Creamy Broccoli and Cheddar soup

• 1 large onion - course chopped
• 2 carrots - sliced
• 2 sticks celery - sliced
• 8 ups of broccoli florets, and stem - peeled and sliced
• 2 liters low sodium beef stock 
• 2 cups water
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsps salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp butter or margarine

To add before thickening:

• 2 cups grated cheddar.

Roux (Thickener):

• 4 tbsp butter or margarine
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk

Melt the 1 tbsp butter in pan, add onion, carrots, broccoli stem, and celery. Cook until softened. Add remainder of the top ingredients (Except cheese), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the ingredients are tender.

While the soup simmers, take a small saucepan and start the Roux. Under medium heat add the butter, whisk in flour until smooth, and a light blonde colour. Incorporate milk, whisking again until smooth. remove from heat, and hold till required.

Using a blender, immersion or normal, blend until desired consistency, then return to pot. Add Roux, bring temperature up to a rolling boil, and incorporate the cheese.

Viola!

Loaded baked potato soup

• 5 potatoes ( plus 2 for croutons)
• 2 celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp butter
• 6 strip of bacon (all I had available was "readycrisp" so I used butter to flavour the onions and celery, or I would have use bacon drippings.)
• 1 link farmers sausage
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2-3 liters low sodium chicken stock (it depends on the size of potatoes, more for larger, less for smaller, it's a judgement call.)
• 4 tbsp flour and 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup 18% cream
• 2 tbsp corn starch dissolved into 1/4 cup cold water

Melt butter. Add Onions and celery and let them sweat out (turn translucent). Add stock, carrots, potatoes, seasonings, 2 chopped pieces of bacon, and bring to a boil. Let simmer till add the vegetables are soft. Remove bay leaves and blend with a stick blender. Chop the sausage (raw) and add it, along with the remaining bacon, and the cream to the pot.  Bring up to a slow rolling boil, and thicken with Milk and flour, then further (if so desired) with the corn starch mixture (be sure to make sure it is mixed well before adding). Maintain a slow rolling boil for about a minute, stirring continuously, and reduce heat to low and allow it to simmer until you are ready to serve.

Potato croutons

• 2 potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lowry's seasoned salt (lightly sprinkled, optional)

Dice potatoes, sprinkle with seasonings, bake until golden brown. (420 degrees for about 40 minutes. Watched closely)

Add a sprinkle of bacon bits, cheese, potato croutons and a dollop of sour cream to finish and serve.

Ginger and lemon Carrot soup.

• 8-10 large carrots
• 1 large onion
• 2 sticks of celery
• 6 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 large tablespoon mince fresh ginger (a piece the size of a large thumb)
• 1 large lemon, zest and juice
• 1 cloves minced garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup 18% table cream (for finishing)
• 2 cups of frozen peas
• 1 and 1/2 cup diced ham
• 1 and a 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• butter (But any oil will do)

Peel carrots. Cut carrots, onion and celery into chunks. Size is only a factor in cooking time, as this is a blended soup in the end.

Add butter to the pan and put the onions in to allow them to become soft.

Add celery, carrots, ginger, lemon zest, stock, and bay leaves, and bring to a slow boil.

Cook until the carrots are tender.

Using a stick blender (or traditional if needed, just be careful to allow steam to escape while blending hot food so the lid and contents don't go flying all over), blend until smooth.

(Return soup to pot if using traditional blender) , add lemon juice and incorporate, then stir in the cream.

add peas and ham, and bring soup back up to a serving temperature. 

I garnished with fresh green onion.

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken soup.

For the Stock:
1 Chicken - whole
16 cups cold water
2 tbsp peppercorns
1 tbsp mustard seeds
4 large bay leaves
1 carrot (only for the stock)
2 celery stalks broken into thirds (only for the stock)
1 onion - quartered (only for the stock)

For the Soup:
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
2 celery stalks thinly sliced for the soup
1 onion - finely chopped
1 cup rice. (Or alternately, 1 cups of Orzo, which is a pasta in the shape of large rice grains.)
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp Poultry seasoning

1. Place all the stock items into the pot, and bring it to a slow simmer on medium low heat. Allow to simmer 4-5 hours.

2. Remove chicken, set aside to cool slightly. Strain the stock to remove large particles and vegetable chunks (discard strained material). Place the strained stock back on the stove and add the sliced carrots, celery, onion, and rice. Continue to simmer until the vegetables and rice are cooked, approximately 30 minutes.

3. Take the skin off the chicken, and strip the meat from the bones. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces and place it back in the soup.

4. 5-10 minutes prior to finishing, add the lemon juice.

*NOTE; this is a "from scratch" recipe, so expect to put in some time with it.

Duck Breast with a Blueberry Port Sauce

6 duck breast (skin on)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blueberry Port Sauce;
2 cups blueberries
1 cup port wine (I used a Late Bottled Vintage, as it was a little sweeter)
1 tbsp Apricot jelly
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 tbsp Honey

1. Duck Breast: Score the duck breast fat in a criss cross fashion.

2. To Cook: Place a large frying pan over a moderate-high heat. Season the duck breast with salt and pepper, being sure to rub plenty of salt into the scored fat. Place the duck breast in the hot frying pan fat side down. Cook the breast for 3-4 minutes on the skin side, then turn them over and cook them for a further 4-5 minutes (a little longer if you like the meat well cooked). Remove the duck breast from the heat and allow them to rest in a warm place for 3-5 minutes before serving.

3. Blueberry Port Sauce: Place half the blueberries in a saucepan with the port and jelly. Place the pan over a high heat and leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes until it reduces to a thin sauce consistency. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Dijon mustard and the remaining blueberries. Keep the sauce hot until ready to serve.

4. To Serve: Place the duck breast on serving plates, pour the blueberry and port sauce around the breast.

I served this with Pan roasted potatoes and carrots, and balsamic braised Bok Choy.
I kept both side dishes with basic seasoning (Salt and pepper); but I drizzled a nice Balsamic Vinegar over the  halved Bok Choy, then in a small roasting dish I cooked it in the oven at 425 till it was fork tender (about 15-20 minutes depending on how big they are.)

Servings: 6

Cooking Times
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of a recipe (3.2 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients. 4 of the recipe's ingredients were not linked. These ingredients are not included in the recipe nutrition data.

Tips
Caution;
Duck is easily overdone, so monitor the internal temp to arrive at 140 (remembering that as it rests it will continue to cook some.)

Lasagna Soup

2 tsp. olive oil
1.5 lbs. Italian sausage ( I used links, and cut them into thin slices.)
3 c.      Chopped onions
3 tbsp   Roasted red pepper and garlic seasoning
2 tsp.    Dried oregano
2 tbsp   Dried Basil
1/2 tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp   Tomato paste
2 cans   Diced tomatoes
2           Bay leaves
6 c.       Chicken stock
1 cup.    Fusilli pasta (or any flour abased pasta like Macaroni)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add Stock, seasonings, tomatoes, and tomato paste, stir to combine. 

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Slow cooker Beef Stroganoff.

Ingredient lists;
#1.
1/3 C      All purpose flour
1 tsp       Salt
1/2 tsp    Pepper
1/2 tbsp  Paprika

900g       Lean beef stewing meat
2 C         Fresh Mushrooms

#2.
1             chopped Onion
1/4 tsp    Garlic Powder
14 oz      Tomatoes
2 tsp       Beef Bouillon Powder
2 tbsp     Sherry
2 tbsp     Worcestershire  Sauce

#3.
1 C         Sour cream

Combine list 1 in a large ziplock bag.  Coat the beef by adding small amounts to the bag and shaking, until all the beef is coated.
Brown the beef in a saute pan with some olive oil. This is not necessary, but I find that it adds a richer flavour and some colour to the finished product.
Place the beef in the bottom of the slow cooker,Add the onion and the mushrooms on top.

Mix together list #2, and pour it into the slow cooker over the beef, onions and mushrooms.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or an low for 7-9 hours.

Add the 1 Cup of sour cream a 1/2 hour before the end of the cooking time.

Serves 6.