Soups and Stews:

Potato Leek Soup

Serves 6 to 8

  • 5 slices of bacon - cut width wise into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 large leeks with roots and green removed
  • 3 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • 1 pound White Rose or Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and sliced in 3/4 inch cubes
  • 2 14 oz. cans low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup frozen petite white corn
  • 1 cup whipping cream
Cut bacon widthwise into 1/2 inch pieces. Saute over medium high heat in a large stock pot. Remove when golden brown and place on a plate lined with paper towels. You may leave the oil from the bacon. Cut leeks lengths wise then cut into 1/2 inch pieces widthwise. Rinse leeks in a colander as sand may have accumulated in the layers. Put aside.

Deglaze pot with wine and add butter. As the butter is melting add the leeks and fresh thyme. Saute for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes, broth, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Add petite white corn to the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Using an emersion blender, puree ingredients until just lumpy. Add whipping cream to soup and mix.

Baubi's Chicken Soup

Serves 6

  • 1 whole chicken or 3 lbs chicken parts
  • 1 marrow bone or small piece of beef shank with bone
  • 3 carrots - whole, peeled
  • 1 celery rib whole, 1 celery rib sliced (reserved)
  • 1 whole onion, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon good quality chicken base instead of salt (Custom Gold Label Chicken base is best)
  • white pepper
  • 1 sprig of fresh thyme, 1 sprig marjoram, 2 fresh sage leaves, fresh parsley - wrapped in cheesecloth or a sprinkle of each in dried form right in the soup
  • 2 16 oz cans Swansons chicken broth
  • water to cover chicken
Put all ingredients except canned broth and reserved celery in stock pot or 5 qt pan. Bring to boil then simmer for 2 hours until chicken is fall off the bones tender.

Discard onion and celery and bouquet garni.

Give the bone to some critter.

Remove carrots and chicken to a plate or bowl for a few minutes. Pour broth through cheesecloth or strong paper towels into another pot to clarify.

Slice carrots and return to broth. Add the reserved celery and canned broth. This gives additional volume for the dumplings etc to soak up without using up all the "good" soup.

Skin and de-bone chicken and return the good chicken to soup or use some for another recipe. Chill over night or skim to remove fat.

Return to boil and add noodles and/or cook matzo balls or dumplings in soup.

If you don't feel up to making the soup (which I don't when I'm sick), use a 46 oz can of Swanson chicken broth with a small can of sliced carrots added and a fine sliced rib of celery. Then add noodles, dumplings or matzo balls. A few poached chicken tenders can be added to the soup along with the noodles. This makes a surprisingly good substitute for real chicken soup.

Matzo Balls
  • 1/2 cup matzo meal
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon of the fat skimmed from the soup
  • 2 tablespoons water or broth
  • salt - just a good shake
Beat eggs slightly in a small bowl. Add matzo meal and salt. Stir to blend. Add fat and water. Stir again. Should be thick but not stiff. Add a bit more liquid if stiff. Let set at least 10 minutes. Now it should be stiff. Form into little balls (I use the big end of a melon baller) or just drop by teaspoon onto boiling soup. Cover the pot and simmer for 25 minutes. You can lift the lid long enough to add noodles if you want to add them to the soup during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Bohemian soup dumplings
  • 1 egg - lightly beating
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter or fat skimmed from soup
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Beat water and fat into egg. Add salt. Stir in the flour. Should be stiff and sticky. If necessary add another bit of flour. Add by 1/2 teaspoons to gently boiling soup. These dumplings should start tiny because they will swell a lot. Boil ten minutes.

*Note - I'm 53 years old and I had never seen this recipe before. When my mom told the family about the website, one of the cousins sent it to her for us to see and maybe use. Wow. This is so close to my own recipe it's scary. The biggest difference is that I'd have made homemade noodles ala the Italian side of the family.

Here's my Great Grandmother Elka Zoorwill's picture:

Elka Zoorwill