Dodge City Bean Soup Recipe

It was once the wildest, wickedest city in the west. And who, thanks to television’s “Gunsmoke”, has not heard of Dodge City, Kansas, of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Belle Starr, Doc Holliday? Dodge City today is no longer the wildest, wickedest stop on the western cattle trail. Dried beans have always been used to stretch meat. now comes this old Dodge City recipe in which the beans themselves are stretched with stale bread crumbs. This, surely, is the ultimate lesson in economy, for each hearty bowl of soup costs about ten cents (in 1984). It is an utterly unpretentious soup - no herbs or spices to season, but its richness of flavor will surprise you. Serve eight.

Ingredients:
1 small soup bone, about 1-1/2 lbs. - pork, beef, ham or lamb
2 quarts cold water
1 cup dried navy beans
2 cups boiling water
3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium-sized white turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large parsnip, peeled and sliced
2-1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1-1/2 cups fine dry bread crumbs
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and sliced very thin

Step 1. Boil the soup bone in the 2 quarts of water in a large, heavy soup kettle about 2 hours, until the meat falls from the bone. Clean meat from bone; return meat to soup and discard bone.

Step 2. While the soup bone boils, soak the dried beans in the 2 cups boiling water, in a small covered saucepan. Add beans and their soak water to the soup kettle, cover and simmer one hour. Add potatoes, turnips, parsnips, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Cover and simmer about 1-1/2 hours, uncover and simmer a 1/2 hour longer. Taste for salt and add more salt if needed. Stir in the bread crumbs and top each portion, if you like, with a slice or two of onion. Serve hot.

Corn Chowder Recipe

Corn chowder is so much an American favorite today we tend to forget that it  originally was a Native-American recipe. What happened with corn chowder, as with such other native recipes as succotash, Brunswick stew, burgoo and “Boston” baked beans, is that early colonists, and later pioneer families moving west with the wagon trains, took the native foods and added their own touches. Indian corn chowder, for example, was simply parched corn stewed in water with perhaps a dab of boar grease and, when available, a handful of wild onions. Frontier women of the plains who had milk cows and hogs began preparing the chowder with top milk and salt pork. And thus emerged the corn chowder we relish today. Serves six.

Ingredients:
8 medium-sized ears sweet corn, husked
1/4 lb. salt pork, cut in fine dice
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and chopped
2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. paprika
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 cup water
2 cups milk
2 cups light cream

V.S.P. Cut the kernels of corn from the cobs cream-style (to do so, make a deep cut down the center of each row of kernels with a sharp knife, then, using a knife, scrape the corn pulp and milk into a large bowl). Fry the salt pork in a large, heavy skillet until most of the drippings have cooked out and only the brown crispy bits remain: lift the salt pork from the skillet with a slotted spoon to paper toweling to drain. Pour all but 3 tablespoons of the drippings from the skillet: add the onions and potatoes and sauté slowly until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add sugar, paprika, salt, pepper and water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add corn, milk, cream and browned salt pork, adjust heat so mixture bubbles gently, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Do not allow to boil. Ladle into soup plates and serve with crackers.

Soup Avgolemono Recipe

This lemon soup is a favorite in Greece. Serves eight.

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 T. chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup orzo or rice
2 eggs
Juice of 1 large lemon

Step 1. In a large pot, heat the chicken stock; add dill and simmer gently 30 minutes.

Step 2. Add orzo or rice and cook 15 to 20 minutes more or until orzo or rice is just tender.

Step 3. Just before serving, beat eggs with lemon juice in a small bowl. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot soup slowly in a small stream to the egg mixture, stirring constantly to prevent eggs from curdling.

Step 4. Return egg mixture to soup pot, stirring all the while. Bring to a simmer, but do not boil. Serve.

Gazpacho Imperial Recipe

The Kitchen Mouse, being a very lazy chef, enjoys putting this soup together for three or four friends.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ripe tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 clove garlic
1 T. vinegar
2 cups cold water
1 T. oil
1/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1 cup cream or half-and-half
Salt to taste

V.S.P. Place all the ingredients except the cream and salt in a blender and blend for 2 minutes at high speed. Chill well. When ready to serve, add the salt and cream.

Sopa Fria de Pepinos - Cucumber Soup Recipe

Cold cucumber soup will be handy whenever your garden has cucumbers. Serves four.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
4 T. dry sherry
1 large cucumber, diced
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt to taste

V.S.P. Chill the chicken broth and skim all fat from the surface. Add the sherry, cucumber and seasonings and chill at least one hour before serving. Serve in soup bowls.

Olla Gitano - Vegetable Soup Recipe

This “Gypsy Pot” is ideal whenever your garden begins to yield some vegetables. Makes six servings.

Ingredients:
2 quarts water
1/2 lb. string beans
1 parsnip
1 eggplant, chopped
1 squash or zucchini, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 T. oil
1 T. flour
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste

V.S.P. Cook strings beans and parsnip in water. Add salt to taste. When those vegetables are done, add the eggplant, squash and potatoes. Sauté the onion in the oil until golden brown. Add the tomatoes and sauté with the onion for 2 more minutes. Blend in the flour. Add this mixture to the soup. Continue cooking for one more hour. The liquid in the pot should be thick. Serve in a tureen.

Cocido de Judias Blancas - White Bean Stew Recipe

Judias means Jewish, and as in many other cases, the language testifies to one of the many influences that have formed Spanish cuisine. Using our native Michigan navy beans you can serve eight people with this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 lb. navy beans
4 oz. bacon
6 oz. chorizo or hot Italian sausage
1 ham hock
Salt to taste
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 lb. potatoes
1 lb. chopped cabbage

V.S.P. Soak beans overnight, rinse under cold water and put in a large pot. Add bacon, ham hock, sausage and enough water to cover all ingredients well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and siimmer one hour. Add onion, salt and carrot: continue cooking one more hour. If bacon and sausage are cooked, remove to a side dish and keep warm. Add peeled, whole potatoes and cook until done. In a separate pot, cook the cabbage. Serve the beans and cabbage garnished with slices of bacon and sausage.

Chi Tan T’ang - Egg Drop Soup Recipe

Very easy to make and it is usually enjoyed by everyone.
 
Ingredients:
2 T. cornstarch
6 cups chicken broth
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. white vinegar
1/4 t. pepper
1 scallion, minced
3 eggs, beaten

Procedure:
In a large saucepan mix cornstarch with a small amount of cold chicken broth. Add remaining broth and other ingredients except eggs. Bring to a boil and simmer until clear, stirring occasionally. Gradually drizzle eggs into the soup, stirring slowly, season to taste, and serve at once.

Shrimp Ball Soup Recipe

Whenever The Kitchen Mouse makes this soup, he keeps the cost reasonable by using the small tiny shrimp which are available in the local supermarkets.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled, deveined and finely chopped with 2 T. water
1 t. dry sherry
1/2 t. salt
1 T. cornstarch
5 cups chicken broth
4 leaves Chinese cabbage, cut in 3-inch strips
1 t. salt
1 T. dry sherry
Dash pepper

Procedure:
Mix the shrimp with 1 t. dry sherry, 1/2 t. salt and 1 T. cornstarch. With wet hands, form walnut-size balls with about 1 T. mixture. Set aside.

Bring chicken broth to a boil, add shrimp balls and Chinese cabbage. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add 1 t. salt, 1 T. sherry and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Serve 4 or 5.

Chilled Cherry Soup Recipe

Cold fruit soups are not for every palate but those who admire them usually praise this one. Try this recipe on a very hot day. Serves six.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup seedless raisins
6 thin slices orange
6 thin slices lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 stick cinnamon
2 cups water
2 cups sliced fresh peaches
1-1/2 cups pitted sweet or sour cherries
1/2 cup sugar, more or less
Dash of salt
1-1/2 T. cornstarch
Whipped cream

Step 1. Put raisins, orange and lemon slices, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and water in a saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick.

Step 2. Add the peaches, cherries, sugar and salt to the mixture and bring to a boil.

Step 3. Add the cornstarch mixed with a little water to the fruit. Cook, stirring, until clear, about 1 minute. Adjust the seasoning, adding more if sour cherries are used. Serve chilled, garnish with whipped cream.

Mulligatawny Soup Recipe

In India, most soups are thought of as the preface to a meal, but this one is so rich that we usually make a meal of it. East Indian Mulligatawny  - literally “pepper water” - the peppery nature of mulligatawny depends entirely on the cook: it can be hot or mild.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, about 3 lbs., cut into serving pieces
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, stuck with 4 cloves
2 small ribs celery with leaves
1 carrot, scraped and quartered
2 sprigs fresh parsley
Salt
14 peppercorns
1/2 small coconut
1 cup canned chick peas, drained
1/4 cup butter or margarine
5 T. all-purpose flour
3 T. powdered turmeric
1/2 t. powdered ginger
1 t. ground coriander
1 clove garlic, minced
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
Pepper to taste
Lemon slices

Step 1. Place the chicken in a saucepan and add the chicken stock. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, parsley, salt to taste and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Remove the chicken pieces and keep them warm. Strain the broth.

Step 2. Remove the meat from the coconut shell. Pare away the dark coating and cut the coconut meat into small cubes. Put the cubes into a blender or food processor and add 2 cups of the broth. Blend on high speed. Line a sieve with cheesecloth and strain the coconut mixture. Press to extract as much of the moisture as possible. Discard the residue.

Step 3. Rinse out the blender. Return the coconut milk to the blender and add the chick peas. Blend until the peas are thoroughly pureed. Add enough of the reserved chicken broth to make four cups.

Step 4. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, turmeric, ginger, coriander, garlic and cayenne pepper. Stir to blend and remove from heat.

Step 5. Gradually add the coconut milk mixture to the butter-flour mixture, stirring rapidly with a whisk. Add the cream and chicken parts, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon slices and serve piping hot, with hot rice as an accompaniment.

Irish Potato Soup Recipe

Serves 8 to 10.

Ingredients:

7 medium potatoes (3 lbs.)
3 medium onions
3 T. butter
4 cups milk
6 cups chicken stock
1 T. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 cup light cream
5 strips bacon
1/4 cup snipped chives (dried is ok)

Step 1. Peel and slice the potatoes and onions.

Step 2. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add onions and saute over low flame until tender, but not brown.

Step 3. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper. Cover the pan and simmer over very low heat flame for one hour.

Step 4. Cut the bacon into small pieces and saute until crisp. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set bacon bits aside.

Step 5. When soup has cooked for an hour, put it through a blender at high speed. Return soup to the saucepan.

Step 6. Add cream and cook slowly until the soup is just hot. Do not boil.

Step 7. Garnish with bacon bits and chives on each serving.

Hiilsenfruchtsuppe - Fresh Pea Soup Recipe

Since pea soup is very popular in German homes The Kitchen Mouse is substituting his favorite French recipe for Potage St. Germaine (puree of fresh pea soup). This will serve eight people and is guaranteed to get you plenty of compliments.

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh or frozen peas
2 stalks celery, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 small white onions, diced
4-1/2 cups chicken broth
1/3 lb. boiled ham, diced
Salt to taste
1/3 t. black pepper
3 T. unsalted butter or margarine
1-1/4 cup cream or half and half
2 T. chopped parsley

Step 1. Simmer the peas, celery, onions and carrots together in 1-1/2 cups of chicken broth until tender, about 50 minutes.

Step 2. Add remaining chicken broth and ham and simmer 10 minutes.

Step 3. Puree all ingredients in a blender. Return soup to pot and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 4. At serving time, heat the puree and stir in the butter and cream. Serve in heated bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and a few croutons, if desired.

Borshchok - Russian Beef Soup Recipe

This soup is served hot and is made with meat, but beets are the only vegetable. It is very popular in the western Ukraine, where beets dominate the vegetable crop. Serves eight.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of young beets
2 sliced onions
2 lbs. beef brisket
8 cups water
Juice of 2 lemons
2 T. of sugar, more or less, to taste
2 t. salt
Pepper to taste
Croutons for garnish

V.S.P. Peel and dice beets. Place beets, onions and meat in deep pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until meat is tender. Cube meat and return it to pot. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes longer. Serve hot with croutons.

Chicken Chikhirtma - Soup Recipe

Chikhirtma is a popular chicken soup from the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is always thickened with egg yolks for richness and usually given a tart flavor with lemon or vinegar. The degree of tartness and richness can be varied in this recipe to suit individual preferences. This will serve six.

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 T. butter or margarine
1 T. flour
1 pinch saffron, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water (optional)
Salt to taste
3 egg yolks
3 T. lemon juice
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

V.S.P. Heat stock while frying onion in butter until golden.sprinkle flour over onion and stir while cooking for one minute. Add a little broth into mixture. Blend well and pour mixture into pot containing broth. Cook 10 minutes. If using saffron, dissolve it in hot water and strain the liquid into broth. Salt to taste and remove from heat.

Beat egg yolks with lemon juice. Mix a little broth into the eggs, then pour the mixture into the broth while stirring. Reheat the broth until it thickens, stirring constantly and not allowing it to come to a boil. Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.

Barley and Vegetable Soup Recipe

Ideal for serving to soup lovers! Serves 8.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup pearl barley
11 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup minced celery
3 T. butter or margarine
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
In a saucepan, combine pearl barley with 3 cups chicken broth, bring the liquid to a boil over moderate heat, and simmer the mixture for one hour or until the liquid is absorbed.

In a kettle (heavy-bottomed stock pot), sauté onions, carrots, mushrooms and celery in butter, covered, for five minutes or until vegetables are softened. Add remaining 8 cups of chicken broth and simmer the mixture for 30 minutes. Add the barley and simmer five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, ladle the soup into heated bowls, and garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream, sliced mushrooms and chopped fresh parsley. Serve with breadsticks or pita bread.

Soup - Practical, Necessary Art

Originally published June 7, 1984

The art of soup-making has long been an essential and laudable achievement. In fact, soup was among man’s first culinary creations. The first of them were doubtless prepared by putting meat, bones, liquid and perhaps some seasonings, in animal-skin bags. Also added were hot stones to cook them. Later, as clay containers were created, the ingredients became more varied, and were cooked slowly over direct heat. Thus was devised the first “pot au feu” (French for pot on the fire).

In Europe, the early wealthy Romans enjoyed a variety of intricate soups at their lengthy banquets, while lesser folk subsisted on more basic and hearty creations. From the cookbook by Apicius, believed to have written in the first century A.D., we can determine that there was an excellent array of earthenware and bronze pots and kettles for preparing soups.

During the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire, there were no resources for fancy experimentation with soup or any other fare. It was a time of foraging for anything to keep alive, and soups became the mainstay of the daily diet. Basic creations filled with grains and other easily accessible foods, they provided warmth and nourishment. The first soup kitchens, which would be revived over and over again in times of need, were established in the monasteries. Countless numbers of hungry unfortunates were thus able to survive.

The word for soup evolved from sop, the name for a piece of bread dipped in meat broth, during the Middle Ages. About the twelfth century the broth was called sop or soupe, and other ingredients were added to the liquid. In the cuisines of western Europe there are still many similar words. In Austria, Germany, Denmark and Norway, for example, the dish is suppe. In Spain and Portugal it is soppa, in Holland soep and Sweden soppa. The Italians use the word zuppa. A notable exception to this similarity of names is the Finnish keijto.

Escoffier, the great French chef, said “Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tensions of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.”

Today’s recipes:
Old-Fashioned Quebec Pea Soup
Cabbage Soup
Corn Soup
Scottish Cock-A-Leekie Soup

Old-Fashioned Quebec Pea Soup Recipe

As Father’s Day is now almost here, we are reminded that this was my dad’s favorite. Serves 6 or 7.

Ingredients:
1 lb. salt pork, lean and fat
1 T. dry mustard
1 lb. dried peas
8 cups cold water
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 T. kosher salt
1/2 t. savory
1/4 t. dried mint
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can hominy corn
1 T. butter or margarine

V.S.P. Rub the salt pork with the dry mustard. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. Meanwhile, sort, wash, then soak the peas in cold water for 12 hours.

Place in a soup kettle the peas and their water, the pork, onion, salt, savory, mint, parsley and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 3 to 4 hours or until peas are tender and the soup appears to be creamy. Add the hominy and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the butter and garnish each serving with croutons. Serve hot.

Cabbage Soup Recipe

This soup can be assembled in a very short time but it will be enjoyed by young and old alike. Serves 6 or 7.

Ingredients:
3 T. butter or margarine
2 medium carrots, grated
3 onions, sliced thin
4 to 6 cups cabbage, chopped fine
A few leaves of celery, minced
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. sugar
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups milk
Slices of bread, browned in butter
Grated cheese

V.S.P. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the carrots, onion, cabbage, celery leaves, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix well, cover and simmer over very low heat for 25 minutes. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the milk, heat and taste for seasoning. When ready to serve, place a slice of bread, browned in butter, in each bowl, sprinkle with cheese and fill bowl with soup. Serve hot.

Corn Soup Recipe

Whenever a soup is needed quickly, this one can be put together within an hour and will surely please 3 or 4 soup lovers.

Ingredients:
2 thick slices of bacon
1 onion, chopped
1 can (16 oz.) niblet corn
1 cup cooked, diced potatoes
2 cups milk
1/4 t. savory
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

V.S.P. Cut the bacon into small squares and brown in a large saucepan. Add the onion and brown over high heat. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. When ready to serve, sprinkle with parsley or dried celery leaves. Serve hot.