Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

• 1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
• 4 cups water
• 4 cubes beef bouillon cube
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) can chopped stewed tomatoes
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a slow cooker, cook chuck roast until very tender (usually 4 to 5 hours on High, but can vary with different slow cookers). Add barley and bay leaf during the last hour of cooking. Remove meat, and chop into bite-size pieces. Discard bay leaf. Set beef, broth, and barley aside.
2. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion, and frozen mixed vegetables until tender. Add water, beef bouillon cubes, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chopped stewed tomatoes, and beef/barley mixture. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Mulligatawny Soup

The name originates from the Tamil words millagai and thanni and can be translated as "pepper-water". Due to its popularity in England during the British Rule of India, it was one of the few items of Indian cuisine that found common mention in the literature of the period. The recipe for mulligatawny varied greatly over the years, therefore there is no single original version. Later versions included British modifications that included meat but the local Indian recipe on which it was based did not. Early references to it in English go back to 1784.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 apple, cored and chopped
• 1/4 cup white rice
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half - cut into cubes
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch dried thyme
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated

Directions

1. Saute onions, celery, carrot, and butter in a large soup pot. Add flour and curry, and cook 5 more minutes. Add chicken stock, mix well, and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1/2 hour.
2. Add apple, rice, chicken, salt, pepper, and thyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until rice is done.
3. When serving, add hot cream.

Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 3 cups cubed potatoes
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups torn kale leaves (bite-size pieces)

Directions

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage into pot; cook and stir until browned, about 10 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
2. Stir half-and-half, potatoes, chicken broth, milk, onion, oregano, and red pepper flakes into sausage, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Season with black pepper; stir kale into soup. Simmer until kale is tender, 10 to 15 more minutes.

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 4 large yellow onions, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry
• 7 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 slices of French bread
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded Emmental cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onions until they become translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle onions with sugar; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until onions are soft and browned, at least 30 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Stir sherry into onion mixture and scrape bottom of pot to dissolve small bits of browned food from the pot. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Season to taste with sea salt; stir in thyme and bay leaf. Cover cooker, set on High, and cook 4 to 6 hours. If desired, set on Low and cook 8 to 10 hours.
3. About 10 minutes before serving, set oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet.
4. Broil bread slices until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
5. Combine Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses in a bowl, tossing lightly. Fill oven-safe soup crocks 3/4 full of onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl. Top with about 2 tablespoons of cheese mixture per serving.
6. Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

Butternut and Apple Harvest Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1/2 cup light cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions, and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
2. Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Once the soup has been pureed, return it to the pot and stir in wine and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper; simmer gently for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped chives.

Apple Cider Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups apple cider
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 large bay leaf
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large McIntosh apple, sliced

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and thyme in a bowl. Toss beef cubes in the flour mixture.
2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown beef cubes on all sides. Combine browned meat, apple cider, water, and cider vinegar in the pot and bring it to a boil. Add bay leaf; reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour.
3. Stir in carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, and apple and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour more.