Creamy Artichoke Soup

Sandra Lee is:
a) Hot blond
b) Hot blond with HUGE (fake?) boobs
c) Hot blond with HUGE (fake?) boobs who has proven herself twice thus far with recipes I will detail below.

C! C is the answer, and I am surprised to have ever liked any of her recipes as much as I do. They are easy to make, with no crazy ingredients. This soup comes together in about 15 minutes! If you love artichoke, you will go crazy for this.

Creamy Artichoke Soup

Cook Time: 15 minutes, including prep
Serves: 4 as side dish, 2 as main

You will need:
- 14 oz (1 can) chicken broth (reduced-sodium is great)
- 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (10.75 oz)
- 1 Jar (12 oz) artichoke hearts (packed in water) drained
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup light or heavy cream
- salt and ground black pepper

Directions:
In a blender, combine chicken broth, celery soup, and artichoke hearts; process until smooth.

Pour mixture into a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and season to taste with salt and black pepper.





So, yes, I love this soup. Te other recipe I referred to above is for a BBQ sauce that is delicious on just about any meat, from chicken to brisket. You can find that recipe HERE.

Black Bean Soup

Nothing really to say that I didn't already say about navy beans. Beans are good.

So says Zonya.
So say I.

Recipe by: Me (and my neighbor Tessa)
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

- 5 pieces of bacon, large chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- fresh ground pepper (to taste, about 1/8 tsp)
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tomato, diced, and sour cream to serve

Directions:

In a large soup pot or dutch oven cook bacon until done and almost crispy. Add onion. Cook until onion begins to turn translucent.

Add seasoning, beans and broth. Cook over medium heat for about 45 minutes, or until beans become tender and broth begins to thicken. Serve with fresh diced tomatoes and sour cream.

Navy Bean Soup

Scoff if you will, but I am taking seriously the charge given me by Zonya Focco (author of Water with Lemon, and acclaimed motivational speaker). She says that if I eat a serving of beans 4 times a week I will lower my risk of heart disease by 19%!!!! And Zonya knows all.

I wonder if she is factoring in the enormous dollop of sour cream I always add, and the fact that most bean soups call for bacon or some other salty pig product...

I know she doesn't mean just soups, but I've gotta start somewhere. I'm not the type to just throw together a salad (yet), so let me get to that point first before you have me adding those disgusting red kidney beans to the top of it.


Recipe from: Foodnetwork.com
Cook time: 2 ½ hrs, serves 8

Ingredients: 
-1 pound navy beans , picked over, rinsed and drained
-10 sprigs parsley
-2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
-1 bay leaf
-2 large smoked ham hocks, about 1 1/2 pounds
-1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
-1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
-8 cups of cold water
-1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
-Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
-Butter for garnish (or sour cream, or olive oil)

Directions:
Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes; remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. Drain and reserve.
Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven combine the beans, herb bundle, hocks, onions, and garlic with the water. Bring to a boil, cover, and adjust the heat so the soup cooks at a gentle simmer. Cook until the beans and hock are completely tender, about 1-1/2 hours. (Mine took quite a bit longer than this, about another hour.)
Turn off the heat and remove the hocks. Cool slightly. Remove the meat from the hocks, discarding the bones, fat, and skin. Cut the meat into small cubes. Remove the herb bundle and discard.
Puree about 3 cups of the beans with some of the liquid in a blender. (For a smoother soup puree all the beans.) Stir the puree and diced meat into the soup. Heat the soup and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.
Pour into heated bowls, place a small pat of butter on top of each soup, and serve.
(Or, instead of butter, place a drizzle of olive oil, and a heaping scoop of sour cream. Bam!)

Tomato Soup and Parmesan Bruschetta.

For the past few nights Jacob has totally commanded the computer because he has been finishing up a power point presentation on an anthropologist named Edward Sapir. He wasn’t that excited about his report at first, but for the past few days it has been all he has talked about. I think Edward Sapir is amazing for two reasons: first, he is a linguist who worked primarily with North American Indians, and I think linguists are the smartest people on earth. Second, not only did he publish his linguistic findings, but he also published a collection of poetry. I love me a smarty with a sensitive side!




I found an awesome tomato soup recipe on the food network site that you should ALL try! (–Jon, this could easily be vegan-ified.) It is hearty and bright, and I had two bowls of it this afternoon when I wasn't eating ice cream-nutella-chocolate chip cookie sandwiches!

Cook time: 50 min (including prep.), Serves: about 6 people
You will need:

- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, plus 1 teaspoon, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup creme fraiche
- Zest of one lemon

In a large soup pot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender (about 4 minutes). Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

Puree the soup in a blender in batches, and be careful to remove the bay leaf before hand. Return the soup to a soup pot and keep warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl fold in the lemon zest and the remaining teaspoon of rosemary to 2/3 cup creme fraiche. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and dollop each bowl with the lemon rosemary creme fraiche. Serve immediately. Note: Crème fraiche costs about eight dollars per container and can be very hard to find. Instead of using crème fraiche I combined about 4 ounces of cream cheese with about a half cup of heavy cream, then added the lemon zest, and just stirred that mixture right into my soup. I thought it came out wonderful, so you can try it that way if you like!

I don’t have a picture of the soup because I was too hungry to set one up, but perhaps I will post one later. I do have a picture of the bread I made to go with it.

This bread is easy, fast and delicious! It is a Guy Fieri recipe he calls “Pomodoro Fresco Sourdough Bread.”



You will need:

- 1 (12 to 16-inch) sourdough baguette
- 2 garlic cloves, halved plus 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- about 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
- 2 cups diced Roma tomatoes
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the bread in half lengthwise, and place it on a sheet tray. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of the halves and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until lightly brown (about ten minutes). Rub the crusty bread with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with more of the olive oil and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Return to oven to melt cheese.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, vinegar, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper, and let sit for 5 minutes at room temperature.
Remove baguette from oven and top with the tomato mixture. Garnish with basil and extra Parmesan cheese.

Home made Chicken Noodle Soup (...great for those of you battling swine flu! Be strong out there!)

I have never measured it out, but I would guess this recipe -as is- gave me about 8 hearty servings when I made it the other night.

You will need:
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper (and I use a couple cloves of fresh garlic, mashed in a garlic press) to season.
- 2 celery
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 carrots chopped
- 2 small potatoes, chopped
- 10 cups of liquid: 8 cups of water with 6 to 8 chicken and/or beef bouillon cubes to season.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 cups small shell pasta, or your preference of noodle
- chopped fresh parsley to taste (optional)
- juice of 1 lemon (optional)

Directions:
Melt the butter in the bottom of a large soup pot and add the vegetables as well as salt and pepper (and garlic, optional). Allow them to soften over medium high heat, about 10 minutes. Once the veggies have had a chance to get tender, add your chicken breasts and liquid. Allow chicken to cook in liquid about 20 minutes, until cooked through. Remove chicken breasts and shred or cube meat, then return to pot. Add your noodles. When pasta is done check your seasoning, and parsley and lemon, then serve!

Clarissa Ludlow's Potato Cheese Soup, and come on guys, update your blogs! (10/3/2009)

I’m not big at looking at peoples personal blogs. I like reading about stuff, like…craft stuff, or cool jewelry stuff, or ‘did you know?’ type stuff. I don’t mind a little personal info mixed in, I actually think that makes the ‘whatever’ they’re writing about more interesting. Obviously. That’s how I write. What I’m getting at is this. Of the 4 blogs I do follow, three haven’t posted anything new since I started Dirty Little El Camino Lover. Come on guys, we’re at 16 posts to none.
And if you know of any cool blogs I should be following, please tell me about them!
Now for the soup. My BFF ‘L-Dub’ passed this recipe on to me about a year or so ago. You don’t want to know the word she uses to describe how good this soup is, because it’s dirty. Just like she is. Oooohhhh!

For this recipe you will need:

-4 cups pealed, cubed potatoes
- ½ cup chopped onion
-1 cup chopped celery
-1 cup sliced carrot
-4 chicken bullion cubes
-1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- ¼ cup butter
-2 tablespoons all purpose seasoning
-8 cups water
-2 cups small shell pasta (I used macaroni this time because I ran out of shells)
-1 cup heavy cream or milk
-3 cups grated cheddar cheese

Add all ingredients (except the last three) into a large pot. Cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender. Add pasta and cook until tender. Once pasta is tender, add cream and cheese. When incorporating cheese into soup, add small handfuls at a time to avoid the cheese clumping.I love this soup with cheese-garlic bread. So good! Thanks Clarissa!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I spent this morning cleaning my house, bathrooms mostly. Ugh. So I was in the mood for something yummy and easy. This soup comes together really fast, and unlike most soup/ stew recipes you don’t end up with a truck load of leftovers! To all you non-drinkers out there, this recipe calls for white wine. It’s not like I drink, but I cook enough that I keep white and red wine on hand. You don’t need anything expensive, and the flavor is amazing so I would encourage you to give it a try.

For this recipe you will need:

-1/2 cup chopped onion
-1/4 cup diced carrot
-1/4 cup diced celery
-1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (I left this out, not crazy about the flavor)
-1 bay leaf
-pinch of red pepper flakes
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 &1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cubed (I used canned)
-1 teaspoon curry powder
-1/4 cup dry white wine
-4 cups chicken broth
-1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
-1/4 cup brown lentils
-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
-juice of ½ a lemon
-Plain yogurt or sour cream to top (I used sour cream, yum!)

Directions:
Sauté onion, carrot, celery, ginger, bay leaf, and pepper flakes in oil in a pot over med-high heat until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and curry and sauté for another minute.
Deglaze with white wine; simmer until almost evaporated, then stir in broth, tomatoes and lentils. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender, 25-30 minutes.
Off heat, stir in 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Garnish each serving with sour cream and some of remaining cilantro.