Soup and bread for a rainy day

By Darlene Veenhuizen • March 1, 2017 • Baker Blog, Bread, Dinner, easy, Recipes, winter, Yeast Bread

We recently had some terrible ice storms that left us stranded in our home. It was a perfect day to make a hearty soup to warm and fortify us. This soup is easy to make from what you have on hand in your pantry and can be modified easily to suit different tastes.

With more cold weather coming before Spring is officially hear, try out this soup and making a simple yeasted bread to go with it. It’s a lot of fun to spend a day in the kitchen when it’s nasty outside – and it will keep your house warm and cozy all day long.

I hope this soup will help provide you some warmth on those coldest of days.

-Mark McGinley, Executive Producer, Slice of Life Show

Soup and Bread for a Rainy Day

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

½ large onion

1 lb ground chicken

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup lentils

1 can kidney beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp creole seasoning (Cajun’s Choice)

Soup Toppings

Grated Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese

Dollop of sour cream

Bacon crumbles

Directions

To start, I put some olive oil in a Dutch oven set to medium high and fried up the ground chicken, onions, and garlic, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. I placed the remaining ingredients in the Dutch oven and brought everything to a boil, then I turned the heat down to simmer for 40 minutes. I start with 1 tablespoon of Creole Seasoning, but you can add more if you like it spicy. For people who like it hot, I add an additional tablespoon of Sriracha. Add any kind of vegetables that you have on hand either fresh or canned. To serve, add your choice of toppings. This soup goes great with a loaf of freshly baked bread.

Simple White Yeasted Bread

Yeilds 2 large loaves
Slightly adapted from AllRecipes

This bread is really great for a day that you are just hanging out at home in your jammies and the rain or snow is coming down outside. It uses basic ingredients and calls for a little kneading, which is really therapeutic and relaxing.

Ingredients

5-6 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups warm water (around 110 degrees F)

1 tablespoon cornmeal

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

Directions

In a mixer bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Add in the 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using the dough hook. Add in as much of the remaining flour as you can. How much flour you are able to add will depend on how humid or dry the air is that day. Start with 4 cups total and then see how the texture looks, you are looking for sticky yet stiff and climbing up the dough hook, coming clean away from the bowl. On a lightly floured surface, knead to make the dough smooth and elastic, for about 8 to 10 minutes total, adding in additional flour as needed. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

This recipe has you brush on egg and make slits in the bread earlier then other bread recipes typically will ask you to do this step. It’s important to do it before rising because the dough will easily deflate if you handle it later.

The egg wash makes a very crusty outside, perfect for dipping in hot soup.

More great bread recipes to try:

Our Classic Focaccia Bread

Sprouted Wheat Bread

Potato Bread

Yeasted Corn Bread

dinner lunch rainy soup and bread