Southwestern Chicken Fricassee Recipe

My parents gave me this great bowl set for my birthday over a month ago but I was waiting to come up with something suitable for them.  I wanted something Southwestern to match the festive colors but also something that reminded me of my childhood.  One of my favorite dishes that my mom made when I was a kid was chicken fricassee.  So I took a Southwestern spin on chicken fricassee.
Southwestern Chicken Fricassee
Servings:  6 
Ingredients
2 Tbsp oil
6 chicken thighs
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
4 cups cream of garlic soup
For the Cream of Garlic Soup
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup coarse chopped garlic
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 shallot, coarsely chopped 
3 slices bread, crusts removed and cubed
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1 egg
1/4 cup half and half or cream
Instructions
Preheat a wide bottomed pan and a large skillet over medium heat.  
Add 2 Tbsp oil to the pan and saute the garlic, bell pepper, and shallot for 2 minutes.  
Add the bread, toss to coat in the oil and continue cooking another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Stir in the broth, pepper, oregano and pepper flake.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile work on the chicken - season the chicken thighs with the salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic.
Add 2 Tbsp oil to the skillet and brown the chicken thighs skin side down.  This took about 5 minutes for me to get a nice golden color.
Flip and sear the other side for 2 minutes. 
Add the 1 1/2 cups broth, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and braise for 25 minutes or until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 175f (I like my thighs done well).
Back to the soup - after 15 minutes, whisk the soup mixture rapidly for 1 minute to break up all of the bread into a smooth consistency.  Simmer for another 5 minutes.
Slightly beat the egg in a large bowl.  Whisk 1 1/2 cups of the hot soup into the egg.  Now whisk this mixture back into the rest of the soup.  
Stir in the cream, taste for seasoning, and remove from heat. 
Put it all together - Drain all but 1/2 cup of the juice from the chicken pan.  Add in enough of the cream of garlic soup to come up to the edges of the thighs.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 more minutes.
Serve in bowls with plenty of the flavorful soup mixture.  
Notes
For a full meal and nice presentation, serve with a timbale of yellow rice and peas.
The cream of garlic soup is great on its own too!
If you like a spicier soup base, double the red pepper flake, add chipotle pepper, or use red serrano or jalapeno instead of red bell pepper.

How To Cook Sort Of An Original Cabbage Soup

Cabbage soup recipes should be tasting and interesting and not bland and boring. That may be partly why cabbage is used as a staple in many cultures. It's nutritious for sure and inexpensive as well especially in season. Weight loss is part of the association with cabbage soup too. How come? Well it lends it's name to a diet that has been around for years. It's a quick weight loss diet that actually has the soup as a key, essential part but there's more to it than soup for sure.
Cabbage soup forms a staple and basic part of the diet of many regions. That's partly because cabbages grow so well in many colder climates and are also easy to get and cheap too. Cabbage can be used in so many ways and soup is only one of the ways. In soup one of the reasons for cabbage is that it's a great filler that still is high in nutrition. With soup the cabbage can be combined with so many other foods to turn the dish into a variety of textures, looks and tastes too. It's a versatile ingredient, cabbage, and one used in many cultures on a regular basis especially in the cool months of the year.
Sort Of An Original Cabbage Soup Recipe
1 head cabbage
6 carrots
5 stalks celery
2 bell peppers
3 large tomatoes
6 spring onions
6 medium onions
4 oz uncooked brown rice salt
Slice the vegetables into small pieces. Place in a large pot and add cold water to cover. Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for ten minutes. Cover and then simmer on low heat until the ingredients are soft. This should take about 15 minutes or so.While the soup is simmering, cook the rice. Add rice to the soup when the soup is cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
The cabbage soup diet plan continues to be used partly because it gives you plenty of different things to eat and it's not some starvation plan. It's easy to stay full. However, the real reason the plan works is the foods you eat are sure to be such that you eat a low amount of calories and fats too. By severely limiting calorie intake, it's certain that you will drop weight at the end of the week. This is certainly not any sort of long-term eating plan. It's deficient in several ways. However it may have a place as part of a long-range weight loss and fitness program. That's because real sustainable weight loss is so slow that it's hard to stay motivates when the results are so difficult to see. Mixing in some fast results may help with the motivation department more than anything else.

Asparagus Soup Recipe

In this artcile I will show you how to prepare  Asparagus Soup recipe the easy way. Thick asparagus spears can be stringy; make sure the ones you buy are only about as wide as a pencil. If not, pare them down with a vegetable peeler. There's no cream in this soup; the potato does the job. Makes 4 servings (can easily be doubled). Follow the directions:
Asparagus Soup
INGREDIENTS :
Nonstick spray
2 ouncesprosciutto, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, slivered
12 ouncesYukongold or other yellow fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 teaspoons chopped parsley leaves or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon stemmed thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups (1 quart) chicken broth
1 poundplus4 ounces(20 ounces) thin asparagus spears, peeled and cut into 1-inch segments
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, preferably white pepper
1 small scallion, green part only, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS :
Spray a large chef 's knife with nonstick spray, then chop the prosciutto into small pieces. Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add 1 teaspoon canola oil, then the prosciutto. Fry until crispy, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Heat a large saucepan or small Dutch oven over medium heat. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds.
Add the potatoes, parsley, and thyme; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Pour in the broth, scrape up any browned bits on the pan's bottom, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.
Add the asparagus, cover, and continue simmering until the potatoes and asparagus are quite soft when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper.
Transfer the soup to a large food processor fitted with a chopping blade or into a large blender. You may have to work in batches if your appliances are small. Process or blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure everything is pureed. Return the soup to the saucepan. Alternatively, use an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the pot.
Bring back to a low simmer over low heat. Check to see if the soup needs any additional salt. To serve, ladle into bowls; top with fried prosciutto bits and sliced scallions.