Soups

[kkl123]

This is a nice chilled summer soup, very much from the area of Hungary and the Czech republic.    It's a rather bright pepto-bismol pink, but most folks can overlook that after the first spoonful.    Feel free to substitute sweet cherries for sour ones if that's what you've got.. just reduce the amount of sugar.  You can also substitute other liquids for the wine -- if I do that, I tend to throw in more cherries -- a bit of sparkling cherry-flavored apple juice works well as a wine substitute.

Bring to a simmer together for 5 min:
1.5 qts water
1 lb fresh or frozen (not canned) sour cherries (pie cherries)
3/4 c sugar
1/2 stick cinnamon (remove after this step)
Pull out about half the cherries and some water; pulse in blender and then return the emulsion to the soup pot.

Stir together in a bowl:
1 c sour cream (not nonfat sour cream; substitute yoghurt if you really want to cut fat)
1/2 t salt
2 Tbsp corn starch

Whisk sour cream mixture into cherry mixture; cook an additional 5-6 minutes until it thickens. 
Cool, covered, then add  (OPTIONAL: 1/2 -1 c good red wine)
Refrigerate (covered) until cold; serve very cold garnished with more sour cream.

[matf]

Chinese Soup

1/2 to 3/4 lbs ground beef
3-4 scallions, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 TB (1/4 cup) soy sauce
1-3 dried hot peppers (to taste)
4-5 cups water
1 bundle string bean noodles -- or 1/4 cup rice
salt/pepper/pinch of sugar

Saute beef, scallions, ginger, and garlic together. Drain. Add rest of ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer 1 hour. Gets hotter as it stands around. Can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.

Variations:
* Add fresh mushrooms to saute with beef.
* Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water 5 minutes. Slice and add to soup. Strain soaking liquid and add with water.
* Top with more chopped scallions.
* Add a bit of dark sesame oil to the soup.
* Try adding different dried peppers. I usually use the thin red Sezchwan (sp?) peppers, but others can be substituted.
* Substitute fresh hot peppers for dried.

[ginlyn32]

Turkey-Noodle Soup

(You can also use chicken if that is what you have)

4 qts turkey or chicken stock
2 c cubed turkey or chicken meat
2 celery ribs, minced
3 carrots, diced
1/2 c onion, minced
noodles
salt to taste
pepper to taste
poultry seasoning to taste


*this is an excellent recipe to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving! I recommend making your own stock with the turkey carcass.
Just put the carcass in a big stock pot (I use a 20 qt) and add one pkg of celery cut into one inch pieces, one medium onion, 10 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and about 2 T italian seasoning. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cover pot with lid and boil for about 2 hours. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove turkey carcass and scrap as much meat off the bone as you can. Strain broth into a clean bowl and throw out bones and gunk. Let broth stand in fridge overnight to remove fat easily. This makes a TON of broth and can be frozen and used in place of chicken broth in recipes.

1) Place stock, celery, onion, carrots into a 5 qt dutch oven. Bring to boil. Cook until the veggies are done and celery is soft.

2)Add noodles. I didn't specify an amount because some people like more noodles than others. Just add as much or as little as you want.

3)Add salt and pepper to taste. The poultry seasoning should be added now as well. It really helps bring out the richness of the soup.

4)When noodles are done (about 9-10 minutes), add turkey.

Serve hot.

[LiveLoveLearn]

Chicken Dumpling Stew
~1 lb of chicken, diced (I use breasts, but that's because I don't like dark meat. reduce butter to 2 tbs for dark.)
~1 cup sliced carrots
~1 cup sliced celery
~1 cup sliced potatoes
~1 cup sliced mushrooms (baby bellas are perfect for this!)
~1 large onion, diced
~whatever other veggies you feel like throwing in (I sometimes do corn, green beans, peas, stewed tomatoes)
~3 tbs butter
~2 tbs ground mustard
~2 tbs ground sage
~2 tbs ground corriander seed
~6 cups chicken broth OR 4 cups broth and 2 cups white wine
~salt
~pepper

Dumplings:
~1 1/2 cup flour -- not self rising
~2 teaspoons baking powder
~1/2 teaspoon salt
~1/4 cup butter, softened
~1 packet of dried veggie soup OR 2 tbs each of sage, dried mustard, corriander seed and paprika
~3/4 - 1 cup milk

Lightly salt and pepper chicken, then brown in a large stockpot over med. heat just until outside carmels. Add everything except mushrooms and simmer uncovered over medium heat 1 hour, stirring often. Add water if neccessary to maintain soup consistency. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and veggie soup or seasonings. Add milk slowly until dough is sticky and seperates easily. Add mushrooms to stock pot and return to a fast simmer. Drop the dough in a tablespoon at a time, alternating placement so that dumplings can firm a little before you place one next to it. Repeat until all dough is used and stew is returned to a simmer. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.

Adapts easily to vegitarian by omitting chicken and using 5 cups veggie broth, or to beef stew by using a quality flank steak and beef broth-sherry mix

[OhHai!]

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