Chicken Tortellini Soup

This soup is delicious, hearty, and very, very easy to pull together. It's a staple around here. Everyone likes it. You could leave out the chicken, I often do now (I seem to want to eat less meat as I get older), but don't skip the leek or the fennel seeds because, working together they crank this soup up from good to GREAT.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

1 T. olive oil
1 leek, sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 small onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 T. dried basil
2 tsp. fennel seeds
6 c. chicken stock (homemade is best)
2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 (9-oz.) pkg. cheese tortellini
1/2 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped (no stems)
1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken or turkey
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add in leek, onion, garlic, basil, and fennel seeds and cook until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Pour chicken stock into pot, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add zucchini and carrot, cover and simmer for 5 more minutes. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Stir tortellini into boiling soup cook until tender, uncovered, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach and cooked turkey, heat through. Season to taste with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 main dish servings. Thanks for visiting!

Coconut-Lime Shrimp Bisque (in 20 minutes)

It's cold and raining here in California. Surprisingly cold. Soup weather cold. But it's Tuesday at 6PM. I'm in the grocery store, hungry, and wanting soup for dinner. Do I grab a can? Noooo...those cans do NOT contain "soup"! The contents of those cans have a soup LOOK and when warmed they have soup TEXTURE, but they really don't have any taste. Look and texture can fool some people to think the can contents have taste, but they don't. Oh dear, I got on my processed food rampage, didn't I? So sorry. To make a long story short...this soup is one of my favorites. Once you have all the ingredients it can be on the table in less than 20 minutes, and it tastes d-i-v-i-n-e. Don't be scared of the ingredients, trust me and try it! My 15 month old grandson slurped up his bowl and then whined until he got to have some of mine. This is one soup where the broth is probably more yummy than the shrimp! Can you imagine? BTW, don't use Jumbo Shrimp, they are too big for one bite and don't fit on the spoons. You can make this with all shrimp, or half shrimp and fish, or use scallops or half scallops and half shrimp or half fish...it's all good.

Coconut-Lime Shrimp Bisque

1 T. olive oil
5 chopped shallots (about 3/4 cup)
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
8 oz. bottle Clam Juice (In a pinch, can sub chicken broth, or a can of clams with the juice)
14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk (the low fat version has no taste)
grated zest of one lime
1 1/2 - 2 lbs med/large raw (shelled) shrimp, firm white fish (cut into pieces about 1 1/2 inches square, or scallops (or any combination of the three)
3 T. freshly squeezed lime juice (from one large lime)
2 green onions, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil and saute shallots until tender, about 3 minutes. Add in ginger, turmeric, and cumin and saute for an additional minute. Stir in clam juice, diced tomatoes, coconut milk, lime zest, and shrimp, fish and/or scallops. Simmer until seafood is cooked, about 7 minutes. Stir in lime juice, green onions and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve. See how fast this is to make? You can do it! Makes 4 -6 servings.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  It's always so good to have you here!

(Cream of) Celery Soup

I love celery. I love the crunch of it, I love the smell of it, I love the taste of it...and I love how it works with other ingredients rather than overpowering them. As a kid I even liked that Cream of Celery Soup in the red and white can. Imagine! My Sunset magazine arrived this morning with a recipe for Celery Soup, and it even had a "Staff Favorite" star. Can you imagine what happened next? Yep, quick drive to the store for a fresh bunch of celery. I was a bit concerned about how good the soup would be, as the only seasonings are salt and pepper, but it works! The soup is great, very mild. I like it even without the caramelized apples and sprinkle of crumbled blue cheese. I do wish I had made some crispy croutons or some crusty bread to have on the side, so I will also post a recipe my friend gave me for Rustic Rosemary Bread. I think I just might serve this as a starter for my next Dinner party. It's perfect, light, tasty, pretty, and won't interfere with the main course at all. Until then though, I will enjoy this as a light lunch.

(Cream of) Celery Soup

1 bunch of celery, roughly chopped into chunks about 1" wide (1 1/2 lbs)
1 small onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 qt. (4 cups) chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used homemade chicken stock)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Combine celery, onion and broth/stock in a medium pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until celery is cooked. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small frying pan and add chopped apple. Cook apple, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until apple is caramelized. Let broth-celery mixture cool for a bit, then whirl in a blender until smooth (do this in batches, and if soup is still hot, do it in small batches). Return soup to pan, stir in half-and-half, salt and pepper. Heat gently. Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with caramelized apples and blue cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Based on a recipe from Sunset Magazine, Feb. 2010
Nutritional Analysis (from Sunset)

204 calories, 9 g protein, 13 g fat, 14 g. carbo, 2.8 g fiber, 515 mg sodium, 37 mg chol.

Thank you for being a fan,
Polly

Polly's Seafood Chowder

It was my turn to host book club tonight. The book was "Ahab's Wife", which I knew we had to discuss over a bowl of chowder and a slice of pie. Not having made Seafood Chowder before, I began a search for a great recipe. I found one in the book "The Book Club Cookbook" by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp (which actually had a whole chapter on "Ahab's Wife") and another I found on "Laura's Best Recipes" attributed to Chef David Wells. I made one, which was good, but not great, then I made that one again, took some stuff out, added parts of the second recipe plus some crab and creamed corn, adjusted the method...and "Wallaaaaaa" a GREAT Seafood Chowder! Really, it is good. Everyone at book club said so!!! I am quite proud of it. This recipe makes a vat of chowder, and the leftovers reheat very well in the microwave-the seafood doesn't get overcooked and rubbery.  LOVE this recipe.

Polly's Seafood Chowder

6 slices of bacon, cooked crisply and crumbled (apple smoked if possible)
2-3 Tablespoons fat from cooked bacon (if you can't bear it, use olive oil)
1 cup diced onions (can sub some shallots for the onions-I used one and then made up a cup with the onion)
1 cup diced celery
2 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken broth
1 bottle clam juice (or seafood stock)
1 cup white wine
1.5 lbs (total) of Yukon Gold and Red potatoes, diced (I used half of each)
1 cup diced carrots
2 bay leaves
½ tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
1 ½ tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 - 4 green onions, diced
1 lb. firm white fish, cut into small cubes (snapper, halibut, cod-I used cod)
1 lb. raw scallops, cut into small pieces, if large
1 lb. raw shelled shrimp, cut into halves or thirds
3 cups frozen corn (can substitute 1 can creamed corn for 1 cup of frozen corn)
16 oz. lump crab meat (found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores...Lucky and Costco carry it in San Jose)
2 cups half and half or whipping cream (I used the whipping cream. Bad Polly, bad Polly)

Set aside cooked and crumbled bacon. (I save only the meaty parts and discard all the fat) In bacon grease left in pan (remove excess if you have more than 3T) sauté onions, shallots and celery for about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth, clam juice, white wine, finely diced potatoes and diced carrots. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Remove bay leaves. Remove one-half of mixture (4 -5 cups) and blend or puree until smooth. Return puree to pan with non-pureed mixture. Stir in thyme, tarragon, salt, pepper, corn, and creamed corn (if using). Can be made up to this point and refrigerated overnight (Which I recommend because it gives the flavors a chance to meld, and gives you the chance to skim excess hardened fat of surface before continuing). Bring base to a simmer and then continue. Stir in green onions, diced fish, scallops, shrimp, corn and half-and-half or whipping cream. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in crab and reserved cooked and crumbled bacon. Let chowder sit for 10 minutes before serving.

This makes a whole heck of a lot of chowder...3 qts...which is 24 cups. If you have seafood lovers in your circle, then it's about 12 hearty servings. I have found that leftovers reheat very well in the MW. YUM!

Thanks for being a fan,
Polly