Soups for Snowy Weather

Snowy weather calls for warm, nourishing soup. So today, I made three different pots of it.  Since they  were all pretty easy to make, I only spent about an hour altogether.  Why three soups in one day?  Because I only have to get out the cutting board and chop onions, carrots and celery once. I only have to clean up once. And I have soup in the fridge for several days to come.

First I adapted the recipe for Root Beer Braised Beef Stew from my cookbook, “Soup’s On!” I chose to do it because we had some beef in the freezer and a leftover bottle of root beer in the fridge. The root beer gives a little sweet complexity to the beefy broth. Just add 8-12 ounces, as too much makes it overly sweet. To save time, I cooked it on the stovetop, letting the beef get a half-hour head start cooking before adding the other vegetables. Since I was already chopping up celery and fresh onion for the Slow Cooker Split Pea & Ham Soup, I used some in the beef stew as well.

The Slow Cooker Split Pea & Ham Soup (also from “Soup’s On!”) took about 5 minutes of prep — just a matter of chopping up the celery, carrots, onions, and ham and throwing everything into the Crock-Pot.

Then I did a flavor twist on my usual Mega-Mushroom Soup. A few days ago, I had a bowl of Mushroom & Sun-Dried Tomato Soup at the new Twigs restaurant in Farmington. I really liked the hint of tomato. And since I had some oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes in the fridge (a souvenir of my last Costco run) I added about a half-cup. Since I’m trying to cut down on fat, I didn’t add any cream, I just pureed the cooked mushrooms and onions to make the soup creamy but with a little texture. 

 

Root Beer Braised Beef Stew

1 to 2 pounds beef stew meat, in chunks

1 cup chopped onions

5 cups water

1 cup sliced celery

3 russet potatoes, in large cubes

3 cups baby carrots, cut in half

12 oz. root beer (if you can only find a 20-oz. bottle, drink the remaining 8 ounces)

2 Tbsp. beef bouillon granules (or 6 beef bouillon cubes)

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Several grinds of pepper

2 bay leaves

1 15-ounce can corn, drained

1 cup frozen peas

1. Saute the stew meat and onions in a soup pot over high heat for about 10 minutes, or until browned.  Add the water, cover with a lid, and let the soup cook at a gentle boil for 30-40 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot except for the peas.  Let the mixture gently boil, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.

4.  Remove pot from the oven and stir in the peas. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper if needed before serving.

— Adapted from Soup’s On! by Valerie Phillips

SLOW COOKER SPLIT PEA & HAM SOUP

Total prep time: 3-4 hours (on low) or 6-8 hours (on high)

Active time: 5 minutes  

Makes 6 1 1/2-C. servings

This stick-to-your ribs meal takes just five minutes to throw together; then your slow cooker does the rest of the work. You can find packages of diced ham in most supermarket meat cases.

 1 16-oz. package dried split peas

3 C. water

2 cans chicken stock

2 C. diced ham

1 12-oz. packages frozen mirepoix-style blend ( 2/3 C. fresh chopped onion, 1/3 C. sliced celery and 1/3 C. chopped carrot)

2 tablespoons dried minced onion (or an additional 1/2 cup of fresh chopped onion)

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. hickory-flavored salt or liquid smoke, optional

Optional garnishes: Chopped parsley, ham or bacon bits

1. Place all ingredients in a regular-size slower cooker.

2. Cover with lid and cook on high setting 3-5 hours; low setting for 6-8 hours.

3. To serve, garnish with chopped parsley, chopped ham or bacon bits.

— “Soup’s On!” by Valerie Phillips

MUSHROOM & SUN-DRIED TOMATO SOUP

Prep time: 30 minutes

Makes about 5 1-cup servings

2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

2 8-oz. packages fresh sliced cremini or button mushrooms

1 medium onion, sliced or chopped (or about 1 1/2 C. frozen chopped onions)

2 cans beef broth (or vegetable broth)

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup milk or half-and-half

1. Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan on low heat while you slice or chop onion.

2. Turn up the heat to high and add mushrooms and onion. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring so that the vegetables caramelize, but don’t burn.

3. Add the broth, tomatoes, rosemary, and thyme to the mushroom/onion mixture. Cook an additional 10 minutes until the mushrooms are fully cooked.

4. Use a stick blender to puree until smooth. Add the milk or half-and-half, if desired.

Note: This soup has a stronger mushroom flavor if you add wild mushrooms or dried exotic mushrooms.

— Adapted from “Soup’s On!” by Valerie Phillips