Soup

Easy Wonton Soup

| mrscheryllacy

It’s usually a struggle for me to decide whether to order wonton or hot & sour soup from a Chinese restaurant. Or better said, it used to be a struggle. Since I’ve found my own simple and quick recipe for wonton soup made at home, I order hot & sour soup at restaurants now. This is one of those recipes that can easily be made after getting home from work and while helping kids with homework. And there’s not much cleanup, which makes it even better. Many of you know, that I have an allergy to shellfish, so this is not “warwonton” soup. You can modify and use shellfish is you desire. Happy eating!

Ingredients20160213_185137

  • Wontons, fully cooked, mini
  • 3-4 Baby bok choy
  • 10-12 Fresh mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion
  • 9-12 cups Chicken stock
  • 1 tsp Chinese 7 spices
  • 2 tsp Garlic
  • Pepper

Instructions

  • Dice the medium onion.
  • Wash, pat dry with paper towel, and cut mushrooms into quarters. For larger mushrooms, you may want to cut into 1/6.

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  • In large stock pot, add 1 T of olive oil and heat over medium high heat.
  • After about 2 minutes, add 2 tsp of minced garlic and cook until lightly browned.
  • Add the onions, mix well and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
  • Add mushrooms, cook for 2-3 minutes.

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  • Add baby bok choy.
  • Add 4-8 cups of chicken stock.

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  • Add chinese 7 spices and ground pepper.
  • Mix well.
  • Add additional chicken stock until desired amount of soup is in pot. Around 9-12 cups total.

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  • Bring to a boil.
  • Add wontons to boiling soup mix.
  • Cook until soft and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.

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  • Taste and add additional pepper or Chinese 7 spices as desired.

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Ideas

  • Mushrooms – I prefer crimini, but any button mushroom would be fine. Do not use canned mushrooms unless you absolutely have to.
  • Wontons – We found these chicken cilantro mini mushrooms at Costco and hope they never stop selling them.
  • Make this your meal and not an appetizer. That’s what we do.

Soupy Corn Chowder

| mrscheryllacy

The winter time always makes me yearn for soups, but I get tired of making and eating the same ones again and again. After Christmas this year, I had some leftover ham and thought about this delicious corn chowder recipe I have. Most chowders are very thick, the true sign of a chowder and that’s great. For me, I prefer more broth. I’ve made some modifications to a hearty corn and potato soup I’ve made many times in the past so it would be simple, delicious and more soup than chowder. I hope you like it.

Ingredients20160102_190421

  • 2-1/2 cups of diced ham
  • 3 medium russet potatoes, chopped
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 dashes of hot sauce
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 3 cups cream-style corn
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1-1/2 cup milk
  • chives or green onion, chopped

Instructions

  • Prepare potatoes and onions.

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  • In a medium stock pot, add olive oil, potatoes, oregano, and hot sauce.
  • Cook over medium-low heat until onions are translucent.

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  • Pour in the chicken stock, corn and ham.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover pot.
  • Simmer 20 minutes. Stir frequently.

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  • When the potatoes are tender, add the cream and milk to the chowder.
  • Add chives or green onion. Mix well.

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  • Serve.

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Ideas

  • Ham – feel free to use turkey ham, but you may need to add some additional salt.
  • Milk – I prefer 2%, but you can use 1% or whole milk; Half-half is also an option, but then replace entire cream/milk quantity with it.
  • Potatoes – red potatoes also work well.
  • Soup versus chowder – if you want this to be thicker, replace more of the milk with heavy cream.
  • Serve with bread or crackers.

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Avgolemono (Greek Egg Lemon Chicken Soup)

| mrscheryllacy

Ah, the tang of lemon in a creamy soup…one of those surprisingly invigorating tastes that lingers in your mind until the next time you are blessed to have this dish. There are many versions out there; some good, some not so good and some that you always wish you could recreate. I was introduced to this soup about 14 years ago and it became an instant favorite. I remember going to a couple greek restaurants and ordering it with such excitement for the culinary delights to come. Then when putting my spoon into the bowl and excitedly bringing to my lips, my excitement changed into “BLEH”! These soups lacked lemon, the creaminess of the egg yolks folded in properly, the flavor – of well, anything. Hence my quest to find the perfect avgolemono for my family. And maybe this strays rather far from the original recipes intention, but you won’t be sorry once you start making it at home as well.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup of fresh lemon jui20151025_132328ce
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1 medium carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1 tsp crushed/diced garlic
  • 1 cup chopped cooked chicken
  • 1/2 cup orzo pasta
  • 4 egg yolks

Instructions

  • In a large saucepan over medium heat, add about 1/2 T of olive oil.
  • Once oil is hot, add the garlic. Cook for about a minute.
  • Then add the onion. Cook for about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the chicken. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

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  • Add the chicken broth, carrots, orzo, pepper and lemon juice.
  • Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes until the orzo and carrots are tender.

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  • Remove 1/2 cup of soup and gradually pour into the egg yolks. Whisk.
  • Stir back into soup.

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  • Heat soup thoroughly but do not let boil so the eggs to do solidify.
  • Serve.

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Ideas

  • Chicken – like so many of my recipes, you can cook the chicken yourself, get it from a can or cut pieces from a rotisserie chicken to make this. Whichever is easiest for you.
  • Carrots – are tricky. If you just cook them normally they’ll probably still be quite crunchy when everything else is ready. Stick your carrot(s) in the microwave for about 1 minute before cutting up.
  • Lemon slices – Feel free to garnish with lemon slices.
  • Serving – this goes great with pita bread, french bread or crackers. Make a meal out of it, or just have a small appetizer sized bowl.

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Quick Cream of Asparagus Soup

| mrscheryllacy

Ah, asparagus. This is a vegetable I have loved since I was a child even though I couldn’t pronounce it. For most of my childhood, I called this delicious vegetable “fat grass”. Growing up, we grew green asparagus in our yard. Late Spring and early Summer were ideal times for picking. I use the term “picking” lightly in this case as you do not actually pick asparagus, but use a sharp knife to cut the stem as close to the ground as possible. It was always important to pick the asparagus as soon as it was ready until the days started getting too hot. If you missed a stalk, it would grow quite tall, then flower and seed. Once this started happening, the picking was essentially over until the next year. Of course, once the really warm weather was upon us, we’d let all the remaining stalks go to seed so that we’d have another great year of picking to look forward to.

As I have loved asparagus my whole life, I’ve had a difficult time eating it unless it was steamed and with a little salt on it. This is for no other reason than that I felt it was absolutely perfect that way so why cook it any other way. I no longer live in a place where I can have an asparagus patch in my yard and I have to buy it from the grocery store. I still love to steam my asparagus, but nothing is quite like picking it and having it on your dinner table an hour later. So I began looking for other, but still simple, ways to prepare asparagus. Here is my version of “cream” of asparagus soup. It’s simple, tasty and not really creamy, but you’ll love it anyway. Enjoy!

Ingredients 20150726_195312

  • 1-1/2 cups of chicken broth
  • 1-1/2 lbs of asparagus
  • 1/2 c 2% milk
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions 

  • Rinse the asparagus.
  • Snap off the “hard” ends of the stalk but holding the middle of the stalk with one hand and the thick end with the other. Bend and the stalk will snap just above the “hard” end. Throw out the “hard” ends.
  • Steam the asparagus until it is softened (could be cut with the side of a fork).
  • Cut the asparagus into about 1-1/2 to 2 inch sections.
  • Put 1 cup of the chopped asparagus aside.
  • In a blender, add the chicken broth and the remaining asparagus.
  • Attach lid and begin to blend, starting at a low speed.

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  • Bring up to medium (or high, depending upon your blender) speed and blend until well mixed.
  • Turn off the blender.
  • Pour soup into a stockpot. Using medium heat, bring the soup to a low boil.
  • Pour in the milk, salt and pepper and the reserved asparagus stalks. Stir well.
  • Return to a low boil and add salt and pepper (per your preference).
  • Turn off the heat.

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Instructions – Serving

  • In small soup bowls, scoop several of the reserved asparagus sections from the pot and place into the bowls.
  • Ladle soup over the asparagus.
  • Serve.

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Ideas

  • If you are a traditionalist and prefer to use heavy cream, please do so. This would still be 1/2 cup.
  • Breaking off the hard part of the stalk isn’t necessary (to most people). This is why you will often have asparagus at a restaurant and have hard, chewy sections that you basically don’t or can’t eat. You can leave them on if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
  • In lieu of extra salt at the end, use a little more of the chicken bouillon seasoning powder.
  • Steaming – My mother bought me this great vegetable steamer so I can just pop them into the microwave. It works great and shortens prep time considerably.
  • Serve with a nice warm baguette for more of a meal than an opening course.

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