Iced Spinach Soup
May 27, 2013 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews, Vegetables
This Iced Spinach Soup is a good way to add more vegetables to your families diet on a hot day. Cool, refreshing and nutritious. What more could you want?
1 ½ pounds fresh spinach or 1 package frozen spinach
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Cook fresh or frozen spinach as usual. When cool, process in food processor a few pulses until finely chopped.
Add milk, cream, and stock.
Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
Chill thoroughly before serving. Serves 6.
Gazpacho
May 26, 2013 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Appetizers, Soup and Stews, Vegetables

Serve a small glass of Gazpacho as an appetizer or serve with a sandwich or good bread for a light lunch. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Another summer soup served cold. This is a quick and easy version using canned tomato juice. It definitely delivers on flavor.
2 cucumbers, sliced
5 green peppers, diced
½ loaf of hard bread or equal amount of hard rolls, broken into chunks
5 ripe tomatoes, cut up
3 cloves crushed garlic
¼ onion
¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup wine vinegar
3 cups tomato juice or v-8 juice
cayenne pepper and salt to taste
Place cucumbers, green peppers, bread, tomatoes, garlic and onion in large bowl. Add oil, vinegar, water and seasonings.
Refrigerate together at least 24 hours.
Mix in blender and pour into bowl.
Refrigerate a few more hours and serve in chilled bowls.
Top with croutons or fresh chopped vegetable garnish. Serves 8 to 10.
Cream of Tomato Soup
May 26, 2013 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews, Vegetables
This is definitely a gourmet soup when made with fresh ripe tomatoes. You can substitute canned tomatoes when fresh, ripe tomatoes aren’t available. If you are making this to serve later, or expect to have a lot of leftovers for several meals, don’t add the cream until serving time. The cream will curdle if boiled, so re-heat it gently.
5 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 quart chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil to garnish
- Put peeled and chopped tomatoes into a saucepan with the chicken broth.
- Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Be careful with salt as some broths are salty. Remove from heat.
- When ready to serve, add the cream. Garnish with fresh basil.
*Be careful when reheating. Cream will curdle if boiled, reheat gently.
Strawberry Soup
May 25, 2013 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Appetizers, Soup and Stews
Strawberry Soup
Serves 6-8
2 quarts ripe strawberries
juice of 1 lemon
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons minute tapioca
1 cup sweet white wine
Clean and crush the strawberries.
Add the lemon juice, water, tapioca, and sugar.
Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes
Remove from the heat and add the white wine.
Chill thoroughly and serve cold.
Mock Terrapin Soup
May 4, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
Made with lean beef and enriched with real cream and butter, this is a rich soup with lots of flavor.
Mock Terrapin Soup Recipe
3 pounds lean beef
1 pint milk
1 Tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon mace
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 ½ quarts water
1 stick butter
1 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
- Boil the meat and water until reduced by a third.
- Add the milk and butter.
- Remove the meat and grind or chop fine. Return to stock.
- Simmer for 5 minutes more. Add flour dissolved in cream and seasonings. Cook until thickened. Serves 8.
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She Crab Soup Recipes
May 3, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
Easy Southern Cooking/ She-Crab Soup Recipes
Here are 2 different She-Crab Soup recipes. If you are purchasing your crabs whole, look for the first small set of feelers to be feathery (indicating a she-crab, he-crabs have a larger and hard shell on these feelers). The eggs add an extra richness and flavor to this soup. HINT: If you are unable to obtain she-crabs, crumble the yolk of a hard boiled egg into the bottom of the soup bowl.
She-Crab Soup
1 tablespoon butter
1 quart milk
½ cup cream, whipped
few drops of onion juice
1/8 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon flour
2 cups white crab meat and eggs
½ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoon dry sherry
- Melt the butter in top of double boiler and blend with flour until smooth.
- Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Add the crab meat and seasonings.
- Cook slowly in over hot water for 20 minutes.
- Place 1 Tablespoon of Sherry in each of 4 bowls. Add soup and top with whipped cream.
- Garnish as desired with paprika or finely chopped parsley.
South Carolina Style She-Crab Soup
1 pound white crab meat
1 pint milk
1 pint cream
½ stick butter
2 teaspoons sherry
1/8 teaspoon mace
2 strips lemon peel (zest only)
¼ cup cracker crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
- Put milk, mace, and lemon zest in top of a double-boiler over hot water. Simmer for a few minutes until hot.
- Add crab, butter, and cream and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add cracker crumbs, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to stand for a few minutes to develop flavors.
- When ready to serve, add sherry. Serves 6.
Watercress and Corn Soup
May 3, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
This is a delicious and different soup, sure to wow your guests.
Watercress and Corn Soup Recipe
4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon marjoram
2 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
½ cup watercress, chopped finely
3 Tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
Simmer together: broth, parsley, and marjoram for 5 minutes. Add corn and simmer for another 20 minutes. Strain through a course sieve if desired. Stir in watercress and butter just before serving. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Chicken Brunswick Stew
May 3, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
Chicken Brunswick Stew
1 chicken, cut up
1 quart corn
1 quart tomatoes
1 pint okra
1 pint butter beans or limas
2 onions
Salt and pepper to taste
- Boil the chicken until very tender and falling from bones.
- Pull the meat from the bones and cut into cubes. Return to the water in which it was cooked.
- Add vegetables and cook down until a thick mixture. Cook slowly, stirring often to prevent scorching.
- Bread crumbs may be added if needed to thicken.
- I like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, but it is not part of this original recipe.
This is a quick and easy version of Brunswick Stew. For a more traditional recipe see Brunswick Stew Recipe – Liquid Barbecue
Brunswick Stew Recipe – Liquid Barbecue
May 3, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
Easy Southern Cooking/ Brunswick Stew -Soups and Stews
Brunswick Stew -Soups and Stews
On the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia, the favorite soup would be Oyster Stew or She-Crab Soup. Further inland the hands down winner is Brunswick Stew.
The original recipes for Brunswick Stew would have included squirrel, rabbit, and maybe possum (and would feed 250), but I don’t hunt, so….
Here is my recipe: Brunswick Stew- Liquid BBQ!
1 whole chicken, cut up, or mixture of meats as desired
chicken broth, meat broth or boullion
1 onion, quartered
2 ribs celery, diced
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pound white shoepeg corn, frozen
10 oz frozen small lima beans
16 oz can tomatoes
2 small potatoes, cubed
1/3 cup catsup
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Tabasco
¼ teaspoon marjoram
2 Tablespoon butter (optional)
- Place chicken in crockpot and add enough broth or boullion to cover .
- Add onion, celery, salt and pepper. Slow cook 6 hours or until meat comes off bones easily.
- Remove meat to cool and add corn, butterbeans, tomatoes, potatoes, catsup, and vinegar.
- Turn up to high and cook until tender. (1-1 1/2 hour in crockpot)
- Remove meat from bones and add to vegetables along with Worcestershire, Tabasco, marjoram and butter. Cook another 15-20 minutes to meld flavors (or eat right away if you’re in a hurry).
- You can add more or less broth as desired to get the desired soupiness.
- Add cornbread and you have a meal! Serves 6-8.
For a quick and easy version of Brunswick stew, check out this recipe: Chicken Brunswick Stew
The All-time Best Oyster Stew- and its Easy!
May 3, 2012 by Diane Watkins
Filed under Soup and Stews
1 1/2 pints oysters and oyster liquor
5 Tablespoons butter
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
chopped parsley or paprika
Combine oysters and butter in a skillet and cook until the edges curl. Add hot milk and cream and reheat to boiling point but do not boil. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Serve garnished with parsley or paprika. Serves 4-6.
You can use all milk, half and half or all cream, its up to you. The richer the better, if you don’t tell your doctor!