Round Steak Caserole

I haven't update for a bit. So I'm going to start counting things with soup in them! Horaay!
Anyway.. round steak casserole..
I wasn't terribly familiar with it before I made it.. I had a ton of london broil and no more dehydrator.. so i was a bit desperate to do whatever i could to use it while I still could, as i'd frozen it much earlier in the year (I pulled the rest and made a carolina style bbq sauce for it, if you were wondering.)

ingredients

London broil, or any Round cut.
flour
oil
can of Campbell's tomato soup
Italian triad - onions, carrots, celery
mashed potatoes

cube the steak, flour it and brown it in the oil, put in casserole dish

diced the onions, fine diced the celery, rough chopped the carrot
sweat the triad in some oil, time dependent on the different vegetables
mix into meat

pour in Campbell's tomato, thin it out a bit - not too much though.. since it's not going to get thicker..

mix it all up and cover with mashed potatoes like a hamburger pie, etc.
bake it.. I think i did 375? not 100% on how long though..

obviously didn't hold together the best it could.. but i was pretty happy with it..

it went over rather well.. I'm actually going to keep this in the back of my mind for the future..

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Beef Stew

For real this time!

Lean, boneless stew beef, cut in small pieces
Potatoes, sliced
Carrots, sliced
Green beans, cut n trimmed
Onion, chopped
MBT, or whatever bullion/stock/broth you want - not in the mood for the cream of mushroom/cream of celery/tomato soup blend. Also not in the mood for the seasoning game..

Toss it all in the crock pot and go do something else..
(I also can't wait to get MY crockpot back out..)
Come back later and find:

Starch from the potato really thickens it enough that you don't need a flour slurry or anything..

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Panera Fronion

So a few weeks ago I hit up Panera with Darrin - no surprise there. As usual I got the you-pick-two.. went with the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad and the French Onion Soup.

This..

Is the picture I managed to take with his phone - as mine was dead..
I rrrrrrrrrrreally need to move, and unpack the camera already...

as per usual.. The feasting had already commenced when I had the clarity of mind to realize I needed a photo for this..

Luckily, someone else had the foresight. 

Aaaand someone's interpretation.

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Miso

So I recently went out for some sushi with Stacy, and part of the lunch special included a bowl of miso soup. For some reason I always forget to snap a photo before I start devouring... and miso was no exception.

It had a very good flavor - a white (shiromiso) broth, pieces of tofu, scallions, and seaweed/wakame.

For anyone concerned, the name of the restaurant is Kaze in Roseland, NJ.. a nice, typical sushi cafe - I would recommend going.

I've decided to put the corresponding Wikipedia article in my posts, to make up for my lack of facts/info in these posts..

Should be in the house soon - then my projects can resume!

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Chinese Take Out

Another soup driven on by lack of want to make a dinner. Ordered up some Chinese food tonight - grabbed a soup I Hadn't had before instead one of the usuals - Hot n Sour, Won-ton, or Egg Drop.

This is Shredded Pork and Pickled Szechuan Cabbage Soup.

Very Spicy - Naturally, but still a good flavor to it. Pretty typical Chinese soup chicken broth underneath the heat.. I was kind of expecting a carrot or some other vegetables besides just the cabbage from prior pickled cabbage experience.. but the lack there of really didn't spoil the soup. The pork was a bit suspect, but then again that's no real surprise.

here's a terribly easy pickled cabbage recipe.

Even better! I've found a recipe!

From there it's just making chicken broth with some soy sauce and shredded pork.

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and
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Medieval Times

Went to Medieval Times the other day as part of a friends birthday celebration.. part of the meal (and I will say they give you a decent meal) Was a Tomato Bisque. . I know what you're thinking, "Bisque has seafood!" Well.. I didn't name the soup.. I just enjoyed it.

Here's what I imagine to be the most accurate recipe for Tomato Bisque --

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
2 (14.5 ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.

Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

Pour half to three-quarters of the soup into a blender-depending on how chunky you want it-filling the pitcher no more than halfway full.

Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the saucepan.

Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Cook over medium heat until the soup is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

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Box Fronion

I recently ran out of dinner ideas and decided to use a packet of French Onion Soup mix to actually make the soup, instead of some sort of dip/slow cooker sauce..

I boiled down a little cream sherry,
added water, brought it back to a boil,
added the packet -

Decent enough flavor..Made myself a nice toast crouton and melted on a bit of swiss..

aaaaand..

Tada!.. Not the prettiest thing in the whole world, obviously, but definitely not the worst tasting.

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Pot Roast

Pot Roast is the bastard cousin of Beef Stew. If I had chosen to put everything in the crock pot and not just the meat and gravy, that's what I would have had..

London broil

onion soup mix (another soup tie in!)
flour/water

campbell's cream of mushroom (another another tie in!)

ketchup

shake of liquid smoke.

left all day... ~8+ hours..

w/ cream corn, egg noodles, and candied carrots.

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Progresso's turn

Campbell's and Progresso will be eating away at my money for the rest of my life, courtesy of my love of soup (not to mention the Jersey love for Campbell's).

I just partook in a bowl (or large cup/mug, rather) of Traditional Chicken Noodle from Progresso.

As to be expected from canned soup, it was just as good as I remember it being the last time I had it, and I assume the next time.

I enjoy that everything in the soup is BIG. I don't just mean flavor, of course, I mean noodles, chicken, carrot, and celery pieces.

and for anyone interested:
The label.

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Oh Panera.. how I love thee..

Panera's Broccoli Cheddar

Probably one of my favorite soups of all time. I'm also terribly partial to their french onion. I have yet to determine if my love springs from the wonderful flavor of the soup, the accompanying bread, or both.

It's a wonderfully creamy soup with great flavor.
Obvious ingredients:
broccoli
cheddar cheese
carrot
Beyond that I would imagine:
butter
garlic
onion
salt & white pepper
chicken broth
flour
milk/light cream

Here is someone's best guess at the real recipe.

I would expect there will be a couple more Panera posts on here..
I'd also like to point out how happy I am with the direction Panera has gone with in terms of their place settings.. I genuinely enjoy the actual plates, etc. over their previous basket w/ kidney plates.

Not wikipedia.. but some history..

Trying my hand at something new

I know I've made promises to make certain things first. But since I'm the real audience of this blog.. I don't think anyone( I ) will mind if it come back to them and do something else first while I wait here in Moving Limbo.

And with that - Pumpkin Soup.
I made this to have to eat on Halloween before I went out. It wasn't bad. Not the greatest thing I've ever had.. but I've certainly tried worse..

Ingredients:
1.5 cups pumpkin purée
3 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup milk or light cream

for some reason my formatting is being ridiculous here.. and i'm done trying to fix it.

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon minced chives (which i didn't have.. so i just gave it a dash of onion powder)

Everything in the pot:

Aaaand the "Finished" product:

Overall I suppose it was alright.. The snippet in the book about how it tastes better after you let the flavors sit and blend was definitely true.. I enjoyed it significantly more a few hours after it finished than right after it was done.

Though never one to be satisfied.. the next day i tossed in some cinnamon and brown sugar at no real measurement.. and that really bumped the flavor that much more.

I also made some Cinnamon/Orange zest meringues..

dropped one in the bowl of soup for some more flavor/a mock crouton.. Rather enjoyable!

I also took the opportunity to make a loaf of Pumpkin bread with raisins that came out rather perfect.
Needless to say I've had my fill of pumpkin till at least next Halloween..

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Grandma's Split Pea

So I've stopped by my grandmothers - date this about.. ohh.. October 24th.
She has churned out another wonderful batch of her split pea soup.

I'm not 100% on her proportions but I DO know the ingredients.

Bag of peas - just the rinse kind. not the soaking kind.
Chicken broth
Beef broth
Ham bone & any pieces of ham left
Onion
Potato
S&P to taste.

I like a little crushed black pepper in mine - as you might be able to pick out..

I can't wait to finally move into the new place and be able to take some pics with the camera instead of my phone..

The soup has a long, low cook time..lots of stirring - and to my surprise no blending..

As to her report.. a lot of people sieve their pea soup and she doesn't.

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Even Wendy's makes the cut!

Chili - obviously.
They could very well have one of the best fast food (Including delis, diners, etc.) chilis.

A nice rich sauce, grund beef, celery and onions, tomato, kidney and pinto beans. - and once again I was helpless to resist the crackers they gave me.

here's a home "clone" recipe

I will consider going back some time and getting a better picture of this..because this one is pretty terrible.

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Side tracked.. Surprise!

So.. Todays endeavours are none of the three previously mentioned - though I promise I will get to them..

Also - I know I promised better pics.. but I've already packed up my camera - so that deal is off till the move is complete.

It's cold today, as I'm sure everyone could tell.. so I stopped off at Quick Check and picked up some post-worth soups - Yes.. Soups.. I'm going 2/2 on soup meals today!

First up. Italian Wedding Soup. Probably my favorite soup and usually QC's best soup.

Today?

Sadly, it probably wasn't the best I've ever had..still good, of course, but there was something just a bit off about the blending of flavors between the chicken broth and the spinach..

Best guess.. Chicken broth, tiny beef meatballs, what i'm guessing to be acini di pepe from the look of them (the pasta), spinach, carrot, etc. etc.

wikipedia - The term "wedding soup" is a mistranslation of the Italian language, minestra maritata ("married soup"), which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meats go well together.

And the second dish- Tomato Basil
(take that!, planned Campbell's tweak!)

This. Was. Good. Haha..

This was really everything I hoped it would be..

A nice creamy tomato broth with a few tomato pieces.. nice basil hints, and amazing, buttery garlic bits..

I suppose there's not much more to say about pre-made soup.. So I'll end there today.

and the second  -  wikipedia

Fronion

So my dad and my brother stopped in yesterday.. and in rare form we headed over to the Applebees in Hackettstown(we were in the area for something.)

Never one to pass up a bowl of soup - I ordered the French Onion
And promptly forgot to take a picture before I inhaled it.
So here's a picture someone else took!
- Applebee's French Onion Soup -

"Caramelized onion and garlic in a hearty roasted beef stock with sweet sherry wine. Topped with melted cheese and a crouton"
Applebee's

I'm really slacking on making my own.. So my next three projects (with no promise of me not enjoying other soups in between!) are going to be Portugese Kale, Yankee Bean, and Campbell's tomato-turned into a creamy Tomato Basil.

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The Brick Chowder

I stopped in Brick 46 with my dad the other day.. We went to try their brick oven pizza, and were suggested the Brick Chowder.. more than happy to oblige.. we each ordered some..

"A hearty bowl of diced potatoes, vegetables, and smoked applewood bacon."

Overall a pretty good bowl of soup. .
As you might be able to see I broke in a couple of the usual saltines.. Something I have noticed about saltines and oyster crackers.. I've never gone out of my way to get them.. but so help me if I don't use them every single time someone gives them to me...

The broth wasn't really creamy enough that I would have called it chowder (white chowder at least, the reds are pretty thin..), but I suppose it sounded better than "Everything normally in clam chowder besides clams soup," or something equally as well thought out.

A good use of pepper, and generally good flavor..this really hit the spot on a cold day.

Brick 46 Website

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And So It Begins

So. I've started this as a kind of spur of the moment idea - lets see how long i actually stick to it.
Before we begin ladies and gents.. I'd like to take a moment to point out *Disclaimer* I am in no way a literary master - so expect no perfect prose here.

Project Number 1 - Jambalaya.
Now I know what we're all thinking.. "But jambalaya isn't souuuup!!!1!@"
True..but it's more or less a stew - and it's the first thing i made since having the idea for this little piece of heaven. So Jambalaya it is.

Down to business.. This is far from traditional recipe. It resulted from more of a.. "What have i got around?" concotion than a flesh and bone recipe. I consider it a Creole/Red jambalaya simply based on
Ingredients:
*1 box Rice a roni - Beef.. rice/vermicelli, carrot etc., beef bullion, 2Tbsp butter for rice
*Leftover pasta stuff: 2 sweet italian sausage, 2 hot italian sausage, 3 medium meatballs, a cup or so of sauce from canned - tomato puree, sliced stewed tomatos, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.
*1 onion
*oil - i used olive oil since i didn't want to open my new veg. oil
*Hot Sauce - i used franks
*Liquid Smoke
*Garlic - wasn't in the mood for cloves so i just gave it a dash of powder *not garlic salt..there's enough salt in the other things going in*
*My Chili Powder - chile pepper, onion, garlic, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, coffee grounds
*Old Bay - salt, celery seed, bay leaf, mustard seed, black and red pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and paprika - used in lieu of seafood, since I had none.
*Lemon peel - for no other reason than that I like it.
All ingredients of an additive variety should be considered "dash" or "to taste" - I promise to be more exact in the future..

I started by sweating the onions in the olive oil over med-high heat, and sprinkled on the garlic powder - I used this time to cut the sausages into coins and to smash the meatballs. In another pan - as you traditionally make jambalaya ingredients separately - I browned the rice in butter and set it aside. The meat was then added to the onions while the beef bullion and tomato sauce were added to the rice, covered, and left to simmer. Some 15 minutes or so later the meat/onions were added to the rice, seasoned with the aforementioned chili powder, old bay, and lemon peel, re-covered and left on med-low heat to get a nice "crust"

After a little time had passed I uncovered the pan and hit it with a couple dashes of hot sauce and a dab of liquid smoke to help give the illusion of hours of simmering I, frankly, wasn't waiting for. I spooned it out into a few bowls, cut up some toast points, and we went to town on it.
It went over great, and I enjoyed it. I didn't think to have my camera ready for this.. so i took a few soso camera phone pictures during the ordeal.. and there you have it - long story short.. Project 1 - Jambalaya = Success!



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