Mussel Chowder

Trader Joe’s had some canned mussels, and, without a clue as to what you do with canned mussels, I bought them.  There they sat in my cabinet for a few months, when I was going through this cookbook and found mussel chowder.  What an interesting idea.

This soup was really, really, really good.  It’s a milk based chowder (and I had a lot of extra milk, so I upped the milk), that obviously features mussels, as well as the usual chowder mainstays of potatoes and onions.  But the recipe also called for some carrots and leeks and a pepper, and these additions made it very interesting tasting.  The mussels themselves were rich and buttery and melted in your mouth.

Superb soup, and I’ll definitely make again.  So long as TJ’s keeps canned mussels on the shelves.

Mussel Chowder, from The New England Clam Shack Cookbook, by Brooke Dojny.  Pg 54.

Potato-Carrot-Spinach Soup

A deliciously creamy soup with a deep and interesting flavor.  B even loved it, though of course the kids didn’t touch much.  I ate the whole bowl without even noticing, and I’m looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.

Very, very easy to make, too.  Boil potatoes and carrots in water, add sauteed onions, blend.  Add spinach leaves, serve.  I tried to increase the chances that small people would actually eat it by blending the spinach leaves, too.  I think it worked better: who wants to eat giant spinach leaves in your soup?

Potato-Carrot-Spinach Soup, from the Beyond the Moon Cookbook, by Ginny Callan.  Pg 91

French Onion Soup

This recipe was time consuming and, alas, a little underwhelming.  I had to add a lot of salt, which is not something I normally enjoy doing, before it really had much of a taste.  It’s pictured above in its leftover form, where I made focaccia croutons and put lots of mozzarella cheese on top.

I have an America’s Test Kitchen slow cooker recipe for French Onion soup that I’d like to use, but just haven’t been organized enough to start it in the morning.

French Onion Soup, from The All new All Purpose Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.  Pg 95.

Lighter Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is “lighter” because it uses half and half instead of heavy cream.  Just in case you were wondering: I kind of was.

I’ve never really heard of cauliflower soup, but it’s apparently a “thing.”  It appears in an awful lot of my cookbooks, at least.  And the magazine talks about it as though it’s a common occurrence.  But I happened to have cauliflower on hand, and when the milkman came last Friday I asked for some half and half at the last minute, and so a dish was born.

And it’s really, really, really good.  I don’t really think of cauliflower as having any taste.  I’m sure it’s healthy for you in some way or another, but I have no clue what to do with it.  Well, now I have this soup.  It’s super garlicy and creamy, but the title is right: it’s still nice and light.  I used my vegetable stock that I made with the vegetable scraps from Sunday’s ham dinner.

Perfect for a freezing cold, snowy evening.  Bibs ate a few spoonfuls, and Bobs ate an awful lot.  Shown above is Bobs’s serving.  He also had some focaccia and half a banana.  And he would have had a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, but he chucked it at his sister instead.

Lighter Cauliflower Soup, from The Best of America’s Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2011.  Pg 14.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Last time I made this, the kids couldn’t get enough.  So I made a double batch this time, ensuring plenty left over to freeze.  If you have, or have ever had, toddlers, then you can see where this story is going.  I’ll cut to the chase:  Well, I for one liked it.

The addition of some carrots adds some extra sweetness and a little bit of flavor depth, which is very nice.  It’s really a terribly simple soup, with simple enough flavors that you could play with the recipe and add other things as needed.

Cream of Tomato Soup, from Annabel Karmel’s First Meals: Fast, Healthy and Fun Foods to Tempt Infants and Toddlers.  Pg 106