Joyeux Kitchen: Favorite Fall Soups

"Soup is to the meal, what the hostesses smile of welcome is to the party. A prelude to the goodness to come." --Louis P. De Gouy

I've been sick all week!  I'm going to let a couple of my favorite ladies do my work for me today.  Here's a list of my five favorite fall soup/stew recipes to warm you up.

Rachael Ray's Tortilla Soup
Pioneer Woman Corn Chowder With Chiles
Pioneer Woman Roasted Vegetable Minestrone
Rachael Ray's Uptown Down-Home Chili
Beef and Guinness Stew

The corn chowder is Doug's favorite, spicy and savory and delish.  With all these recipes, I leave out the mushrooms because they're on Doug's "I'm not eating that!" list.  I have no idea if the mushrooms would significantly impact the flavor.  I puree the tortilla soup (Mom's favorite) with the hand blender to prevent he-who-shall-not-be-named from picking out all the vegetables.  For the chili recipe, I never keep gouda on hand and usually sub in some sharp cheddar or monterey jack cheese.  Enjoy!!

Joyeux Kitchen: Emeril's Root Vegetable Chowder

My one and only Emeril recipe!  He's amazing but his recipes are usually so fussy and time consuming; this one is fast and the ingredients are totally accessible.  It's Doug's favorite dinner, he lovingly refers to it as 'that bacon soup'.  Some notes:  1) I can't stress enough how important really good, smoky bacon is.  I used cheap bacon the second time I made it and we were SO disappointed.  It was edible, but with good bacon it's divine.  2) Emeril recommends garnishing this with fried beet chips.  I've never seen fried beet chips for sale anywhere; I suppose Emeril made his own but I just served it with the dinner rolls from last week's recipe.

You'll Need:

• 3/4 lb. GOOD bacon, julienned
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup small diced carrot
• 1 cup small diced (I actually shred these) parsnips
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup diced sweet potatoes (I omit these, Doug won't eat 'em)
• 1/4 lb. new potatoes, quartered (I double this to make up for the left-out sweet potatoes)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a hot stockpot, render the bacon for 5 minutes.  Add the onions, celery, carrots, and parsnips.  Saute for 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft and wilted.  Season with salt and cayenne.  Add the bay leaves.  Stir in the flour and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (really watch it, it's no good if it burns on the bottom).  Stir in the chicken stock.  Add all the potatoes.  Bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Stir in half-and-half, parsley, hot pepper sauce (more if you like it spicy), and Worcestershire sauce.  At this point I usually cover and continue to let it simmer until we're ready to eat, no need to serve immediately.  Delish! 

Joyeux Kitchen: Love-My-Husband Delicious Soup

A few years ago, Doug mentioned this soup as being one of his favorites, and I was searching for new recipes to add to the usual weekly meal rotation, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Not everyone is crazy about the idea of ground meat in a soup (myself included) but it has become a favorite of the whole family.  The recipe is from Doug's Great Aunt Ann.  The girls call it 'orange soup' and Hannah loves it; it's one of those ultimate comfort foods. 

You'll need:

• 1 lb lean ground turkey (or super lean ground beef, but I prefer the turkey)
• 1 medium chopped sweet onion
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 3 cups V8 juice (I like the Hot & Spicy)
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 bay leaves

Brown the meat and onions (drain if needed, but if you use super lean meat there won't be a lot of fat to drain off).  Add the remaining ingredients, stir, bring to a boil, and then simmer 2-3 hours.  Great Aunt Ann recommends adding 1/2 lb hot italian sausage as an option.  Also, sometimes I substitute 1 cup grated parsnips for 1 cup of the carrots.  Dinner accomplished.  Super easy! 

Betty Crocker's Best Dinner Rolls

You'll need:

• 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 cup very warm water (120-130 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup very warm milk
• 1 large egg
• Melted butter

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, 1/4 cup butter, salt and yeast in a large bowl.  Add warm water, warm milk and egg.  Beat with your mixer on low one minute, scraping bowl frequently.  Beat on medium speed one minute, scraping bowl frequently.  Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle. 

Next you can do one of two things: knead the dough by hand 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or knead in your KitchenAid with the bread hook for 5 minutes (I opt for the bread hook).  Place the dough in a large bowl greased with shortening, turning dough to grease all sides.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until double.  Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched. 

Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan with shortening.  Push fist into dough to deflate.  Divide dough into 15 equal pieces; shape each piece into a ball and place in pan.  Brush with melted butter.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise again in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until double.

Heat oven to 375.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or cool (we like them with honey butter).

Look!  My new oven mitts!