 

3.  Add the broth, lentils, herbs and salt and pepper.

Vegetable Broth

4.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, put the top on and wait.  Let everything simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, checking now and then to make sure it doesn’t boil dry.

The great thing about lentils is that they don’t get mushy (unless you mush them).  You can blend for a smooth soup, but I like the homey, rustic texture of the lentils.  Serve in bowls with a big chunk of fresh bread, or a dollop of sour cream.

Best Vegan Lentil Soup 001

Helpful Hint:  You can make extra of the veggie mixture. Put some in a zip lock and stick in the freezer for another soup day.