Creamy Clam and Smoked Sausage Chowder (Gluten Free)

Springtime weather in the Pacific Northwest is kind of schizophrenic. One day, you’re reaching for sunglasses to shield your eyes from the brilliant sunshine, and the next day you’re donning your parka to brave the driving wind and rain. Yesterday, we had sun, rain, wind, hail, then more sun, rain, wind, and hail. Mother Nature is a mystery out here, that’s for sure.

On a gastronomic level, that mystery means that one day you could be craving salad and lemonade, and the next day steaming bowls of soup and hot cider. I’m a year round soup girl anyway, so with the bizarre weather of late, I’ve been enjoying lots of soup.

Chowders are such a great genre of soup. Hearty enough to stand alone as a meal, they are super choice to eat when you want something filling, but not heavy ... if you know what I mean.

Since we are gluten free here, I prepare chowder without flour. I actually find that chowders taste significantly better when not weighted down with flour. A little bit of cornstarch along with real cream provides clean flavors along with a gorgeous consistency.

Today’s recipe is the result of using up some pantry and fridge items I had, including some leftover grilled smoked sausage. The end result was so good. My littlest clam lover ate two huge bowls in a single sitting.

See how creamy it is? Take a look and let me know what you think:

Creamy Clam and Smoked Sausage Chowder (Gluten Free)

3 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
3 large, all purpose potatoes, peeled and diced small (about 2 heaping cups)
Seasoned Salt
½ cup cooked smoked sausage, cubed (ham would be good, too)
3 slices cooked bacon, broken in big pieces
1 8oz bottle clam juice
2 cans chopped clams (not minced)
1 cup cream
½ cup whole or 2% milk
1 scant tbsp corn starch

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over med high heat. Add onions and sausage. Cook gently until onions just start to soften. Next, add the potatoes. Season with seasoned salt.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are just starting to turn golden, not quite 5 minutes. Add the bacon, and cook for another minute. Add the clam juice, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 – 20 minutes. Stir in the clams (undrained) and cream. In a measuring cup, whisk the milk and corn starch together, then add to the pot. Continue simmering the chowder for another 5 minutes or until it has thickened up.

Enjoy. Make yummy noises. By the way, this tastes even better the next day.

Tantalizing and Tangy – Ground Beef and Sauerkraut Soup (It's Gluten Free, too!)

Part of my re-education on eating good food includes incorporating fermented and pickled vegetables into my diet. I’m on a quest to learn how to make my own fermented cabbage, kimchi, and sauerkraut. As comfortable as I am in the kitchen, I know ZIP about fermenting and pickling. And I mean Zippo, Zero, Zilch! I’m an eager student, though, and would welcome any and all help from you as to how to proceed. Please ... someone ... anyone? Anyone else interested in dabbling in pickling? We could learn together! Hmmm ... there is always YouTube!

In the meantime, I found this awesomely awesome ground beef and sauerkraut soup recipe at Kalyn’s Kitchen. If you’ve not visited Kalyn before, please take a moment to do so now. She authors an amazing blog full of really terrific recipes. I’ve made many a dish from her repertoire, and I’m always satisfied with the results. This bowl of goodness is no exception. As we all do with each other’s recipes, I tweaked this just a bit by adding some rice and modifying the procedures. The final product was so terrific, so tantalizing and tangy, that I’ll be adding this super soup to my regular weekly homemade soup rotation.I used my new "go to" meat ... ground beef from grass fed/pasture raised beef ... and jarred sauerkraut. The end result was like a tangy cabbage roll. Have you ever made Italian Beef using jarred pepperocini? You know how the pepperocini brine adds a certain somethin’-somethin’ to it? Well, the sauerkraut does the same thing here. While plain chopped cabbage would make a wonderful soup, the sauerkraut kicks it up a notch or two with additional depth of flavor. I just adore it.

Here’s the recipe adapted from Kalyn’s. In addition to slightly altering the ingredients, I modified the cooking procedure, too. I think you'll love it. Like many recipes here at It's All Gouda, this is gluten-free, all the way, baby!

Ground Beef and Sauerkraut Soup

1 lb. very grass fed/pasture raised ground beef
3 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups homemade chicken stock
2 14 oz. cans beef broth (Note: I didn’t have any beef broth, so I used 3 cups chix broth and 1 cup water)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 14 oz. jar sauerkraut with juice
1 additional cup water
1 T brown sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 dried bay leaves
3 T minced parsley
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 cup cooked rice
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Seasoned salt (if desired)

In large dutch oven, heat the olive oil, adding ground beef breaking into small pieces with turner. When almost done browning, add the onion and garlic. Saute just a couple of minutes to soften. Drain if needed (I didn’t have any fat in the pan). Next, add the chicken and beef stocks, canned tomatoes, sauerkraut, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, parsley and sage. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for one hour. After 1 hour, add additional water. Cook for an additional hour. Add the cooked rice about ½ hour or so before the soup is done. Season with pepper and seasoned salt if desired.Isn’t it pretty? Are you tantalized? Um, I won’t ask if you’re tangy. Too much information. Back to the soup ... I love how it smells! I love how it tastes! I find the two hour simmering really breaks down the meat in a very favorable way. I enjoy the ratio of broth to filling here, too. All in all, a very tangy tummy tantalizer!

PS: On another subject, it’s CYO basketball season here at It’s All Gouda. My youngest daughter has decided to leap into the frenzy this year. Although her first love is soccer, she’s having a great time playing hoops.Uh, sweetie, this is what we call a foul. Yep, that’s my daughter, #4, enthusiastically wrapping all 55 lbs of herself around the player in possession of the ball. Yeh, the refs called it. After the game, she told me that she fouled her on purpose to stop the play. I’d say she succeeded. :-) Love it! Oh, and she doesn't just dish it out ... she takes it, too.Check out the forearm to her back! The coaches are really good about correcting both of these moves. This is 5th grade, recreational level play, and the kids are all learning how to play. It's SO MUCH FUN watching them spread their wings! They are having a great time on the court!

It Needs a New Name: Homemade Chicken and Rice Noodle Soup!

If you could have your dream job, what would it be? No limits here, let’s just assume that you have every quality and skill bestowed upon man. What job would you pick? Would you go for a high profile job? A behind the scenes job? Would you be an action hero? An artist? A rock star? A painter? A writer? An Accountant? An Olympic Athlete? A hair stylist? A cabinet maker? A farmer? A rancher? A park ranger? Adog trainer? A scientist? An archeologist? A musician? An actress? A preacher? A teacher? A ... A ... ???

Did you answer right away? Or are you leaning your head to the side, index finger tap tapping your chin, emanating lots of “hmms” as you mentally scroll through the possibilities? I always thought it would be fun to be in the travel industry, tooling around the world ranking hotels, restaurants, cruises, beaches, etc. Then again, I’ve also often wondered who names things? That’s a cool gig. For example, who picks the moniker for the latest and greatest crayon color? And what brainy person picked the illustrious name, H1N1, for the latest flu bug? Did the first guy who called it swine flu get dismissed? Was there a flu naming show down? Will there be a film at 11 about this?

With two girls in school, I’m being inundated with flu prevention notices from school. That nasty H1N1 is getting closer and closer to home and I’m sure it’s just a matter of minutes before some poor student at our school gets it and shares the love with the entire student body. The school has upped it’s prevention tactics by installing hand sanitizer dispensers about every 2 feet, and parents have been advised to keep their kids home if they show anything other than perfect health. My homeschooled son, who you’d think would be at lesser risk than my girls, has actually been exposed to the virus because 2 boys on his soccer team have confirmed cases of it, plus 1 boy who is sick but hasn’t gone to the doctor as of yet. A sibling of a gal in my youngest’s class has a confirmed case, too. The phrase “you can run, but you can’t hide” comes to mind. My older daughter’s class had 6 kids absent today, and my youngest one’s class had 5 out. G.R.E.A.T.

My wee one was one of the five absent. Said sickie woke up at 6:45 am this morning complaining of a sore throat, aches and pains, and extreme fatigue. So, back to sleep she went, and she stayed asleep until 12:04 pm. So, what’s a mama bear to do? Well, feed her the age old cure all ... homemade chicken soup.What makes today’s soup post-worthy is that it’s made with rice noodles. While I LOVE homemade noodles, especially the thick ones, I’ve found that these rice babies are actually easier to digest particularly when dealing with upset tummies and overall malaise. While I like chicken and rice soup, there’s something special about eating noodles. This is a very easy soup to prepare, especially because it involves just 3 steps: Step one: Making the liquid part of the soup; Step two: Deboning the cooked chicken; and Step three: Making and adding the rice noodles. It’s really easy.

I implore you to give this a try. It’s good for the soul. It’s good for the tummy. It’s good for the taste buds. It’s ... well, it’s good! Now I just need to come up with a good name for it. Something really witty. Any suggestions?

Ingredients:

2 generous tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken thighs
½ large onion, chopped medium dice
2 large carrots, sliced medium thin
1 ½ quarts chicken stock
1 quart water
2 teaspoons chicken base (I used Better than Bouillon brand, organic)
1 garlic clove, sliced super-d-duper thin
1 tablespoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon dill
½ teaspoon celery salt (I was out of celery so I tried this ... yum!)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package Asian rice noodles, vermicelli style

In a large stock pot, turn the heat to medium high. When the pan just starts to get hot, add the oil, onion and carrots. Remember, hot pan – cold oil – food won’t stick. Let those veggies start to wilt just a bit, about 2 minutes, then add the chicken, skin side down. Try to make four wells in the veggies so that the chicken skin comes in contact with the bottom of the pan. Let those sit for a minute or two. Then add the broth, water, chicken base, garlic, parlsey, dill, celery salt, and ginger. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover tightly, and simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Remove the four pieces of chicken to a bowl and let cool slightly. Start to make the noodles according to package directions.

Let’s talk about those noodles for a second. This is the one that I use. You can find rice noodles in the Asian section of your grocery store.That they are gluten free is an added bonus.See what they look like? White in color, but sort of translucent, too. They are very brittle in this dried form, and near impossible to pull apart.Once they hit the hot water, though, it’s barely 8 minutes until they are ready to eat. Do NOT overcook these babies.Since the noodles are super long, I just take my shears and cut them up right in the water. Easy peasy. I do recommend draining and rinsing these babies, as the water is starchy. Be sure to use a mesh strainer because these noodles are so thin that they will slide right through a traditional strainer.

While the noodles are getting ready, debone and de-skin (is that a word?) the chix thighs. Put the meat right back into the pot, along with any juices that accumulated in the bowl. When I was a kid, my Italian grandma used to put the skin back in the soup, too. Everyone slurped it up without a second thought, and no one had any cholesterol problems. Of course, the birdies of today are a far cry from the chickens of my youth. Did your grandma have any cooking habits that are now a thing of the past?Stir the strained noodles right into the pot. The soup is now finished. You’ll note that I didn’t add any salt. The soup gets all the sodium it needs from the soup base.The broth is a gorgeous golden color and very full flavored. This will taste even better the next day.Here’s my little sickie poo eating her soup. Um, doesn’t everyone eat their soup in pasta bowls? Yeah, that’s what I thought. She perked right up after filling her tummy with two large bowls of the noodley goodness.Isn’t this a pretty soup? It’s not fancy, but my gosh it is so good. Not too strong flavored and not too bland, it’s perfectly seasoned which is nice if you’re feeling under the weather. It’s got all the healing and comforting properties of soup, and really hits the spot.

So, now it just needs a really snazzy name. Help me think of one, will you? Perhaps I need to rethink that dream job again. Wait, I have it already. It’s called “mom” and the pay is great! (You saw that coming, right? ... Yeah, I know you were thinking "rock star" for me, but this mom stuff is a pretty good gig!)

Butt Ugly 13 Bean Soup – It’s Yummy!

Yep, you read that title correctly. Based on the title alone, I bet you just want to dig in and eat this don't you? There’s no getting around the fact that this soup will not win any beauty contests. It will, however, sweep yummy bowl awards for terrific taste. It’s gluten free, too.

A few weeks ago, while visiting Bob’s Red Mill store, I was seduced ... yes SEDUCED by all the lovely bags of beans they offered for sale.This particular bag caught my eye. Have you ever bought a bag of multi-type beans before? When I saw this, I thought it might be a great $ saver because I wouldn’t have to purchase larger quantities of individual bean bags. All that was in the bag was legumes ... no spice packet, no dehydrated this or that, no additives of any kind. While I liked that it was simply legumes, my little voice urged me to proceed with caution. I ignored my little voice. Bad, Paula. Bad, bad, bad. What can I say, I’m weak.But how could I resist them? Just look at them! As you can see, they look terrific. They looked great in the bag, but even better on my tray. Despite purchasing them from a quality company, I still manually looked over the beans just in case a pebble or two snuck into the bag during processing. No rocks in this batch. After sorting, I rinsed them thoroughly, and let them sit soak in water overnight.See the difference in size after soaking? These can’t be eaten yet though. They still require cooking.

While I really loved the concept of having multiple beans in a one-stop-shop-bag, my excitement faded once the cooking process began. First of all, since these legume babies are all different shapes and sizes, they cook at different rates. DUH! I knew it, I knew it, but I didn’t pay attention to my little voice. Get’s me in trouble EVERY time.

What happened next is simply chemistry. The beans cooked at different rates. The lentils, for example, completely disintegrated by the time the kidney beans were done. But all was not lost, the flavor is wonderful. I mean really, really good. It just looks butt ugly.In fact, when I went to take the photos, I placed a rosemary sprig on top for garnish first. My daughter told me to give it up, there was nothing I could do to make the soup look better. Little stinker. Of course, she was shoveling soup in her mouth at the time, and then requested seconds, so I choose to overlook her critique. I’ll spare you her descriptive word interpretation of the color of this soup. Of course, if you care to guess her choice of vocabulary, I won’t stop you. Hint: It also begins with a ‘b’.13 Bean Soup

2 cups dried beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight, then rinsed and drained (you’ll end up with a ton of beans – don’t be fooled, most of them melt away into the broth)
3 T olive oil
1 lb smoked sauced – diced
4 carrots - diced
1 onion – diced
2 garlic cloves – minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
2 T dried parsley
1 fresh sprig rosemary
2 large sage leaves
1 can chicken broth
8 cups water
½ teaspoon black pepper
hearty shake red pepper
seasoned salt
salt

In a large stock pot, heat the oil over med high heat. Add the sausage and sauté until browned. Add the carrots and onions, stirring up any browned bits in the pan, and sauté for about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, taking care not to burn it. Add the broth, water, thyme, ginger, parsley, rosemary, sage, black pepper, and red pepper. Cook for about 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Season with seasoned salt and salt. Remove rosemary stem (the leaves will have come off) and the sage leaves. Serve hot. This is a hearty soup great for Fall weather (Of course, it's 96 here today. Hello? Why is Summer landing on the first day of Fall?)

Despite all the asthetic strikes against it, it really is absolutely delicious. Are there any foods you eat that look awful but taste great? Let’s hear about them!

Beef Vegetable Soup and Pasta (It’s gluten free, too!)

Mmm ... soup. Now that the crisp morning air is kissing our noses, it’s time to transition to “warm me up” foods. In the Gouda household, that means soup time! Mmm, mmm, mmm. Soupy, soupy, soupy! I love the stuff and at the risk of sounding morbid, am pretty confident that Soup Maker could serve as my epitaph. I make a lot of soup. A lotta soup a lot.

For those of us navigating our way through the new world of eating gluten free, we find ourselves revamping tried and true recipes. Now you gluten eaters stay with me, cuz this is really good. Take today’s recipe, for example. Beef vegetable soup over pasta. In our gluten eating days, I would have floured the beef, browned it, etc. as part of the recipe.Now a days, I skip the flouring part and stick with direct, clean flavors. I’m really, really pleased with the end result. Even more so, so is my souper girl who can’t eat wheat. When I made this yesterday, I was after a beefy flavored soup that would be complimented with yet not usurped by vegetables. You’ll not see either peas or green beans in this version. While I LOVE those Kermit colored veggies in my soup, their flavors are more prominent than what I shooting for. I also used V8 juice instead of tomatoes because my littlest doesn’t really enjoy bits of tomato in her soup. Silly girl. I ended up topping my portion with a lovely roasted tomato relish I made a couple days ago. No photo, though, sorry. Next, my older kids were clamoring for pasta, specifically the rice pasta that we enjoy around here. So, I decided to combine the two. Voila ... successful flavor marriage.Let’s make some soup, shall we!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 lbs of beef, cubed (I made mine smallish, around ½ to ¾”)
1 onion, diced medium
4 long carrots, sliced ¼ in rounds
1 clove garlic minced
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
1 cans beef broth (I used Swanson’s)
2 cans chicken broth (I used Swanson’s)
2/3 cup V8 juice
1 additional can of beef broth
3 cups of diced potatoes (from my garden garbage-can-potatoes!)
1/2 cup corn
Seasoned salt
Pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
Cooked shaped pasta, buttered and splashed with a little olive oil – I used gluten free rice pasta - fusilli shapeHeat a large stock pot over medium high heat, and add the oil. Immediately add the beef cubes taking care not to crowd them. Season the beef with seasoned salt and pepper, and saute the beef for a few minutes making sure to brown on all sides. Add the onion, stir to scrape up any fond on the bottom, and sauté for about a minute. Add the carrot and sauté for another minute or two. Stir in the garlic, then the celery. You should be able to smell the garlic right away. Add the 1 can of beef broth, 2 cans of chicken broth, and V8 juice. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add another can of broth and bring back to a boil. Add the potatoes, corn, and seasonings, and cook for another ½ hour.
Place cooked pasta in a large soup bowl. Spoon soup on top. Make yummy noises.

What foods are you making now that Fall is in the air?

Mon Petite Chou ... My Little Cabbage ...Cabbage Roll Soup that is!

Do you ever equate a certain food to your friends? Years ago, one of the first friends that hubbyman and I made upon moving to Oregon was a lovely couple who had moved here from Poland. Their vibrant verbal exchanges with each other always entertained me, especially when they would slip very naturally into their native language. Growing up around Italians, I was used to being in the company of others whose first language was not English, so even though I didn’t speak Polish, I could follow their conversations based on years of experience. In addition to speaking Polish, my friends were also fluent in French, Russian, German, and English. Oh, how I wish I had learned multiple languages growing up! Anyway, it always cracked me up that one of the terms of endearment that they had for each other was, “Mon Petite Chou”, which is French for My Little Cabbage! To this day, whenever I eat cabbage, which is fairly often, I almost always have a heart warming moment thinking of our old friends!

Today’s recipe will warm not only your heart, but will also warm your insides on these lingering cool days. I love, love, love old world cabbage rolls, but rarely make them. So when it came time to prepare this week’s soup, and I saw the lonely cabbage sitting in my fridge, I thought why not make cabbage roll soup!

Now, let me point out that the version that I make of this soup is not a quick soup. It takes about 2 ½ hours from start to finish, including prep time. Like many good homemade soup recipes, this one tastes better if you let it simmer for a while to develop flavors. It also tastes even better the next day. You could eliminate the long simmering process, but I’d advise against it. Just as a slow braising yields a tender roast, slow simmering the ground beef in this recipe will gift you with an amazing texture and awesome flavor.Just look at the meat! Alton Brown could probably explain how the meat benefits from the long cooking, just suffice it to say that the longer cooking time works here. This yummy bowl of goodness is low in fat and gluten free, too. If you like nostalgic style soups, this baby is for you! Let’s begin.

Cabbage Roll Soup (Makes 10 servings)

1 ½ lbs leanest ground beef
½ onion – chopped
1 garlic clove – minced
Generous dash of Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon of dried Thyme
2 teaspoon dried Basil
2 teaspoon dried Oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley
2 14 oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 14 oz cans tomato sauce
6 oz white wine
2 14 oz cans beef broth (or homemade equivalent)
3 14 oz cans chicken broth (or homemade equivalent)
2 cups water
2 cups cooked rice (I used basmati, but any cooked rice will work)
About 4 cups cabbage – sliced into short shreds (about 1 small cabbage. I used Napa this time, but any green cabbage will work)
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper – to taste
Grated Pecorino cheese (or Parma would work fine)In a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef over med high heat. Drain the beef in a colander, and rinse with super hot water to remove any residual fat. Don’t skip this step, as you really want to keep this lean. Put the meat back into the dutch oven, add the onions and garlic, and stir over medium high heat for about a minute. All at once, add the Mont. Seasoning, herbs, tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Bring to a low boil, then add the wine and ½ of the broths and ½ the water. Bring to a low boil again, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Your patience will be rewarded. After 2 hours, stir in the remaining broths and water, plus the rice and cabbage. Cover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Let each person season their own bowl with salt, pepper, and cheese, if desired.Mmmmm ... yummy! Come on over; I'll warm up a bowl for you. I ate mine with these darling mini crackers that fit perfectly on the spoon. This would also be great with garlic toast as well as just plain old thick slices of bread. Any and all of Marjie's breads would be great here! Especially that Homestead bread she makes that always makes me want to reach through the computer screen and snatch a slice or two!

So, what do you think of cabbage? What's your favorite variety? How about cabbage rolls? Do you have a favorite family recipe using cabbage that you want to share?

Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Pepper Too? – Dr. Pepper Taco Soup

Okay. Before we even begin reviewing today’s recipe, let me point out that I realize that you may already be wrinkling your nose and shaking your head in disbelief. I mean, come on, making a soup with canned veggies, seasoning packets, and with ... with ... with ... Dr. Pepper?!!

Well, folks, I stand guilty as charged. I made this soup. With Dr. Pepper. With canned stuff. With seasoning packets. And you know what? It delivered. After all, we've all see recipes for roasts made with soda, and I've even seen baked goods that have lemon/lime soda in them. Sodas function as a sweetener in stews and roasts. It's been eons since I had a Dr. Pepper, and for some reason, I just felt compelled to try it. Plus, I was curious to see what reactions I'd get here in blogland.

All the reviews about this soup were 5-star ravings, and while it’s quite simply a basic chili, it was easy to make and eaten down to the last drop. I will make this again, next time using my own spices and goodies, but it was well worth making it this way first to get a feel for what it is supposed to taste like.This kind of reminds me of recipes that you’d find in a community cookbook ... simple ingredients, no special bells and whistles required, and actually pretty tasty. I found this recipe as I was searching for some regional Texas foods, and this recipe kept popping up. Now, I’ve never been to Texas, except to change planes, and so I can’t really say how Texan’s feel about their Dr. Pepper. But as I said earlier, this got really good reviews. So, like the old commercial jingle that used to say, “Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper, too. Be a pepper, drink Dr. Pepper!,” I gave this a whirl.

Here we go:

1-1/2 lbs. Extra Lean Ground Beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 15 oz can corn
1 15 oz can ranch style beans (I'm sure any chili style beans would do)
1 packet taco seasoning (I used a wheat free/low sodium mix. Next time, I'll use my own blend)
1 packet ranch dressing mix (I used Hidden Valley brand; again, wheat free)
Dash Garlic Powder
12 oz Dr. Pepper

Shredded cheese (Please make me a happy gal and shred your own!)
Corn Chips

In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef and onions. Drain any fat. Add all the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese and corn chips. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Done. Garnish with shredded cheese and serve with corn chips. Note: The original recipe called for salt. There was no way I was going to add additional salt to this since the packets already contain sodium (and I used reduced sodium stuff). Garnish as you would for chili ... sour cream would be good, too. Also, some of the reviews I read suggested serving with cocktail peanuts on the side, too.Mmm. Have a bite! This tastes very similar to chili made with beer. I mean REALLY similar to it. Surprisingly, you can't taste the Dr. Pepper flavor at all. It has great texture with the beef, corn, tomatoes, and beans vying for attention. I really enjoyed the corn in it, and immediately thought how good this will this summer with fresh corn at my disposal. And, this is gluten free!
Do you ever dip corn chips into your chili?How about using the chip as a spoon?Go ahead, let your inner child out and just drop a few right into the soup!. My littlest one and I had lunch together today -- just the two of us while hubbyman took the older two out for lunch, and she gobbled it right up. Guess that means that she and I are Peppers.Would you like to be a pepper, too?

Now’s here’s something we hope you’ll really like .... Speaking of my little one, hubbyman took all three kids to the Portland Trailblazer’s game last night. For those who don’t follow sports, the Trailblazer’s are Portland’s Professional Basketball team. Anyway, my littlest trailblazer got all dressed up for the game – all on her own I might add. She wore her hair up and stuck a black and red pompom in her hair like a wig, and made a poster cheering on her hometown team. Well, during the game, the camera man pans the crowd and puts up photos of various fans on the gargantuan sized jumbo-tron screen.Isn't she a doll? (All my kids are charming.) My little miss got her picture up 7 times last night. Hubbyman said that the wee one’s photo was up more often and longer than anyone else. Considering that their seats were up in what we lovingly call the nose bleed section because they are up so high and far from the court, that’s pretty cool. Oh, and the cameraman also included my other two a couple times as well. Fun Stuff!

Hey! It’s not a bottomless pot of ... Smoked Sausage and White Bean Soup!

Do you follow a cooking routine? By that I mean do you like to have or prepare certain things on certain days of the week? You know, like how Marjie makes brownies on Tuesday’s? Well, here in the It’s All Gouda kitchen, Sunday is soup makin’ day. I like to make a gargantuan pot of soup to provide a couple days worth of hot thermos lunches for my wee one as well as a couple steamy bowls for me for lunch. I eat soup year round, but especially savor it’s body warming qualities in the winter months.

Today’s soup is awesome! It’s another super-dee-duper easy recipe to put together, but tastes good enough for company. Both my husband and youngest daughter ate *3* servings of this in one sitting. T-h-r-e-e servings. Each. Bear in mind that the youngest spoon wrangler is only about 50 lbs fully clothed. After I had my one serving, there was only a whopping two servings left in the pot for weekday lunches. I informed these loves of my life that this was not a bottomless pot of soup. Without dripping a single drop as they shoveled in spoonful after spoonful, the perpetrators of this travesty ever so casually suggested that I should just, you know, whip up another pot full. Uh huh. Picture me ... incredulous expression plastered on my face ... opening and closing my mouth, with no sound emitting from said oraface, about four times before I just walked away. After all, what did I have to complain about. They ate it. With gusto. While making yummy noises. Little stinkers.

Won’t you join me now as we make It’s not a bottomless pot of Smoked Sausage and White Bean Soup. Here’s what you’ll need:1 tablespoon olive oil + 1 teaspoon of bacon drippings from breakfast
1 lb smoked sausage – cut into fourths and diced in ½ in pieces.
1 large onion – diced
2 carrots – diced
3 cloves garlic – minced with salt
1 can small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can larger white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or just use a total of 2 cans white beans)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 15 oz cans chicken broth
1 cup water
dash cayenne pepper

In a large stock pot, heat the oil and bacon drippings over medium heat.Add the sausage, turn up the heat a bit, and sauté until browned. Remove the sausage from the skillet, there should be some fond in the bottom of the pan, stir the onions right into it. Saute for a couple minutes, then add the carrots. Saute the carrots and onions just a minute or two, then add the garlic. Stir frequently another minute or two. Add the sausage back into the pot. Add the beans, bay leaf, and thyme. Give a good stir, then add the broth and water. Sprinkle in just a wee bit of cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and gently simmer about 30 minutes uncovered. Done.Mmm, mmm, good. Just look at that!Isn't it lovely?Go ahead, take a bite. Unlike many bean soups, this one is a brothy bean soup ... instead of a thick one. A simple salad and a hearty loaf of bread alongside would satisfy just about anybody. One bite of this will make you wish this really was a bottomless pot of soup!YUM! Oh, and this is gluten free, all the way, baby!

Bright Lights, Big City -- Manhattan Clam Chowder

Do you like clam chowder? There are zillions of different types of chowder, and for the clam varieties, the two most well known versions are the creamy New England Clam Chowder and the tomato-y broth based Manhattan Clam Chowder.

Continuing on my culinary travels, I wondered how the different versions came to be, specifically for the Manhattan version. The bottom line ... who knows? There are many different theories behind who has the claim to fame creating Manhattan Clam Chowder, but no one knows for sure. What I do know for sure, however, is that this is a great chowder and really, really, REALLY easy to make.

Here’s the recipe I used from Better Homes and Gardens. For the ingredients, you will need:
2 6.5 oz cans of minced clams (I used chopped ones – bigger pieces)
2 slices of bacon (I used three because my bacon strips were center cut and smaller)
1 cup chopped celery (about 3 average size stalks)
¼ cup chopped carrot (one carrot)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 8 oz bottle clam juice or chicken broth (I used clam juice)
2 cups cubed red potatoes (I used this amazing Red Gold variety)
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained.

1. Drain canned clams, reserving juice.
2. In a large dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels; crumble Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings in pan. You can add a little bit of olive oil if you don’t have enough drippings.
3. Heat bacon drippings over medium heat. Add celery, carrot, and onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in the reserved clam juice as well as the bottled clam juice. Stir in potatoes, thyme, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in clams, bacon, and undrained tomatoes. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or until heated through.Isn’t it gorgeous!Take a bite. Mmmm ... good! Having never been to the bright lights, big city center of Manhattan, I have no idea if this graces many menus. Much lighter than it’s New England creamy cousin, it is surprisingly very filling, too.I like the bigger clam pieces, and how that tiny bit of cayenne lingers after each bite. There is no salt in this recipe in part due to the canned ingredients; however, feel free to season after cooking as you see fit. Oh, and this is gluten free, all the way baby!