Cheese Shrimp Soup (My Healthy Version)

This soup is awesome! Someone from work gave me the recipe; I have modified the original recipe to be fat-free. It is a great prelude to Friday night fish during Lent, a great idea for a potluck, or serve it with a salad! I am a lover of soup, so I enjoy it as the main dish.

Category: Soup
Prep/Cook Time:
Approximately 2 Hours
Cooking Style: Simmer on the Stove Top
Complexity: Easy
Servings: 10 (Depends on the bowl size!)
Date: March 21, 2009

2	cup	Carrots	Chopped or Shredded
1	ea	Red Onion, Medium	Chopped
2	cup	Celery	Chopped
1/2	cup	Flour
1	cup	Salsa, Medium or Hot
4	cup	Chicken Broth
4	cup	Raw Shrimp (about 120 thumb sized shrimp)	Shelled/Cleaned and Deveined. Cut in half. Middle, not length wise.
4	cup	Half & Half, FAT FREE
4	cup	Vegetable Cheese Product	Cheddar Flavor
1/2	tsp	Sea Salt	Optional
1/2	tsp	Fresh Ground Pepper
1	ea	Bay Leaf

SMART POINTS

1. Do not cut your shrimp or vegetables too small. You do not want either to disintegrate during the cooking process.

2. You need to stir this recipe constantly. Also, never boil it! Just cook it to the point that it is on the verge of boiling. Very low simmer.

Cooking:

1. Heat 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to a simmer and then add carrots, onion, and celery. Sauté the vegetables in the broth until they just begin to soften and set aside.

2. In a separate pan heat the remaining 2 1/2 cups of broth while SLOWLY adding the flour and stirring vigorously. The mixture should turn to a paste at which time you should slowly add the half and half while stirring vigorously. Very low simmer.

3. Pour broth mixture into the pot with the vegetables, add the salsa and vegetable cheese, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring soup “almost” to a boil and stir constantly. Cook on the verge of boiling for 30 minutes.

4. Add the shrimp and bring the soup back to the point of being on the verge of boiling. Very low simmer. Once the soup reaches this temperature, cook for 30 minutes. Continue to stir constantly.

5. The vegetable cheese product should be fully dissolved in the soup after the 60 minutes of cooking. If not, continue the cooking until it is.

6. Remove soup from heat, discard bay leaf, and cover. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

My friend suggested a garnish of goldfish crackers and paprika when serving each bowl. YUM!

Enjoy!

Shef D

Kiszona Kapusta Zupa (Polish for Sauerkraut Soup)

My great-grandmother could not read or write, but she could cook the best tasting dish over and over again! In Poland, she cooked for the rich. Here in the United States, she cooked for us! Living next door to my grandparents, every holiday there would be a pot of soup waiting for the rest of the meal to be ready to eat. My job for many holidays was to go next door and get the pot of soup. Little did I know that I was learning how to cook the way my great-grandmother cooked—with her nose! I’m not a “taster” cook. When I cook, there is always a certain “smell” that I try to create. This soup recipe was not right until my house smelled exactly as I remember my great babcia’s house did when she made kiszona kapusta zupa!

Category: Meat (Pork), Soup
Prep Time: Approximately 2 Hours
Cooking Style: Stovetop (16 quart pot. If you don’t have a pot this big, you can cut the recipe in half)
Complexity: Easy
Servings: Many-I make this big batch and give some to friends and freeze the extra. It freezes well.
Date: March 7, 2009

1	ea	Small Green Cabbage	Halve and then cut thin strips that look like spaghetti.
2	qts	Sauerkraut	See my SMART POINTS below. Don’t rinse your sauerkraut or discard the juice.
1	pkg	Salt Pork (12 oz package)	Cut into 1/4” cubes. Fillet off and discard the rind.
1 1/2	lbs	Pork Loin (Pork chops, pork roast, or country style pork strips are good as well)	Cut into strips about 1/4”, 2-3” Length.
2	tsp	Freshly Ground Pepper
6	ea	Chicken Bouillon Cubes
2	ea	Bay Leaves
1	cup	Barley	Regular barley (Not quick cook)

Cooking:

1. Throughout the cooking process, stir frequently.
2. Brown the salt pork in the soup pot. Stir continuously so as to not burn the salt pork. It has enough natural fat, so you don’t need anything to keep it from sticking.
3. To the pot, add 9 quarts of water, the bouillon cubes, the bay leaves, and pork. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface and discard.
4. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
5. Add the cabbage and continue simmering another 20 minutes. Don’t worry about the cabbage disinergrating. Cabbage has a high water content. The flavor from the cabbage is going into the broth.
6. Add the sauerkraut and barley and simmer another 30 minutes or until the barley is soft.
7. Remove the pot from the burner and let sit about 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with some fresh bread or some saltine crackers. Some people like to serve this soup over cooked potatoes, too! It’s great as is!

Enjoy!

Shef D

SMART POINTS

My grandfather taught me how to make sauerkraut from cabbage just like the generations before him. This soup is awesome with sauerkraut from my basement, but not everyone has access to my basement. As a substitute, I checked on the internet and found what other sauerkraut connoisseurs use for their favorite sauerkraut dish and this is what I found:

Of course you can use any of your favorite brand of sauerkraut, but the soup will be best with sauerkraut made in the old world, European style. I found doing a search online that Gundelsheimer Barrel Sauerkraut is a favorite of many:

Gundelsheimer Barrel Sauerkraut 28.5 oz (It’s available from many online sources if you search the internet).

I see Vlasic makes a Polish style sauerkraut that’s available from Meijer. I personally have not tried either the Vlasic or Gundelsheimer. Gudelsheimer’s is highly recommended on the internet. I’ve used Vlasic Old Fashioned sauerkraut with satisfactory results.