Sometimes the weather seems to determine what I crave to eat. Just like grilling in the summer, soups in the winter are just a natural.

A few days ago, I made a wonderful clam soup, with Cook Inlet razor clams we dug last summer. Tonight, I made a taco soup, a hearty blend of basically things you put in a taco, sans the lettuce.

What are your favorite soups in the winter?



Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn (I used a small pkg frozen corn)
1 large can stewed tomatoes - mexican style
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chopped green chilis
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix -(opt.)(or season with chili
powder and ground cumin)
1 pkg. original hidden valley ranch dressing(dry)
2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth

Preparation:
Brown ground beef and onions in a large pan, drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour or so. When ready, serve in big soup bowls. Top with crushed corn chips, cheese and/or sour cream. If you make a good corn bread (I do not) that would be wonderful!

My wife just made me some to take to deer camp next week. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmm good.

Soup, chili, stew, shepherd's pie, casseroles...

Ain't winter wonderful?

Favorite soups: Mulligatawny, Navy bean and ham hock, split pea with ham hock or bacon, gumbo, deer/barley/vegetable, all done in 5 gallon lots for freezing. In smaller batches, French onion, potato/leek,clam chowder, chicken noodle.

This is indeed the season. Good soup and quality bread or buns makes the ultimate, get out of the cold, revival food.

Beef Barley, chili, chicken anything and minestrone are favorites here. It's also the season for stews and one of my favorites curried lamb.

Here is an easy one that everyone seems to love -

Potato Cheese Soup

Dice and brown 1/2 to 1 pound of bacon in a large soup pot. Add a diced onion and cook until just starting to turn clear.

Peel and boil 2 to 3 pounds of potatoes in just enough water to cover, leaving the bacon and onions in, too.

When cooked but still firm, add 2 cans evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk!). Heat to a low simmer.

Add a 2 pound brick of Velveeta cheese. (It melts faster if you cut it up into cubes.)

Add salt if needed, pepper and a pinch or two of thyme, Italian Seasoning mix or just oregano if you like.

I like soups a lot. Just about all of them. However, a really well made tomato soup is hard to beat.

I'll be doing a spit pea soup to take up to my buddy's cabin for muzzleloader season. I do use some ham bones and then add a lot of chopped ham to the mix after its been pureed.

Olive oil in the pot - a bit of garlic and 2 or 3 large leeks halved and cut into 1/4" pieces. Cook until the leeks are translucent. Dump in chicken broth and water along with some salt and pepper. Add 1/4" cubed potatoes, some diced carrot, and a few pieces of chopped celery (leaves go well also). Boil gently until the potatoes are done. Take out some of the potatoes, squash them and return them to the pot. (If you have some leftover mashed potatoes lying around, just dump them in instead of squashing some from the pot.) Add some small cubes of pre-boiled ring bologna. Pour in enough half-and-half (milk works too) so the soup is "creamy-looking". Top with some chopped chives (dried works OK). Amounts of anything are not at all critical. When lacking leeks, we have just used onion. We really like this.

you lost me at "bologna".

Me, too. Would rather have read Spam than bologna. At least Spam has some "hammy" flavor. The bologna one finds these days is like pink rubber. Real ham would have been best of all.

We use the ring bologna that we get made from deer. I think that I could make a believer out of you.

I'm sure you could, too! But that's nothing like the so-called bologna you can get at your local Wynn-Dixie, either. It's the latter that .280Rem and I balked at. I've had what I can only guess was genuine Bologne-style sausage, hand-made by a German butcher, and it was NOTHING like supermarket bologna, except a resemblance in color.

Black bean soup is a favorite here.

BEAR CREEK soup mix. Folks they have a bunch of different mixes.

You need to try them and just doctor they way you feel like. Try the potato mix with clams, they are a winner and come in big cans.

Stew and soup for the winter days is such a natural.

Split peas and oxtails (moose vertebra works just fine thank you.

A big pot of carrots potatoes and onions with a load of meat is hard to miss with.

I was shocked to read that the above was the way early Americans ate their vegetables at every meal. Always in a stew. Put a pot on the back burner and keep it going for days and add to it after every meal, it only gets better with time.

I just wish they made bigger Crock pots, about a five gallon size would be just about right for cold winter use. Slow cook a pot full of ptarmigan and debone and add that BEAR CREEK mix and tell me you don't like it.

It's Italian wedding soup today before the turkey as tradition.

this is a tasty chicken recipe, exellent for cool weather.

MT-

Have you seen "A year of Soups"? It has 52 soup recipes from Two Rivers Lodge out CHSR in Fairbanks. By Anthony J Marsico.

I just re-found it the other day and need to try some.

No, I've never seen it. I do have a copy of James McNair's book "Soup." It's good, not as many recipes, but they those I've tried are wonderful. I have several of his books and I like them all.

M

I enjoy Pasta E [bleep].

I am making Pheasant stew as we speak

I put the turkey bones on last night to make turkey bone soup. Going to make it fairly mild as I want to give a bunch of it to the janitor where I work who is beginning a fight with lung cancer. Something under seasoned might be good.

M

I really like soups, too...for me it's what's around the house or in the frig that needs to get used up. I really have a hard time opening a can to make soup, unless it tomatos or clams. There is so much sodium in canned things. Gotta love a beef/venison soup with beef base, carrots, cabbage, celery, rutabaga, potatoes, barley, tomato, bay leaf, soup bones, and what ever else is around. Always better the 2nd or 3rd day if there's any left.

The single disadvantage of smoked turkey (otherwise known as tryptophan crack) is that the carcass does not make a usable stock. Don't know why, but I tried it once, and it was awful.

What a shame. That means I have to pick, gnaw and suck at it until I burst. Urrrrrp.

Agree, a lot of smoked turkeys get too much smoke and the discards are not good for soup... But this was a lightly smoked bird and made great stock...
art

I did a wild turkey on the grill once, following a recipe I saw on the Weber Nation web site, cooking slow and adding smoke. Underneath the bird was a large pan full of veggies, stock and drippings. The turkey meat was marvelous, however, the flavor of the stock in the pan was horrid.

Here is one of my favorites


Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder



1 � pounds boneless chicken breasts cut in 1� pieces

� cup chopped onion

1-2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons butter

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup hot water

� -1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups half and half cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 can (14 � oz) cream-style corn

1 can (4 ozs) chopped green chilies, undrained

� to 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 medium tomato, chopped

Cilantro



Cook chicken, onion and garlic in butter until chicken is no longer pink. Dissolve the bouillon in hot water. Add to pan along with cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream, cheese, corn, chilies, and hot pepper sauce. Cook and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted. Stir in tomato. Serve immediately; sprinkle with cilantro if desired. Makes 2 quarts

Acorn Squash soup; hot dang that's sum good chit.

RON�S TORTELLONI & KLUSKI NOODLE SOUP
(Revised 3/10/08 - Serves 8 generously)


1 lb. Package of chicken-filled tortelloni
12 ea. 14 oz. cans Swanson�s or your favorite full-flavored chicken broth
1 Cup Thick Kluski-style egg noodles, broken into � inch pieces
1 Large chicken breast including bone & skin, rinsed thoroughly with water
4 ea. Large cloves of garlic, minced fine
2 ea. Medium onions, chopped fine
1 lb. Pkg. of frozen peas & carrots, rinsed thoroughly with water
1 10-3/4 oz. can of Campbell�s Cream of Chicken Soup
4 Tbs. (approx.) Cornstarch mixed well in a half cup of Swanson�s Chicken Broth
5 drops Yellow food coloring-Optional (to add a look of richness to the broth)

1) Cook the onions and garlic in a large, heavy soup pot (at least 8-quart) or Dutch oven over medium heat until soft.
2) Add 8 cans of chicken broth & the chicken breast to the pot & bring to a boil.
3) Lower heat to a �heavy simmer� (very light boil), cover and simmer for 1 hour.
4) Remove chicken & allow it to cool completely.
5) De-bone & de-skin the chicken and dice into � inch pieces.
6) Skim the top of the soup to remove any floating debris, fat or skin.
7) Add the Kluski noodles, cover & simmer for 2 hours.
8) Add the remaining chicken broth & chicken soup to the pot, stir well.
9) Add the frozen vegetables to the pot and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
10) Add the diced chicken & tortelloni. Continue simmering for an additional 12 minutes. Avoid prolonged boiling, it will cause the Tortelloni to come apart.
11) Bring soup to a boil, give the cornstarch/chicken broth mixture a quick stir, then slowly drizzle the cornstarch/chicken broth mixture into the pot while stirring the soup constantly. The soup should thicken within 30-40 seconds or so. Stop adding the cornstarch mixture as soon as the soup has thickened to the level you prefer. If the soup gets too thick, thin it by adding additional chicken broth.
12) Remove from heat, add the food coloring & stir well.
13) Serve with hot-from-the-oven home-made bread or rolls for a delicious meal.

NOTE: This soup is even better if refrigerated overnight. This allows the flavors �marry�. This soup also freezes well, so make a full batch and freeze in handy-sized containers. After thawing & reheating (simmer, but do not boil), you may find the soup has thickened somewhat. If so, you may need to add additional chicken broth to the re-heated soup. Serve with still-warm home-made bread for a completely balanced, nutritious meal.

My the people of my grand parents era were miners here in Wales and both families were dreadfully poor in a way todays "welfare poor" would never be able to imagine.

When you are that poor, cooking for the family was a serious business especially during the times of rationing in WW2.

Even when things stated to improve in the 1960's old habits died hard. As a youngster, two of my gradmothers dishes I will always remember was "neck end stew" and "corned beef stew"..
Neck end stew was made from mutton neck bones which had already had about 80%of there meat removed by the butcher. They were used as they were about the cheapest thing butcher sold...Corned beef stew was made from tinned corned beef and originally it would have been from tinned ration "bully beef" that was common in the war years.

In my teens, things had improved to the point that corned beef stew was a thing of the past, until a little later I found it was alive and well in the Army where it was dished up under the guise of "range stew"...The fundamental difference was that for some odd reason "range stew" always had a greenish hue to it which I never could account for..

Initially I suspected it was down to the cooks using vegetables that were passed their best, but after doing more than a few GD's in the Kitchens, I know thats not the case, but the mystery remains.

I still make corned beef stew "just because" and I think the memories it invokes feeds the soul just as much as the stomach..

My Italian grandmother (or was it my Italian grandfather) made lamb stew using only the necks for meat and bones. No one ever thought anything negative about it, as it was delicious. I thought of it as sort of a gourmet item, in fact. Nothing better than a bowl of that lamb stew served with some fresh Italian bread for dipping.

The_Real_Hawkeye,

I'm not saying there was anything negative about it or its taste, but rather recogising that the prime reason for them making it was that it was cheap..

Even though chicken was comparatively inexpensive compared to beef or lamb, a roast chicken dinner would have been a highlight, and if beef was served at all, it was usually "mince" or stewing beef...Another budget meal would have been "boiled bacon bones" (pork ribs) served with mushy peas...I never did like mushy peas, but picking off bacon bones while watching "World of Sport" on a Saturday teatime brings back more fond memories..

My mother, who was a child during WW2, can remember the first time the local veg shop started carrying exotic fruit like oranges and bananas and that was in the late 1940's some time...As she'd grown up with rationing, she heard about these sort of thing, but as hard as it it is to believe today, she had never actually seen any...

Regards,

Peter

Artful statement. Soup from days of yore.

My parents are in part products of the great depression. We were well enough off, but practiced the frugal tenancies they lived as children. My parents get a huge kick from stretching a buck. Even retired in restrained and modest wealth, my mother gifts garage sale finds and knits gifts. As a child this was an unlimited source of embarrassment, but as I age and their years numbered I cling to such memories in that same soul feeding manner as neck end and corned beef soup.

NO Soup for you!

Come back ONE YEAR!!

Uh, gazpacho, por favor.

SOUP NAZI: Por favor?

I'm part Spanish.

SOUP NAZI: Adios muchacho

Seinfeld has become part of our national mythology.

I remember the first moose I participated in butchering. My brother shot it, and we cut the neck/head off and it was laying to the side. Mom came over and started cutting meat off the neck and up off the head and cheeks etc. We had cut the head off close to the axis which is the top of the vertebrae. She got a whole dishpan full of the best stew meat. We were all amazed at how she got so much meat off our discarded head. I am a nut for doing that now and salvage all meat off any animal. I keep grouse legs, meat from between ribs on deer, even eat beaver tail and moose testicles. There is no bad meat. Skunk can be gamy, but if you are careful in skinning them, they are a fine white meat.
Randy

Shrimp corn chowder

Heavy cream
1/2 &1/2
can of whole corn
can of cream corn
lobster base (Here is what I use for most all bases lobster, chicken, ect. http://superiortouch.com/btb.htm )
chopped poblano
chipotle chile powder
cracked pepper
cubed shrimp

Red Bell Pepper Soup.

4 medium red peppers, cored and chopped
2 leeks, thoroughly cleaned and chopped (white portion only)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons butter
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan, saute the peppers, leeks and onion in 1 Tablespoon butter until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the broth and cream, increase the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced by 1/3, about 30 minutes.

Puree in a blender.

Return the mixture to the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper, serve hot.

A quick, easy to make, and tasty soup is the one on the can of Bush's black beans.

Here's a delicious Chinese soup you'll like if you like Chinese soups.


RON�S HOT �N SOUR SOUP
(serves 4 generously)

4 ea. 14� oz. cans of chicken broth (Swansons, College Inn)
4-ea. Dried Chinese mushrooms (1� inches in diameter)
2-ea. �Squares� (3-inches ea.) Chinese bean curd (tofu) � inch thick
�-ea, Cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced thin
2-Tbs. Tiger lily buds (about 5 buds) shredded
2-Tbs. Cloud ears, sliced thin
� Medium chicken breast (approx. 4 oz.) w/bone & skin on
1-Tbs. Kikkoman�s all purpose soy sauce
3-Tbs. White vinegar
1-ea. Egg, lightly beaten
1-tsp. Salt (to taste-don�t over-salt)
1-tsp. White pepper
3-Tbs. Corn starch mixed with 3 Tbs. cold water
3-ea. Scallions, white part cut in narrow slivers 1� long, chop green tops
1-Tbs. Toasted Sesame oil (to taste)

1) Soak mushrooms, tiger lily buds and cloud ears in very hot water for about 30 minutes until they are soft. Remove from water, rinse thoroughly under running water to remove all grit & dirt. Cut off hard parts of stems from mushrooms so only the caps remain, the hard center of the cloud ears & the hard tip (one end only) of the tiger lily buds.
2) Slice the mushrooms & cloud ears into thin slices. Finely shred tiger lily buds into �threads� using fingernails to pull buds into very thin strips. Slice bean curd (tofu) into half inch cubes.
3) Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the egg, bean curd, pepper, vinegar, cornstarch solution and toasted sesame oil in a heavy 3-quart sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for a 30 minutes.
4) Remove chicken & allow to cool, discard bone & skin. Cut into small cubes, add to pot. Skim the debris off the top of the liquid in pot.
5) STOP at this point if you wish to �hold� the soup (covered) on �warm� without losing any flavor or texture in order to coordinate the �timing� of the soup with the meal.
6) When ready to serve, add the bean curd, pepper and vinegar & bring to a boil. Give the cornstarch solution a stir to mix well, then rapidly swirl the soup with a large spoon and slowly pour in the cornstarch/water mixture while stirring until the soup thickens slightly.
7) Continue stirring the soup and slowly pour in the beaten egg. Remove from heat, stir in the sesame oil, ladle soup into bowls, garnish with scallion slivers & chopped green tops. Serve.

Anyone have a recipe for chicken borsch? I remember getting chicken borsch at the Alpine Inn in Eugene Or. back in the late 60's Best stuff I ever ate.
Thanks! Virgil B.

LOVED that "SOUP NAZI" on Seinfeld...!

Made some Salmon Corn Chowder the other day. Another hit in the household.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons butter
2 medium sized leeks, including tender green portions, cut into thin julienne
1 large potato, peeled and diced small
2 cups fish stock, bottled clam juice or chicken stock
3 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 pound salmon fillet, skinned, rinsed, dried and cut into small dice
1 cup whole kernel corn, preferably white
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, until very soft, but not browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the potato to the leeks and stir to coat with the butter. Pour in the stock and simmer uncovered over low heat for 15 minutes. Add the milk and cream and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add the salmon and corn and simmer just until the fish and corn are done, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

I don't have any recipes. I just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and cook it. I like to use Curry though, instead of Black Pepper. I like it better.

One good way to make soups is when you cook any kind of meat, take the oils left and cut it with water and use it in the broth. Mmmmmmmmmmm..... I do that when poaching fish, or frying turkey burgers etc. I usually use water to cook them so there's some water with all those juices in the pan. I put that in a container or jar and freeze it. And thaw when needed.

Wish I had read a post like yours a year ago!

I tried to make soup out of a smoked Canada goose carcass. It was, to put it mildly, bad. The goose meat had disappeared quickly at a dinner party (served on small crackers), so I thought the carcass would be good for a soup but I was wrong. It had a bitter, kersosene like taste!

Live and learn...

John

A easy to make soup that goes good with cornbread

2 lb hamburger browned with 1 medium size chopped onion then mix with
2 cans rotel tomatoes
2 cans ranch style beans
3 cans minestrone soup.

Called 7 can soup

Ronald

Sounds like my mom's chili until you add the minestrone.

I'll put that in my soup file doesn't sound too bad!

Sassy,

It is a good soup that we make at work in a electric metal pot . Another one we do is chicken and dumplings.

Boil 4 chicken breast till done leave stock in pot take chicken and shred into small pieces put back in stock with one can cream of celery add 3 cans of biscuits pulled into 1/6th pieces let boil till dough is firm add black pepper and enjoy.

My wife also likes to add another can of cream of mushroom soup and some creame.

Ronald