Friends Food Family

Lemon Chicken Soup with Pasta and Artichoke Hearts

Lemon Chicken Soup with Pasta and Artichokes - who would have thought of that combination? Leave it up to my son, Brian. He loves good food and gets to try quite a bit of it at the Country Club of Missouri, where he works during the school year. He is a student at the University of Missouri - Columbia. He has been home for the past month and is enjoying home cooked meals.

The other day, as we buckled down for more snow and temperatures below zero, I bought a cooked roaster chicken and decided I'd use it to make some soup. It seems like every week, over the past month, we have been making soup as one of our dinners. It's great because it makes 8-10 servings and after dinner it becomes lunches for the rest of the week.

As I was getting ready to make the soup, Brian brought a box of Stellette pasta from the pantry and asked if I could put it in the soup. He then began telling me about a lemon chicken orzo soup that he enjoys at the country club. "And there are artichokes in it." It made me think...artichokes in a soup? That might be delicious. "Oh, and tomatoes, too." Well, we had all the ingredients so "let the soup experiment begin!". Chop some shallots and garlic, grab the chicken stock, along with a jar (or two) of marinated artichoke hearts, a can of diced tomatoes and a lemon, we were ready to go. 

After an hour, we had lemon chicken soup with pasta and artichoke hearts ready to go and I can say, "It was amazing!" There was a slight tanginess to the soup which came from the lemon and marinated artichoke hearts and it blended so well with the chicken and pasta. A few diced tomatoes added color as well as taste. We finished our first bowl and Brian was back for seconds. I brought it to work a few days later and got rave reviews. Everyone thought it was wonderful, especially the artichoke hearts. This recipe is a keeper, and Friends Food Family is a great place for Brian to find simple recipes when he gets back to school. As much as he made the soup with me, he will fall short on the ingredients in a month or so.

The next time we make the soup, I would like to try it with orzo. Orzo has that rice type of flavor and feel in a soup. I think it could be delicious. This is an easy and quick soup that anyone can make. Hopefully, Brian will be able to re-create this amazing recipe when he gets back to Missouri. Fingers crossed!

Ingredients for Lemon Chicken Soup with Pasta and Artichoke Hearts:

• 1 - 3-5 lb roaster chicken, cooked and chopped (white and dark meats)
• 12 cups of chicken broth (2 -48 ounce boxes of chicken broth)
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 3-5 sprigs of thyme
• 1 cup of dried stellette, or any other small pasta
• 1 (14-15 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with juices
• 2 (8 ounce) jars of quartered and marinated artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large dutch oven, over medium heat, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the olive oil is hot, add the shallots and garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent and slightly golden.

2. Add the 12 cups of chicken broth and the chopped chicken. Add the bay leaf, sprigs of thyme and the lemon halves. Increase the heat and bring to a slight boil.

3. Once you have achieved a slight boil, add the pasta. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. Stir regularly so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom.

4. Add the tomatoes and the artichoke hearts. Cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper as needed. Remove the bay leaf, sprigs of thyme and lemons before serving.

5. Makes 8-10 servings.

Written by Tricia White 

Here we go again! Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

As most of you know, I am constantly looking for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. As it stands I think we have done over 10 chocolate chip cookie recipes looking for the perfect cookie that is both chewy and crunchy. It also has to have the right balance of cookie and chocolate.

Last year, my favorite cookie was the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie. It had a combination of bread flour, cake flour, brown sugar, white sugar and lots of bittersweet chocolate. I made this recipe several times and it was a hit at many parties and gatherings. The best part of this chocolate chip cookie is the sprinkle of coarse salt on the top. It gives you that perfect salty sweet dessert. I liked these cookies so much, they became the banner for the new design of the website and logo (look up above!).

I researched the story behind this cookie (Karrie on Happy Money Saver) and I found that it was very similar to the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. The differences were: 

1. Karrie replaced the light brown sugar with dark brown sugar
2. Instead of using different types of flour, she used regular flour
3. She eliminated the kosher salt on the top

Some of the things I found great with this cookie:

1. No weighing of ingredients
2. No refrigerator time to chill the dough
3. Perfect balance of crunchy and chewy

Finding the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy is what I am always looking for in a cookie. Karrie achieved that with the dark brown sugar. When I make chocolate chip cookies, I will sometimes mix the brown sugars. If it calls for a cup of light brown sugar, I will use 1/2 cup of light brown and 1/2 cup dark brown. Dark brown sugar gives you that chewy, almost sticky feel to the cookie. It also gives more of a toffee flavor. When I make Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies, which is our signature cookie, I add Heath Bar bits, which will add the same type of chewiness and flavor.

As Jeff enjoyed these cookies with his favorite vanilla ice cream, he thought these were the best chocolate chip cookies I have made. He likes a chewy cookie but he liked that the cookie had some crunch, too. Brian and his friends loved the cookies, but truthfully, they love anything homemade.

I thought they were very good, but I still like the Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies. For me, it might just be that "sweet and salty" thing. I'm going to try these cookies again, with a bit of kosher salt on the top. That could be the finishing touch to possibly finding the BEST chocolate chip cookie!

Ingredients for the PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookie

1-1/4 cups of butter, softened (2-1/2 sticks of butter)

1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar

1-1/4 cups of dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3-1/2 cups of flour

1-1/4 teaspoons of baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1-1/4 pounds (20 ounces) of bittersweet chocolate chips (we use Ghiradelli)

Preparation:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put aside.

2. Using a mixer or electric beaters, cream the butter with the two sugars until blended 1-2 minutes.

3. Blend the eggs in one at a time, then add the vanilla.

4. Beat until well incorporated (one minute), add the dry ingredients. 

5. As the dough finally begins to come together, add the bittersweet chocolate chips.

6. Mix until the dough comes together.

7. Using a 1/4 cup scoop (or your hands), roll balls slightly larger than a golf ball. 

8. Place on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Put 8 cookies per tray.

9. Bake cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown and the tops are dry.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, remove and cool on racks.

11. Makes about 30-36 cookies. They freeze well, too!

Post By Tricia White 

Post by Friends Food Family.

B&M Catering - Clambakes to Travel

 

Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with a local business owner named Brian Doherty. He and his brother, Mickey, own B&M Catering- a full service catering company located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Their original service started as catering clambakes. Today, keeping true to their roots, or should I say "claws", they have a product called Clambakes to Travel. It is a tin bucket (similar to a paint can) stuffed with lobster, steamers, mussels, chourico, corn on the cob, red bliss potatoes, onions...and a little seaweed for taste. You add a can of beer to the mixture and cook for about 20-25 minutes. As you wait, the smell of the sea fills the room and you begin to consider bringing out the beach chairs. They provide you with a red and white check table cloth, metal lobster crackers, and lobster bibs, so there is very little to do, except maybe enjoy a cocktail and melt some butter.

We seemed to eat our clambake the way it was packed. We used the mussels, steamers and chourico as appetizers. After fighting over who would have the last mussel, we put our lobster dinner together. The cooking of the vegetables with the seafood made for an incredible meal; the lobster was deliciously moist.  The only thing missing was the temperature outside being a balmy 80 degrees and my toes being buried deep in the sand.

If you are tired of the cold weather and the same old take-out, give yourself a treat and try a Do it Yourself Clambake...it's worth the culinary trip!

Quick and Easy Shrimp and Pasta in a Light Tomato Sauce

A quick and easy dinner of Shrimp and Pasta in a Light Tomato Sauce...and the story begins.

If you are anything like me, my days are long and a bit crazy. After meeting with people all day, I want to get home to some quite time and a home cooked meal. But, if you are the one who makes the meals at night, the first thing you get greeted with is, "What are we having for dinner?"

Last night, I got home and realized it was either leftovers or we would be ordering out. After spending 3 hours with my parents trying to set up their new wireless and e-mail systems, I just wanted to relax, have a glass of wine, c'mon it's Friday. I looked around the refrigerator and then opened the freezer and there was a bag of frozen shrimp. Well, I had a starting point. I looked back into the refrigerator and realized I didn't have any lemons, so no Shrimp Piccata. I went to the computer and tried looking up a shrimp and pasta recipe and stumbled upon this dish. It was from Taste of Home and it was called Italian Shrimp and Pasta Recipe. It was labeled as a light dish and sometimes it makes me wonder if it is light on flavor, too. The ingredient list was short, as was my patience to cook, so this recipe was a match made in heaven.

I chopped the garlic, drained the diced tomatoes, got out the herbs and I was ready to go. As I got the sauce cooking, the water was boiling for the pasta and before I knew it 30 minutes had gone by and I was ready for dinner. One of the quickest and easiest recipes I have enjoyed making. I am definitely putting this on my "keeper" list which means we may actually make this more than once.

We sat down and I couldn't wait to taste the dish, it looked and smelled delicious. The pasta was perfect, the tomato sauce had a great flavor, with some extra garlic and red pepper flakes and the shrimp was moist and delicious. It's amazing how good shrimp tastes when it is cooked n a tomato base and the red pepper flakes gave it a little kick!

I wanted to get this recipe out for you to enjoy because it was quick and easy and with the basic ingredients, you can put this together on any given, crazy day. Try this Shrimp and Pasta in a Light Tomato Sauce, the recipe will quickly become a family favorite.

Shrimp and Pasta in a Light Tomato Sauce (adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 - 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes (or 2 - 14.5 ounce cans)

1/2 cup of chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon of dried basil

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/8-1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (depending on how you like your heat)

12 ounces of fettuccine or spaghetti

Preparation:

1. Over high heat, add water to a large pot with one teaspoon of salt, bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions. Cook to al dente.

2. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for one minute until fragrant.

3. Add the drained tomatoes, chicken broth, basil, oregano, pepper and crushed red pepper.

4. Bring to a slight boil and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

5. Add the shrimp to the tomato sauce mixture and cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes.

6. Remove tomato and shrimp mixture from the heat and add the cooked pasta. Stir until well blended.

7. Serve and devour! Makes 4 servings.

Chunky Beef and Bean Chili

Friends were coming over to watch the football game (Pats VS Colts) and we needed a hearty one bowl dish for a crowd. A voice in my head kept yelling Chili! Chili! Chili! So, I followed the voices in my head and found a way to adapt a chili recipe for a hearty one dish meal! Made with pork, beef and 4 different types of beans, this is a mild chili and if you want, you can kick it up a notch.

We have quite a few chili recipes on our Friends Food Family site. Everyone's favorite is Al Roker's Spectacular Chili Recipe. It's loaded with beef, sausage and beans. It's an easy recipe that has some heat but we would put it on the milder side of chili. As I was searching for a chili recipe, I googled "the best chili recipes." A number of them rose to the top of the search but the funny thing was the recipe reviews. You may call your recipe "the best" but it better be "the BEST" or people will call you out. I was amazed at how often people will comment on a recipe and make suggestions of how they made it better. Suddenly, I came across Halftime Chili on Bon Appetit's website. As I read through the reviews it was half and half. Half the people liked the recipe, the other half thought it was bland. OK, what if I decide to change it up a bit, maybe add some spicy pork sausage, cut back on the chili pepper, increase the tomato base and add a mixture of beans. What if I did a combination of Al Roker's Chili and this Halftime Chili?

We stopped at the supermarket and picked up a few ingredients. The original chili recipe called for 3 pounds of ground chuck. What if we did 1 pound of ground chuck, 1 pound of hot and spicy sausage and 1-1/2 pounds of stew beef? OK, we took care of the meat portion. What if we chose a number of different beans? Dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, cannellini beads and pink beans could work. We grabbed a bunch of different beans. Increase the tomato base, decrease a few of the spices...I think we are ready to go.

Many times when we are making big soups and stews, we use our 13-1/4 Quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven. We love this pan because it goes into the oven so easily and gives food that slow cooked flavor in half the time. It seals the recipe and gives it an even heat, around the pan versus from the bottom up on the stove. We are making a chili so get out the pan, it's going in the oven.

So, a few tips for this recipe:

1. We cut back on the chili powder by 1 tablespoon. We felt the hot sausage had some spice to it. We weren't sure how "hot" it would be. Feel free to add more heat.
2. We eliminated the jalapeno peppers, too.

If you are someone who likes a mild chili with a little bit of heat, but lots of flavor, this recipe is perfect. If you like a spicier chili, kick it up with some chili powder and consider adding (back) a jalapeno or two.

It took us about 3 hours total time to put together and cook the chili. It was perfect for our gathering, our friends loved the chili. We served it with corn bread as well as sour cream and shredded cheese. I love watching people break up cornbread and add it to the chili. When it comes to chili, people love it many different ways : spicy hot, with beans, without beans, topped with sour cream, mixed with corn bread : bottom line, chili is a great crowdpleaser. Make a batch of chili, you'll have friends for life.

Ingredients for Chunky Beef and Bean Chili

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 pound of hot sausage, in bulk
• 1 pound of ground chuck beef
• 1-1/2 pounds of stew beef, cut into 2 inch chunks
• 2 medium onions, chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 8 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 2 (28 ounce) cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1-1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 - 12 ounce bottle of lager (or can of beer)
• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 2 teaspoons of cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 4 - 15 ounce cans of beans, drained - we used white cannellini, pinto, large dark kidney and small red beans. You can use any combination.
• sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese as optional toppings

Preparation:

1. In a large dutch oven, over medium high heat, add the olive oil and then cook the sausage until on longer pink, remove from pan. Add the ground chuck and cook until no longer pink, remove from pan. Add the stew meat and cook on all sides until no longer pink (5-8 minutes.), remove from pan. (I put them into one big dish once they were all cooked.)

2. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions and smashed garlic. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the onions are translucent and soft.

3. Add all the meat (and juices) back into the pan and stir together for 1-2 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

4. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, lager and all the spices. Return the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil. 

5. Cover the pot with a lid and you can place the dutch oven into a 350 degree oven and let cook for 1 hour. Or reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, stirring ocassionally for 1 hour.

6. At the end of 1 hour, add all the beans, stir and return to the oven or to the stove for another hour. Remove from heat.

7. Add additional seasonings for taste - salt/pepper.

8. Allow to rest for 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream and cheese. 

We served ours with corn bread! Makes enough for 10-12 people.

Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

My favorite cookie this holiday season was the Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies.

I will admit, I was not good about getting all my new cookies up for the Christmas holiday season. One thing I wanted to do was have some posts about ingredients. One of the ingredients was supposed to be pistachios. I made quite a few cookies with pistachios, each better than the next. I promise that my next post will be about the BEST cookies made with pistachios.

I always try and look for different cookies around the holidays and what I liked the most is that pistachios have such a great flavor and you don't normally find them in cookies. When you do, it's a delightful taste. Secondly, they are such a beautiful green color, perfect for the holiday season.

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Angela Carbonetti. She posted it on my Facebook account thinking I would enjoy the Pistachio Shortbread recipe from Chow.com. I was sending her a message at Thanksgiving and came across the recipe again. I love Angela and her family. Her mom, Angie, was an amazing baker. Angela and I were laughing about how her mother would turn her bedroom into a bakery. She would store all of her holiday cookies in the room and when people would stop by, she would go into the bedroom and magically appear with a box of cookies...and her cookies were the BEST. Two of my favorite cookies on the blog are from Angie (Angie's Ricotta Cookies and Angie's Almond Slices). GAWD, I miss her.

This recipe was very easy to make, after toasting the pistachios, the entire recipe is made in the food processor. The original recipe called for lemon zest, but I only had orange zest. If you decide to use lemon, the original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

A few observations: 1. After pressing down the shortbread (step 6), they suggested you use a fork and score the dough. Mine kept getting stuck and pulling the dough apart, so I skipped that step. 2. Make sure you cut the shortbread when it is still warm, mine was cold and it was more difficult, it cracked into pieces more easily.

After it was baked and I got to sample the pieces, I realized how delicious these cookies were. They had a little bit of a sweet and salty taste. I loved the orange and pistachio combination. I would call them addictive. You taste a piece, then you want another, then another...especially if you have tea or coffee. As I finished off the holiday season, more and more people requested the recipe. I was excited because it became one of my favorite recipes of Christmas.

Bake a batch, share and enjoy!

Ingredients for the Orange Pistachio Shortbread Cookies: 

3/4 cup of pistachio kernels - slightly salted (if unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the recipe)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of butter (one stick), cut into 8 tablespoons

1 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest

2 teaspoons of sugar (to be used at the end of the recipe)

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Using an 8x8 baking pan, line the pan with aluminum foil with overhangs or fold a piece of parchment paper to fit into the pan leaving paper hanging over the edges. (Explanation - you have to create a way to lift the shortbread from the pan. It is too delicate to turn out onto a cutting board.) Make sure you generously grease the pan so to easily remove the foil or parchment.

2. In a small frying pan over medium heat, stirring regularly, toast the pistachios until they begin to smell fragrant and are slightly golden, 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Place 1/2 cup of pistachios and 1/2 cup of sugar into a food processor and process until the mixture looks like coarse sand, about 30 seconds.

4. Add the flour and pulsate to mix. Add the butter and orange zest. Pulsate until the dough begins to come together. 

5. Add the last of the pistachios and pulsate 3-4 times allowing the pistachios to become chopped not ground. This will give the shortbread some texture.

6. Turn the mixture into the pan and shake the pan to evenly distribute and then press the dough with your hands or you can use the bottom of a glass.

7. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.

8. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the shortbread is slightly golden and firm to the touch.

9. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Grab the corners of the foil or parchment and remove the shortbread from the pan. Remove the foil or parchment from the shortbread and cut the shortbread while it is still warm. The colder it gets the more brittle it becomes to cut. 

10. This will make 16 shortbread squares or you can cut each square in half, which I did. I find people love to take a nibble. They will eventually take more, but 1/2 is great to start.

Written by Tricia White

Chickpea and Lentil Soup - A Great Vegetarian Soup

Snow Storm + Subzero Temperatures = Chickpea and Lentil Soup

Yes, more soup for the New Year, but I couldn't resist...we are stuck in the house recovering from the first New England snow storm in 2014. As much as they said we were going to get 12-18 inches of snow, I think we missed it by about 6 inches. As we clean up from this storm, everyone was coming in FROZEN. With temperatures in the single digits, it takes a while to warm up. 

While Jeff was recovering from the first round of shoveling, I grabbed a bag of lentils and a can of chickpeas. I went to my laptop and ran a Google search on Lentil and Chickpea soup. Up popped a recipe from Food and Wine called Chickpea and Lentil Soup. I looked at the ingredients and figured I had most of them in the pantry. It seemed easy and I could warm people up quickly. One (big) issue, it called for 1/8 teaspoon of turmeric. I searched through the spice cabinet and we didn't have any. I wasn't sure I could find a substitute but I looked for a substitute and it said I could use saffron. Perfect! I had a small jar of saffron...everything else should be easy. Some onions and celery, a few spices, dried lentils, diced tomatoes and some chickpeas. I was ready to go.

I wanted something hearty with a little bit of spice and this was perfect. In less than 30 minutes, we were enjoying bowlfuls of this delicious chickpea and lentil soup. Jeff and my son, Brian, ate the first bowls and thought it was perfect. Brian kept trying to figure out what the smell was...which was the combination of the saffron, tomatoes, ginger, cinnamon, cilantro and lemon. When you have a mix like that, the smell is strong but equally as flavorful. I couldn't wait to have a bowl. The lentils were soft and the chick peas had more solid texture, the broth was amazing as I thought the smell of cilantro was the strongest. I love cilantro, I could have it in all my food. But for those who don't care for it, feel free to substitute parsley, the flavors will still blend well.

If you are looking for a soup that is strong on flavor, will satisfy most appetites and diets, yes, this is vegetarian, try making a bowl of Chickpea and Lentil Soup. You won't be disappointed!

Ingredients for Chickpea and Lentil Soup

2 tablespoons of butter

1 medium onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 celery stalks, chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon of powdered ginger

1/8 teaspoon of crushed saffron threads

1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon

1-1/2 teaspoons of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1 cup of dried lentils

6 cups of water

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 (15 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, we used fire roasted

1 (15 ounce) can of chickpeas, drained

1/3 cup of cilantro, feel free to substitute parsley if you aren't a cilantro fan

2 lemon rind strips, 1 inch by 3 inches

 

Preparation:

1. In a large pot or pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until the onions are translucent. About 5-8 minutes.

2. Add the lentils, and dry ingredients (ginger, cinnamon, saffron, salt and pepper) to the pan. Mix with the onions and celery for 1 minute, it will begin to smell fragrant. 

3. Add the water, tomato paste, diced tomatoes and lemon rind. Bring to a boil. Then, lower heat to a simmer and cover partially with a lid. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

4. Add the chickpeas and cilantro. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. remove from heat. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and enjoy.

5. Serves 4 - 6 people.

 

Written by Tricia White 

Happy New Year! Have a bowl of Neighborhood Ham and Bean Soup

Happy New Year! With a chill in the air and the first nor'easter for the New England area being only 24 hours away, nothing warms you up like a bowl of hearty ham and bean soup. Since we served a large ham to our family and friends at Christmas, we had one large ham bone that still had some meaty value. We aren't big split pea soup fans so we decided to look for a ham soup that served like a stew. With the white beans and vegetables, I knew this was going to be perfect.

As we were putting the soup together, many things came to mind as I was reflecting on where Friends Food Family has been and where it is going. I am a baking "nut" and I love dessert, so many of my recipes focus on the sugary end of the food chain. I also know that healthy eating and healthy choices are still very popular. I feel like our eating is healthy but it could stand to lose a few sticks of butter. As I look at recipes in 2014, we'd love to hear from you...

What types of recipes would you like to see us try in 2014? American? Italian? French? Lebanese? Greek? Chinese? Vegetarian? More desserts? Or maybe it's Quick and Easy? 5 Steps? Crock Pot Ready? Think of some ideas and pass them our way. We love a challenge!

So, back to the recipe...

During the first few months of the year, we like to find hearty soup recipes. We do this for two reasons:

1. It's a meal in a bowl. We don't have to worry about making side dishes for the main course.

2. They make great lunches for the following days. I'm bad about bringing lunch to work, but with leftover soup, we package it in small bowls and you can grab them from the refrigerator as you head out the door.

We had the ham bone so now we just needed the recipe. Jeff searched on-line for a ham soup recipe and ended up finding this recipe on Food.com. The recipe was posted back in 2005 and had 31 reviews, all of them were 4 and 5 stars. If it was a good recipe, we need to try it. This Neighborhood Ham and Bean Soup makes a batch that can feed 10+ people. We completely understand why they call it neighborhood soup...it could feed the neighborhood. If you are planing to make this soup, give yourself some time. This is a day long process. We made ours on Sunday, we started the soup around 11 AM, soak the beans (an hour), let it cook for two hours, added a few more ingredients and then it cooked for another hour. By the time we were done, it was a 5-6 hour process before we sat down to enjoy a bowl, but it was worth it. We changed the recipe a bit and added some additional beans to "chunk up" the soup and we also added a few parsnips. They were in the refrigerator, why let them go to waste. 

The soup was AMAZING. It had a nice smokey flavor from the ham bone along with the creaminess of the beans. A few chunky pieces of potato and parsnip brought a nice flavor to the soup. Though it takes a while to put together, the results are worth every minute. Football season isn't over yet and if you have time on a Sunday to start the process around 10 AM, you will have an unbelievable meal for dinner. One that the whole neighborhood will enjoy.

Ingredients for Neighborhood Ham and Bean Soup -

• 2 cups of dried great northern beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can of northern beans, drained and rinsed 
• 3 cups of water
• 1 large meaty ham bone (if you don't have one, you can use 2-3 smoked ham hocks)
• 2-3 tablespoons of chicken bouillon granules
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of dry rubbed sage
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 inch thickness)
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 parsnips (don't worry if you don't have them, we added them because we did), chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large potato, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 2 cups of chicken broth (on hand in case you need to add more liquid)

Preparation - 

1. Place dried beans in a large dutch oven and cover with water, 2 inches above the beans. Bring to a boil, boil for two minutes, remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain beans. 

2. Place beans back in the pan and add the water, ham bone, chicken bouillon, thyme, marjoram, pepper, and sage. Bring mixture to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours. If you are in a hurry, you can simmer for 2 hours, but it can be extended out to 3 hours. If you find the liquid is getting low, you can add a bit of chicken stock.

4. In a separate sauce pan, over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery. If you are using the parsnip, add it now. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. 

5. At the end of the 2+ hours, add the onion mixture, along with the chopped potato to the ham mixture, cover and simmer for another hour. Add more chicken stock if you feel the mixture is getting low.

6. Take the ham bone out of the pot and debone. Cut any large pieces into chunks. Return the ham to the soup.

7. Put the 1/2 the can of rinsed beans into a food processor with a 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Pulsate until the beans are smooth with a few chunks. Pour the beans into the soup. If you would like the soup thicker, finish the other half of the beans.

8. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite cornbread.

Makes enough for 10 people. Enjoy!