Cream of Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
This hearty, creamy soup is just the ideal fall treat with fresh, crusty bread or fried pita on the side. It makes a wholesome, fresh, delicious and satisfying lunch or dinner meal. You will probably like it enough to serve it as an appetizer when you have guests over for dinner. It is fast, easy and healthy! You could also make it as a vegetarian recipe.
Enjoy! ~ 
Type: Soup
Serve With: Fresh, crusty bread or fried pita.
Prep Time: 10 min
Yield: Should serve 4 people as appetizer, or 2 people for dinner
Ingredients:
1 medium Butternut squash
2 small Sweet potatoes
1 large Onion
3 cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp Freshly ground cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp Sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup Heavy cream
1 1/2 cups Chicken stock
1 tbsp Brown sugar
1/8 tsp Nutmeg - Freshly grated is preferred.
1/8 tsp Ginger - You may use 1/2 tsp if it is freshly minced/grated.
1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 Cinnamon stick
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Peel butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and onion, and scoop out of the squash seeds with a large spoon. Chop into 1′ chunks. Sprinkle with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, ground ginger, and cayenne pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Combine these ingredients in a small roasting pan or oven proof dish, and roast at 375 F for 15 min, then reduce temperature to 335 F, and continue to roast until fork tender (~ 55 min).
4. 10 min before finishing roasting, sprinkle brown sugar over vegetables.
5. Combine roasted vegetables, chicken stock, and butter in a large soup pot, and use a hand blender to blend it to the consistency you desire. Add heavy cream and stir.
* Tip: If you like chunks in your soup, blend it less. If you like it completely smooth, blend it completely.
* Tip: Use a standing blender if you don’t have a hand blender.
6. Heat soup until it is the temperature you desire (~ 5-8 min) and drop a cinnamon stick in soup pot during this time.
7. Take out cinnamon stick, and season with sea salt & pepper to taste.
8. Garnish with dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche, a nasturtium flower and a cinnamon stick. Beautiful!!!
9. Serve with crusty bread or fried pitas, and Enjoy!
I hope you enjoy this recipe…
Eat Deliciously!
Kimberly Edwards is the founder of Cooking With Kimberly - Decadent Cooking from Home - Find a Delicious Cooking Recipe, Great Products and Helpful Tips & Information that will help you Explore the Joy of Cooking!
Discover more Amazing Soup Recipes and Check out Kimberly’s Cooking Secrets at: http://www.CookingWithKimberly.com
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Stick to Your Ribs Skillet Corn Chowder
Many cook books have corn chowder recipes. The recipe in Fannie Farmer’s book, “The Boston Cooking School Cook Book,” originally published in 1896, calls for canned corn, onions, potatoes, and salt pork. This hearty soup is served with hard “common crackers” soaked in cold milk to soften them.
New England recipes for corn chowder contain the basics of onions, potaotes, corn and cream. Fannie Farmer’s recipe may have evolved from New England clam chowder with corn. Southern recipes for corn chowder call for the trinity — onions, celery, green and red peppers. Many professional chefs and home cooks have experimented with the corn chowder recipes.
Jasper White, on the Leite’s Culinaria website, describes corn chowder as “the king of farmhouse chowders.” His recipe is based on a Shaker recipe from Hancock Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. White adds chicken stock to his corn chowder, along with cumin and tumeric.
Ina Garten’s corn chowder recipe, posted on the Food Network website, also contains chicken stock. She adds white sharp cheddar cheese to her chowder for added richness.
On this cold Minnesota morning corn chowder sounded warm and comforting, but I didn’t want to go to the store for any fancy schmancy ingredients. When I checked the food on hand I found everything I needed for stick-to-your-ribs corn chowder. I made my chowder in a cast iron skillet, but you may wish to use a soup pot. From start to finish, this hearty chowder took only 20 minutes to make. This recipe feeds four and may be doubled.
Stick to Your Ribs Skillet Corn Chowder
4 slices thick bacon, cut into thin strips with kitchen shears
4 green onions. cut into thin slices with kitchen shears
2 small red potatoes, washed and diced
1/2 cup frozen vegetable combination of corn, carrots, and asparagus, defrosted (I found these leftover veggies in the refrigerator.)
12 3/4-ounce can creamed style corn (I used salt-free.)
3/4 cup fat-free half and half (Approximate measure. I filled the corn can 3/4 of the way with cream)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cook bacon in skillet until crisp and brown. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Carefully wipe skillet with additional paper towels. Pour green onions into skillet and saute over low heat until wilted.
Put diced potatoes in a bowl with a little water. Cover and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Drain water and add potatoes to skillet. Cut defrosted carrots and asparagus into small pieces. Add these pieces, defrosted corn, canned corn, half and half, thyme and salt and pepper to soup. Cover and simmer over very low heat until heated through and flavors blend. Serve with tiny oyster crackers. Makes 4 generous servings.
Copyright 2008 by Harriet Hodgson
Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 30 years. Before she became a health writer she was a food writer for a local magazine. Centering Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska is publishing her 26th book, “Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life.” The company is also publishing two companion products, the “Writing to Recover Journal,” which contains 100 writing jump-starts, and the “Writing to Recover Affirmations Calendar.”
Another grief resource, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD is available from http://www.amazon.com Please visit Harriet’s website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.
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Crockpot Soup Secrets - Handy Tips and Tricks
By KC Kudra
Soup is normally something you imagine bubbling away on the stove, rather than simmering quietly in a crockpot, so why would you want to make a crockpot soup recipe?
Actually, there are several reasons, but the most important one is flavor. By definition, food cooks slowly in a slow cooker, and whether you are making a stew, a casserole, a soup or something else, all the flavors in your meal blend together in a crockpot more intensely than with any other cooking method.
Crockpot cooking is also handy if you going to be out all day because you can leave your French onion soup recipe, or whichever recipe you are making, to cook by itself. To make the best crockpot soup recipes, it is important to follow the recipe closely. With a lot of crockpot recipes, you simply throw everything in, stir it, and leave it, but if there are any other steps, it is important to do them.
Essential Tips for Crockpot Soups
Fill your crockpot about three quarters full but no more, else your crockpot soup will not cook properly. Remember that crockpots cook whatever is on the bottom faster than what is on the top. This is why hard vegetables like carrots and potatoes are normally added to the crockpot first, and meat or poultry goes on top.
Tender mushrooms like tomatoes and mushrooms only need about forty-five minutes, so you can add these near the end of the cooking time. Add dairy products like heavy cream or sour cream in the last thirty minutes, unless the recipe tells you otherwise.
You do not have to stir your soup while it cooks. If you remove the crockpot lid, you will lose heat from inside, which means you need to add twenty more minutes to the cooking time. Turn the lid back and forth quickly a few times, so the condensation drips off, and you will be able to see inside the crockpot.
Crockpot Creamy Potato and Celery Soup Recipe
This recipe for potato and celery soup is very easy to make. You simply chop the ingredients, add everything to your crockpot, and leave it to cook for about eight hours. If you will be out working all day and you want to get home to something hot and delicious, this crockpot soup recipe is ideal. This recipe serves eight people, so halve it if you want.
Potato and Celery Soup in the Slow Cooker
What you will need:
- 6 red potatoes, in 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 sliced leeks (just the white part)
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 chopped yellow onion
- 1 can cream of cheddar soup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 peeled, diced carrot or parsnip
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 2 sliced stalks celery
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
How to make it:
Put the chopped potatoes and carrot or parsnip into the crockpot. Pour the cheddar soup and the celery soup over the top, then sprinkle over the salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Add the leeks, onion, garlic, and celery. Mix together the half-and-half and the chicken broth and pour this mixture over the top. Cover the crockpot and cook the potato and celery soup on low for 8 hours. Check the potato. If it is not quite tender, cook the soup for another hour. Serve this potato soup hot, with crusty bread and butter on the side.
With the cooler weather setting into the nights, air many a cooks attentions turn to warmer more filling meals. One of these meals so many like during the brisk nights dinners is soup. There are many different kinds of soup to many to name here but one soup above all conjures up images of elegance, sophistication and extraordinary presentations like that of French onion soup.
As the parent of 4 boys, onion soup is a meal starter that gets rave reviews for its hardy beef stock and wonderfully sweet taste from slowly caramelized onions and other wonderful vegetables if you choose to make one of the many onion soup recipes available at my wife’s website FrenchOnionSoups.com.
One of the things she is asked often about this culinary delight is what types of onion are used in making a delicious French onion soup. She has helped take the guesswork out of knowing what the different onions are in a comprehensive guide to onions. She even answers the questions of how to grow onions, the health benefits of onions and many more in-depth articles on this wonderful vegetable.
You can make all kinds of delicious soups in your crockpot, including tomato soup, chicken soup or even a crockpot French onion soup recipe with swirled cheese. If you enjoy French onion soup, you will be spoilt for choice at FrenchOnionSoups.com because we have loads of delicious onion soup recipes for you to make at home, including easy crockpot recipes. And if you like what you see don’t forget to bookmark us and tell your friends too so you can share the joy of wonderful onion soups with others.
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Grandma’s Homemade Chicken Soup
There is nothing quite like a hot, soothing bowl of homemade chicken soup, especially when your sick or when the weather starts getting cold. I am sure many of us have fond memories of Mom or Grandma fixing up a hot bowl of chicken soup when we were younger. Remember how comforting it was and how good it made you feel? I sure do and I look forward to making chicken soup at least once a month during the cold days of winter. I am going to share with you one of the most delicious recipes for chicken soup, passed down to me from my Grandmother. It is quite easy to make and I promise you will enjoy this again and again…
I rarely follow exact measurements while cooking, so the ingredients below are approximated. Please forgive me in advance..
INGREDIENTS
2 Large Chicken Breasts on the Bone, Skin on
3 Large Celery Stalks Sliced (Reserve Leaves)
3 Large Carrots Sliced
1 Medium Onion Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic Crushed
2 Medium Russet Potatoes Cubed
1 Cup of Small Pasta for Soup (Orzo, Ditalini)
Water
Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Grated Italian Cheese (Optional)
Bouquet garni of Thyme, Sage and Rosemary (Instructions Below)
DIRECTIONS
Step 1 - Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken breasts skin side down and brown.
Step 2 - Add water and chicken stock to the pot. Add a 50/50 mixture of water and chicken stock. The chicken stock gives the soup a boost in flavor. Add enough liquid so that the chicken is completely submerged, plus a little more.
Step 3 - Add celery leaves, garlic and Bouquet Garni (instructions follow). Bring liquid to a boil, then cover and simmer. Cook chicken on a low simmer until you can easily pull the chicken off the bone. One chicken is done, remove it from the pot and place it on a large plate. Remove the garlic and bouquet from pot and discard.
Bouquet Garni Instructions/Description
A bouquet Garni is just a fancy French name for a bundle of herbs that can be added to stocks, soups and stews. When translated to English it means: “garnished bouquet”. It is very easy to make. You can either tie the bundle together using strings or you can wrap it in cheesecloth. I like to use the cheesecloth as it keeps the herbs contained so that they do not fall off and become part of the soup. If you don’t mind the herbs in the final soup, you can wrap it with string. This bundle of herbs will impart a deliciously rich flavor to the broth.
Step 4 - Add the onion, potatoes, celery and carrots to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Step 5 - Add your pasta and cook along with vegetables until pasta is al dente.
Step 6 - While the pasta is cooking, pull chicken from the bone and shred into bite size pieces. Add the chicken to the pot and stir.
Step 7 - Serve. Top with grated cheese if desired. Enjoy!
Easy & Healthy Split Pea Soup Recipe
The weather is starting to get colder as winter approaches and there is nothing more comforting and satisfying than a hot bowl of homemade soup. One of my favorite kinds of soups to make at home is split pea soup. It is easy, healthy and delicious. The best part about making 
split pea soup is that it won’t cost much to cook this for your family.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound of Split Green Peas
6 Cups of Water
2 Cups of Chicken Stock
1 Small Ham Hock (optional)
3 Large Carrots Peeled and Sliced
2 Large Celery Stalks Sliced
Small Bunch of Celery Leaves Chopped (take these from the celery stalks)
1 Medium Onion Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic Minced
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste
DIRECTIONS
Step 1 - Rinse and sort the green split peas thoroughly.
Step 2 - In a large stock pot, add the water, ham hock (optional) and split peas and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot and simmer for 1 hour.
Step 3 - Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, chicken stock and celery leaves and simmer for 1 more hour or until the vegetables and ham hock are tender. Remove the cover after 30 minutes and allow soup to simmer uncovered for remaining half hour so soup can thicken.
Step 4 - Remove ham hock from pot. Remove meat from the bone and dice. Discard the bone and add the diced ham to the soup.
Step 5 - Stir and add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 6 - Serve and enjoy!
Recipe for Chicken, Orange and Parsnip Soup
Chicken is justifiably one of the best loved meats thoughout the whole world.
It is low in fat, is protein rich, exceedingly versatile and plays a major part in many weight loss recipes.
For most families, the memorable nostalgia food is chicken soup. It is a adaptable recipe and is often served to relatives who are under the weather, but it is just as beneficial for weight watchers.
Here is a really tasty chicken soup recipe with a twist for you to make in your own kitchen.
Before we start, a few tips on buying your chicken.
If you can get hold of an organic chicken, that will be better still, as it will be free from any hormones or other unhealthy additions. It Is also a good policy for animal welfare, as some of the grocery store chickens are bred in conditions that are pretty immoral.
On to the recipe.
You will need:
2 oranges (juice only)
1 black pepper (freshly ground)
2 onions (chopped and peeled)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
750 ml of chicken stock
10 cloves of garlic (halved)
8 parsnips (either fresh or pre-roasted)
1 teaspoon of salt
Technique:
Heat oil in a pan. Place onions and cook until soft. Let 10 minutes pass and then place garlic cloves and the roasted parsnips. Leave some of the parsnips to be added later.
Fry vegetables until they are soft for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally while adding the parsnips (should be pre-roasted).
Pour the chicken stock into the vegetable mix. Put in some black pepper and salt. Allow to simmer up to 20 minutes. Liquidize this after.
To enhance taste, add seasoning and orange juice.
This dish feeds 6 people as a first course, but you might choose to serve it as a meal in itself with freshly baked bread, in which case it feeds four people comfortably.
If you like this recipe, you can find a good selection of for chicken recipes and soup recipes by visiting any of the free recipes sites on the internet.
dining together~Eating meals at the family table} can be a huge boost to family morale. In these busy days, eating together is frequently the only occasion that we get to have a chat with our loved ones Preparing meals at home has lots of strong plus points. It is frequently a good deal more cost effective, frequently significantly faster, and, as it involves fewer driving miles, is much kinder to the planet.
Two Fantastic Dishes You Can Cook Using Beef
So many times we only think of turkey, chicken and pork when we are trying to make low cost and nutritious meals, but if we are honest, most of us still crave the flavour that beef provides.
Many of us seem to get stumped on how to cook the beef, we rarely stray from the normal things, meat loaf, burgers, roast beef, tacos and burritos.
But wait, have you ever thought about making a salad with beef? There are a surprising number of wonderful recipes available that you can do with beef.
Here are a couple that have been created recently that your whole family are sure to enjoy.
Spring Beef Salad
You will need:
1 pound of ground beef
1 head of leaf green lettuce
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1/4 pound of fresh spinach
1-3 green onions
1-2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
1 tablespoon of fish oil
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon parsely
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon of reserved green onion
To do: In a pan, brown your ground beef, while you are browning the beef add in, fish oil, ginger, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, rip up your lettuce leaves and spinach. Chop up carrots and celery to your size liking. Then chop up the green onions into small pieces reserving 1 teaspoon for your dressing.
In a small bowl, mix together rice wine vinegar, water, tarragon, parsely and reserved green onion, set in the fridge to chill for approximately 15 minutes.
When the ground beef is done, drain off any fat that may have come out of the beef, now put into the bowl with your salad greens. Mix together. Take the dressing you created and pour all over the top of your salad, toss some more.
Your salad is ready to serve. This is a great spring or summer salad.
Beef vegetable soup with barley
This is a nice hearty soup that is great to eat any time. You could even set this up to cook in your slow cooker for the day.
You will need:
1 pound of ground beef
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup peas
1 cup corn
1 cup lima beans
1 cup chopped potatoes
1 1/2 cup barley
2 cups beef stock
4-6 cups water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
To do:
In a large pan, begin by browning your ground beef, sprinkle a small amount of salt and pepper while meat is cooking. When the meat is browning, add in the onion, let cook for a minute or two, this will allow some of the oils to sweat from the onion and provide additional flavor to the beef and the soup. Now toss in remaining vegetables, allow to good mixing constantly for about 10 minutes, this will help the softening process on the vegetables and also release additional flavors for your soup. Add in the stock, water and spices, cover with a lid let cook on medium heat for about an hour, checking occasionally to make sure it doesn’t boil over. Then lower to simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Your soup is ready to serve.
If you prefer not to use ground beef for these recipes you can used chopped up beef of your liking. Just remember to to brown the meat before any of the other steps.
Remember, there are a large number of different cuts of beef - also premium types of beef, such as Aberdeen Angus - so if you are unsure of which cuts of beef to use, ask your butcher, they are usually all to happy to offer you advice. You can find loads of yummy beef recipes by searching on the internet - there are many recipe collection sites on the net, almost all of which will have a section for beef recipes. If they don’t have a specialist beef recipe section, you will most likely find beef recipes in the meat recipes section.
Enjoy!
Creamy Potato Soup Recipe
Winter is approaching and the weather is starting to get colder. What can be more inviting than a delicious bowl of hot creamy potato soup?
Creamy potato soup is one of my favorite soups to enjoy during the cold weather. Below is a fantastic recipe that I know you and your family are just going to love.
The key to making the best potato soup is using the right potatoes. I have tried several different kinds of potatoes for this recipe and I found that Yukon Gold potatoes give this soup the best flavor and texture. The Yukon Gold potatoes give this soup a subtle sweetness that I simply love.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes Peeled and Diced
- 5 - 6 Medium Leeks (White Part Only) Chopped
- 1/4 lb of bacon (About 5-6 Strips)
- 1/2 Tsp White Pepper
- Salt to Taste
- 4 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 1 Cup of Heavy Cream
- 1 Cup of Buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
DIRECTIONS:
1) In a large pot or saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.
2) Add the leeks and a nice pinch of salt and cook for five minutes or so. Lower the heat and cook the leeks until they are tender. This should take approximately 20 minutes.
3) Add the potatoes and the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the potatoes are soft. This should take approximately 30 minutes.
4) While potatoes are cooking, pan fry the bacon on until crisp and set aside.
5) When potatoes have finished cooking, turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender (I highly recommend you get one, they are quite handy), then carefully pour mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.
6) Stir in cream, buttermilk and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
7) Top the soup with crumbled bacon.
Enjoy!
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