Soup #4 - Split Pea

 The Year of Soup

Soup #4 - Split Pea

    This soup comes to us from the Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook - Fine Old Recipes - Made Famous By The Early Dutch Settlers In Pennsylvania. I've found multiple years which this cookbook was published in, but I have not yet been able to discern which year mine was published. I can tell you though that the original price sticker is on it. It was purchased for $1.39 at The Amish Farm And House at 2395 Lincoln Hwy East, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602. My substitution for this soup was using about 1/4 pound of bacon, diced, in lieu of the ham bone.  I wanted to use a home bone, but that didn't happen.  I liked it with the bacon. It was a good substitute for that meat flavor.  

Ingreidents:

2 cups split peas

3 quarts water

1/4 pound of uncooked bacon, diced (or like the original recipe calls for, a ham bone, cracked)

3 tbsps butter

3 tbsps flour

2 tsps salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 cups milk

fresh or dried parsley for decoration (optional)

Directions:

Wash and soak peas overnight in hot water to cover. Drain, soaked peas in into a large sauce pot and cover with water. Add bacon/ham bone and onion, then cook until peas are soft. Remove the ham bone if using, or if using bacon, remove to a bowl. Use an immersion blender to smooth to blend the peas, Melt butter in saucepan. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Heat until mixture bubbles and add milk gradually. Stirring constantly. Bring to boiling and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes. Blend into the pea mixture and add the bacon back to the pot. Heat thoroughly and serve hot. Serves 12 to 14. 

Split Pea Soup

Soup #3 - Zesty Vegetable Soup

 The Year of Soup

Soup #3 - Zesty Vegetable Soup

    This recipe is based on the Quick and Zesty Vegetable Soup recipe in America's Favorite Brand Name Holiday Recipes from 1997. To start I liked this recipe.  The cook time given in the recipe says "15 minutes". However, it took closer to 30, but still pretty quick. The original recipe calls for ground beef. It also originally calls for 2 13 3/4 oz cans broth. I used ground lamb, because I had some I had gotten on sale and needed to use it. Even though I liked the soup, I would rather use ground beef or turkey next time, as lamb has a distinct flavor that I don't care for. I'll show my modification(s) in italics.

Ingredients:

1lb lean ground beef, ground turkey or ground lamb

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

28oz Italian stewed tomatoes

8 cups vegetable broth

1 17oz can mixed vegetables

1/2 cup medium egg noodles or elbow macaroni

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning

parsley flakes 

Directions:

In a large pot, add onion and ground meat. Cook until the meat is browned and the onion and green pepper are tender. Add salt, pepper and oregano/Italian seasoning. Stir in tomatoes, mixed vegetables, noodles/macaroni and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are tender. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley flakes. Serves at least 8. 

Zesty Vegetable Soup

Zesty Vegetable Soup

Soup #2 - Stracciatella

 The Year of Soup

Soup #2 - Stracciatella

    Straciatella can be three different food items - a creamy cheese, Roman egg drop soup and, chocolate studded gelato. In this case, it's a soup! I stirred the egg mixture too swiftly, so mine didn't turn out as shredded looking as it supposed to be.  I also can't find the picture I took, so I'm using a photo from the Hip Hip Gourmet recipe for the soup. My recipe was in my The Family Circle Encyclopedia of Cooking, published in 1990.  It was super easy to make.  Try it and see if you like it!

Ingredients:

1lb spinach (trimmed and washed) or a 10oz box of frozen spinach 

3 eggs

pinch of salt

pinch of nutmeg

1/4 cup grated parmesan

8 cups chicken broth (I used low sodium broth)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Cook fresh spinach in a large covered saucepan until wilted, or cook frozen spinach following the directions on the box. Either way, you are going to squeeze out as much of the moisture as you can after cooking. Chop spinach. In a bowl, beat eggs with salt and nutmeg. Stir in one cup of the chicken broth. Pour the rest of the broth into a large saucepan. Heat to boiling and slowly pour in the egg mixture, stirring gently. Stir in spinach and lower heat. Add lemon juice and cook for three more minutes, whisking constantly. Serves about 8. 

Stracciatella

Soup #1 - Easy Potato-Corn Chowder

 The Year of Soup

Soup #1 - Easy Potato Corn Chowder

    So, this was a fun recipe. The recipe "Speedy Potato Chowder" is in the Favorite Recipes, Campbell's Creative Cooking With Soup (Over 8,000 Delicious Mix and Match Recipes. The recipe gives you four ingredients and then you select a liquid, canned vegetable and a meat from a chart. For the liquid, I chose milk. For the vegetable, I chose corn. And, for the meat, I chose to use diced potato in lieu of meat. I did also add salt, pepper and paprika to mine. 

   By the way, liquid options were beer & water, milk, milk & light cream and evaporated milk & water. Vegetable options were mixed vegetables, corn, Lima beans and diced carrots. The meat options were hotdogs, chicken, ham and tuna. 

      I'll write out the recipe how I made it. I really enjoyed this chowder. I hope you try it!

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon, diced (feel free to use more)

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used about 1/2 of a medium onion)

2 1/2 cups milk (I used more liquid than the recipe suggests)

1 10 3/4 oz can condensed cream of potato soup

1 15oz can whole kernel corn (The original recipe suggests using an 8oz can; I used low salt)

1 medium russet potato, diced

2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley, plus more for decoration if you wish

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

In a 3qt saucepan over medium heat, heat a tiny bit of oil and add bacon. Cook until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. You can drain the bacon drippings, reserving 1 tbsp. I did not, because I only had a little more than a tbsp. Add the chopped onion and diced potato to the drippings and cook until the potato is somewhat tender; you don't want it super tender, because you're going to keep cooking and that will make it tender. Add milk, corn with it's liquid, the bacon, parsley, salt, pepper and paprika. Cook on low-medium heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. Makes 4 to 6 servings. 

Easy Potato-Corn Chowder

Easy Potato-Corn Chowder

The Year of Casseroles "Review" and 2026 Announcement

 The Year of Casseroles

    Well, 2025 seriously sucked. I want to say "for lack of a better word", but it sucked. I took an early retirement (I left with just over 34 years, and I had wanted 40 years) from the federal government, because of the current administration. And that although I have strong feelings about the current administration, will be all I say about that. 

    Because of my early retirement, I was "out of sorts" for much of the year. Job hunting after 34+ years is tough, and I could not find an office job. I landed with a senior caregiving company, which I am enjoying, although I am not making near enough money right now. There is potential to progress and I like to help people, so I'd like to stick with this. 

So, lets now get to my favorite casserole recipe of the year.  Nothing really stands out, but my top three favorites would be: Casserole #17 - Broccoli Rice Casserole, Casserole #13 - Lemonchick's Scalloped Potato Casserole and Casserole #12 - Ham and Noodle Casserole. 

I do plan to finish the Year of Casseroles this year (Six more to go!), but the big announcement is that 2026 will be the Year of Soup. Stay tuned for yummy (hopefully, lol) soups. 

Kathy

Casserole #18 - Barley Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #18 - Barley Casserole

    This recipe is in my 1990 edition of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook was first published in 1896, titled The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, by Fannie Merritt Farmer. I wanted to try something different and this fit the bill. I liked this casserole; it felt pretty healthy with the use of barley. Serve it as a side dish, or add chunks of chicken to make it a main dish. I did make some modifications, which I will show in italics. Try it and let me know what you think. 

Ingredients:

3 tbs butter

1 cup barley

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper (I used a whole, small green pepper)

1/2 cup cashews, chopped (I used cashews, but leave them out if you like)

3 cups chicken broth, boiling

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

paprika seasoning to taste

3 slices thick cut bacon, diced (optional)

1/2 cup Kerrygold blarney cheese, shredded (this is a creamy Gouda style cheese) (optional)

toasted breadcrumbs (optional)

cornstarch to thicken the sauce, because my dish was very, soup-y when I placed it in a casserole (if desired)

 

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in a large skillet. Stir in barley and onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is slightly cooked. Add the green pepper and cook for two minutes more. Add cashews, followed by the broth and seasonings. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Thicken sauce with cornstarch by mixing together a little water with cornstarch and pouring, while stirring, into the sauce. At this point, you can simply serve from the skillet. Pour into a lightly greased 2-qt casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese, followed by toasted breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly and serve. 

Barley Casserole

Barley Casserole

Casserole #17 - Lemonchick's Broccoli Rice Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #17 - Lemonchick's Broccoli Rice Casserole

    I made up this recipe myself, and I hope you like it. It is simple and I thought pretty tasty. I used a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. You may want to use a 2 quart dish, as the 1 1/2 quart dish was really, full. I give a 30-45 minute window for cooking time; you'll want to keep an eye on the casserole. You want it golden brown on top, not burned!

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 cup Stove Top stuffing mix, crushed or bread crumbs

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese

2 cups cooked white rice

12 oz frozen broccoli, cooked

chili pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook broccoli. Combine rice, broccoli, chicken broth and soups in a large mixing bowl. Stir in seasoning, followed by 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Spray your casserole dish with cooking spray and pour the broccoli and rice mixture into dish. Top casserole with remaining half cup of cheese. Sprinkle with bread crumbs/crushed stuffing mix. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving. Serve with baked chicken or pork. 

Lemonchick's Broccoli Rice Casserole

Lemonchick's Broccoli Rice Casserole

Lemonchick's Broccoli Rice Casserole