Chicken and Eggplant Soup

1 eggplant
Salt & pepper
Paper towels
Extra virgin olive oil

Prepare oven to about 425°
Cut the eggplant into cubes and sprinkle on salt while on paper towels. After about 15 minutes, use more paper towels to dab on the top to remove moisture from the eggplant. On baking sheet, add pepper and EVOO and toss gently for all to be evenly coated. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. Let cool, turn off oven.

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One pound of chicken breast strips
Salt & pepper
Italian seasonings
Extra virgin olive oil

Heat saute pan medium high heat, cook the seasoned chicken until cooked through, flipping mid-way with golden brown crust. Remove from heat and let rest. Chopped the chicken to very little sizes (or shred with fork).

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About 2 stalks of celery, halved and sliced
About 2 sticks of carrots, halved and sliced
One onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
About 1/2 of pound of little potatoes, quater
Italian seasonings
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

In a steep pan or pot on medium high heat, EVOO until hot. Add onion and garlic for 3 minutes before adding celery, carrots, potatoes, seasonings. Cover and stir occasionally.

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Take cooled roasted eggplant in the blender with chicken broth (about 6-8 cups) and blend until you see no more eggplant chunks. Using a large bowl with a strainer, pour the eggplant chicken broth in and stir around the strainer to help the liquid go through while catching any seeds from the eggplant.
Pour the eggplant chicken broth into the vegetables and let cook covered and  for occasionally stir 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Add in the chopped shredded chicken and stir until heated through. Serve.

George Harrison's Dark Horse Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 red chili

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 large onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 cup lentils (one or more types of lentils can be used)

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. When oil is good and hot, add the red chili and cumin seeds. When the seeds stop sputtering, brown the onions and garlic in the seasoned oil. In a separate deep pan, wash the lentils in plenty of water. When  clean, liberally cover with water. When the onions are browned, add them to the pan of lentils. Now add tomatoes, peppers, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Potatoes and carrots and small boiling onions may be added for a more substantial meal. Bring to the boil, cover, and turn down to very low heat. The soup is ready to serve in an hour and tastes better the next day.

Corn Soup

Ingredients:
3 cans of corn, drained- but not all together
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 potato, chopped/diced
3 lbs of chicken broth
1-2 bay leaf (depending on it's size)
smoked paprika (about a teaspoon or so- eyeball)
cumin (teaspoon- eyeball)
celery seed (teaspoon- eyeball)
dried or fresh tarragon (about a palm full- used twice for puree and garnish)
EVOO
S&P
about two slices of butter

Method:
In a pot on medium-high heat, put some EVOO and 1 slice of butter before adding the onion (3 minutes), carrots (3 minutes), potato (5 minutes), bay leaf, 2 cans of corn (drained), the spices and herbs with chicken broth, adding salt and pepper along the way. Cover and let it boil/simmer for about 20 minutes to allow the potatoes and carrots to soften.

In batches and using big bowl, puree the soup in the blender. Once the pot is empty and back on the stove, heat up with the other slice of butter and the other drained can of corn and let it saute for about 2-3 minutes before adding in the puree soup and the remaining dried tarragon. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, season to taste.

Serve.

Note:
If you want it to be vegetarian, replace the chicken broth with the vegetable broth

Soup & Sandwich Dinner

Lately I've been welcoming the idea of soup and sandwich for dinner quite often. Both recipes are from Giada De Laurentiis's cookbook, Weeknights with Giada
Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
Ham, Cheese & Apple Panini

Giada's Official Website

Sausage & Kale Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb of sausage, casings off (you can use whatever kind of sausage you like- I used mild)
1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 celery stalks and leaves, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 can of cannellini beans, drained
1 bay leaf
1 carton of chicken stock/broth (I used Swanson's)
EVOO
about a tablespoon of butter
poultry seasonings
nutmeg
S&P

Method:
In a large pot (like you use for spaghetti), heat up EVOO on medium heat before adding the sausage until it starts to look brown. Add bay leaf and onion to saute about 5 minutes before adding the celery, carrots and garlic for about 5-7 minutes. Add cannellini beans, poultry seasonings and butter. Add kale and nutmeg and saute until the kale starts to wilt down before adding the chicken broth. Bring to a boil on medium high for about 10 minutes before covering for the next 10 minutes, reducing the heat to low to let simmer. Fish out the bay leaf before serving.

Roasted Fennel & Carrot Soup

Ingredients:
1 large bag of shredded carrots
2 bulbs of fennel (save the top)
1 yellow onion chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped (include the celery leaves)
tarragon (dry or fresh)
6 cups of vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
EVOO
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Slice fennel bulbs as thin as possible. Mix together with the shredded carrots, eyeball a few shots of EVOO, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven 20-30 minutes

Meanwhile, in the large pot or dutch oven, heat up some EVOO in medium heat, adding a bay leaf and saute chopped onion for about 5-7 minutes when start to caramelized before adding celery and letting it cook for about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and dry tarragon (if using fresh, you make mix it in along with the fennel fronds chopped up at the end).

After when the carrots and fennel is out of the oven, immediately add them to the onions and celery, stirring it  and letting it cook for a couple of minutes (under 5 minutes) before adding the vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Discard the bay leaf before blending it (I used a blender, about 3 batches at a time; I used a large bowl to put the puree soup in until all blended together before pouring the soup back into the pot/dutch oven). Put back on the heat and add in the fennel fronds (and fresh tarragon, if using). Season to taste before serving.

Corn-Potato Soup with Kale

Ingredients:
-6 Corn on the Cobs (if using canned: 3 to 4 medium cans; if using frozen: 2 bags), kennels cut off from the cobs
-3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
-1 carrot, chopped
-1 onion, chopped
-1 celery, chopped
-dry or fresh bay leaf
-a palmful of dried or fresh tarragon
-1 quart (or 6 cups) of chicken broth
-a bunch of kale, washed and chopped
-S&P
-EVOO
-5-6 slices of bacon

Method:
In a dutch oven (or spaghetti pot) over medium-high, heat up some EVOO before adding in the bacon until it's cooked. Take out the bacon to a paper towel-covered plate to drain out the remaining fat. Save about a tablespoon of bacon fat/EVOO in the pan to use to saute the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and S&P. When the onion start to sweat, add the potatoes and cook them for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and the chicken broth. Let it come to a boil before covering it and reducing the heat to medium-low to let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Crumble up the bacon while you wait for the soup to cook and get the kale ready

In a blender, puree the soup in batches. Put the puree soup in the large mixing bowl while working in batches. Once the dutch oven is empty, put it back on the stove with a little bit of EVOO and saute the kale until it wilts down. Add in the reserved bacon and the puree soup. Stir until mixed well on low heat. Add the tarragon and S&P to taste. Ready to serve.

Serve either alone or with a grilled cheese sandwich.

If you want it vegetarian, use vegetable stock and omit the bacon

Onions! Onions! Onions!

-My grilled ribeye steak topped with onions-

-Mary McCartney's Summer Asparagus Tart-

-Alton Brown's French Onion Soup-