Into the Soup

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Barb Brunleau’s Corn Chowder

November 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Barb sent us this soup via the website. Thanks, Barb. We ate every last bit.

Barb: This recipe makes a rich corn chowder that is easy to make in a large (5-6 qt) slow cooker (could also be made stovetop).  I took this soup to a church soup supper, and there were NO leftovers. I like to enhance it with bacon; but depending on your taste, you could also add shrimp and/or jalapeno peppers. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 16-oz bags frozen corn (or 6 c fresh corn cut from the cob)
  • 1 20-oz bag refrigerated or frozen Southern-style hash browns
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 cans cream of potato soup
  • 2 c chicken broth
  • 2 c heavy cream
  • 2 T fresh parsley, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: 8 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
  • Optional: 1 c small shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • Optional: 1-2 jalapeno peppers, minced
  • Optional: shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

In a large (5-6 qt) slow cooker, combine first five ingredients, bacon (if desired), and jalapeno pepper (if desired).  Cook on Low setting for 4 hours. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to the desired degree. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could remove some of the soup, puree it in a blender, and return it to the crock pot.) Add cream, parsley, salt and pepper, and shrimp (if desired).  Cook on Low 1  more hour.

Serve in generous mugs or bowls. Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

DOD with Katie & Julie: Calzone in Chandler

November 6, 2009 / / 0 Comments

into the Soup has recruited two of our favorite young chefs Julie Fiedler and Katelyn Remick for our new feature – Dining on a Dime. 

The Challenge? Find the best meal you can for two people under $30 (ok, so it is a bit more than a dime). These are tough economic times, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy good food. It exists all around at local your local family owned and chef driven restaurants. So get out there, eat well and support your local restaurants!

This week, Julie and Katie picked one of their favorite local eateries in Chandler, Arizona – Floridino’s:

Floridino’s is casual eatery that is well known in its community for its delectable pizza and calzones. It’s a great place to go with friends and family and is always lively on the weekends. We started our meal off sharing a small Greek salad which is ideal for two people. The salad is a heaping bowl of iceberg lettuce, feta cheese, olives, pepperoncinis, and Italian vinaigrette. For our entrée we had calzone’s with house marinara and ranch dipping sauce. The gourmet white calzones are a flaky turnover filled with ricotta and mozzarella cheese, butter, garlic, spices, and tomatoes baked to perfection! When our calzones arrived they looked so irresistible Julie picked hers up with her bare hands and dug in! This is not recommended. Years in the kitchen have given her asbestos fingers – one of the benefits of being a chef.  

We finished the night off with a Sicilian Sundae. This warm, gooey, freshly baked, deep dish chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and whip cream is an absolute necessity when dining at Floridino’s! What a great assignment. In the mist of taking thousands of pictures of the restaurant and our visit we quickly got the attention of the workers in the restaurant. One very curious server in particular asked about what we were doing.

We were quick to respond, “Were not camera crazy this is for a website project we’re doing for intothesoup.com!” He was more than willing to get his picture taken with us.

About Floridino’s:

Floridino’s opened its doors in 1996  with the promise to embrace family oriented, full service, true Italian food. The menu boasts of oven baked sandwiches, heaping salads, mouth watering pizzas, generous portions of pasta and calzones stuffed to the brim. Floridino’s serves lunch specials and has banquet facilities as well. Floridino’s claims to be home to the “World’s Largest Calzone” but they also want to be a home to you.

Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta
590 N Alma School Rd # 35, Chandler, AZ
(480) 812-8433‎

For More DOD episodes click here.

Facebook Fan Gail Harris’ Cream of Spinach Soup

November 1, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Gail Harris is a member of the into the Soup fan page who “loves making soup” and that “some of my best soups are from what ever I can find in the refrigerator and freezer.” We agree with Gail and this one looks particularly yummy. Thanks for submitting.

Ingredients 

  • 3 T butter
  • ½ C chopped scallions
  • 2 C blanched spinach (well drained)
  • 2 C chicken broth 1 C water
  • ¼ C uncooked rice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ – 1 C heavy cream

Melt in a large saucepan 3 T of butter. Add ½ C chopped scallions and sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 C blanched and well drained spinach and sauté for 1 minute. Add 2 C chicken broth, 1 C water, ¼ C uncooked rice, and 1 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer until rice is done, 15-20 minutes. Puree in a blender in small batches. Return to pan and stir in ½ -1 C heavy or to taste and correct seasonings.Can be served hot of chilled.

New Friends

October 31, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Don’t you just love it when you meet someone that you know for sure will be a friend for life?  How about when you meet TWO of those people in less than 24 hours? 

Skinny Tinis author and new BFF Teresa Marie Howes hooked up with us at Confidential Restaurant and Loft in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego to brew up three of her distinctive low cal Martini’s:  Apple, Pomegranate and Coffee Chocolate.  Yes, we drank all three and had a ball on camera.  Her idea and her book will be a great success.  How can you not dig someone that wants to find a dynamic, 150 calorie cocktail?!  I really like this gal and could definitely spend more time with her and a bottle of vodka.

Then, there’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met, Chef Jeff Roberto (Sushi Jeff) of Sushi on a Roll – check out our video.  He was one of the most gracious and entertaining hosts we’ve had the pleasure to work with. Sushi on a Roll (SOAR) is a really cool sushi only catering company.  The other groovy feature of his company is his event venue. He designed this place so that he could spend more time with friends and family at his events. All of the folks who attended absolutely adore this guy; and so do I. 

We had the most amazing evening  learning about sushi and enjoying his fabulous creations. I didn’t do too bad on my rolling technique and my knife skills were so-so;however, my adventurous eating was over the top!!  Nato, sea urchin, and saki bombs topped off the night while the morning after began with a serious dehydration situation. No worries; sake, martini’s, odd shaped sea creatures – it’s all good. 

Many, many thanks to these two lovely people and to all of the other folks (including a few old friends) who took such good care of us on this journey.  I’ll be blogging each and every one in the next few days and we will be posting the videos in the next couple of weeks; so stay tuned for further fun stuff!

Eat Well!  Live Well!!

Cheers,  Heidi

Joe’s Cafe in Santa Barbara, CA: Monday Minestrone Special

October 25, 2009 / / 0 Comments

On Oct 26, 2009, Heidi did her radio show remotely from Joe’s Cafe in Santa Barbara, CA. Recommended by a local business man, Joe’s is one of those home town gems that we love to find so much. The soup special on Monday was the minestrone. Chef Rick Braun was kind enough to provide the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs Olive oil
  • 1 diced Onion
  • 1 stalk Celery diced
  • 3 cloves Garlic chopped fine
  • 10 cups Beef Stock
  • 1 Lb diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 Lb Broccoli crowns
  • 1 large carrot diced
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 large Zucchini diced
  • 1/4 head Cabbage shredded
  • 1 bunch Fresh Spinach cleaned
  • 1 16 oz can Kidney Beans drained
  • 2 Cups cooked Macaroni
  • Salt & fresh ground Black Pepper

In a large sauce pan, saute the onion, celery and garlic in the oil until translucent, pour in beef stock, bring to boil, reduce heat immediately to simmer. Add tomato, broccoli, carrot, bay leaf and cook 5 min. Then add zucchini, cabbage, spinach, kidney beans and cooked macaroni. Cook 2-3 min more. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Joe’s Cafe Santa Barbara, CA

Joe’s opened in 1928. It is the oldest restaurant in Santa Barbara, located in the heart of old town. In the 80 plus years of operation there have been only four different owners. Local families have been dining here generation after generation. Our Master Bar Man, Mr O’Toole, has been serving the double martinis since 1963, several members of the wait staff and kitchen staff have been here for over 20 years. Joe’s has won the award for the stiffest drink in Santa Barbara since the inception of the award. The menu is traditional steaks, local seafood, pastas, salads, daily soups, bread and salsa. Joe’s is a Santa Barbara tradition. Good food, good value, good time.

 

Facebook Fan Challenge: Pumpkin Ginger Soup

October 20, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I was talking food segways with a friend of mine the other day:  milk leads to cookies; peanuts lead to beer; Ruffles Ridged Potato Chips lead to French Onion Dip; and two glasses of wine, a fan request and a chat with my sister-in-law leads directly to ginger pumpkin soup. 

Stick with me here – this could be fun!! 

Sunday 5pm:

I’ll be honest with ya’, at this point in time, my first ever ginger pumpkin soup sucks!  Continued layering and adding of flavors isn’t yielding the tastes intended.  Never one to not ask directions, I spit into the wind, got cocky and thought, “Why should I reference someone else’s recipe – this is what I’m all about, right?”  WRONG!! 

My assistants (husband and child) are off on a grocery run for coconut milk, fresh coriander, some limes and two bagels they take from the bulk bin to eat at the store.  I still think my roasted vegetables may add more depth of flavor, but I would have let them cook a bit longer had I not spent three hours shopping for Chef of the Year Ball Gowns with my daughter… not exactly Versace.

Anyhoo, the addition of coconut milk, curry and extra ginger cemented the tastes.  Garnished with a dallop of sour cream (or yogurt), fresh cilantro and a sprinkle of brown sugar brought it all together.  Another added goodie is my cambazola crostini’s which help to break the sweetness of the pumpkin. So, go call a friend, have a glass of wine, try my soup and let me know what you think!!

 

PUMPKIN, GINGER, CURRY SOUP

  • 1 Lg. White Pumpkin – Halved and Seeded (yields about 4 Cups flesh)
  • 1 Lg. Yellow Onion – Quartered
  • 1 lg. Turnip – Peeled and Quartered
  • 2 Stalks Celery
  • 1 Red Jalapeno – stem removed
  • 4 C. Chicken Broth
  • 3 T.  Fresh Ginger – Sliced
  • 1 Can prepared pumpkin
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 T. Ground Ginger
  • 1T.  Curry Powder
  • White Pepper – to taste
  • Salt & Pepper – to taste
  • 1 T. Major Grey Chutney
  • ½ C. Light Coconut Milk
  • Garnish:Brown Sugar
  • Fresh Coriander
  • Sour Cream or Yogurt                         

Roast pumpkin in a 375 degree oven until tender – about 30 minutes.  Put onion, turnip, celery and jalapeno on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside.  Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop and add to a stock pot with pumpkin and prepared pumpkin, chicken stock and all the other ingredients.  I added as I went, so your flavors should be much more developed than mine were.  Let me know how it turns out for you.  Eliminate, substitute, reduce or add to the tastes should your heart desire.  Serve it nice and hot with the crostini recipe below.

Cambazola Crostini’s

Put some olive oil on some slices of baquette and toast in a 375 degree oven for about 5 minutes, until just crispy.  Spread a small amount of cheese on each one and serve with the soup.

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