The Last of My Cabbage

There is no real story behind this soup. I was craving turkey meatballs and needed to use up my cabbage. The picture doesn't look very appetizing, but this soup is bursting with flavor!
Turkey and Cabbage Soup:
1lb lean ground turkey
1 inch cube of ginger, minced
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 gloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped plus more for garnishing
1 cup onion, minced
1/2 head of lettuce, cut into strips
1 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
2 inch cubes of ginger, minced
1 scallion, chopped
Sriracha, to taste

-In a large bowl, combine the turkey, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic and cilantro. Form into golf ball sized balls and sear in a skillet until brown on all sides. Set aside.

-In a stockpot, heat onion and cabbage with a little olive oil for 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add chicken stock and ginger and simmer for 10 minutes. Add meatballs and sriracha and simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste, and if the soup needs more seasoning, add a sprinkling of fish sauce, soy, or sesame oil (I added all 3). Garnish with scallion and cilantro and serve!

Leftover Stew

Hmmm leftover stew doesn’t sound all that delicious, so I’ll give you some background information. One Sunday, I decided to bake a ham. Seth ran to the store and bought a 20 pound ham! It was delicious that day, glazed with Pete’s mustard and pecan sauce. The ham also made great sandwiches, but after the next few days of leftovers, we were bored with ham. Trying to be economical, I decided to make ham soup. I boiled the ham bone with an onion, carrots, sage, bay leaf, and peppercorns and saved the broth for this soup. If you’d like to add more veggies to the stew, adding can of chopped tomatoes or mushrooms would be delicious. Ham and Hominy Stew
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup white wine
8 cups ham broth, or chicken broth
4 cups chopped ham
1 (29 oz) can whole white hominy, drained
1 Tbsp chopped sage
2 bay leaves
Baby spinach leaves

1. In a large stockpot, sauté the red onion and garlic in oil until soft. Deglaze with white wine. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 min to 1 hour to develop flavors.
2. Place spinach leaves in an empty bowl and pour soup over. Enjoy!

Warm and Cozy

It was 20 degrees outside and all I wanted to do is cuddle up by a fire and eat something warm and cozy! Unfortunately I didn't have all the necessary ingredients to make my favorite stew or mashed potatoes. As I was chatting with Seth, he suggested making a chicken dumpling soup, so I set out on a search to find the best recipe. I ended up combining several ideas from some of my favorite food sites (epicurious, cookthink, cookstr) and the soup turned out delicious! Next time I'll be sure to add vegetables to the soup, since my pantry was a bit thin this go around. I prefer my soups to be very creamy with extra dumplings, so if you like minimal dumplings you may want to halve this recipe. Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Soup

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot or half an onion

1/2 cup white wine

8 cups chicken broth

5 cups of shredded roasted chicken

Juice and zest of one lemon

Chopped parsley

1. Heat oil in a soup pot and saute minced shallot until clear. Deglaze pan with wine. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil while making dumplings.

Dumplings

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups heavy cream

1. Combine dry ingredients together and mix in cream until just incorporated. Using a spoon drop a tablespoon amount of dumpling into the soup. Continue with the remaining batter. Boil dumplings in soup for 12 minutes and serve!

Kale Soup

Yes, it seems like it should be too warm for soup, but I couldn't help myself! Kale is delicious in this warm concoction and adds a nice hearty flavor, perfect for a dinner for one or two. I keep a stash of dried mushrooms in my pantry so that I can quickly toss them in soups and such, but fresh mushrooms are just as good. Leftover shredded chicken can also be added if you're looking for more protein. Enjoy!

Kale, Mushroom, and Wild Rice Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 diced onion

1 garlic scallion (or 1/2 shallot)

1/2 cup white wine

6 cups chicken broth

bay leaf

1 bunch thyme

1 cup wild rice

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, chopped and sauteed

Salt and pepper to taste

Squeeze of Sriracha (for a kick!)

1.) Heat oil and saute onion and scallion. Deglaze pan with wine. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil with the thyme and bay leaf. Add wild rice and simmer 30 minutes.

2.) Add chopped kale and mushrooms and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add seasonings to taste. Serves 2-3 people.