wild rice soup

i love soup. i sure do. unfortunately i'm without my cookbooks at the moment so i had to make do with what i have on hand right now. this recipe was a bit bland in my opinion but could be spruced up to be much better. also, it is hard to photograph this soup without making it look like a steaming bowl of vomit. D:


wild rice soup
from betty crocker's new cookbook
(my comments in italic)

prep: 20 min
cook: 25 min
makes 5 servings, ~1 cup each

2 tbsp margarine or butter
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup) i used 3
1 medium carrot, coarsely shredded (1 cup) even though i hate carrots i put in some anyway.
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup) i omitted this because i hate cooked bell peppers more than i hate carrots.
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup water i used about half a cup of water
1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed chicken broth i used uncondensed vegetable broth, about 14 oz
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. melt margarine in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. cook celery, carrot, onion, and bell pepper in margarine about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
2. stir in flour and pepper. stir in wild rice, water, and broth. heat to boiling, reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. this seemed like too long so i only simmered for about 10.
3. stir in half-and-half, almonds, and parsley. heat just until hot (do not boil).
(i shredded some marble cheddar on top since i felt the flavor was lacking somewhat.)

manduguk

while i do have a healthy amount of ~*azn pride*~ i don't always feel authentically asian since i'm an adoptee. although i have been back to my birth country, met my birth family, and have done other culturally reaffirming activities, i still lack a lot of knowledge about, well, everything korean.

a while ago i found a korean cookbook and flipped through it. i figured manduguk (dumpling soup) couldn't be too difficult so i gave it a shot.


no recipe though, cause i made it last week and forgot what i put in it. a mixture of tofu, shiitake mushrooms, onion, garlic, kimchi, sesame oil, soy sauce, and i don't know what. oops.

if you want to make it i would recommend perusing a few different recipes for it (try googling "manduguk recipe" or something similar) and then either picking one or using them for reference.

fyi -- wonton skins come in a package of 50 (at least at my grocery store) and unless you're feeding an army, you'll probably need to freeze them. put them on a cookie sheet or plate in a single layer and freeze for 20 minutes or half an hour until they're firm. you don't want them to stick to each other. after 20 minutes or so, take them off the cookie sheet and put them all in a large tupperware container or clean plastic ice cream tub.

nothing left to eat pea soup

Job hasn't given me hours in over a month. The same $11 has stayed in my wallet since xmas. I am trying not to buy anything until I either get more hours or secure another job. Suxorz. Anyway today I was hungry and wanted to use up a bag of peas I had in my freezer. I don't really like peas (especially when they're not fresh) but I don't mind them in soup.

Nothing Left to Eat Pea Soup

1/2 c butter or margerine (i used vegan margerine & if it seems like a lot use less or use olive oil)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk broccoli, chopped roughly
4-5 c water (vegetable stock would be better)
1.5 - 2 c frozen peas (I just dumped them in so I don't know how much I used.)
4 bay leaves
1-2 t soy sauce
unhealthy amount of salt
fresh cracked pepper
oregano, thyme, cumin, paprika, garlic salt, whatever spices sound good to you, to taste

Sautee onion in butter until transluscent. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until broccoli and peas are tender. Remove from heat. Using either a traditional blender or a hand-held blender, blend soup until creamy. Return soup to pan. It will be thin; if you want to thicken it up, dissolve 2 T flour in some water (1/2 c?) and temper into the soup, stirring well. Reheat to almost boiling. Serve.


Other notes: You can't taste the broccoli and it's optional. I just had a stalk left over from something I made last week. I would recommend adding a potato to make it creamier after blending. I added a ridiculous amount of salt to mine, only because I love the stuff.