F.E.A.S.T.: Clam Chowder

Wait a minute, didn't I just post something yesterday? I seem to recall doing something with lots of pumpkin....

Eh, what're you gonna do?

Hello again, dear readers!

In honor of the recent snap of cold weather we had a short time back (when everything decided to get down below freezing before jumping back up to the 70s), I decided that it was the perfect time to try my hand at making some soup. OK, so my roommate requested it, but who's keeping track?

So I made it my mission to make New England style (or close enough) clam chowder, from scratch, as a F.E.A.S.T.! I got everything together, I worked my tail off, and I made a pretty delicious bowl of soup, thank you very much. Then I looked at my budget. And then I looked at the clock.

::sigh::

Yeah. So, not a F.E.A.S.T., or at least, not really. I went over on both time and funds, which are two of the four pillars that hold up this whole wacky concept. So to say that this one is teetering would be an understatement. However! The soup was a success, and I think that with a bit of stretching, we can make this work, even if we have to bend the rules a bit. Regardless, I think this one is worth sharing, so I'm going to do just that!

WHAT I USED!!!
2 small yellow onions, diced ($1.0)
10-12 yellow potatoes, cubed (from a $1.5 bag)
4 cans baby clams, water reserved ($8.0)
32oz veggie stock ($2.0)
1pint heavy cream ($2.0)
1/2 package of bacon!, diced (from a $3.5 package)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme ($2.0)
3-5tbs AP flour (stock)
a few bay leaves (stock)

Final Price: $20

Huh, OK, so now that I've written it out, maybe I didn't go as over on the budget as I'd thought. I must be remembering something else. And it does make a lot of chowder, so I don't feel too bad about being on the borderline.

WHAT I DID!!!
In a large stockpot, cook the bacon over medium heat until almost crispy, then toss in the onions. Throw a bit of salt on top of them for good measure. Give the onions about 5-7min to soften. When the onions are cooked, but before they start to take on too much color, sprinkle on your flour. You want enough to absorb all the bacon drippings and form a roux. This will help to thicken the soup. It's hard to describe, but suffice to say, when it looks like a thin paste with no flour lumps, you should be set.

Once you have your roux, add the veggie stock and stir to combine with all the flour. Once it's smooth, add the water from the clams, the cream, and the potatoes. You can toss the bay leaves (which will have to come out at the end) and the thyme in as well, or you can put them in a large tea ball and let them steep that way. Bring the mixture just to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15-20min., or until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Toss the clams in, and sprinkle a healthy amount of freshly-ground black pepper over the whole thing. Give it another five minutes for the clams to firm up, and you're ready to serve with (or in!) the bread of your choice!

Alright then, let's get right to our acronym. I, for one, am anxious to see how this all pans out!

Fast: Not really. The whole thing, starting with chopping the veggies, took about an hour and twenty minutes. So no luck there. But what am I saying? Get some help and make it go faster! (Just be careful out there with all the sharp knives, OK?)

Easy: Yeah, it's basically adding a bunch of stuff to a pot and letting it go. That's why I love soup; it really is just that easy!

Affordable: Twenty bucks for about 8 servings seems pretty awesome to me. Woo-hoo! We made this pillar work after all!

Super Tasty: Oh very yes. The clams, so plump and juicy, with just a hint of the sea, were definitely the main attraction. But the seasonings and the potatoes added their own unique flavors as well, providing a perfect balance. It was creamy and hardy without being too thick, like canned chowders so often are. I call it good ol' fashioned comfort food, the kind that fills you up and warms you through. And the bacon, of course, makes everything better.

So there you have it: a savory bowl of clam chowder, prepped in just over an hour with a conscious nod towards a healthy budget. I hope you enjoyed this entry, and I hope that you will give this soup a try and tell me what you think. I more or less crafted it myself, taking elements and inspiration from about three or five different methods I found around the internets, so I am very interested to hear what people think.

(Oh, and this shouldn't be an issue, but we did find a wee piece of clam shell in with the meat, which was very unpleasant to bit down upon, I am sure. Just be careful, kids.)

Until next time, go forth and eat well!

F.E.A.S.T.: Broccoli Cheese Soup

Hello everyone! And Happy 2014! Woo!

As we all know, the weather has been exceptionally cold recently. In fact, just a month ago, we here in Texas experienced a weekend that has been dubbed "the icepocalypse." And from what I hear, things continue to be hoary across the whole of the US.

It's almost like it's winter or something. I guess the Starks were right, huh?

Well, when the weather turns chilly, I turn to the kinds of foods that keep you warm on the inside, such as good tea and hot chocolate. But man can not live on tea alone (no matter how hard he tries...) so that means we need some kind of warming comfort food. Lo and behold: soup! There's just something intrinsically comforting about a piping hot bowl of savory soup on a frigid day. You can just feel the wholesome warmth spread through you with each spoonful.

This method actually comes from my sister, who developed it when she was in high school. It's super delicious and super easy, so I thought I would present it to all of you, dear readers, as a F.E.A.S.T!

Without further ado, let us begin!

THE INGREDIENTS!!!
1 stick of butter  (stock)
1 medium yellow onion, diced  ($1.0)
3/4 cup flour  (stock)
5 cups chicken broth  ($3.0) (obtained from one 32oz box and one 14.5oz can)
1 16oz bag frozen broccoli  ($1.5)
16oz Velvetta cheese, chopped small  (I bought a $6 32oz block and used half, so... call it $3.0?)

The final price on all of this? Oh, something like $8.50 for a whole pot of soup guaranteed to fill you up and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. C'mon, you have to admit that's a pretty sweet deal.

THE METHOD!!!
Pour the chicken broth into a large pot set over medium heat. Add the frozen broccoli and bring it to a bare simmer.

Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Bring the heat up to medium and add your onion. Sweat the onion for about 10min., or until it turns translucent and starts to pick up a little color. Add the flour 1/4cup at a time, stirring to incorporate fully. (The goal here is to make a basic roux, which will act as a thickening agent to make the soup nice and luscious.)

Add said concoction to the pot of chicken stock and broccoli, and stir until all the flour clumps are gone and the liquid turns a pale off-white color. Do NOT let the soup boil, or the whole thing will turn grainy and gross.

Add the cheese a handful of chunks at a time, stirring to incorporate. When the cheese has all melted, add in the next bunch. Once the cheese is all melted, season with fresh black pepper and serve with some crusty bread. If you aren't serving right away, put a pat of butter on the surface to melt (it prevents a skin from forming).

That's it.

There now, didn't I say this was super easy? Let's check our anagram:

Fast: From beginning to end, chopping onions to consuming, this whole process took about 45 minutes. And I made frosting at the same time. And did a load of laundry. No, seriously.

Easy: Ummm, yeah, totally.

Affordable: See above, regarding "totally."

Super Tasty: Ok, I know what some of you are thinking: Velvetta? Really? But trust me, this stuff is made for a method like this. You can do it with real cheddar (I have) but somehow it doesn't seem to work as well. So Velvetta it is. Oh, don't look at me like that, just try it... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The other nice thing about this recipe is that it's versatile. Want it strictly vegetarian? Use veggie stock instead. Want it spicy? Sure, add some hot sauce or peppers to the mix. Don't like broccoli? Well, OK, I can't help you there; it is broccoli cheese soup after all. Oh, just try it already, I promise it's good!

Oh, one last thing: if you have any leftovers (ha!), let the soup cool to room temp, then pour into quart-size Ziploc freezer bags. Lay it out flat in you freezer and let it harden. To reheat, bring a pot of water to just below a simmer. Once the water's heated, place the soup bag (still sealed please!) in the pot. The water will thaw and reheat the soup in about 15 minutes or so. And it'll be just as good as before!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about this tasty, tasty soup. And I hope some of you will try it out and let me know what you think of it. As always, comments are appreciated.

Thanks again everyone! Go forth and eat well!

Elixer Soup

Hey all!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend. I know I did. I spent the time with family and good friends, and I always consider that a great time. Naturally, since this weekend is host to one of the biggest meals of the year, it also means I spent a good deal of time in the kitchen.

Now, I know what you might be expecting: some recipe or another about turkey or stuffing or homemade cranberry sauce. Well, I decided to forgo that idea. Everyone has their own take on Thanksgiving, so trying to impress my own opinions on the subject seemed like it might prove difficult. Instead, I'm going to share a recipe I decided to try for lunch over the weekend: Elixer Soup!

For those who haven't noticed, if you look on the right side of this page, you can see a link to another blog entitled "The Geeky Chef." I love this blog. The creator like to take the food that appears in video games, nerdy tv shows/movies, and geeky literature and turn it into real-life food. And I have to say The Geeky Chef does a damn fine job too. If you like all things nerdy, you should go check it out!

But I digress. I decided to try making The Geeky Chef's version of Elixer Soup from The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker. In the game, after healing Link's grandmother with a faerie, she makes him his favorite soup as a way to tell him what a good grandson he is. And it is the best healing item ever created in a Zelda game. It restores all of Link's health and gives him a power boost. And you get two servings in one bottle! Trust me, it's awesome.

This version of the soup uses a ton of healthy vitamin C rich veggies in a base of savory chicken broth, and it sure to give you a boost! My take on the soup changes things up just a bit, but you can follow along with the original here. Let's take a look, shall we?

THE INGREDIENTS!!!
6 tbs butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped (or about 3 good tsp)
1 lb yellow squash, chopped
1 acorn squash
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
Juice of 1 lemon
Hot sauce (Tobasco, Frank's, etc.)
Salt & pepper to season
Shredded Parmesan cheese

THE METHOD!!!
Cut the acorn squash in half and remove all the seeds. Place the squash cut side down in a microwave-safe dish with about a half-inch to an inch of water. Place the gourd in said hotbox and heat for five minutes. The goal here is to soften the squash enough to remove all the good stuff from the skin. Scoop out the meat with a spoon, or else cut into strips and peel with a paring knife. Chop the squash as you did the other veggies.

Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Drop in your onion and garlic with a little salt & pepper, and saute until softened, or about ten minutes. Once this is done, add the remaining veggies and stir it all up to distribute everything evenly. Add your chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once you hit a boil, drop the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until all the veggies have softened.

Here comes the tricky part. You need to puree everything down to a soup consistency. This can be accomplished one of two ways. If you have an immersion or stick blender, you're golden; use it. If yours, like mine, is broken, fear not! Pull out your trusty blender! The soup is hot, so work in batches. I did mine in three. Ladle about 1/3 of the soup into your blender.

Don't seal it tight though; the heat and steam will cause difficulties. Most blender lids have a piece in the middle that can be removed for adding ingredients during the blending process. Remove that and cover with a towel. This way, you don't have an airtight seal, but you're still protected from flying soup. Blend each batch down to a soupy consistency, then transfer to another dish to hold. Repeat this process with the remaining soup, and return it all to the pot.

Now, stir in your lemon juice, add hot sauce if you like (just enough for a little kick!), and more salt & pepper if you feel it's needed. Serve with a little Parmesan sprinkled on top and a good loaf of sourdough bread on the side!

This soup is delicious. It has a nice smooth consistency, but with enough body and texture to still have that hearty feel. The veggies and the savory chicken broth give it that warm comfort-food taste, and the butter and onions and garlic make everything just smell heavenly, but the acidity in the lemon juice brings a brightness and a lightness that you wouldn't otherwise expect in a pure vegetable soup. It's absolutely wonderful. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend trying this out the next time you feel like making a nice bowl of soup.

I had a lot of fun with this recipe, and I hope y'all do as well. As always, thanks for reading. Comments and thoughts are always appreciated. Go forth and eat well!