Tag Archives: soup

Playing with Pattypan Squash

I found some lovely Patty Pan Squash at the Farmer’s Market and have been using them as side dishes. Just a simple saute in butter and garlic, maybe with a little shaved Parmesan Cheese.

patty-pan-squashBut, last night I decided to play around with them some, add more ingredients and see how they play together. I shaved the kernels off of a fresh ear of corn and threw them in a saute pan with the halved Patty Pans and some butter, on medium heat.

While the squash and corn were cooking I minced some Garlic, Red Onion, Green Onion and Radicchio, threw them in the pan, and turned down the heat a bit.

patty-pan-saute with garlic, onionsThe aroma was heavenly, earthy and sweet at the same time. The taste, well, it needed something. So it got a pinch of Salt & Pepper, some dry Cilantro and a 1/4 cup of Heavy Cream.

Better, but it needed some punch. Hey, Texas Pete is right there…Boom! Toss in some Feta Cheese crumbles and top with a shake of Paprika and now you’ve really got something:

patty-pan-with-feta-and-cream

Delicious.

This might make a pretty good “cream of” soup, too. Or a sauce for a Chicken and Pasta dish…

 

How to Make Canned Soup Taste Delicious

I grew up with Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup, it brings back powerful memories of my childhood. Now, as an adult, these cream soups don’t seem to taste as yummy as they used to (probably because they are made much more cheaply!).

I still want to eat them, they make a quick, hot lunch on a cold winter’s day. So I have figured out a way to make them delicious without making the whole thing from scratch.

This technique works best with Cream of Chicken or Cream of Celery, for Cream of Mushroom you can substitute the diced celery with fresh or canned Mushrooms. Of course, depending on your palate, you can also add a little Taco seasoning or Creole seasoning…

onion, celery, leek, garlic

Dice one slice of onion, one stalk of celery

Mince a clove of garlic

Cut a slice off the white end of a leek, cut in half, then cut small slices from the green end

Cook the onion and celery in butter until the onion starts to brown, then add a splash of white wine, 1/4 cup of Chicken Stock, the garlic and the leek.

Reduce.

Cut some chicken meat into cubes, thigh works well (lots of flavor), add to the pan.

Add some salt and pepper and simmer on low medium heat until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the cream soup and stir in a can-ful of whole milk. Raise the heat until the soup starts to boil, then reduce and simmer for 3-4 minutes, the soup should get nice and thick. Kepp stirring occaisionally so the soup doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan.

cream of celery soup

Garnish the soup with a dash of Paprika and enjoy!