Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup – Okay, so whether this dish is a soup or a ridiculously creamy pasta is besides the point – we’re choosing for it to be a soup and it is AMAZING
People have obsessed over chicken soup since the domestication of fowl around 7,000 to 10,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. The Ancient Greeks also had their own version of chicken broth, and believed the soup to have those healing properties I was harping on about earlier. Today, the dish is a staple meal in cuisines from all around the world. You can practically feel tomato soup quaking with envy – always in second place, never in the spotlight.
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat and sauté onion, carrot and celery until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
Add dry ranch mix and cook for 1 minute, stirring until veggies are evenly coated, then add chicken broth and chicken soup.
Stir together and mix in spaghetti, bacon and chicken, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, or until noodles are cooked and veggies are tender, then stir in cheddar cheese and half-and-half.
Cook for another 3-5 minute, then serve and enjoy.
Soup Season! Soups and stews are meals we love to make, especially now. One soup we anticipate making rather often is our creamy Italian sausage and potato soup.
Who invented baked potato soup? A: You might just be able to trace this back to the Irish, or to the French, when lines of people gathered for food handouts and mixtures of cheap ingredients became a soup.
Modern variations of this soup emerged at the chains Steak & Ale and Bennigan’s and can easily be traced back to the question “what are we going to do with these left over baked potatoes?” Well, some became potato skins, with the insides scooped out to become mashed potatoes. Some leftover bakers were re-purposed into twice baked potatoes, but some also became soup. Speaking of delicious and hearty soups…
Soup Season! Soups and stews are meals we love to make, especially now. One soup we anticipate making rather often is our creamy Italian sausage and potato soup.
Brown and crumble Italian sausage in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and drain excess drippings from pot.
Return sausage to pot and add potatoes, chicken stock, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to remove ½ of potatoes from pot. In a separate bowl, mash potatoes then return them to the pot. Stir in kale or spinach leaves, heavy cream, and more salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until kale is tender, about 2-3 minutes.
To serve, garnish with shredded parmesan cheese, freshly cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Cajun Sausage and Chicken Gumbo – This is a Cajun-style gumbo made with a seasoned roux, a classic from the bayous of south Louisiana. I revised the recipe after many, many trials. Serve it hot over cooked rice or with potato salad.
Origin. Scholars agree that gumbo originated in Louisiana in the early 18th century, but its uncertain etymology makes it difficult to pinpoint the origins of the food.
1lbandouille or smoked sausagesliced 1/4 inch thick
4clovesgarlicminced
salt and pepper to taste
creole seasoning to taste
6cupchicken broth
1bay leaf
1rotisserie chicken boned and shredded
Instructions
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, whisk in flour. Continue whisking until the roux has cooked to the color of chocolate milk, 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the roux. If you see black specks in the mixture, start over.
Stir onion, bell pepper, celery, and sausage into the roux; cook 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook another 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning; blend thoroughly. Pour in the chicken broth and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chicken, and simmer 1 hour more. Skim off any foam that floats to the top during the last hour.
Meatball Soup – We love a hearty bowl of soup just about any time of year! This pasta meatball soup is definitely a new favorite. Ready in under 30 minutes.
20,000 BC. In Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province, China, the first example of a soup bowl was discovered and thought to date back to 20,000 BC. The ancient pottery showed scorch marks, which would suggest the user was making a hot soup of some kind.
Add crushed tomatoes, marinara, chicken broth, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and seasonings to a large skillet. Heat on medium high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Add meatballs to the skillet, cover, and cook for 8 minutes.
Add pasta to the skillet and cook for 10-12 minutes.
Remove the skillet from heat, discard bay leaf, and stir in parmesan cheese and milk.
Serve up hot with extra cheese and fresh parsley for garnish!
As you probably would have guessed, like most chain-restaurant, Americanized versions of Chinese dishes, PF Chang’s wraps aren’t totally authentic or traditional. However, they’re not as far off as you might think, and a lettuce wrap actually are believed to be Chinese in origin.
While wraps originated in China, they’ve since migrated throughout Southeast Asia, and they’re especially popular in Laos and Thailand. Which brings us to Larb, an uber-popular meat salad from Laos and Thailand, and my personal favorite variety of wrap filler.
PF Chang Lettuce Wrap (NOLOW)
The chicken lettuce wraps! The perfectly seasoned chicken – those crunchy water chestnuts are a game changer!
Heat oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned on all sides. 5-7 minutes.
Drain fat, then add onions and cook until translucent. 4-5 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper, then add garlic and ginger and cook for another 1 minute, or until fragrant.
Stir in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, giving flavors a chance to blend.
Mix in diced water chestnuts and green onions, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Serve with butter lettuce, scooping chicken mixture into lettuce “bowls.” Enjoy!
Wor Wonton Soup – Chinese dumpling classic, whether in soup or fried, wontons will always bring you that mysteriously delicious taste of the Far East! Garnish with fresh scallions.
Wontons originate from China, with evidence of its existence going as far back as the Qing Dynasty (1644). Wonton soup was enjoyed by the rich, upper class families but after World War II, it became more widespread. As the economy improved after the war, the dish moved to Hong Kong, where many hawker stalls opened up to serve the dish to the working class. Due to it’s popularity, some variations of wonton include medicinal ingredients as a way to serve it to those who may not enjoy the strong taste of medicine. In Cantonese, ‘wonton’ roughly translates to ‘clouds’ – as the wontons look like clouds floating in the soup.
Wor Wonton Soup
This is really easy to make and you can make this your entire meal.
In a large bowl, combine pork, shrimp, sugar, wine, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chopped green onion and ginger. Blend well, and let stand for 25 to 30 minutes.
Place about one teaspoon of the filling at the center of each wonton skin. Moisten all 4 edges of wonton wrapper with water, then pull the top corner down to the bottom, folding the wrapper over the filling to make a triangle. Press edges firmly to make a seal. Bring left and right corners together above the filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. Continue until all wrappers are used.
FOR SOUP: Bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil. Drop wontons in, and cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped green onion, and serve.
Notes
Uncooked wontons will keep in freezer for a good 2 months if well wrapped. Thaw before frying, but they can be boiled straight from frozen and cooked 2 minutes longer.)
TO FRY: Heat 2 to 3 cups of oil in a wok until hot. Deep-fry wontons in batches until golden, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Drain. Serve with dipping sauce or duck sauce, also called plum sauce.
