Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

I love using those canned cream soups in cooking. A pot roast cooked in a crockpot with cream of mushroom soup makes some of the best gravy ever. Add a can of cream of chicken soup to some cooked noodles and steamed vegetables, and you really don't need much besides a few dashes of pepper. But I've always studiously avoided the ingredients lists on those cans. Why? A few examples:

monosodium glutamate
disodium phosphate
"spice" (and that would be???)
maltodextrin
modified corn starch

But it always seemed like something to live with. I have to pay taxes. I have to spoil my cats. And I don't have a substitute for canned, condensed soups.

But do you know how easy it was to discover I was wrong on that last one? As long as it took to type "homemade condensed cream of chicken soup" in Google and hit send. And look-y what the Very First Result is:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_cream_chicken_soup

And do you know how incredibly simple this was to make? Of course you don't, because you weren't here when I made it. Here, I'll show you:

Step 1: Mix some stock, milk and seasonings in a pot and boil:



Step 2: whisk together some milk and flour:



Step 3: Combine the two, whisk, boil.



Done! And it took me about 10 minutes from start to finish - and I bet about 1 minute of that was because I took 7 pictures. It might not be quite as fast as getting a can out of the pantry and opening it. But it's darn close.

That Cookbook Thing II: Julia's French Onion Soup

Back in January, after a group of us finished our review for Where Flavor Was Born, one of us decided that it wasn't time to let go. That a special group had been formed, full of highly trained tasters with an uncanny ability to get right at a recipe and then raise a ton of question about it. Questions that must be answered with many emails.

That person was Mike. And he knew there were still many questioned to be raised.

So, not being the sort to let a thing like that pass him by, he decided we needed another project. This time, we set our sights on an icon.

Try this on for size:



Yes, my friends, we are now tackling Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking. Because we aren't completely insane, we're sticking with volume 1.

The Chosen Bloggers are:
Mike from Mel's Diner
Sara from iliketocook
Mary the Breadchick from The Sour Dough
Ruth from Once Upon A Feast
Mary from Cooking For Five

First Challenge: Julia's French Onion Soup.


But even that wasn't enough - we decided to go all out with one of the variations and cooked "Soupe a l’Oignon Gratinee des Trois Gourmandes" (click for the recipe at Mike's place). That's basically "Really-Extra-Special Onion Soup With Multiple Forms of Alcohol" for those of you (like me) who don't speak French.

We were allowed by our gracious dictator to make some variations. I was scared enough of the recipe not to try. I did (*gasp*) use half canned beef stock, because I didn't have enough of the homemade variety. Which probably makes me unworthy to cook a Julia Child recipe, but... you know what? I don't care. Because the soup was freaking good.

Well, it was freaking good the second day. The first day it had too much of a "soup that will make you an alocoholic" taste for my tastebuds. The first day it was just extremely good.

But any day I get to broil cheese and yummy bread that is soaking up a cognac-infused broth is a good day.

Now, this recipe is not something you just throw together to impress someone. You have to work at it a little - and that means reading the recipe ahead of time, which is sooo not my forte.

My humble suggestion: Do the last step (the cognac-egg yolk-worcestershire step) as the second to last step, and let it hum along for a while before putting the bread and cheese on top and putting it in the oven. I think the cognac needs some time to really meld with the beef stock. But that could be because I'm not a huge fan of cognac.

And really - who am I to question Julia Child?

Creamy Potato Soup

The potatoes are taunting me.

I dream of potatoes. In a way, it's my own fault. I did buy ten POUNDS of the blasted things. And then I left them in a conspicuous place so that I'm forced to constantly think of what in the world to do with two or three at a time. I am on a quest: a quest not to let a single one of these suckers go bad.

Who knew that there actually comes a time when you don't want to think of potatoes anymore?

Obviously, we've done the baked potato. The twice baked potato. There was the potato casserole. I made hash browns. And then Saturday dawned clear and cold, with about an inch of snow. The blessed day had arrived.

It was time for potato soup. I wanted it to be creamy, but not full of fatty cream (It's January, and my jeans are revolting). The compromise? Fat free evaporated skim milk.

And Oh. My. God. This soup was the best potato soup I've ever made. Although honestly, that has just as much to do with the smoked Spanish Paprika that found it's way into the pot.

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 6 medium potatoes, cut in cubes
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, cut in a large dice
• 6 stalks of celery, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 can fat free evaporated skim milk
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Start boiling potatoes.

In a soup pot, saute the onions and celery for about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir constantly for a minute.

Stir in the milk and vegetable broth; bring to a slow simmer for about 5 minutes. Add paprika and season with salt and pepper.

By this time, your potatoes should be done - you don't want them to be falling apart, but just fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and divide in half.

Mash half of the potatoes and stir them into the soup. Simmer for another five minutes. Add the remaining potatoes and adjust seasonings to taste - I added a bit more pepper and another dash of smoked paprika.

Serve with whatever toppings you like - I forgot to buy bacon, but that's usually my first choice of a topping. Instead I just used some shredded cheese.

Onions on sale, otherwise known as a really good excuse to make soup

Ahhh, Sundays. A day of endless possibilities. And it's almost the time of year - almost cool enough to actually be called "Fall" - when spending hours in the kitchen sounds like a joy. For the last five months, spending hours at a time in my small kitchen with a hot oven and a pot of something bubbling on the stove sounded more like some kind of terrorist torture method than a soothing, relaxing activity. There's a reason that iced tea and lemonade reign supreme here in the Deep South.

But it's not that time of year quite yet. So I had to find something that would fill the growing need to cook something in the middle of the day that is more complex than a grilled cheese sandwich without becoming a drooping, humid mass of frustration. I went to the store and wandered around the produce section, searching for inspiration, when I found a sale that made my heart go pitter-patter:
Sweet onions, 3lb bags, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there are few things in this life that make me happier than the B1G1F sales at Publix. As soon as I saw the mounds of onions glistening there in front of me, I knew what I wanted to cook. And I planned on making enough to freeze some for later in the year, when I'm rushed with holiday shopping but still want something warm and soothing. In fact, I need something soothing right now - I just missed out on not one, but THREE great deals on Amazon because I waited a day too long to hit that purchase button.
Pass those croutons, STAT.

The Simplest French Onion Soup EVER

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
2 pounds sweet onions, sliced thin
a few healthy pinches of Kosher salt
6 cups Beef stock, chilled and defatted
2 cups white wine (optional)
1 tsp dried thyme
Big Fat Crusty French Bread Croutons (See below)
A Heap of Grated Cheese (I'm not going to be picky and tell you what kind, but I used Mozzarella this time)

Preparation:

In a stock pot or other large pot, melt the butter on medium-low heat and add the onions and a quick pinch or two of salt. Swirl the onions around to get them nice and coated with buttery goodness, then leave them alone for about 10 minutes. Walk away to somewhere cool and comfortable. Then you can come back and stir them around occasionally, cooking for another 20 minutes or so. You're waiting for them to let out all their onioniy love juice and carmelize;
they'll dramatically reduce in size.

Once your onions are ready, add the wine, the beef stock, the thyme and a dash or two of pepper. Or if you, like me, think of pepper as the best thing to happen to food since fire, then put in a bunch more. Then give everything a big stir, cover the pot, put the heat on low and walk away for at least 45 minutes. I let this batch bubble and brew for a little more than an hour while I sat outside in the shade with a beer and a book.

When you're ready to eat, ladle the soup into your bowls, throw a few good sized croutons on top and top with the shredded cheese. Put the whole she-bang under the broiler until the cheese is melted, bubbly and starting to brown.
Now, you have two options:
A.) Horde it and don't tell anyone in the house that it's ready, or
B) Build up some good karma and share your creation.

Note: I really really prefer this soup with fresh grated Romano cheese melted on top. But in my soupy-dream-filled delirium at the grocery store, I forgot to pick some up. So I used the whole milk Mozzarella that I had at home. And you know what? It was still yummy.

Big Fat Crusty French Bread Croutons
I've never measured anything for my croutons, but here's how I do it:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
cut about half a loaf of french bread into good size chunks, about 2" - cubes;
Melt a stick of butter. Add a few shakes of garlic powder and onion powder, plenty of fresh cracked black pepper, a few shakes of celery salt and a good dose of Italian Seasoning.

Gently toss the bread with the butter mixture and spread the cubes on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about ten minutes, turning half way through.