Soups

Ingredients 
Soup:
5 cloves Garlic (about 2 Tbsp. chopped)
¾ cup finely chopped onion
¾ cup finely chopped carrot
2 tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1/8 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
¾ cup Chicken Stock
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
24 oz. Muli-Colored Grape or Red Grape Tomatoes
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
Sandwiches:
16 pieces Deli Ham
4 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 cup shredded Gruyere
1 cup shredded Swiss
Butter
8 slices Bread

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

Preparation
Chop onion, garlic and carrots.  Slice grape tomatoes in half, chop ham and grate cheeses.

Soup
In a heavy bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven, over medium high heat, add olive oil.  Heat slightly and add onions, carrots, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning and oregano.  Cook until onions and carrots soften and add tomato paste.  Cooke for a couple minutes and add cut tomatoes and garlic.  Cook for a couple minutes and add stock.  Cook for 15 – 20 minutes over medium heat until most of the tomatoes have popped.
In batches add to the blender and blend until smooth or nearly smooth.  Add the blended soup back to the pot and over medium low heat add cream.  Turn heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.

Sandwiches
In a bowl combine shredded cheeses and chopped ham.  Butter each piece of bread on one side, turn over and evenly spread the Dijon mustard over each slice.  Evenly top 4 of the slices with the mixture of ham and cheese.  On medium heat add sandwiches to a skillet or a grill pan and cook until bread is browned and slightly crispy.  Turn sandwiches and do the same on the other side.
Remove from heat, cut into fourths and serve with soup.

Ingredients
Stock:
4 cups Water
1 stalk Celery
1 Carrot
½ small Onion
1 garlic clove
½ – ¾ cup Parsley stems
1 tsp. Black Pepper Corns
6 oz. Baby Portobello Mushroom tops & 12 oz. stems
Soup:
3 Tbsp. Butter
½ large Leek
2 cloves Garlic
½ tsp. minced Thyme
6 oz. Baby Portobello Mushroom tops
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
¼ cup White Wine
½ cup Heavy Cream
2 cups Mushroom Stock
¼ cup Sherry
1 Bay Leaf
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
3 Tbsp. Flour
Salt
Pepper

❃❃Serves 4 – 6❃❃

Preparation
Add 4 cups water in a stock pot with celery, carrot, garlic, peppercorns, parsley and onion.  Wipe mushrooms with damp paper towel to remove any dirt and remove stems from all mushrooms.  Set aside half of the mushroom tops.  Rough chop the stems and half of the mushroom tops and add to water.

Finely chop the leek, garlic, thyme and half of the mushroom tops that were set aside. Reserve 6 slices of mushrooms for garnish.

Make Stock
Bring water and vegetables to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for one hour.  Strain stock into a container to store for soup.

Making Soup
Add 3 Tbsp. butter to a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add leeks, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf, pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper and begin to cook until mushrooms and leeks are soft.  Add 3 Tbsp. flour and cook for a couple minutes until flour taste cooks out.  Add sherry and white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add 2 cups mushroom stock and let boil until the soup begins to thicken.  When soup is thick, add heavy cream and nutmeg. Let cook for a couple more minutes before serving.

Assembling
Ladle desired amount of soup into each bowl and garnish with a slice of mushroom.

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef
2 Tbsp. Minced Dried Onion
2 12 oz. cans Tomato Juice
1 15 oz. can Kidney Beans
½ cup Ketchup
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

Preparation
Open kidney bean, drain and rinse.

Cooking the Chili
Over Medium high heat begin to brown hamburger with minced dry onion, salt and pepper.  Once browned add tomato juice, kidney beans, ketchup and chili powder.  Continue to cook until beans just begin to soften and chili is hot.

Note:  Ketchup and Chili Powder can be adjusted to your taste.  If you prefer a sweeter chili add more ketchup and if you prefer a spicier or hotter chili add more chili powder.

Ingredients
5-6 Tomatillos
½ to 1 mid-size Jalapeno (depends on your heat level)
½ White Onion
2 Chicken Breasts or 2 cups cubed Turkey
3/4 cup Chicken Stock
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Coriander
1 tsp. Oregano
½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
2 Ears of corn
1 16oz. can White Beans

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

 Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
Take outer skin of tomatillos off and cut tomatillos into quarters and roughly chop onion.
Remove corn kernels from cob and set aside in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Strain beans and set aside in refrigerator.
Add stock, tomatillos, jalapeno, onion, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, oregano and red pepper flakes to a blender.  Blend until smooth and pour into the slow cooker.  Add two chicken breasts to slow cooker and set to low and cook for 4-6 hours.
About 1 hour prior to eating take two forks and shred the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and add corn and strained white beans to the slow cooker.

Leftover Turkey Chili
Take outer skin of tomatillos off and cut tomatillos into quarters and roughly chop onion.
Remove corn kernels from cob and strain beans.  Cut or shred turkey.
Add stock, tomatillos, jalapeno, onion, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, oregano and red pepper flakes to a blender.  Blend until smooth and pour into Dutch oven or large pan.  Add corn, white beans and turkey.  Cook over medium to medium high heat until chili is hot.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ingredients
1 head Cauliflower
1 stalk Celery (about ½ cup chopped)
1 Leek
1 large or 2 small Garlic Cloves
1 tsp. Salt
¾ tsp. Pepper
2 ½ cups Chicken Stock
2 – 2 ½ tsp. minced Dill
3 Tbsp. Butter

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

Preparation
Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces, cut leak into half-moons, mince garlic, mince dill and chop celery.

Cooking Soup
Add 3 Tbsp. butter to a heavy bottomed pan such as a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add leeks, celery and cauliflower with salt and pepper.  Let cook until vegetables begin to soften.  Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes.  Add stock and simmer on medium heat until vegetables are very soft.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.
Once vegetables are very soft add so a blender and blend until smooth.  Add back to the Dutch oven, over low heat, and stir in dill.  Start with 2 tsp., taste, and if the dill taste is not coming through add the other ½ tsp.

Serve