Healing Soups

I totally believe that soups have healing powers.... whether this belief is factual or not.... soups always seem to make the sick feel better.... especially chicken soup.  In the past week I have made 8 pots of soup for two separate family members who had to under go wisdom teeth surgery.

For my oldest daughter's boyfriend, I made Butternut Squash, Cream of Mushroom, Broccoli Cheddar (his favorite) and Potato soup.  They live an hour out of town, therefore I made all the soups at once and took them to him to survive on all week as his mouth healed from the surgery.  Today my youngest daughter's fiance also had his wisdom teeth removed and is also in for a week of soups and soft foods.  So for him I made Butternut Squash, Potato (his favorite), Broccoli Cheddar and Chicken noodle.  Bless their hearts!!  I've personally been there, done that with the wisdom teeth removal and I clearly remember it was no fun at all!

The potato soup I make is the soup I grew up on and is a family favorite.  My Mom always made us potato soup when we were sick or when it was really cold outside and it always, always made me feel better and warmed me up.  My own potato soup recipe started from her original recipe, but like most recipes, I have tweaked it over the years and now have my very own version.  The Butternut Squash soup is the same recipe I shared on this blog a couple months ago.  The Chicken noodle soup is your basic stewed chicken recipe with noodles then added in.  The Broccoli Cheddar and the Cream of Mushroom soups I had never made before, but went to Foodnetwork.com and found the recipes.  I was never interested in making either of these soups since I'm not fond of broccoli or mushrooms..... but what a find they were!  It just so happens that I had to taste these soups myself because I was home alone and my usual tasters weren't around to help out (I always make my family taste recipes of foods I don't like).  Which..... ended up being a really good thing..... because I would have NEVER tasted them if I hadn't absolutely had to...... but they were GOOOOOOD!!!!  DELISH!!!!  I don't think I could eat a regular serving size bowl of either soup, but could totally eat an appetizer size serving of them.  They are a bit rich, but quite tasty.  I have now discovered two new foods I like!

These soups are definitely not just for the sick and/or recovering, they can be enjoyed by anyone at any time and can actually be served as a main meal or as an appetizer.  In fact the broccoli and mushroom soups were soooooo good I thought they would be good recipes to share with you..... so here they are.



CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP - (This is an Ina Gartner recipe I have tweaked, the original recipe can be found on the foodnetwork.com)

15 oz - mushrooms, sliced (I used button mushrooms)
4 oz (1 stick) - butter
1 Tbsp - olive oil
1 cup - onion (chopped)
1 sprig - fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
2 cups - leeks (white and light green parts, thinnly sliced)
1/4 cup - flour
6 cups - water
1 cup - white wine
1 cup - whole milk
1 cup - heavy cream
salt/pepper to taste

Peel mushrooms (or wipe them with a dry cloth) DON'T WASH THE MUSHROOMS!!!!  Saute mushrooms, onion, leek in olive oil and butter until tender (15-20 minutes).  Add the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Add water, white wine and thyme to mushroom mixture and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.  Add the cream, milk, salt and pepper and heat through but do not boil.  Serve hot.



BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP (This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe)

3 Tbsp - butter, plus 2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup - onion or leek (white part of leek only)
1/2 tsp - salt
1/4 tsp - pepper
Pinch - nutmeg
1/2 tsp - garlic, minced
1/2 tsp - thyme, chopped
3 Tbsp - flour
3 cups - chicken broth
16 oz - frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1/2 cup - heavy cream
1 1/4 cup - cheddar cheese, shredded

Melt 3 Tbsp butter over medium heat, add onions, salt, pepper and nutmeg, stirring, saute until soft (about 3 minutes).  Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant (about 20 seconds).  Add the flour and cook, stirring until the mixture is well blended (about 2 minutes).  Slowly add the chicken stock, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened (about 5 minutes).  Add the broccoli and cook, stirring until tender (about 10 minutes)

Remove the pot from the heat and puree in batches in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.

Add the cream and bring to a bare simmer to heat through.  Add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted.  Add the remaining 2 Tbsp cold butter, stirring to blend.  Serve hot

If it hadn't have been that broccoli cheddar soup was Ben's favorite..... I would have never attempted to make this soup.... sooooo glad I did and was quite surprised how good it is.  So if you need to take a soup to an ailing friend or family member, I hope these recipes come in handy.  And..... if you just want a yummy soup to serve for dinner or an appetizer... definitely give these a try.  They may even become a new family favorite!  Slurp, slurp, yum, yum, enjoy!