The Bacon Cheeseburger Soup |
Recently I did a segment for Twin Cities Live on Crazy Soups. One of the producers asked me what I thought were my craziest recipes and in thinking about that question, I realized I make some pretty crazy stuff! In just the last year I’d say these are some of my wild recipes: Pecan Chicken Carmel Rolls, Bacon, Eggs and Maple Syrup Hot Dogs, Chocolate Dipped Bacon, Thanksgiving Dinner on a Stick, Spaghetti Tacos, Beet Cupcakes and Blueberry Burgers! I get lots of ideas at night when I am laying in bed and sometimes it comes from eating something and thinking about something weird I could make with it. But sometimes it comes in weird places, a couple years ago I thought of the Thanksgiving Dinner on a Stick recipe while sitting by the pool in the middle of August in Nashville-so go figure, my ideas come at weird times. I’m in a big peanut butter and jelly mood lately (pregnancy cravings) and I thought it would be fun to do a couple recipes similar to food competition shows where you take a certain meal and deconstruct it so the flavors are there but it doesn’t necessarily resemble the original meal. The two recipes I made are Bacon Cheeseburger Soup and Peanut Butter and Jelly Soup. I love how you could close your eyes and taste the original meals!
Come cook with me!
Looking for a fun Valentine’s Day gift? How about joining me for a cooking class on soups? We’ll have fun making a few soups and I will have prizes! I will be teaching the class on Thursday, February 9 at 6pm at Harding High School. The class is $41 you can register by calling 651-744-3072 or by going to http://commed.spps.org/
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Ingredients:
1lb Thick Cut Bacon
¾ cup Yellow Onion (minced)
48 ounces Chicken Broth
32 ounces Velveeta Cheese
½ cup Milk
¼ cup Flour
20 ounces Frozen Meatballs (defrosted)
Directions:
In a large stockpot, sauté bacon. Once browned (do not drain), add onion and cook until softened. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add velvetta in cubes and allow to melt. In a small Tupperware container, mix milk and flour and shake until combined, add to soup and bring to a boil. Once thickened, add meatballs.
Garnish each bowl with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and ketchup and mustard if desired. Serve with Texas Toast.
Makes 10 cups
Alice’s Insider Tips:
· If you have trouble finding an item, ask a store employee. If the store doesn’t carry something you are looking for, email or call the store and talk to a manager. My local store started carrying my favorite chocolate chips just because I asked.
· What does the milk and flour do in this recipe? The milk and flour combine to form a “slurry” and help thicken the broth.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Soup
Ingredients:
1 stick of Butter
¾ cup Yellow Onion (minced)
48 ounces Chicken Broth
4 Chicken Breasts
2 ½ cups Chunky Peanut Butter
1 can Coconut Milk (13.66 ounces)
½ cup Milk
¼ cup Flour
2 TB Sugar
10 ounces Frozen Raspberries in syrup (defrosted, don’t drain)
2 TB Sweet Chili Sauce
Directions:
In a large stockpot, sauté butter and onion, until onion is softened. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken (cubed) and simmer until cooked. Add peanut butter and coconut milk. In a small Tupperware container, mix milk and flour and shake until combined, add to soup and bring to a boil. In a food processor, blend raspberries (with juice) and sweet chili sauce.
Serve peanut soup in a bowl and drizzle raspberry sauce on top. Garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro if desired.
Makes 12 cups
Alice’s Insider Tips:
· Coconut milk and Sweet Chili Sauce are located in your grocer’s ethnic aisle in the Thai foods section. For a lightened version, you can substitute light coconut milk.
· For a hearty version of the soup, serve soup on top of rice.
· Don’t like raspberries? You can substitute any frozen fruit-strawberries, mango or mixed berries.