Crabby Cauliflower Chowder

There is no other way to put it. Beginning in December and continuing through most of March, the weather here in Ohio rots. It's cold, snowy and grey and the chill reaches my bones even when I'm safe indoors.  In order to warm me up I like cooking and of course eating soup. I found the base recipe for this chowder on the recipe card carousel located in the produce section at Giant Eagle, but added a few ingredient to make it a tad heartier and more flavorful.

Ingredients

2 cups cauliflower florets chopped -- about 1/2 of one small head. Frozen is fine too..

15 oz. can of chicken broth 

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

2 teaspoons of lemon zest
2 Tablespoons of parsley
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (optional)
2 cups of half and half

2 Tablespoons of flour

8 oz package of imitation crab flakes -- I like TransOcean Crab Classic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

• In a large saucepan, combine cauliflower, broth, onion, carrots, red pepper and lemon zest. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 6 to 8 minutes or until cauliflower is crisp-tender.
• Stir together half and half and 2 Tablespoons of flour. Stir into cauliflower mixture and bring to a boil and stir. Soup will begin to thicken. If desired, add another Tablespoon of flour to the soup to make it thicker; add water or more broth to thin it out.
• Chop crab meat into smaller pieces if necessary, then gently stir into the soup mixture. Heat through and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately.

Servings

Serves 4 to 6

A Broken Oven Tip

How do you make this chowder even better you ask? Well, by adding some more carbs and fat of course. Sprinkle with some garlic croutons and cheddar for an extra filling variation.  I'm sure bacon or ham would be pretty good too! 

Kristen Stewart's Tortilla Soup

It's time to let my freak flag briefly fly. For those of you who don't already know, I have a bit of an obsession with the Twilight Saga. It doesn't matter if it's the books, movies or the actors who play the characters in the movies I know way too much about this topic.  I know what you're saying, "It can't be that bad." and I promise you it is. Let me conduct a brief experiement by asking a few questions to prove my point. How many of you even know about Midnight Sun? If I say, The Couve or 100 Monkeys do you know what those phrases means? How about the name Kellen Lutz?  Yeah, I didn't think most of you would know those answers, but I do and sadly a helluva lot more.  If you're interested in the answers post a comment and I'll answer them.  Better yet, if you know the answers, you post them in the comments. It would be nice to see if I'm not the only loon out there!

In order to feed my addiction I devour any news and information related to the saga, so when I learned Kristen Stewart, the young woman who portrays Bella Swan (soon to be Cullen ) was the face of  February Vogue I had to pick up a copy. The article was brief, the clothes beautiful and Kristen stunning, but the take away from the article for me was that KStew makes a mean Tortilla Soup and Vogue was kind enough to post the recipe on their website. The soup is deliciously low in fat and calories and perfect for a cold day like today or everyday here since November for that matter.

Kristen, if by chance you Googled yourself and happened to come across this post, you get one of our special Broken Oven shout outs "Hi Kristen! One more thing --would you share your loquat pie recipe with me too?

Ingredients
Soup
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 small yellow onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 jalapeño peppers seeded and diced chopped
2 green peppers seeded and chopped.
15 ounce can of diced tomatoes -- Hunts Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes add a little flavor punch.
4 cups chicken broth

Condiments
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of garlic salt
3 Tablespoons of chili powder
1 avocado diced
2 flour tortillas cut into strips
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lime cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• Cook chopped onion, minced garlic and cumin for a few minutes, until the onions are translucent.
• Add chopped green peppers and cook until tender, about 2-4 minutes.
• Stir in diced tomatoes, chopped jalapeños and chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring periodically.
• Cut tortillas into thin strips and grill for a few minutes until toasted.
• Serve the soup in bowls and top with condiments.

Servings
6 to 8 servings

A Broken Oven Tip
I added 2 cups of cooked diced chicken to this recipe. It made it a little bit heartier while still maintaining it's healthy qualities.

Butternut Squash Bisque

I started making this butternut squash soup about 10 years ago and it is a perennial fall favorite of mine. Three reasons I love this soup is it's easy to make, the ingredients are cheap and it tastes soooo good on a cool fall day.  The only drawback is it has cream cheese in it so it doesn't freeze well, but honestly you'll want to eat the entire batch at once so no freezer worries needed.

Ingredients

2 to 3 lb butternut squash 

Olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 chicken bouillon cubes
8 oz. package of cream cheese, cubed

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
• Halve squash lengthwise, discard the seeds, lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Place the squash inside down onto a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
• Remove from oven. Let squash set until cool to the touch. Scoop out the squash from the skin, place in a bowl and set aside.
• In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. 
• Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. 
• Bring to a low boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
• Turn off heat and allow soup to cool completely.
• Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

Servings
6 to 8

Broken Oven Tip
Add a bit of spiced flavor to the soup by sprinkling the squash with cinnamon and nutmeg before roasting.