Soup's on

Three Onion

French Onion Soup

2 Containers Organic Beef Broth
1 stick of butter
2 Red onions
4 yellow onions
1 cup Vidalia small sweet onions
1 French Baguette
1/4 c. Shaved Gruyere or Shaved Parmesan cheese per serving

Peel and chop all of the onions.  In a large soup pot, heat 1/2 stick of butter on medium high.  Sauté all of the onions together, reduce heat to medium low.  Add the other 1/2 stick of butter and let it melt.  Add the 2 containers of broth. turn up heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.  Ladle soup into bowl with onions.  Top with 3 inch baguette piece cut open.  Top with cheese.  Stick in the microwave 30 sec or so to melt the cheese.  Note that Gruyere and Parmesan have very distinct flavors.  The key is to use fresh shaved cheese.  Cheese dust is sacrilegious and just wrong on so many levels, don't skimp here.  Pair with a simple salad with Balsamic vinaigrette and a Bordeaux.

Pumpkin Soup
I knew this was going to be a disaster, or the best thing ever.

1 Pumpkin that won't fall apart in the oven, like: cindarella, cheese or jarrahdale, don't use a jack-o-lantern squash1-1/2 stick of butter, see one floating in there? .
1 cup bread crumbs- get creative
2 cloves of garlic
2 Bay leaves
2 Tlbs black fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh thyme
5-7 cups low sodium organic vegetable stock
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese


Rub the outside and inside with butter and season with black pepper and thyme.  Add the gruyere, garlic, bread crumbs and bay leaves.  Then add the vegetable stock until it is 2-3 inches from the rim of the pumpkin. 
Heat oven to 350.  Cut open the pumpkin and remove the seeds.  Retain the top.  Place the pumpkin in a roasting pan. This is particularly important because if you take a chance and don't know the type of pumpkin you have purchased [who doesn't know that? um me!] then it will collapse in the roasting pan and not all over the inside of your oven.
 
When serving the soup, scoop the pumpkin flesh from the sides or the bottom and ladle the soup stock mixture over the top. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and grated gruyere.    Put the top back on the pumpkin and cook for 1 hour.  Remove the lid and cook another 30-90 minutes.  The pumpkin is done when you can cut through it readily.  Throw away the bay leaves, don't eat these they may lodge in the esophagus. http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/15342/are-bay-leaves-dangerous-to-unwittingly-eat

Serve with a nice green salad and bread and butter.

Easy Tortilla Soup
A friend (not Becky) from graduate school had served a bad date some tortilla soup at her house.  She said that she wished I would go out with the guy, because I would tell him right where to go.  Anyhow, she's happily married now and even though I have not seen her in a few years, I think about my friend when I make this yummy stuff.

2- 32 oz. low sodium organic chicken broth

1 rotisserie lime chicken pre-cooked

1 yellow onion

3 green chili peppers

1/2 stick butter

4 ears sweet corn

2 Tlbs fresh ground black pepper

4 limes

1 package white corn tortillas
3 Tlbs vegetable oil
salt
avacados, queso fresco cheese, cilantro, and tomatoes

In a large stock pot, add butter and onion and saute on high heat till translucent, add chopped green chilies, saute.  Put corn in the broiler at 450.  After 10 minutes flip to the other side and remove after 10 more minutes.  Add the 2 boxes of low sodium organic chicken broth to the stock pot.  Cut all of the lime chicken off of the bone and add to the stock pot.  The lime chicken really was seasoned well right from the deli counter, super easy for me!  Add the black pepper and squeeze two limes into the soup and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an hour.  

Cut the corn off of the ears of corn and set aside.  Chop the tomatos (notice I don't care for tomatoes in my soup), cilantro, avacado, and queso fresco.  *I take my chances with queso fresco. Note this cheese is typically an unpasterized imported cheese, which means the risk of food borne illness can be higher.  Eat it at your own risk or seek out one that is pasterized. 

Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan and heat on medium high heat.  Place a plate next to the stove with 3 paper towels on it to soak up the oil. Chop the tortillas into 1/2 inch wide strips.  Add to the hot oil and cook the tortilla strips golden.  Set on the plate with the paper towels, salt and squeeze lime juice on the strips to taste.

In a bowl, ladle the chicken soup till 1/2 full.  Then top with lime tortilla strips, queso fresco, broiled corn, 1/4 avacado, tomato, and cilantro to taste.

Note that there is also a recipe in Bon appetit Feb 2012 from Nashville's Mas Taco's Por Favor restaurant for tortilla soup as well.  Their recipe makes the soup stock from scratch and boils the chicken.  I'm sure it's quite good, but I wanted something quicker for a week night meal with lunch leftovers.  If you try this alternative recipe, let us know how it goes!

Vegetarian chili
1 large can of stewed tomatoes

1 8oz can diced tomatoes

2 cans Red Chili Beans

1 can Red kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 cup of water

1 packet chili seasoning (Mc Cormicks works)     Scotch Bonnet peppers, Jalpeno peppers, and chili powder to taste

                                                                     

                                                                                     2 packages Jiffy corn muffins

                                                                                     1 package shredded "Mexican"

                                                                                     cheese mix

Prepare Jiffy muffins per the package instructions (If memory serves me correct, you will need eggs, milk and water).  I make these in a cupcake pan and they turn out pretty good.  I can't vouch for bread loaf pans, although I think my mom did this back in the day.

In a crock pot, add all of the canned beans (drained), tomatoes (not drained, add the liquid), 1 cup of water, seasoning and chilies to taste.  Scotch bonnet peppers are really hot, so if you don't like spicy food, leave the chilies out and just go with the McCormicks spice mix.  Cook in the crockpot at least 2 hours to let the spices meld.

Pour chili into a bowl, add cheese (I like Sargento reduced fat Mexican cheese mix) and Jiffy corn muffins