WHITE CHILI

For those that are following this blog, you may not realize that I have started a second blog called 'Recipes from the Past'. It is sort of a family thing, but the recipes are just as good as the ones on this blog. I just posted a recipe for 'Grand Prize Chili', I also served this along with 'White Chili' at our super bowl party. I have listed this blog under favorite blogs, so just click on the link found on the upper right side of the recipe.

White Chili

1 pound dried white beans, I used small navy beans, any white will do
14 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 teaspoon salt, if stock is salty, add salt according to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (4-ounces) can chopped green chilies, drained
2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, I used 1 tablespoon dried, but fresh when available would be better*
2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen white shoepeg corn, if unavailable, use small, sweet corn
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
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4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 green onions thinly sliced
Chopped cilantro

Combine beans, stock, half the onions, garlic and salt in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beans are very tender. Add more chicken broth as needed.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add remaining onions, chilies, cumin, oregano, coriander, cloves and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Cook 10 minutes. Fold corn into mixture. Continue cooking 12 minutes. Combine corn mixture. Continue cooking 12 minutes. Combine corn mixture, bean mixture and chicken.

I took out a cup or two of chili and mashed up beans to provide a little thickening, this optional.

Serve with cheese, onions and cilantro sprinkled on top.

This recipe is from 'Stop and Smell the Rosemary', one of my favorite cookbooks. It was put together by the Junior League of Houston.

GREEK LEMON CHICKEN SOUP

Green Lemon Chicken Soup is my daughter, Melissa's favorite soup. The soup's formal name is Augolemono, I assume that is Greek and therefore not easy to pronounce.
When we lived in the village of Oberursel, Germany at to foot of the Taunus Mountains, Melissa was 7 or 8 years old and loved to go to the top of the Taunus and eat in the restaurant at the ski resort. One of the soups they served was chicken with egg (Huhnsuppa mit Ei) or something like that . This recipe is close. My uncle Harry from Kentucky was quite the gourmet and in a men's cooking group. I found the recipe in a cookbook this group put together.

Chicken Soup with Egg

12 cups chicken stock (homemade is the best, but store bought will work)
1/2 cup white rice
4 eggs
Juiced of 4 lemons
Grated zest of 2 of the lemons
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Bring chicken stock to a boil. Gradually add rice and slowly cook for about 30 minutes or until it is very soft.
Separate the egg whites and the yellows. Mix the egg yokes with lemon juice and zest. *
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Slowly stir 2 cups of hot chicken stock into egg and lemon mixture. Pour this slowly into the hot stock, stirring rapidly to prevent curdling.
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Beat egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Fold into the soup. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
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My preferred method is to beat the eggs, without separating, with the lemon juice and zest, then mix with hot soup, and beat into the soup. There my be some bits of cooked white.
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I sometimes add a cup or so of cubed chicken breasts. This makes a hardier soup.

MUSHROOM SOUP

Our little group of cooks at Community Meals have become like a social club.  We celebrate birthdays, usually three or four at a time.  Rebecca is our gourmet hostess, last year she made this wonderful Mushroom Soup for the luncheon and agreed to allow me to share it. 
I made the soup Saturday night for my company and it was a great hit.  I just explained to everyone that we were not having a low-cal meal.
Since I was doing grilled lamb chops, a potato dish and asparagus, I didn't have time to make the soup at the same time.  I try when I plan a dinner party to pick things that at least partly, can be made ahead.  There is nothing worse than being completely stressed out at your own party.





Mushroom Soup

1 pound botton mushrooms
4 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
3 or more portabella mushroom caps cut into cubes*
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped , toasted walnuts
2 tablespoons chives chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add buttons mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.  Season with some salt and pepper.
Add cream and chicken broth to mushrooms and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Cover sauce pan and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let mushrooms rest for 20 minutes.
Strain mixture, discarding mushrooms, keep cream mixture.
(I prepared to this point the day before the dinner and refrigerated until ready to use.  Rebecca did not suggest this step, but I wouldn't of had time to prepare this the day of the dinner.  I don't think the soup suffered from making it this way.)
Shortly before serving, put soup over low heat to completely heat, Taste for salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, in a small pan or skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, add portabella mushrooms and saute until softened.
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To serve, divide soup into bowls and top with portabella mushrooms, toasted walnuts and chives.  Serve immediatly.

Serves 8

ITALIAN WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH PASTA

It is so cold today, snow still on the ground and more on it's way, it's a good time to put on a pot of soup. This is one of my favorite, easy, inexpensive and very filling. This is a vegetarian soup, but for those that prefer some meat, use a chicken or beef stock and add some sausage or ham. This will make a good supply of soup to have on hand.


Italian White Bean Soup with Pasta


2 cups of dried cannellini or dried navy beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 celery rib finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
5 cloves garlic (or to taste) finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped
1 14 or 15 ounce can tomatoes or fresh with juice if preferred
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup small pasta shells
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Cover beans with cold water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover with lid. Let beans soak for one hour. Navy beans may take 2 hours. Both kind of beans can be soaked in cold water over night if preferred.
Heat oil in soup pot. Saute over medium heat, onion, carrots and celery until onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, rosemary and parsley, cook for a few minutes more.

Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 3 quarts of water or stock. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cook covered until the beans are tender, 1 hour for cannellini, up to 2 hours for navy beans. Puree half the soup to give soup some body or leave thin.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water, then drain. Ladle the soup into bowls and add some pasta to each. Add pepper and Parmesan. The pasta is a good addition, but the soup is good alone.

Serve with green salad, crusty bread and Italian wine.

Serves 6 to 8