Soup, its where its at...

Its been rainy and cold this week in SC.
Its really yucky weather, especially following a perfect SPRING week like we had last week with days all sunny and in the 80s!!!!
But hey, its washing washing washing away all that lovely POLLEN that nice Spring days bring...So I guess we will take it.
It makes me want soup. Soup is a lovely thing. Soup in something you can just throw together out of your pantry so fast, or something lovely that can simmer away all day making your home smell warm and cozy.
I love soups and stews! 
There are so many easy peasy soup variations that are totally Paleo too!
This weekend my hubbie actually made Taco soup- he had a cold and it was raining and Soup is just so comforting and perfect on those kind of days.
And so simple even my hubbie can put it together!!!!!!

Taco Soup - this is a fav in the church cookbook scene around here-- Do you love church cookbooks as much as I do?? Church and Junior League cookbooks, man I wish I owned 500 of them- home southern cooking... Grandmas and Mommas posting their favorite home recipes- it just doesn't get much better!! ( I will have to post sometime on my love for Southern Cookbooks)
So, J's Version of                    Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef ( or you could do shredded chicken breast)

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 cans Rotel tomatoes

1 box Chicken stock ( Pacific is GF)

1 packet Taco Seasoning

1 packet Ranch Dressing mix

Brown beef in a pan. Remove beef to a bowl to add in later.

Drain off most of the fat and then saute onions and garlic in remaining fat. 

Now dump in remaining ingredients and stir well. Simmer for one hour and then enjoy!!! 

Great with a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese!!!

Beef, its whats for dinner.... (oh, and a Soup and Muffin recipe too!)

Last night for dinner we had BEEF Tenderloin, Asparagus, Sweet Potato Mash and a Salad. It wasn't the "planned" meal, but my friend brought over some amazing tenderloin that we sliced and grilled up- medium to med-rare- SO GOOD. So Simple. Just season and grill....

I also needed to make a special lunch for the kiddos for today, thier Maggie and PapPap were going to be taking lunch to them at school...

They wanted muffins and soup. I had some leftover Meatballs ( from my Saucy Balls recipe..) so I made up a quick soup. It was pretty yummy, and took 2 secs (well ok 15min maybe if you include cooking some rice to add in, but you can totally skip the rice...) Check it out....

Red Chicken Stew- Now come on, It just doesn't get more Deep South Ya'll!!!

Ok, I am trying this for dinner tonight. This is one of my all time favorite comfort go to meals in the winter time. I want to make it one last time before it heats up to Spring. I have to say I am starting to really have SPRING FEVER ya'll. But a little part of me still wants a few more soups and stews... 

I love warm and comforting foods. 

There are so many things about good ol' Southern Style Cookn that is so close to Paleoish-, well depending on your stance on Paleo--

We LOVE us some BUTTER here in the South! Can I get an Amen? 

and bacon grease, and bacon in general, well anything pork that we can smoke, or bbq...

  (And if you asked the Grandma's we love us some LARD just as much)

----I am looking into starting to render my own lard, as you cannot find it in its pure state here in SC. will let you know how that one goes---

Anyways, back to my story, I am going to try and convert the Southern Recipe for <sigh> Bobo's Red Chicken Stew <sigh> into Paleo Acceptable...( Bobo's is a version that is made in Edisto Beach, SC and it is my fav version)

As I was saying, in the South we love to use butter, and this recipe is not different, I think it actually calls for 1/2 cup of butter to be added IN ITS ENTIRETY as the last step the soup. 

However it also calls for an entire bottle of ketchup ( can we say sugar?), and lots of flour.....

This is where the adaptions come in.

NEVER FEAR..... This one will be worth it. TRUST ME, this takes time to make, it sounds odd--

yes 1/2 cup butter at the end, 

yes whole hard boiled eggs, 

but make it. 

again I will say, TRUST ME. 

THIS WILL ROCK YOUR LITTLE WORLD!

Erika's Paleo Red Chicken Stew

• 1 large chicken
• 5 cups water
• salt
• 4 strips bacon, diced
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 bottle Worceshire Sauce    (GF)
• 32 oz primal ketchup)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( crank it up or down here depending on your heat tolerence)
• 1/2 cup flour, mixed with water ( I just used some AP GF Flour, or you could use just a GF starch like arrowroot??)
• 6 sliced hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions:

Prep Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1. 1 Cover chicken with water in a large stockpot, salt to taste, bring to a boil and then simmer til tender.
2. 2 Drain, but save the broth.
3. 3 Saute bacon until almost crispy, add onion and saute until soft.
4. 4 Add 3 c broth, worcestershire, ketchup and seasonings; bring to a boil and thicken with the flour/water mixture Stir in butter just before serving; 

Serve over Fluffy Rice, if you do rice occasionally, esp if you need a carbo load after a big workout.Otherwise, make cauliflower "rice" and serve over this.

I take 1/2 scooper and form a "rice" mound in the middle of the bowl and then laddle the stew on/around this.

(I haven't tried to make my own cauliflower rice recipe yet, but try Elana's and check out her site, It's one of my favs!)

Chorizo- maybe not a Southern Ingredient, but Yummy none the less

So I found some Chorizo in the grocery store this week. Not the links that are already cooked. But ground Chorizo. This is something that is not found often here in South Carolina, usually I can only find the precooked links.  I was excited, and could hardly wait to come home and make, well something....

My first memory of Chorizo was back in college, I had a friend, Emilie, who had lived for a few years growing up in Spain. She made fresh chorizo sausage just simply seared of,  so that it was nice and almost crispy on the outside of the links that she had cut on a bias, and she had us put them into soft rolls.We stood over the pot in the tiny apartment kitchen and sopped up the reddish fat drippings with the bread as we ate. It was something I had never tasted. It smelled heavenly. It had just a tad bit of heat, but not too much. The reddish color of the oil in the pan was unlike anything I had cooked with before, and it just tasted so wonderful. We ate until we were stuffed, and I think we would have eaten more if we had not run out. It was so simple, but so Yummy. My mouth waters just thinking of the memory.

So, with the first half of the chorizo I made these egg muffins:

Chorizo Egg Muffins

12 eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 lb ground chorizo

1 onion, finely diced

1/2 red pepper finely diced

1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Saute chorizo until browned over med heat. Add veggies and saute till translucent and soft, med heat. Crack eggs into bowl, add eggs and remaining ingredients and whisk together briskly.

Pour into lined muffin tins and bake for approx 12 min, or until set.

These freeze well.

Reheat at 50% power for 1 min, then feel and repeat at 30 sec intervals until warmed through.

( you may add cheese to this recipe if you wish- a sharp cheddar, or a manchego, or monteray jack perhaps)

Next, I made a soup for our dinner tonight. I have a little bit of a cold and felt like soup....

Tequila Lime Chorizo Soup

 1/2 pd Ground Chorizo, ( or links diced)

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 bag broccoli slaw, diced into small pieces

2 limes, juiced

zest of 2 limes

1/4 cup tequila

48 oz chicken stock

1 lg can tomato puree ( good quality) I used home canned

1 lg can diced tomatoes (good quality)

1 T cumin

1 t chili powder

1/4 tsp chipoltle chili flakes

Brown off Chorizo over a med heat. ( you do not need to add any oil here as it puts off plenty of its own fat immediatly),  then add all veggies except broccoli slaw. Saute over med heat till soft. Add broccoli slaw, and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn to a simmer. Simmer for 45 min and then check veggies for tenderness. If they are tender enough the soup is done. Check for flavoring, adjust spices as needed.  ( When I do this soup I juice the limes over the pot and throw the whole lime in, then fish them out right before serving)