Poached Garlic Soup with Garlic bread

Stolen From whatscookingamerica.net

Poached Garlic Soup

30 cloves garlic, peeled
7 cups vegetable or chicken broth, divided
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 small new potatoes, peeled, diced and reserved in cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread (see recipe below)

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine garlic cloves and 3 cups of vegetable or chicken broth; bring to a boil and poach 15 minutes or until soft. Remove garlic cloves to a small bowl and mash with a fork; set aside for use in make Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread. Cook and reduce chicken broth to a glaze; remove from heat and set aside.

In a large soup pot over low heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft. Drain potatoes; stir into butter and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add remaining 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. Remove from heat and let cool 10 to 15 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, puree soup; return to soup pot. Add garlic glaze; stir until well blended.

NOTE: The soup can be made 1 to 2 days in advance up until this stage. Refrigerate until ready to finish.

Stir in heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper; cook, over low heat, another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread.

Makes 6 servings.

Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread
6 slices sourdough bread, thinly sliced and lightly toasted
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Poached garlic cloves

Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, combine butter and mashed garlic cloves; mash until well blended. Spread garlic mixture evenly over the top of the bread slices. When ready to serve, broil bread for a few seconds or until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

NOTE: Bread can be assembled earlier in the day and placed on a pan. Cover well with plastic wrap.

Pumpkin Peanut Soup

Pumpkin Peanut Soup (8 servings)

4 cups canned pumpkin puree (or 3 lb. sugar pumpkin or butternut squash*)

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/4 c. butter

1 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. diced red pepper

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded & diced

4 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. creamy or crunchy peanut butter (my favorite is crunchy, for texture)

1/2 c. heavy cream or milk

2 Tbsp. lime juice

thin-sliced scallions

Melt butter over medium heat, add onion; saute 15 min. or until golden brown.

Add pumpkin, red pepper, jalapeno, and chicken broth; heat to boiling. Cover, reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10 min., stirring to break up pumpkin.

Remove
all but 2 cups of soup solids, puree in blender, then return the puree to the solids remaining in the pan.

Add peanut butter and cream. Cover, heat on low, stirring until peanut butter melts.

Add lime juice, salt, and pepper. Garnish with scallions.

*If using fresh pumpkin or squash, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line jellyroll pan with foil. Halve pumpkin/squash lengthwise, remove seeds. Sprinkle inside with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Place cut side down on foil-lined pan. Bake 1 hr. or until soft. Cool, then scoop flesh out for use in the soup.

Broccoli potato and cheddar cheese soup

Looks like this recipe originally came from Cooking Light, but their recipe is slightly different

I love this soup. The instructions have been adapted for Clara's level of cooking. Let's keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't screw it up :P

ingredients

1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cans chicken broth (the regular soup size cans)
2 cups broccoli florets chopped (I usually just use frozen broccoli ... I heat it for a minute so I can cut it, then I chop it up)
1 1/4 cups milk
8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese
3 peeled and cubed potatoes

you can also top with cooked bacon and green onions (I usually skip the onions, but the bacon is good)


What to do

Mix 1/3rd cup of chicken broth with the 1/4 cup of flour until smooth and set aside

Combine remaining chicken broth, potatoes and broccoli in a pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Cook for 8 mins or until potatoes are tender. (now here I usually wing it and just leave it uncovered and let it cook until the potatoes are soft ... you will need to taste test here so pay attention. Also sometimes I put a few more potatoes and/or broccoli in so I make sure that the broth covers them and if I use more I throw a little bit more milk in .... not half a gallon)

Then you're going to gradually stir in the flour mixture from step 1 and cook for another 3-5 mins

Then stir in the milk and cheddar cheese. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted and your done.

When you serve it put a little bit of cheese on top and break up a piece of bacon

Potato Cheese Soup

Stolen from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Potato Cheese Soup

7 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1 cup peeled and shredded potatoes
2 cups peeled and chopped onions
4 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups half and half
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup asiago cheese
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Place cubed potatoes, onions, celery and salt in water to cover in a large pot. Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes up to an hour depending on how mushy you like things. Place shredded potatoes in a separate pot and boil till tender.

Put in blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade and puree until smooth.

Return to soup pot; add half-and-half, butter. shredded potatoes, parsley and cheese. Stirring, simmer until piping hot. (Do not boil.)

Passion Fruit Soufflé Glacé with Pineapple Fruit Soup

Stolen from the Dessert First blog

Passion Fruit Soufflé Glacé

from Kate Zuckerman's The Sweet Life

makes about 2 quarts, or 12 servings

Curd

8 egg yolks

1/3 cup (66 g) sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons passion fruit puree

pinch of salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Meringue

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg whites

pinch of cream of tartar

6 tablespoons passion fruit puree

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

For the curd: Make a bain-marie by heating a saucepan of water on the stove. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl for the bain-marie.

Add the salt and passion fruit puree to the yolks and whisk to combine.

Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly for about 5-8 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and holds the lines from the whisk.

Remove bowl from heat and place in an ice bath until it has cooled to warm. Add in the butter and whisk until completely combined into the curd.

For the meringue: Whip the heavy cream in a stand mixer to soft peaks. Store the whipped cream in the refrigerator.

Place the egg whites In a clean stand mixer bowl and whip on medium-high with the whisk attachment until it starts to foam.

Add the cream of tartar and continue whipping until soft peaks start to form.

At this point, combine the passion fruit puree and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and heat on stove on high until it comes to a boil.

While the passion fruit syrup is boiling, carefully add in the remaining one tablespoon of sugar to the whipping egg whites, a little at a time. The egg whites should get shiny and gain in volume - be sure to watch that they do not overwhip while the syrup is cooking.

When the temperature of the passion fruit syrup has reached 245 degrees F, remove from heat and carefully pour down the side of the mixer bowl while the mixer is still running. Let the syrup combine with the egg whites and continue whipping for about 6 minutes until the meringue has cooled to room temperature. It should be very thick and glossy.

Place the passion fruit curd in a large bowl. Scrape the whipped cream on top and carefully fold into the curd with a rubber spatula, taking care not to deflate the whipped cream too much.

Scrape the meringue on top of the mixture and incorporate in the same manner.

Pour the mousse into desired glasses or molds and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours to set. I use silicone molds that make it easy to unmold the shapes when they are frozen.

The frozen mousse will keep in the freezer for about 1 week.

Pineapple Fruit Soup

from Kate Zuckerman's The Sweet Life

makes about 5 cups

1 vanilla bean

1 medium pineapple

1 cup sugar

Cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and pod in a large saucepan.

Slice off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Carve off the skin of the pineapple. Cut the pineapple down the center and then each half into 1/2 thick slices. You don't have to be precise as the pineapple will be pureed later but keep the pieces similar-sized so they will cook evenly.

Place the pineapple, sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water to the saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from heat. Remove the vanilla bean pod.

Take about half the pineapple and place into a food processor. Add a little of the cooking liquid, and process until the pineapple is mostly pureed. Strain the puree into a container, using a ladle to push as much of the liquid through the strainer as possible. Repeat with the rest of the pineapple.

Chill the strained liquid in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve, ladle into bowls, place a scoop of the passion fruit soufflé glacé in the center, and add some diced strawberries, peaches, mango, or fruit of your choice.