Summer Corn Chowder

Isn't corn on the cob an essential "summer food"? Have any leftover corn on the cob from a recent barbeque? Perfect! Here's your solution.

Now,  I love the creamy, heavier chowders in the fall and winter but this is summer! The season calls for a fresh, light kind of chowder; a great menu item for the days when it is a little cooler and rainier outside, like it has been this week.

I used tarragon as the herb in this chowder (thanks for the idea "simplyrecipes.com").  I don't actually use it much in my cooking, but I had some for a fun salad I made for a girl's night this week and found it does go well with the corn. Since it has a mild licorice/minty type of flavor, it adds a fresh feel to the soup, which is part of its charm. It you are not a fan of tarragon, I think a little fresh basil would work well instead.

Ingredients:
2 cobs of corn (cooked or uncooked)
2 large red potatoes, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped)
5 cups chicken/vegetable stock
1 TBSP butter/margarine
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1-2 tsp lemon juice
fresh tarragon
salt and pepper

First, cut the corn kernels off the cob and set aside. Boil 5 cups of stock with the cobs also in the pot (this will help give that broth some extra corn taste and add a little body to the base). Saute the butter with the onions and garlic in a skillet for a couple minutes. Add in potatoes and parsnips and toss to coat. Then, once the broth is boiling add in the skillet's mixture. Simmer until potatoes are soft (about 10-15 min). Remove the cobs. Add the milk and corn pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thinly slice some tarragon leaves and sprinkle a little lemon juice right before serving.

Strawberry Soup

I remember when I was young, back when my taste buds were much less adventurous, the thought of cold soup made me squirm. Soup was supposed to be comforting and warm. Perfect on a winter day, not something cold and refreshing on a hot day.  When I had tried them, it wasn't necessarily a good experience.

Then, I went on a cruise to the Caribbean and the chefs there changed my mind. They let you order as many appetizers as you wanted so I always had to try a few each dinner and be adventurous as you wanted. This is where I learned that cold soup could be good!

The secret, in my opinion, to cold soups is to eat them in small portions. They aren't hearty or one-dish-meal worthy but work great as a starter/appetizer or dessert. This one, works as both. I thought it more attractive and not too overwhelmingly sweet when eaten from a dessert bowl or ramekin. I created this recipe to mimic my favorite one from the cruise. I tried to keep the added sugar to a minimum-most other recipes you will see for strawberry soup are loaded with sugar. It is sad, because they are missing out on that fantastic, tangy punch the natural fruit provides.

Since it is the 4th of July this week, wouldn't it be great to impress your dinner guests with a patriotic dessert soup?

There are multiple uses for any leftovers. It freezes great into popsicles or to make smoothies.

Strawberry Soup
1 pint strawberries (hulled)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP  or less of sugar
1/4 cup cream
whipped cream and blueberries for garnish

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Chill in the fridge until you serve (I would recommend at least 1 hr). Add garnish and serve.

Italian Wedding Soup

Although a catchy name, this soup is not about marriage in the traditional sense. It is meant to show how good it is to pair meat and greens together. Makes a good "marriage", don't you think. Now, I have never been a great fan of eating meatballs, mostly because everyone seems to think the only way to eat them is to smother them in some kind of sweet sauce... I have attempted to make my own on occasion for soups like this before but never really succeeded in anything that had much flavor. My greatest find lately is that Costco has some decent meatballs...much to my husband's delight. I think they taste more like Italian sausage. Yum! It also makes this soup very easy to throw together since they are pre-cooked. (you may want to cut them in half so kids can eat them easier)

Ingredients:
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked ditaloni pasta
10 frozen Italian-style beef meatballs
2 large handfuls of spinach
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp oregano

Saute garlic, onion, carrots, and celery together in the saucepan for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and meatballs and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add in oregano and enough salt and pepper for flavor. Add spinach right before serving so it just gets wilted then grate the parmesan cheese on top (just like any good Italian recipe). Don't omit this part. Serves 4

Kielbasa Soup

Every time I take a bite of this, the nastalgia settles in. The warm comforts of home and memories of my mom's cooking flood into my thoughts. It was often her choice of easy dinners that could sit on the stove (it can stay hot for a long time) on those nights everyone's busy schedule couldn't coincide for a sit-down meal together. My mom would also let us choose what we would have for dinner on our birthday. Since shrimp was costly, my next birthday choice was usually Kielbasa Soup, much to the chagrin of my sisters. I can never eat just one bowl, either.  This odd cool spell in the middle of the week here in Utah was a perfect time to bring it out again. I have altered it just a little from my mom's original version.

Ingredients:
8 oz of lean kielbasa sausage, sliced and halved
1/2 small onion, chopped
2-3 small red potatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1 can bean and bacon soup
3 cups water
1 cup broth

Method:
Boil the onions, carrot, and potatoes in water for 10-15 min until tender. Add the kielbasa, broth and canned soup. Bring back to a boil and simmer until warmed through. Serve with some freshly cracked pepper.

Avgolemono Soup

Back to my style... This Greek soup, although served warm, tastes surprisingly light, tangy and refreshing. Citris has a way of doing that to any recipe. Yum. It also looks creamy but uses no dairy. Fun, huh?  This is a version of Avgolemeno that doesn't take all day, it is done in 30 min or less. The only tricky part is getting the broth smooth without cooking the eggs to quick. Ben said I could definitely make this again.

Ingredients
1 TBSP oil
1/2 cup onion
3/4 cup orzo rice
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 chicken breast (diced in small pieces)
juice of one lemon (please use a fresh one)
3 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
salt and pepper
parsley and lemon zest

Method:
Saute the onion in oil for a few minutes (on medium heat or they cook too quickly). Add the broth and water and bring to a simmer. Add rice and simmer on medium heat until rice is mostly cooked (about 7 min.).

Add chicken pieces and boil until chicken is fully cooked (about 5 min.) then turn the heat off. White chicken cooks, whip the egg whites with a hand blender until soft peaks form.

Combine yolks and lemon juice, then add into the egg whites and blend together. Slowly temper the eggs by stirring in a ladle full of broth one at a time (that cooks the egg but don't want to immediately hit the eggs with a lot of hot liquid or it will denature the proteins too fast and you get a version of egg-drop soup). You can also slowly drizzle the broth and whisk the eggs at the same time. Stir everything back together, taste to add in salt and pepper if needed, and ladle into bowls. Top with parsley and lemon zest.

Heinz's Pork and Beans

This is a shout out to all those of you who grew up on hot dogs, spaghettios, and baked beans. Also, for those of you who are very, very limited on budget or cooking time/skill, here is a soup for you. I agreed to humor the idea to try this out.  I admit, though really not my style, it did bring back some childhood memories and I finished my bowl. So, please welcome our first guest cook, Ben, and give him some encouragement for actually wanting to make a soup himself!

Ingredients
1/2 onion
4 hot dogs, sliced (Hebrew Nationals are his favorite)
1 large can pork and beans (28 oz)
1 can stewed tomatoes
ketchup to taste (it looked like about 1/2 cup total)
2 TBSP brown sugar

Saute the onion and hot dogs in sauce pan until slightly brown, dump in pork and beans, tomatoes, ketchup and brown sugar and heat through. Serve with toast. Makes 4-6 servings

Tomato Bisque

Good tomatoes are starting to come out now that it is early summer. Hooray!!! I went and made a great tomato soup from fresh tomatoes for the first time and it was delicious. "Bisque" means it is creamy, but I didn't much cream in this one so that the flavor of the tomatoes could shine through.

Normally for tomato soups, I use stewed tomatoes from a can (which actually works fine) so if it's not tomato season when you are making this, I would go that route. I do recommend finely pureeing this one (leaving not chunks) so, if you are going to use fresh tomatoes, you will need to peel them. I didn't remember this until later, after the picture. Peels just do not give in the blenders well (unless, you have a Vitamix...then they might). The best way to peel tomatoes is to quickly blanch them in a pot of boiling water. That means, drop them in and pull them right back out after 15-20 sec. or so. Cool them slightly and then the skins slide off easily.

Note that I did make this one for only 2 servings.

Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 yellow onion
1 carrot, diced (or about 12 baby carrots)
4 large, ripe tomatoes (peeled)
2 cups vegetable stock
2 TBSP tomato paste
1/3 cup cream
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
salt and black pepper

Method:
Heat olive oil in small soup pot. Add onion, carrot and garlic until they get soft (they can burn easily if you get distracted cutting up tomatoes-so watch carefully). Then add the tomatoes, stock and tomato paste. Bring to a boil.

Cut down heat to only a simmer and add bay leaf and thyme. Cover and allow to simmer for 30 min. Let cool slightly (you don't want your blender to explode) and remove bay leaf and thyme. Use blender to puree to a smooth consistency (hand mixers or immersion blenders don't work well for this one). If your blender didn't do a great job, you also might strain it (I had to do this to get the right texture). Stir in cream. Add salt to taste and top with fresh ground pepper, parsley leaves, and maybe a few shavings of Parmesan cheese.
I can't think of a better way to serve this than with a grilled cheese sandwich and fresh green salad. Yum!