soups Archives - The Midnight Baker

Creamy Shrimp and Crab Bisque

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 23:00:51 +0000

Shrimp and crab bisque is a soup that can be a meal.

Delicious Shrimp And Crab Bisque

I’ve loved bisques forever. If there’s any Brooklynites out there who remember Lundy’s on Emmons Avenue down in Sheepshead Bay, you’ll know where that love started. Sadly Lundy’s has been gone for years but not my love of these rich creamy soups. This shrimp and crab bisque is just another one I fell in love with.

Bisques are pretty simple to make. They are rich and filling enough to be the star attraction at dinner. Just add a hard roll and a green salad and you’re all set.

Shrimp And Crab

You don’t have to use the most expensive large or jumbo shrimp in this. The small or medium ones do just fine; in fact those sizes are preferred. And small and medium shrimp are quite budget conscious too. This soup won’t break the bank!

When it comes to the crab meat, I tend to use the canned variety. I know, I’m always on about fresh, but the canned is pretty good and the main thing is that it is shelf stable. Since I don’t do actual crab legs anymore, I consider it a good choice. Whatever you choose to use, the soup will be excellent so you have no worries.

The Cream

I departed from my usual here and used half and half instead of light or heavy cream. The way I though about it was the soup is rich enough with the seafood and heavy cream would have been overkill. Milk–whole milk that is–would probably work well too.

For my EU and UK readers, “half and half” is an American thing. It’s actually equal parts of whole (full fat) milk and single (light) cream.

The Recipe

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Shrimp and Crab Bisque

Creamy delicious soup

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Lundy's, rich seafood soups, seafood bisque

Servings: 6

Calories: 152kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 tbs butter
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 tbs finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/2 lb medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
1/2 lb pre-cooked crab meat
1/2 cup white wine

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large saucepan, melt butter over a low heat. Stir in flour, salt, white pepper, bouillon granules, and onion. Blend 3/4 cup half-and-half cream into the mixture. Mix in shrimp and crab meat. Turn the temperature to medium heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
Blend the remaining half-and-half cream and wine into the mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

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Mexican Street Corn Soup

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 00:00:46 +0000

Mexican street corn soup is winter’s answer to the original summer specialty.

Mexican Street Corn Soup

Let me start by saying I love Mexican street corn. However, most people, myself included, think of that as a summertime thing.

Since winter is a time for soups why not try to translate that summer flavor in a warming and hearty soup. That’s just what’s happening here. You get all the flavor of your favorite corn side dish in a warm winterized soup. That’s a real win-win situation from where I’m sitting.

Most of the ingredients are ones a lot of us have on hand already so it won’t break the bank.

Corn

Living in the northeast, I rarely see fresh ears of corn in my store’s produce department unless it is summer. Of course when it’s in season and locally grown, that would be my first choice for this since you cannot beat the taste. It does involve some work to get the kernels off, but it is worth it.

The great thing about this soup is you are not bound to only using fresh. The closest thing to the great taste of fresh on-the-cob-corn is frozen kernels and that’s what I used here. It not only is convenient, but it tastes great.

You can, of course, use canned corn. Due to the processing, it doesn’t taste as great as fresh or frozen, but it will do nicely here so if you have it, use it.

Crema

While I usually make my own for proper street corn, I didn’t bother here.

As sour cream is a good substitute for crema, you can go ahead and use that. I admit I did buy the commercial crema that comes in a can. It’s OK and if you have it, use it. I did in this and it was fine, but I’m sorry I spent the money on it. I think the sour cream would have tasted better barring the real homemade one.

The Recipe

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Mexican Street Corn Soup

If you love the real deal, you'll love this soup. "Souper" easy too.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: mexican soups, mexican street corn soup, soups with pantry ingredients

Servings: 6

Calories: 215kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 cups whole kernel corn divided
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth divided
1 Tbs olive oil
4 scallions whites and light greens minced, greens sliced
1 Tbs minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder or regular chili powder
1 cup crema or sour cream
1/2 cup Cotija cheese Parmesan may be substituted
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Purée 2 cups corn kernels with 1 cup broth in a food processor.
Heat oil in a pot over medium. Add remaining 2 cups corn kernels, minced scallion whites and light greens, garlic, and chili powder; cook 5 minutes.
Stir in remaining 3 cups broth and puréed corn; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in crema and Cotija until heated through and cheese melts, 3 minutes.
Add cilantro and lime juice; season soup with salt and pepper. Top servings with sliced scallion greens

Nutrition

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Chicken Corn Chowder

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 23:00:17 +0000

Sometimes you just want soup. This chicken corn chowder can use up leftovers too.

Chicken Corn Chowder–Use Leftovers

This is the perfect dinner to use up leftovers.

So many of us buy rotisserie chicken at the store because it’s delicious and very convenient. Have any leftover? This soup is perfect for those. Made your. own chicken? Any way you made it, again the leftovers are perfect here.

Did you overbuy all that delicious fresh corn? I know I do because it’s just so darn delicious. Since I live very close to a local farm that produces it, I tend to overbuy. Because I buy so much I have quite a bit left over. Usually in the summer I grill it and it just tastes so wonderful in this soup.

Soup Still Satisfies

As I mentioned above, sometimes you just want soup–regardless of the outside temperature.

Sure summer is more for cookouts, salads and cold soups. However, this will still have the taste of summer with all the veggies that are in this chicken corn chowder.

Corn, and end-of-summer favorite is featured prominently in this. Roasted corn will taste the best in this soup so the next time you fire up the grill, grill some especially for this!

The original recipe called for two cans of cream-style corn. It’s very good with that but I made this with fresh corn; it’s much better in my opinion. I suggest you try it both ways. As I said, they’re both good but you can do the fresh corn version in the summer and the canned cream style corn in the winter.

Chicken

Again, the original recipe called for a can of chicken breast and again, I substituted leftover chicken that I had in the fridge.

Either way, the soup is very tasty. The best part is that you can rely on pantry items instead of leftovers and it still tastes wonderful.

The Recipe

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Quick Chicken Corn Chowder

So easy you can't believe it

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: hearty dinner soups, soups made with leftovers, soups using fresh corn

Servings: 4

Calories: 501kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 small onion finely diced
1 rib celery finely diced
1 small red bell pepper finely diced
2 tbs butter
2 cups fresh roasted corn or 2 cans 14.75 oz each creamed corn
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1 1/2 cup diced cooked chicken or 1 can (12 oz) chicken breast meat, undrained, large lumps broken up
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 slices crisp bacon for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and red bell pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until tender.
Add the corn, cream, milk, bouillon, chicken and it's juice (if using canned), salt and pepper. Stir to blend.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until it's hot but do not boil it.
Crumble bacon and top each serving with equal amounts

Nutrition

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Red Lentil Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 00:00:40 +0000

This red lentil soup is so comforting on a chilly night.

Red Lentil Soup

Have you ever thought of using red lentils?

I have for a long time. The last time I went shopping and saw them, I decided to buy a bag even though I didn’t know exactly what I would do with them. A bit of impulse buying on my part.

Beans and legumes have always been a favorite of mine and I’ve made plenty of soups that use them over the years. However, even though I like regular lentil soup, there’s something about the color I find somewhat disagreeable. So it wasn’t that much of a brainstorm to substitute the red lentil for the grey one.

Vegetarian Or Vegan Too

The beauty of this red lentil soup is that it can easily be made “meatless” and totally vegan.

It should come as no surprise that even we omnivores enjoy vegan/vegetarian dishes. Personally, I enjoy all foods and have no intention of changing my diet, but I’ve noticed that a lot of peoples’ eating habits do change as we age. For instance, when I hit 50, I just didn’t want to eat meat every single day. It was surprising to learn that this was pretty common among similarly aged friends.

So, at times you don’t want to eat meat per se, the kielbasa can be left out. You might want to still use the chicken stock, but you don’t have to do that either. A good vegetable stock will work equally as well and with those substitutions, it becomes entirely vegan.

Whole Or Puree

This soup cooks pretty quickly so it can also be a quickie dinner–and there’s another choice too.

You can leave the lentils whole if you want a bit of chew factor involved and if you’re leaving out the kielbasa, this is probably a good choice. However, the soup may be pureed as well to make it smooth. I pureed it with my stick blender because it’s so easy to do. The choice, as they say, is up to you.

The Recipe

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Red Lentil & Kielbasa Soup

Easy and comforting lentil soup.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lentil soup recipe, quick soup recipes, red lentils, vegan soup recipe, vegetarian recipe

Servings: 8

Calories: 452kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 tbs oil
4 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 sprig thyme
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
16 oz red lentils
16 oz chopped kielbasa

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or until onion begins to get tender.
Add the stock and remaining ingredients except the kielbasa. Simmer for approximately 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
Puree soup either in a conventional blender or with an immersion/stick blender.
Add the kielbasa and heat through.

Notes

Omit the kielbasa and use vegetable stock for a vegan soup.

Nutrition

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Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 23:00:18 +0000

When you want chicken noodle soup fast, your Instant Pot will come to the rescue and not heat the kitchen.

Penicillin For Summer Colds

I think it’s been proven scientifically that chicken soup actually does help the common cold.

What’s worse than having a summer cold?

Soup’s Not Just A Cold Weather Thing

I love soup, but always thought of it as a cold weather sort of thing.

Since I got my Instant Pot, my mind has changed a lot on the subject of “cold weather” food in the summer months.

So if you do come down with a summer cold (or not), your penicillin doesn’t have to heat the kitchen and it’s done in a flash too.

Soup Or Stock

Your Instant Pot is great for making quickie soups, but it’s even better for making the soup base–stock.

Here’s where you can use all those chicken wing tips I’ve told you to save. If you cut up whole chickens into parts, here’s where you use that backs and necks.

Lots of bone produces delicious stock, and when stock is made in a pressure cooker, there is lots more flavor than when it is made traditionally. Pressure cooking draws the flavor out of the bone and this is something that conventional cooking cannot do. Even long slow cooking in the crock pot can’t do it.

You can always freeze stock for later use. I’ve heard that some even freeze it in ice cube trays for use in casseroles and skillet dinners. That’s a great idea if you want to portion it out. If you want to make soup with it, then just use the whole tray!

The Recipe

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Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

When you want chicken noodle soup fast, your Instant Pot will come to the rescue and not heat the kitchen.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 45

Total Time1 50

Course: Chicken, pasta, soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, chicken stock, pasta, soups

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 340kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

STOCK

2 lbs chicken necks backs or bone-in chicken parts
6 cups water
Handful of celery leaves
1 small onion cut in chunks
2-3 sprigs fresh dill or 1/2 tsp dried -OR- 1/2 tsp dill seed
1 tbsp low-sodium concentrated chicken stock like Better Than Bouillon

ADD INS

1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 cup wide egg noodles uncooked

Instructions

Place chicken in instant pot. Using manual setting, cook for 90 minutes. Let pressure drop naturally.
When pressure has dropped, strain soup through a fine-mesh strainer or through cheesecloth. After the stock has cooled down, at this point it may be put in containers to freeze for future use. You may skim fat at this point, but I prefer to chill it until the fat congeals as it’s easier to remove.
Add strained stock back to instant pot and set on Saute, low. Place the celery, carrots and uncooked noodles to the stock.
Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until noodles are cooked and carrots are tender.

Nutrition

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Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Hot Pot

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:41 +0000

Leftover ham from New Years? Make this delicious ham and bean hot pot!

Have a nice meaty ham bone left from your New Year’s ham dinner?

Here’s the perfect way to use it and your slow cooker.

Making a meal out of what’s leftover is always a joy to me, plus it’s easy on the budget too. Especially if it tastes good.

Some may call this a soup and some may call it a stew–both are correct, but I make this so it’s closer to a stew. Anyone familiar with British cuisine (some would say the word “cuisine” is used loosely LOL) know that the northern part of the UK is somewhat famous for their “hot pots.” Typically a hot pot contains lamb, potatoes and various veggies. This is nowhere close to the traditional dish–here it’s more of a texture thing.

You can thin this down to make soup if you like or leave it the way it is for a meal that has a chew factor involved.

Add any veggies you like to this for even more taste and color. I kept this one simple because I can add to it what I like when I make the leftovers. And speaking of leftovers, you’ll have quite a bit with this. I generally freeze it in 1-2 serving portions.

I used a combo of great northern and navy beans in this one, but substitute any beans you have on hand or the ones you like. I do soak my beans overnight because it doing so seems to quell some of the embarrassing aspects of beans, but with slow cooking, you really don’t have to and if you regularly include beans in your diet, then generally you don’t suffer the after effects of the oligosaccharides. I also add any salt almost at the end of cooking since I like my beans very soft. If you like more of a “crunch” to your beans, then add it at the beginning.

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Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Hot Pot

Leftover ham from New Years? Make this delicious ham and bean hot pot! Have a nice meaty ham bone left from your New Year’s ham dinner? Here’s the perfect way to use it and your slow cooker.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time10 5

Course: Comfort Foods, Pork, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: ham, slow cooker recipes

Servings: 10

Calories: 154kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb dried beans I used 1/2 navy and 1/2 great northern*
6 cups water
1 meaty smoked ham bone
1 bay leaf
5 whole peppercorns
2 cloves garlic crushed
Salt to taste I add almost at the end--see post as to why

Instructions

*Soak beans overnight, if desired. Just put them in a big pot and add water until they're covered by 1-2-inches of water. Drain and pick out the shriveled or bad looking ones.
Place all ingredients except for salt in a 5+ quart slow cooker.
Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low, 5-8 hours on high (cook times are approximate)

Nutrition

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Split Pea Soup with Ham

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Here’s another great way to use some more of that leftover ham from Easter dinner.

Nothing could be easier. Just put everything in the slow cooker and let ‘er rip.

I serve with buttered toasted croutons. All I do here is melt butter in a skillet and “toast” the bread that way then cut in cubes. Easy peasy.

Soup does thicken when it’s chilled–and there will be leftovers of this unless you’re feeding about 8 people, so on the redux, thin with a little water or chicken stock.

I’ve made this with smoked sausage and kielbasa too. Both great substitutions if you don’t have ham.

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Split Pea Soup with Ham

Here’s another great way to use some more of that leftover ham from Easter dinner. Nothing could be easier. Just put everything in the slow cooker and let ‘er rip.

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Total Time8 10

Course: Slow Cooker, soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: ham, split pea soup

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 297kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 ham bone that has meat still on it OR 2 cups thickly diced boneless ham
2 1/2 cups 1 regular bag green split peas
1 small onion chopped
2 carrots sliced thickly
5 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
5 whole peppercorns
1/8 tsp dehydrated dill or a sprig of fresh
1 clove garlic crushed

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Set on low and cook for 6-8 hrs. Soup may have to be thinned with more water, depending on how your individual slow cooker cooks--5 cups of water was about right for my cooker and produced a thick, hearty soup. If you like a thinner soup, use 6 cups water.
Serve with buttered croutons.
Serves 6-8

Nutrition

Split Pea Soup with Ham

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Recipes On Deck

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:35:00 +0000

Coming up this week:

It’s been so cold and windy here in upstate New York the past couple of days that all I’ve had on my mind are hearty soups.

Well, we have a delicious ham & bean soup coming up. It’s in the crockpot cooking right now. Might even add some smoked sausage to give this more of a punch.

Annnnnnddddd…..

If you love desserts, WATCH OUT. There’s one on the horizon that will knock your socks off because it’s so easy, you won’t believe it and well, if you love peanut butter and chocolate, all I can say is have a fainting couch ready to catch you.

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