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Secret Recipe Club: Beef Barley Soup

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Posted on 29-10-2012 | By: Shannon

Category : Soups/Stews/etc

Sometimes, you’ve got to be flexible.

Things have been really crazy around my house lately: first, we moved into our new house, then there was travelling, activities, and, of course, all the fixing and other chores that come with home ownership. Now we’re pretty settled, but to add a little extra chaos to life, I had a birthday/Halloween party over the weekend. That was all fine & good, but there was one problem: for the Secret Recipe Club post, I had originally planned on making Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches, but proceeded to get such a sugar high at the party, I couldn’t bring myself to make/eat more sweets. I know: life is hard. However, the blog we were assigned, Fran’s Favs, has so many wonderful savory-type dishes, it was just what the doctor ordered. So, instead of pushing myself that much closer to diabetes, I decided to make Beef Barley Soup, and it was perfect for the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having!

Mmm...soup!

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Secret Recipe Club: Crockpot Chicken Congee

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Posted on 26-03-2012 | By: Shannon

Category : Soups/Stews/etc

Tags: , , , ,

Well, it’s Secret Recipe Club time again! This time around, we were assigned Oh! You Cook!, a blog focusing on delicious Kosher food. There’s a lot of wonderful recipes over there, and if you’re looking for some Passover inspiration, it’s definitely a good place to start!

However, lately in Seattle our weather has been complete madness. Normally March is just mild, a few sunny days, a bunch of drizzly days, but noticeably warmer than February. But this year we’ve had snow and hail, crazy wind, driving rain, and then finally the sun decided to show it’s face. Anyway, the weather madness has put me in the mood for soup, so I decided on her recipe for chicken congee, or Chinese rice soup, but I decided to leave it in the slow cooker instead of on the stove.

In March the wind blows down the door
And spills my soup upon the floor
It laps it up and roars for more
Blowing once, blowing twice
Blowing chicken soup with rice

-Chicken Soup with Rice, Carole King and Maurice Sendak

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Salmorejo

Posted on 07-10-2011 | By: Lucy

Category : Soups/Stews/etc

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Another Spanish recipe for you all today. Can I recommend Spain as a holiday destination for anyone who is looking to eat and eat and eat while they’re away? That’s what we did while we were there. In fancy restaurants, in roadside cafes, in tiny bars in the middle of Seville and on the patio of the gorgeous villa we were lucky enough to be staying at (many many thanks to our hosts Catriona and Roddy for such a great holiday!)

But this dish stood out for me amongst the many meals. So much so that it was part of our tapas selection when it was our turn to cook at the villa.  I adapted this recipe from Javi Recitas along with a few other dishes to feed a group of nine. I love this recipe, partly because it’s the easiest thing in the world to cook. But the familiar flavours are so simple and refreshing that this has become one of our staple meals since we came home.

Ingredients: (to serve 4-6 as a starter or as part of a tapas meal)

  • 1kg red tomatoes
  • 100g stale bread
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • salt, to taste
  • To serve: chopped hard boiled egg and prosciutto
Cut the bread into cubes and place into a bowl. Dice the tomatoes and the garlic and place on top of the bread. Pour the oil over and leave for a wee while to soak into the bread. Blitz using a hand held blitzer and then add salt to taste. It’s really this simple. Chill before serving and top with chopped hard boiled egg and prosciutto. Serve as a starter or as part of a tapas feast. This also works rather well as a lunch to take to work with a hunk of bread.

Cullen Skink

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Posted on 18-07-2010 | By: Lucy

Category : Soups/Stews/etc

Tags: , , ,

Let’s get this clear straight away for those non-Scottish folk. This isn’t a swear word (even though it would be a great one), it’s a traditional Scottish soup made with smoked haddock and mashed potato. While we were in Switzerland I was reading a book about British food and came back eager to make and eat some. This was the dish I really wanted to try and when I found some discounted haddock in Waitrose it seemed like a good excuse.

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White Bean Chicken Chili

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Posted on 30-01-2010 | By: Shannon

Category : Soups/Stews/etc

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Britons, I have news for you: Chili is not meant to be eaten over rice. That’s weird. To be fair, I can’t say that I blame you. Chili should be eaten with good tortilla chips, which you guys generally lack, or with cornbread, which is also hard to come by. However, I have found a chili recipe that I think actually goes quite well with rice, and if you’re really healthy, brown rice.

While my mom has made this for me in the past, I found basically the same thing on epicurious. It’s easy to translate across international lines, because most of the measuring is done be reading labels in the grocery store, not by measuring, whether it’s volume or weight.

I keep it simple:  an onion a bit bigger than a loose fist, a green bell pepper, a lot of garlic, 2.25(ish) pounds of chicken, breasts if you want it a little healthier, thighs if you want it a bit more flavorful and a little cheaper, 2 15-16 ounce cans of some sort of white bean (not chickpeas, that’s a bit strange, but navy, great northern, or white kidneys are all fine), 2 cans of diced tomatoes, and salt, pepper, cumin, & oregano to taste. Continue Reading