Friday, December 7, 2007

Soups on!!!

It's A Soup-Tacular!
One of my very favorite blogs is having a soup fest today. And well, I just couldn't resist. One of the only things that I love about winter is soup. (This is probably the one thing my husband hates the most about winter. Sucks for him, because after all, I am the one who cooks.)

So here are 2 of my favorite soup recipes. I'll do my best to include everything, but I'm sure y'all understand that recipes tend to change a little bit every time you make them.

Broccoli Cheese Soup:
1 Tbsp of Butter
1
cup chopped onion
2
garlic cloves, minced
3
cups chicken broth
1
(16-ounce) package broccoli florets
2 1/2
cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/3
cup all-purpose flour
1/4
teaspoon black pepper
8
ounces light processed cheese, cubed (2% Velveeta works splendidly)

Heat large pot over medium heat and melt butter. Add onion and garlic, and saute until tender.
Add broth and broccoli. Bring mixture to boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes. (You want the broccoli way more tender than you would have it if you were just steaming it.)

Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk/ flour to broccoli. Cook 5 minutes so it can get thick, stir constantly. Stir in pepper. Turn heat to low and add cheese, stirring until cheese is melted.

Place one-third of the soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed soup mixture to pan.

Trust me... you'll love this one!

And finally... my Mama's Soup Beans (This is really just kind of a put in the pot whatever sounds good kind of recipe):

1 lb. Bag of Pinto Beans
Ham Bone w/ some ham left on it (if you don't have a leftover ham bone you can use any type of ham product that you have on hand. It is for flavoring mostly, but chunks of ham is really delicious in it.)
Onion
Salt
Pepper
Water

Ok, y'all. This one is so easy. You rinse your pinto beans in water removing any bad beans. Place beans in a large pot and fill up with water. I put a big tablespoon of salt in the pot as well then put on a lid. Cook on high heat until the water is boiling. Let boil for about 10-15 minutes. Drain water off of beans and fill the pot back up with water, just covering the beans with one or two inches. Place the ham in the water with the beans. Take your onion and cut off the top and peel. Drop the entire onion in the pot. (Again, this is just for flavoring.) Add a little bit more salt. (Depends upon your taste.) Let simmer over medium low heat for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, but not mushy. Take out the ham bone. Serve with cornbread. If you like raw onion, it is delicious with this.

Hope you guys enjoy!!!





2 comments:

Nise' said...

Cheese Broccoli is my daughter's favorite so I am always on the lookout for different ways to make it!

boomama said...

I'm going to make your broccoli cheese soup for Christmas Eve - it sounds divine!