Soup's On!

It finally, mercifully cooled off here in Nashville. Now it actually feels like the beginning of Fall, instead of Summer Part II: The Sequel. And I really love Fall, because it includes some of my favorite things like football and hoodies and crunchy leaves and soup!

I tried a new soup recipe just a few days ago and it was so good I just had to share! I got it from a Paula Deen magazine, so I wouldn't call it a particularly healthy soup, but it is warm and hearty and really really yummy! Plus you could probably make it a little healthier with a few modifications and it is even vegetarian friendly, if you substitute (even accidentally, as I did) vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Here is the recipe, and then I'll mention the handful of modifications I made.

Potato Corn Chowder

• 1/2 cup butter


• 1 cup diced onion


• 1 cup diced carrot


• 1 cup diced celery


• 1 cup diced red bell pepper


• 3 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 32-oz carton chicken broth


• 4 cups whole milk


• 6 cups quartered red potatoes


• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme


• 2 pounds frozen corn kernels


• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese


• 1 cup sour cream


• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt


• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper


• 1 teaspoon hot sauce

In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, red bell pepper, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are very tender.

Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Add potatoes and thyme; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add corn; increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese is melted. Remove from heat, and serve immediately.

***

You can make it just like that, but if you're like me I needed to make some modifications. Here's what I did, whether by accident or necessity, but it still turned out deliciously.

Ingredients:

• I used dried minced onion instead of fresh diced, because I seriously loathe dicing onion. Just make sure to use the correct equivalent. Mine said 1 tablespoon was equal to about a 1/3 cup fresh.


• I used a pre-diced mix of red/yellow/green bell pepper, which I found in the fresh produce section of the grocery store. I also found pre-diced fresh celery. So handy!
  


• I love garlic, but didn't have any fresh or jarred, so I just gave a good shake of garlic salt. Not the same thing, but I had to make do.


• I accidentally bought and used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. It still tasted great!


• I accidentally bought (see the theme here) not enough whole milk so I ended up using 2 cups whole, 2 cups skim. Health bonus!


• When I quartered the red potatoes they still looked way too big. So I say, just cut the potatoes into chunky bite-size pieces.


• I had no thyme, fresh or otherwise. Oops.


• I used reduced fat (but not fat-free) sour cream


• I did not put in hot sauce. I figured Ben could add his own if he wanted.

Directions:

• I do not have a Dutch oven, so I just used a big stock pot and tried to control the temperature as needed.


• Also, in the step where I added the flour, the veggies sucked it up very quickly so I don't think I cooked them for the full 2 minutes suggested because I was afraid they would start to burn.


• The recipe didn't say, but it makes a LOT of soup. Ben had two full bowls, I had one, and I probably filled four good size tupperwares up with the leftovers.

I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I did! Yummy and perfect for a crisp, cool fall evening!

Thirty Thousand Pounds of Banana (Bread)

I know I said this would be posted last night... so even though I am typing this on the afternoon of the 5th, I am changing the post date to May 4 at 11:59 pm. That's the kind of POWER I have! Mwahahahahaha!

Ahem. Sorry.

So the title of this post is after a weird/funny Harry Chapin folk song from the 70s. Why is that what popped into my head when I was making this banana bread? Your guess is as good as mine.

Now here's the thing. I really hate bananas. I don't even like banana flavored things because, as I like to think of it, banana is a "bossy" flavor that usually overpowers any other flavor in it's vicinity. BUT for some reason, I like this banana bread. Really! Truly! I don't know if the nuttiness of it tempers the banana flavor or what but this is one banana-y baked good I can get behind.

Anyhoo, let's make this bread! Get your ingredients together... mixing bowl, loaf pan (grease it), flour, sugar, shortening, eggs, some smushy old bananas, salt, baking powder and baking soda, and some pecans. Well, that's my favorite nut, but if you'd prefer something else, knock yourself out. (This is my current overused catchphrase of choice. Knock yourself out. I can't stop saying it.)

Go ahead and measure out the flour, soda, powder, and salt and stir together. Then in a seperate bowl, cream your shortening and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time and blend well. Look at that sunny little egg all ready to give itself up to the good of the recipe.


Now chop up the nuts and stir them in:


I didn't take pictures of the next two steps because, to be honest, they were kind of gross looking. Nothing pretty about pulverized overripe bananas, folks.

Speaking of, keep in mind that for this recipe, the couple-days-past-ripe bananas are best. So long as they aren't rotten, it's okay if the peels are turning brown and the banana inside is kinda squishy. This just makes the flavor a little better and also makes them easier to mash up. So just get your bananas, peel em, and smush em up real good. Nice and smooth.

What you want to do at this point is alternate between adding the flour mixture and the smushed banana to the creamed butter/sugar/eggs bowl. Blend well after each addition. At the end you'll have a nice batter that isn't too runny.

Pour that into your pre-greased loaf pan:

Now bake! 350 degrees for about 55 minutes. The finished bread should (a) smell divine and (b) be a wonderful brown color that is probably cracked in a few places. Such as:


I cooled it in the pan for just a few minutes and then popped it out and let it cool on a wire rack. Make sure it is completely cooled before you wrap it up or else the moisture will make it soggy!


When it is all cool, wrap in wax paper or a large ziplock to store. Or, you know, just slice it open right then and try a piece. Or two. Who could resist this?


Recipe Ingredients & Amounts:
1 ¾ cup sifted flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
½ cup chopped nuts
1 cup banana pulp (2-3 ripe bananas)

Happy baking!