Tag Archives: Soup

Hardcore Hobbit: Wild Mushroom Soup

Posted on October 26, 2011 | 4 comments

To make up for not posting for so long I have made it a double hardcore hobbit recipe week. Am I forgiven? How about after you taste this soup? It is delicious! It is exactly what I needed after a busy day. I paired it with some light havarti stuffed buns. Omnomnom! In Lotro this soup is made using mushrooms, mixed herbs, and leek stock. Fantastic! The soup was nummy nutritious velvet in a bowl. With the large serving size it was incredibly filling, a great dinner course all on it’s own. What hobbit would protest a dinner with mushrooms as the star? Shall we?

  • 5 cups Hardcore Hobbit Leek Stock
  • 4-5 cups various mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake, portobello, and crimini)
  • 2 tbl soy sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 fl. ounce dry sherry
  1. Combine the ingredients in a crockpot. Do not worry if the mushrooms seem to over power the amount of stock, they will cook down and provide their own liquid.
  2. Cook for 8 hours on low (or stovetop simmer 30- 60 minutes)
  3. Using a handblender or blending in batches process the soup until it is blended. I went with a texture that was blended but not smooth. I liked the variations in colour and texture. That is personal taste, go with what you like! Season with extra salt or pepper as needed. Serve.
  4. Want a tasty variation? My husband topped his soup with fat free sour cream. He even made a ghost on top to celebrate the season. Isn’t it cute? I tasted his variation and it is indeed nummy!!

Makes 5 generous and filling servings. Each serving contains 205 calories, 5 grams fat, 35 grams carbs, 4.7 grams fibre, and 5.9 grams protein. A great fall day treat. Using local mushrooms makes the flavour of those mushrooms sing! When selecting your variety of mushrooms you might want to check out what is local to your particular shire and in season. Every hobbit deserves the best mushrooms they can find.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Leek Stock

Posted on October 24, 2011 | 6 comments

My first weekend at yoga teacher training was a crazy one but a great one! I met a whole bunch of awesome new people AND I worked a couple of really tasty recipes on the side. Epic win! I made this mostly in the crockpot while I was away at training, so it’s perfect for you other busy hobbits out there. In LOTRO leek stock is made with leeks, water and shire taters. I love the smell of this stock, it certainly picked up my spirit when I walked in the door. Look at all those beautiful leeks!

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 2 tbl butter
  • 3 medium leeks, thinly sliced, white/light coloured parts only
  • 4 small potatoes, cubed
  • 5 cups water
  • salt and pepper
  1. Heat a pan to medium high. Add the butter, swirling it around to coat the pan.
  2. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onions begin to caramelize.
  3. Add the leeks, cook for about 1 or two minutes. Stirring constantly.
  4. Pour into a crockpot.
  5. Add the potatoes and water. Heat the crockpot for 8 hours on low. You can do this faster by just adding the ingredients to a stock pot and heating over the stove for 30-45 minutes on medium high. Make sure the potatoes are tender before serving.

Makes 5 super generous servings. Each serving contains 180 calories, 4.9 grams fat, 32 grams carbs, 4 grams fibre, and 3.7 grams protein. This is a great soup base! A great departure from the same old veggie soup base that most vegetarians can get stuck with. You can use lighter butter substitutes for this soup but I found that full fat butter really helped those leeks along flavour wise.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Chicken Carrot Soup

Posted on April 4, 2011 | 4 comments

So, here we are, all drenched from those april showers. It is still so cold out there! Must comfort our little hobbit selves with a bit of soup I say. In LOTRO chicken carrot soup is made from carrots, green onion, and chicken stock. To do something different with the soup I added some matzo or matza balls to it instead of noodles, rice, etc. All I did was use a mix and drop them in during the last 20 minutes of cooking. So delicious. If you havent’ tried matzo balls before you should really give them atleast one chance. They are delicious and filling! My husband has been asking when I plan to cook with them again. One day I will definitely have to make some of my own, for now I trust the mix. Another fun addition was the use of “carrot noodles” they make it so the carrot flavour is everywhere in the soup but more fun texture wise.

  • 3 medium carrots
  • 6 cups hardcore hobbit chicken stock
  • 150 grams shredded cooked chicken (may already be in your stock)
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tbl italian seasoning
  • 10 matzo balls (optional)
  1. Using a peeler shave the carrots into noodles. Cut the length if they are longer than desired.
  2. Add all the ingredients except the matzo balls to a crockpot. Cook low for 6-8 hours.
  3. Add matzo balls during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Makes 5 servings. Nutritional info does not include the matzo balls as they are optional. Each serving contains 66 calories, .6 gram of fat, 4.7 grams carbs, 1.2 grams of fibre, and 10.4 grams of protein. These servings are pretty big too! About 2 cups of broth and carrots. Plenty of room for a couple of matzo balls I say!

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Butternut Squash Soup

Posted on April 1, 2011 | 2 comments

My first taste of butternut squash soup was at a marche restaurant in Toronto. I was so blown away by its creaminess and flavour I worked hard to recreate it. I think I’ve come close and on top of that it is completely healthy. Theirs probably had cream in it but I have found that this recipe just doesn’t need it. It is tasty and creamy all on its own. Pair this with some fresh baked bread and you really have a heavenly meal. It’s a favourite of mine really, especially when it is cold and rainy. Which happens often out here!

  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
  • 2 lbs butternut squash, cubed
  • 1 bartlett pear, cored and chopped
  • 6 cup water or chicken stock
  • 2 purple basil leaves, chopped finely
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and leeks. Saute until carmelization occurs.
  2. Add the squash, pear, stock or water, basil and pie spice. Season with some salt and pepper. Allow to simmer until the squash and pear are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  3. Puree the soup using a hand blender or in batches in a regular blender until it is smooth.
  4. Reheat the soup and serve.

Makes 8 large portions. Each portion (about 2 cups) is 72 calories, .8 gram fat, 4.4 grams fibre, 17.2 grams carbs, 1.3 grams protein. Calculated if water is used instead of stock. If you need a bit of extra creaminess a dollop of fat free sour cream is excellent in this. I don’t usually do that, made for a pretty picture though!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Chicken Stock

Posted on January 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

A bit of a later day post than usual today. It was a Brrrraaaargh day out there today….meaning it was cold and crazy busy. Well, I can’t think of a better time to put up a less complicated and comforting hardcore hobbit. This is an ingredient recipe in the game and real life really. Having a good soup stock in my freezer is definitely a must, be it chicken, vegetable, beef, turkey, etc. Let’s face it soup rocks. It makes you feel better when sick, full for low calories and fat, warms you up on a cold day…and in some cases cools you down on a hot day. In the game chicken stock is made from water, green onions, and chicken. Simple enough really…and oh so tasty.

  • chicken carcass from roasted chicken (hehe I got to say carcass in a recipe) with bits of leftover chicken
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1 tbl dried parsley
  • 2 tbl white wine
  • 6-8 cups of water
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Place all in a crockpot and allow to cook on low for 8 hours.
  2. Allow to cool, skim the fat off the top, remove bones, and store for future num.

Makes 6-8 cups of chicken stock. The recipe really varies given your volume of leftover chicken bits. I had about 1 cup of chicken bits. I got about 8 cups of stock from my attempt. Each serving of one cup came out to 31.7 calories, .2 grams of fat, and .1 grams of fibre.

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Turkey Noodle Soup

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

When it’s been a rainy mess all week it is so nice to come home to an already bubbling crockpot full of soup. This works really well with my turkey broth recipe as a base. Just another way to use up those leftovers in an oh so tasty way and warm your core temp. I usually make a turkey barley soup from my broth but this time I wanted to do something a little different. Besides, why should chicken continually hog the noodle love? Selfish, selfish chicken.

  • 4 small sweet gourmet carrots (if you can get them, if not any carrot will do)
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 8 cup turkey broth
  • 1 cup turkey meat shredded or cut up
  • 112 gram no yolk egg noodles
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp poultry spice
  1. Slice up the veggies, add even more if you like. Can’t hurt! Room for variation here.
  2. Add all of the ingredients to your crockpot.
  3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This makes approximately 8 1.5 cup servings. Each serving contains 113 calories, 1.9 gram fat, and 1.6 gram fibre. This is a lovely filling meal, served with a nice bun and salad you have yourself a great comforting feast! I couldn’t believe how full I was after that. I’m thinking the noodles played a part in that one. Num!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Lamb and Barley Soup

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

Now that I have that lovely lamb stock it’s time to make something of it! So many of the recipes in the game have more than one level of prep to them. Again, this one is no exception. The result though is totally worth it! This soup was a success, I was so proud that this soup was built from the ground up. No idea why but that always gives me a puffed up ego for a day or so. I’ll just write it off as the power of soup. Soup, that mysterious semi liquid food that can be both fancy or humble, warm or cool, but always does the trick. Anyways, we aren’t here to read about me waxing poetic about soup now are we? In the game Lamb and barley soup contains: barley (shock!), mixed herbs, and lamb stock. After all the hard work we put into the stock making the soup is so delightfully easy. Now, On to the nummy recipe!

  • 5-6 cups lamb stock
  • 1/2 cup pearl barley
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 potatoes, diced
  • 1/4 tsp each rosemary, thyme, parsley (poultry spice mix can be a great substitution)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine ingredients in pot. Cover. Boil for 30 minutes.
  2. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Told you it was easy! This soup serves 4. Each serving contains 249 calories, 3.1 grams of fat, and 7.5 grams of fibre. I know that barley sounds like a lot. We just prefer it that way. We love our hearty barley soups around here. If you prefer less just cut that barley amount in half and you should be good to go. Wondering what those buns are on the side? They are the potato buns I posted in april. I made them in a muffin pan this time to make them pop up like a biscuit. Definitely a tasty side dish for dunking in the soup.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Lamb Stock

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

It was one rainy weekend over here at the hungry hobbit hole! My favourite thing to have when its rainy out is a nice warming soup. Any good soup you put out there deserves to have a great base to build on. So it’s worth putting a bit of effort into making a homemade stock one and awhile. Since you can’t pick up lamb stock off most supermarket shelves around here, that can also be motivation enough to get into it. This particular lamb stock took inspiration from the stock made in Lord of the rings online for so many other recipes. In the game the stock is made from a rack of lamb, royal taters, and water. In my case I used lamb chops since I had them on hand. Oh my! Tasty stock! This one has been my favourite stock experiment so far.

  • 1 lb lamb chops
  • 2 small carrots, quartered
  • 1 potato, quartered
  • 1 large onion, quartered (and I do mean large)
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, halved
  • cooking spray, buttery (optional)
  1. This is an optional step I took. Take your quartered onion wedges, spray with cooking spray. Roast under the broiler until a golden brown. If you choose to skip this step just toss the onions into the stock pot.
  2. Add all the ingredients to the stock pot and cover with water (5-6 cups approximately)
  3. Cover and slowly simmer on low for 2 hours. It should begin to look like this:
  4. Skim the foam and oil off the top. Remove the solid ingredients.
  5. Trim the bones and fat off the meat. Add the meat back to the broth. I had about 7 oz of shredded meat added back to the stock. This is ready for soup making!

This makes about 5 cups of stock. Each cup of stock contains 65 calories, 2.5 grams of fat and no fibre. It is not the lowest fat stock out there but it sure is satisfying and tasty. A delicious base for soup that requires very little additional seasoning. Just add some veggies, spices and go! Tomorrow I will post the soup that I made from this stock, another hardcore hobbit recipe ofcourse!

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Wonton Soup

Posted on May 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

I had mentioned that you can make wonton soup from those gyoza the other day. It is so simple and so tasty. I consider this almost one of those recipes without a recipe like Micheal Smith does. Once you have the base for the wonton soup you can build it up any way you want.

  • 4 cups low salt chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbl soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup chopped bok choy (I like baby best)
  • 4 tbl sliced green onions
  • 16 frozen gyoza (see previously posted recipe)
  1. Combine broth, water and soy sauce in a pot. Bring to a boil.
  2. Add the gyoza and bok choy. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. Serve topped with a tablespoon on green onions.

This makes four servings of soup (broth and four dumplings). Each serving contains 125 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 1 gram of fiber.

That covers the base of the soup. Beyond that you can add all sorts of things. I have seen wonton soup with thin slices of bbq pork, broccoli florets, carrots, celery, bean sprouts, cabbage, and even a poached egg! Just add those calories and such to your base soup and go nuts creating your own house style wonton soup.

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Carrot Ginger Soup

Posted on April 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

Alright time to take a break from all that dim sum and get some veggies in! This is another one of my hardcore hobbit project recipes. In the game the carrot soup calls for carrots and pork broth. Well in an effort to make things lighter I went with chicken broth instead. I’m sure the hobbits will forgive me. This is a tasty, quick, and easy soup to whip up for lunch. So simple and has approximately three servings of veggie in it. Can’t go wrong there.

  • 3 carrots, chopped, 1 inch pieces
  • 1 tsp ginger (add more if you want more kick)
  • 1 cup chicken broth, reduced sodium
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbl basil
  • garlic (optional for more kick)
  • pinch of sea salt
  • ground pepper to taste
  1. Place all the ingredients into a pot. Heat on high until you reach boiling. Lower to medium and allow the carrots to simmer until they are fork tender.
  2. Use an immersion blender to blend soup until smooth or blend in batches in a blender.
  3. Serve.
  4. For super easy version: Place ingredients in a 4 cup measuring cup. Heat in the microwave 2 minutes at a time until carrots are fork tender. Blender in batches. Serve.

I wasn’t kidding when I said easy. With added ginger this soup has a really nice kick to it. Paired with a nice bread this is a tasty lunch. This recipe makes one hearty serving, it multiplies well for more. Each serving contains 90 calories, 0.6 grams of fat, and 5.3 grams of fiber. I ate this soup hours ago with a couple of my potato buns and I’m still not hungry. I suggest adding a bit of curry powder and garam masala to make it a curried ginger carrot soup, it is excellent! Play with the herbs, this soup is great for experimenting. Use veggie stock to make it vegetarian.

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Posted in Lunch, The Hardcore Hobbit

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