National Homemade Soup Day February 4th 2021

We recently made some new soups in anticipation of soup day.  The first one is a cream base zucchini soup and the second is a cowboy stew.  Both were from the Lion House Soups and Stews cookbook.

Oatmeal Zucchini Soup

5 TBSPS butter, divided

1 TBSP minced or chopped onion

1 pinch thyme, dried

1 1/4 lbs. small zucchini, chopped but not peeled plus 1 more zucchini for garnish if desired

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk

2 cups water

salt to taste

Saute onion in 4 TBSP butter until soft, add thyme and zucchini and saute for a few minutes more. Add oats and cook a couple of minutes-stirring constantly.  Add Worcestershire sauce, cream, milk, and water, stirring constantly until well mixed.  Cover and cook 15 minutes on low heat or until zucchini is tender. Season to taste.  Saute sliced zucchini in remaining 1 tbsp butter and add to soup.  (We cooked the sliced zucchini in the microwave with water instead of the butter, drained off the water, and then added it to the soup.) Makes 6-8 servings.

Cowboy Stew

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

3/4 cup chopped onion or one medium/large onion chopped

1 tsp. salt (we used 1/2 tsp.)

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (10 3/4 ounce) soup can of water

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices (we did 1/4 inch slices of baby carrots)

3 stalks celery, chopped or diced

Brown ground beef and onion together, drain if necessary. Add salt and pepper along with soups and water. Simmer for about five minutes. Arrange potatoes, carrots, and celery in a 9 x 13 pan and pour soup/meat mixture over the veggies.  Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 degrees F or until vegetables are tender or dump everything into a slow cooker after making the meat soup mixture and cook on low 4-5 hours in slow cooker.  Makes about 6 servings.  Serve with some kind of bread and/or salad.
 

Sunday Randomness #112 : Puff Pancake for dinner

 Yes, puff pancake looks a little lumpy when out of the oven but the taste makes up for the weird bake shapes!  Our favorite recipe is from our good next door neighbors that lived to the west of us who shared it for the neighborhood cookbook. 

Puff Pancake

2 tbsp butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Melt butter and place in 9 x 13 pan, swirling to coat bottom.  Beat eggs, add flour, milk, and salt  Mix well with rotary beater or in blender until smooth. Pour into pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.  Top with desired toppings.  We've used powdered sugar, syrup, whipping cream, fresh fruit, nutella, etc....   You can easily double the recipe and it still fits as illustrated by the double batch baked in the 9 x 13 pan in the picture. 

About the only downside is that puff pancake doesn't reheat well.  You can eat the leftovers but it's really not the same, there's a rubbery consistency to the dish.  So if possible, try to eat as much as you can as soon as it comes out of the oven.