Category: stews/soups

Orzo and zucchini soup

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Are your cupboards looking a little bare? Mine were too. Going to the store right now is filling me with anxiety and dread so I was definitely pulling myself up by my culinary bootstraps and surviving the day with this one.

A little pasta and a green vegetable can go a long way. If you don’t have orzo rice is a good substitute.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups orzo
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup frozen onion
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp tarragon
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Salt/pepper

Directions

  1. Place butter in a medium size pot and melt on medium heat. Then add your frozen veggies and garlic and cook till the garlic colors which should take about 3-5 minutes.
  2. While that’s cooking in a smaller pot place 2 cups of orzo and enough water to cover it plus about an inch. Should come out to roughly 3 cups. This has to cook for about 11 minutes.
  3. After you get your orzo on add zucchini and all the spices to the vegetable pot and cook for about 3 minutes then add chicken stock. You want the zucchini to still have a little crunch to it so you don’t want to cook it to long before you add the stock.
  4. When your orzo is done cooking add it to the vegetable pot. salt and pepper to taste.

You won’t end up with a lot of broth in this soup. Up the chicken stock to 4 cups if you want a thinner soup.

Struggle Bus Soup

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This recipe has two names. Struggle Bus Soup and mean green machine. It’s definitely a raid the crisper drawer for anything green and the back of the pantry cupboard for those packs of ramen you’ve been holding onto for a rainy day type of recipe.

Also parsley isn’t just for decorating every 90’s restaurant plate. Put it in your soups! Put it in your pesto! It’s delicious.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken ramen packets
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1/4 cup frozen onion
  • 1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets
  • 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 1/2 tsp tarragon
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp butter
  • Salt/pepper

Directions

  1. In a medium size pot over medium heat put butter and garlic and heat till butter is melted.
  2. Add frozen veggies to the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes cooking off some of the moisture.
  3. Add carrots and broccoli and cook for 3 minutes.
  4. Add garlic powder, onion powder, seasoning packets from ramen and tarragon. Cook for 3 minutes to heat the spices. (Helps bring out the delicious salt flavor from the ramen packets.)
  5. Add water and bouillon cube and stir to mix spices and veggies together. Cook for about 5 minutes.
  6. Add noodles and parsley and cook till noodles are your desired doneness. About 3-5 minutes.
  7. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rouladen

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It’s all the flavor of a bacon cheeseburger smothered in a rich tomato gravy. Doesn’t all that sound amazing? I thought so too that’s why I decided to try it. This trek through German cuisine has definitely not disappointed flavorwise.

There rolls are easy to make and most of the cook time is hands off stewing time which means more time with your family. That’s the dream.

Ingredients

For the roll up

  • 8 pieces Thin cut steak(I believe I used a top round)
  • 4 Dill pickles, cut into 4 long strips(You need sixteen total pickle sticks)
  • Dijon mustard, enough to coat each piece of steak
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 8 strips bacon
  • salt/pepper

For the gravy

  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • salt/pepper
  • 3 tablespoon butter
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 tsp. corn starch and 2 tsp. water for slurry

Directions

For the rouladen

  1. Lay all the steak out on a flat surface. I would recommend a baking sheet.
  2. Spread your Dijon mustard all over the up facing side on the steak. Salt and pepper every where you put mustard.
  3. Lay one piece of bacon along the length of the steak.
  4. Lay two pickle sticks on top of the bacon and sprinkle a few onion pieces on top.
  5. Roll up tightly and secure it with a toothpick of twine.
  6. Put a heavy bottomed pot on medium high heat and brown the rouladen heavily. The deeper the browning of the meat the more delicious brown bits will be in the pan to flavor your gravy.
  7. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate.

Make the gravy

  1. Add butter, onion and garlic and cook till onion goes translucent. About 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add beef broth, tomato paste, tomatos, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add rouladen back to the pot.
  4. Cook for 45 minutes to and hour on a medium low heat.
  5. Remove the rouladen and add your cornstarch slurry to thicken your gravy.
  6. Pour gravy over the rouladen and serve.

Zuppa Toscana

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I decided to try this soup because I don’t have many soups in my repertoire and I really needed something to eat with my foccacia that I had made the same day. Soup I have discovered is all about layering and this one definitely packs a flavor punch.

This soup from what I have seen is normally made with kale, but I didn’t have any so I used the spinach in my fridge and it still turned out amazing.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground sausage
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 4 large Russet Potatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • salt/pepper
  • parmesan cheese, for sprinkling on top

Directions

  1. In a large stock pot on medium high heat cook your sausage. For roughly 5-6 minutes until its browned all over. Take it out and put it in a separate bowl.
  2. Put butter, onion and shallot into pot and cook until your onions get some color on them. About 4 minutes or so. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  3. Add chicken broth, potatoes and salt/pepper. Cook for about ten minutes until potatoes are tender. This will vary depending on how small you dice your potato.
  4. Stir in heavy cream, spinach and sausage. Cook for a couple of minutes until spinach wilts a little.
  5. Serve with parmesan sprinkled on top.
  6. Optional: serve with rosemary parmesan foccacia https://bottomlesschips.food.blog/2020/04/28/rosemary-parmesan-foccacia/

Potato Bacon Soup and Dinner Rolls

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In our quest to explore the world of food through the origin of Disney stories we have found our way to germany next. The world of snow white, tangled and sleeping beauty. From what I have noticed of German food it is made of easily attainable ingredients and warm spices that fill the home and the bellies of the people that live there with happiness. This bacon potato soup and hot roll combo is my interpretation of snow white feeding supper to the dwarves.

Tip: you will need to start your hot rolls about two hours before you start your soup. Your rolls and soup take the same amount of time to cook so you want to get all the proofing and dough forming out of the way.

warm soup and fresh bread can’t be beat

Ingredients

Soup

  • 6 slices of bacon, chopped
  • bacon grease/butter
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups milk
  • 8 red potatoes, thick dice
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper

Bread

  • 2 tsp yeast (active dry)
  • 3/4 cup water (warm, 95 to 110 degrees F)
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions

Soup

  1. Dice your bacon into small chunks and place in a large pot. Cook on medium high until crispy then remove the bacon and set aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pot.
  2. Turn the heat down to about medium low and add a tablespoon of butter.
  3. Add you shallot and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes until your shallots have some color on them.
  4. Add your flour and stir continuously for about a minute until fully combined.
  5. Add stock, milk and potatoes. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until potatoes are cooked through.
  6. Add cheese, sour cream and bacon and cook until cheese is melted.

Bread

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (You can also just do this in a medium bowl) add your yeast and water. Stir until the yeast dissolves.
  2. Stir in the honey, salt, butter and egg. Add the flour and mix well. You want the dough to stick to the hook. If your mixing in a bowl you want the dough to follow the spoon around the bowl.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic. If you poke it you want it to spring back slowly.
  4. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour till it doubles in size.
  5. Punch dough down to knock the air out of it. Turn it back out onto your floured surface and knead for about five minutes.
  6. Divide dough into about ten equal pieces. Take each piece and roll it into a ball. Tucking the edges in underneath the dough to make a nice round surface. Place in a round greased pan and over with a clean kitchen towel for about 45 minutes. Don’t let them rise too high or they will be hard to turn out once you cook them. (Speaking from experience)
  7. Bake in a 375 degree over for about 20 minutes. Till the tops are golden brown. Turn them out onto a rack to cool.

If you do manage to let them rise a little long I ended up having to use a paring knife to cut them out. They were still warm and delicious. Just not nice and round.

Surprise Chili

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Sometimes we walk into the kitchen and just stare into the fridge hoping food will just make itself. Especially in times like this when we are trying to use every speck of food in our house it’s rough coming up with new dinner ideas. When I walked into my kitchen the other day I pulled a few things out of the fridge and a couple things out of the cupboard and just slowly started putting things in a pot. Turned out somewhere half way through I realized I was making chili….Surprise!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 4 mini sweet peppers, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 1 can white beans
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • salt/pepper/chili powder

Directions

  1. Put beef into pot and break into large chunks. Cook undisturbed for about five minutes.
  2. Add onion, pepper and garlic and break up meat into smaller chunks. Cook for another five minutes until your onion and peppers have color on them.
  3. Add your beef stock to deglaze the pan and cook for about two minutes. Add your tomato sauce and canned tomato. Stir to combine and cook for about five minutes.
  4. Add your cans of beans and season to taste. Cook on a low heat for about ten minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, chives or whatever you would normally top your chili with.

Smoked Bean Duo

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Spicy and Fragrant

The pantry panic is real folks. Stores look real empty and the list of available ingredients is real short. So I created a series of recipes using what happens to be the most available protein in my grocery store…smoked sausage! Here is my smoked bean duo. Now this recipe is one where you can use whatever veggies you have on hand. I used the halves of two different onions you obviously can use a whole onion of whatever variety you have or no onion at all. My hope for the pantry panic series is to give people a framework for inspiration.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound smoked sausage
  • 1 half red onion, chunky dice
  • 1 half yellow onion, chunky dice
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 teaspoons mixed fresh herb(I used basil, thyme, rosemary)
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 bag frozen black eyed peas
  • 3 mini sweet peppers, sliced
  • 3 cup water
  • 2 beef stock cubes
  • salt/pepper
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions

  1. Put 3 cups of water and 2 beef stock cubs into a large pot. Bring it to a boil.
  2. Add the bag of frozen black eyed peas and stir. The ones I bought had to cook for 45 minutes.
  3. While that’s cooking put your sausage, onion and pepper into a pan with the vegetable oil. Cook for about ten minutes on medium heat till your sausage and onion get some color on them.
  4. While that’s cooking cut your aromatics(garlic and mixed fresh herb). Put half in the stock pot with the black eyed peas and the other half in with your sausage mixture.
  5. Put pinto beans and canned tomato into sausage mixture and cook down for about 5-8 minutes. It allows the juices from the canned tomato to cook down with the juices in the pan.
  6. Put your sausage mixture into the stock pot and stir to combine. Cook down for the remaining time till the black eyed peas are cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.

Quarantine Pantry Pasta

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Hello everyone and welcome to the first in a series of recipes inspired by our current fresh ingredient shortage. I stood in Walmart yesterday and very nearly cried. I couldn’t believe how empty the shelves were due to people self quarantining themselves. I should’ve taken pictures. The thing that was so mind boggling to me…all the jalapeno peppers were gone. Where did they go? Who is making buckets of salsa?

Anyway here is the recipe I am calling Quarantine Pantry Pasta. A recipe that can be done with whatever you have in your pantry and whatever you can find in your local produce section. I chose smoked sausage for the protein because it’s the protein being left on my local grocery store shelf.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
  • 1/2 a yellow onion, chunky chop
  • an assortment of tomatoes, sliced (i used 2 roma and a handful of teeny weeny tomatoes I had from Trader Joes)
  • 3/4 cup beef stock
  • 3 tablespoon vegetable oil for cooking
  • 2 sprigs of oregano, chopped
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary,chopped
  • 3-4 basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. red chili flake
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt/pepper
  • Small pasta of any size cooked to box instructions. (I was only trying to feed three people so I used a half a bag of egg noodle I had in my cupboard.)
  • 1/4 cup pasta water

Tip: If you don’t have any fresh herbs you can use dried italian herbs. What I had came out to about 2 tablespoons of fresh herb once it was chopped. You are going to want to use more if using dried though cause the flavor isn’t as strong. So I would up it to three tablespoons of dried herb at least.

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a pan till it moves around the pan like water. Add onion and tomatoes. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until onions start to soften.
  2. Start your water for pasta. SALT YOUR PASTA WATER!!! Until it tastes like the ocean. Bring it to a boil and add whatever noodle you chose.
  3. While your pasta is going add your sausage to the pan and cook an for about five minutes. When it starts to pick up some color.
  4. Add your beef stock and all your herbs and garlic. Simmer while your pasta cooks.
  5. When the pasta is done drain all the water except about a 1/4 cup. This delicious salty water is going to be added to your pan. Dump the pasta and water into the pan.
  6. Salt and pepper to taste and let it cook together for another five minutes. The stock should cook down and cover all your pasta like a thin sauce.

This recipe could serve roughly four people. I only have three people in my house and two of us had seconds. I hope this helps somebody.

Castle kitchen beef ragout

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So last night I decided to dive into my list of recipes inspired by Beauty and the Beast. The first one I decided to tackle was beef ragout. One of the many things mentioned in the best dinner time musical number every written.

Beef Ragout is a french style slow cooked stew with meat or seafood and vegetables or maybe just vegetables. Now it may be march and spring truly wants to be sprung, but….I live in Oregon where spring is kinda just warm winter. So I still bust out my slow cooker even now.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound stew meat
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 3 parsnips, sliced
  • 1 white onion, chunky dice
  • 4 roma tomatoes, chunky dice
  • 1 can whole peeled tomatoes and juices
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • bouquet garni ( 3 rosemary sprigs and 3 thyme sprigs)
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 1 cup red wine
  • salt/pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Put parsnips, carrots, onion and Roma tomatoes into slow cooker.
  2. Tie up your bouquet of herbs. I used the thyme to tie the rosemary together, but if you happen to have twine that would work too.
  3. Put meat, garlic, herb bouquet in the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.
  4. Put stock, wine and canned tomatoes on top of every thing. Salt and pepper aggressively. Stir it gently.
  5. Cook on high for four hours.

After being out in the snow getting attacked by wolves and being rescued by the hairiest prince ever I would definitely want a bowl of this delicious warm stew to fill me up again.

Smoked Sausage Stew

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Perfect for a cold winter evening

Ingredients

  • 1 package smoked sausage/keilbasa
  • 1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1/2 c. chopped spinach
  • 2 tsp. butter
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • salt/pepper

Directions

  1. Heat a large pot on medium heat.
  2. Put butter, garlic, cayenne and onion in pan and let it cook until onion is soft.
  3. Add sausage and cook for about 3-5 minutes until sausage gets a little color.
  4. Add tomato paste, celery, carrot and bell pepper to pot. Stir until paste breaks up and coats the veggies and meat and let it cook for about five minutes.
  5. Add beans, beef stock and tomatoes with juice. Cook for about fifteen minutes. You want it to thicken up slightly and come together.
  6. Add your spinach, salt and pepper to taste and cook till spinach wilts slightly. (about 3 minutes) Don’t overcook it because you don’t want the spinach to lose its color.