Madison House Chef

Soup Stock and Saturday Morning Stirring

My eyes popped open this morning at 5:13 a.m.. Not that this should surprise me, really since during the week my alarm is set for 5:00 a.m.. In theory, I slept in today! The conundrum arose at 5:18 a.m. when my eye lids were still open. To stay in bed and “rest” with the hopes of falling asleep again for another hour or two, or get up and start the day off with a cup of coffee and a little quiet time… oh, and make soup stock….which to choose? The absolute latest I would be permitted to sleep, barring any other noise, distraction, or eyelid popping, would be 7:15 a.m.. I have a professional meeting to attend this morning that begins at 9:00 a.m. with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. with coffee/breakfast. Sleep/’rest’ OR get out of bed?

White Bean Soup / Minestrone di fagioli

This flavorful White Bean Soup, served with fresh bread, provides a simple, hearty meal.  The recipe serves 4-6 people. If you’re cooking for one or two people, it’s still worth making a full recipe as it is easy to heat up the next day as an encore performance either as a meal itself or as a soup course to accompany a protein, a salad or a panini.

 

 

Tortilla Soup (with photos)

This is a reworking of our original version of Tortilla Soup. This recipe is incredibly flavorful and since it’s an easily modifiable recipe, the ‘heat’ is determined by your preference.

Enjoy my homemade tortilla strips in this luscious soup.

What is this?

 

Ruhlman's Turkey Stock: Oven Style

Go figure!

I just did essentially this making stock in the oven -- Granted, Michael Ruhlman's is a bit more in depth than mine (i.e. the stove top after oven), but that's to be expected, no?Nevertheless, it's nice to see the further perpetuation of not throwing out the turkey carcass. 

I say:  let's rename the day after Thanksgiving's Black Friday and call it Stock Friday or Turkey Soup Friday.  Who wants to deal with the chaos and crowds when one can be home with luscious soup made from homemade stock.

Turkey and Vegetable Soup

Don’t waste the turkey carcass!  Combined with water and a few stray vegetables, this is a gold mine of flavor and the basis for Soup Stock which is the beginning of delicious turkey and veg soup.

The day after Thanksgiving means leftovers and in this household that means turkey soup; this soup can be made entirely from the “leftovers” from Thanksgiving dinner.

 

 

Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken and rice soup ladled over an extra spoonful of rice.

It’s soup time of year again (read: cooler and wet though not cold as per up north) and I’ve had a taste for chicken and rice soup and thus put this recipe together.  The idea for searing the chicken before putting it into the pot came from a CIA cookbook that I was thumbing through not long ago.  I hadn’t seen any recipes previously that do so, but I figured it was worth a try.  It seemed to add a little extra flavor due in part to the “flavor bits” that adhere to the bottom of the pan while searing. 

 

Ox Tail Soup

Since the opening of Aguilar's Meat Market, I've been eying the ox tail and wondering what to do with this 'non-traditional' beef piece.  One day in the midst of a food conversation I mentioned to my mom that I was interested in trying ox tail -- she proceeded to tell me that my grandmother used to make ox tail stew.  Go figure.  Thus once again channeling my inner Kraut, I ventured into research and study of what makes an edible ox tail.  The result follows -- I admit that the final product was tasty and certainly edible, but further research and another try will one day be on the docket. 

Fresh Mushroom Cream Soup

There has been a request for cream soup, so this one is for you, Susie.

This mushroom cream soup is light, yet full of flavor.  It's creamy, but not 'greasy' like some mushroom soups can be.  The recipe is essentially original based on reading and reviewing several cream of mushroom style soups.

I served it with fresh bread and a glass of Cabernet.

 

Soup of the Day: Salmon Chowder

Salmon Chowder was this evening's Soup of the Day.  It took a day longer than expected to make/eat it because when we came home yesterday with salmon and potatoes (by the way, it's potatoes that differentiate chowder from soup) we realized we did not have any fish stock or other seafood stock. We didn't want chicken tasting soup (we have lots of chix and turkey stock) with fish in it.  What to do?  We made risotto with shrimp and before the risotto was even in the pan began to make seafood stock with the shrimp shells, which incidentally turned out to be luscious.  It happened so quickly that there aren't even photos of stock making this time.  

Soup of the Day: Tortilla Soup

Ken outdid himself again!  This time with the most delicious tortilla soup.   

This soup clearly deserves an A!     DG:  A   /   KG:  A

 

Look at these beautiful tortilla chips.  These are corn tortillas that Mom brought back from Mexico last week.  Ken baked them in the oven and seasoned them slightly with sea salt.  What a perfect complement to the soup.

 

Vegetable Stock

When cutting 5 lbs of organic carrots, a big bunch of celery, an onion, and various other veggies...what does one do with the cuttings?  
Make stock of course.  We've had a meatless day so there were no bones to throw in, but veggie stock is also great!  

 

 

 

Soup of the Day: Italian Vegetable Soup

 

This soup is quite good (Ken:  B   Denise:  B) and a nice cross between minestrone and regular veggie soup.  It's essentially from another recipe in the Soup Bible.  Another good way to sneak veggie servings into the daily menu.

 

 

 

Soup of the Day: Homemade Chicken Leek and Celery Soup

The best soup begins by opening a bottle of wine, pouring yourself a glass, drinking deeply .. and then getting the needed ingredients out of the refrigerator.

fresh, whole chicken
celery
onion
leeks 
parsley
bay leaf 

Let's begin.