Golden Mushroom Soup

This soup turned out GREAT - so great, in fact, that our children ate it all gone in a matter of minutes, leaving their Dad and I with nothing.  I will be making this often during the colder months.

Golden Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter
• 1 C sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 C white wine
• 4 C (about 32 ounces) baby Portabella mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 4 T soy sauce
• 1 T paprika
• 1 C vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 C heavy cream
• 2 T lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Directions:   Heat butter in a large pot and cook the onions over medium heat until they start to brown.  

Add the wine and mushrooms, stirring well, and cook about 5 minutes.   Add the soy, paprika and stock.   Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. 

 

Turn heat to low and slowly add the heavy cream, whisking as you add it.   Finally add the lemon juice, then salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

Now that autumn is FINALLY here in Austin and our temperatures have dropped out of the 100's to a nice 85 degrees, its time to fire up the oven and roast vegetables.   I had a beautiful butternut squash and made a great tasting soup.   For an added variety, we grilled and sliced chicken and added it on top of the soup for a complete meal.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Butternut Squash, cut into chunks
• 1 large sweet onion, cut into chunks
• 1 jar prepared fire roasted red peppers
• 3 T heavy cream
• 2 C chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• creme fraiche
• thin sliced roasted red pepper strips
• fresh nutmeg

Directions:   On a large baking tray, toss the squash and onion chunks with a light drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.   Once roasted, remove from oven and cool.

Remove the roasted butternut squash flesh from the skin and place into a blender.   Add the roasted onions, 2 fire roasted red peppers, 3 T heavy cream and 1 C of chicken stock.   Blend to a smooth consistency and transfer to a heavy pot over medium heat.   Slowly add additional chicken stock until the desired thickness is reached.   Taste then season with salt and pepper and make sure to heat thoroughly.

To serve, ladle soup into a bowl and swirl in a little creme fraiche into the center of the bowl.   Top with thin slices of the fire roasted red pepper and dust with freshly grated nutmeg.   Serve with hot crusty bread or embellish with grilled chicken and enjoy!

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

I know I've mentioned before that FALL is my favorite season of all and that I love all the wonderful vegetables that are available during this season.   I purchased an acorn squash the other day and made a delicious soup with it.   I included roasted onions and garlic and finished it off with a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of olive oil and freshly grated nutmeg.   Serve with a crusty loaf of bread and enjoy this warming meal!

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 large acorn squash
• 1 large sweet onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 1/2 C chicken stock
• 3 T butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• nutmeg
• sour cream
• olive oil

Directions:   Cut the squash into quarters and remove the seeds.   Cut the onion into quarters as well and put the vegetables onto a baking sheet.   Add the whole cloves of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.   Roast in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until roasted and tender.   Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.

Scrape acorn squash flesh from skin and place into a blender with roasted onions and garlic.  Add 1/2 C chicken stock and puree until smooth.   In a pan on the stove, add remaining 2 C chicken stock and heat over medium low heat.   Add the acorn squash puree mixture to the chicken stock and stir well.   Add the butter.   Season with sea salt, pepper and a touch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Simmer over medium low heat until ready to serve.

To garnish, add soup to the bowl of your choice.   Slowly add a small dollop of sour cream to the center of the soup, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and finish with a touch of freshly grated nutmeg.   Serve with bread!

Tortilla Soup

This recipe is fast and easy but makes a very flavorful broth!

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Roasted Chicken (I use Honey Jalapeno) de-boned and cut into 1 inch chunks
•  2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 T olive oil
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 stalks celery, washed and chopped
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can Rotel
• 64 oz chicken broth
• 2 T chili powder
• cilantro, washed and chopped
• avocado, chopped
• 1 C Jack cheese, shredded
• corn tortilla's, sliced into strips and fried in oil, drained and salted
• salt and pepper to taste
• lime juice

Directions:

In a large pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil until transparent.   Add chicken broth and carrots, celery and potatoes.   Begin to simmer on medium heat.   Next, de-bone and cut up your store bought roasted chicken and add that to the already simmering mixture as well as the corn, Rotel and chili powder.   Cook on medium to medium low heat for an hour or until the vegetables are soft.   Salt and pepper to taste.

Chop your cilantro and avocado, set aside.   Grate your cheese and set aside.   Fry the corn tortilla strips in oil until golden... drain on paper towels and salt.

To assemble each serving, ladle soup into bowl.   Top with grated cheese, cilantro, avocado, tortilla strips and squeeze a generous amount of lime on top!   Delicious!