Soups

Smoked Clam Chowder

Recipe from Sarah Glover
thorindustries.com/stories/recipe-smoked-clam-chowder-1

Ingredients

24 medium clams, rinsed
1/4 lb. slab bacon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 leeks, tops removed, halved and cleaned, then sliced into half moons
3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 cups light cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Crackers, to serve

Cooking Tools

Wood or charcoal for fire
Large Dutch oven
Sieve and cheesecloth or paper towels
Knife
Cutting board

Method

Light your fire and let it burn down for 1 hour until you have nice coals. (Or use hardwood charcoal.)

Put the clams in a large Dutch oven, add about 4 cups ocean water, then set over medium–high heat. Cover and cook for 10–15 minutes or until the clams have opened. (Any clams that fail to open should be discarded.) Strain the clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels and reserve for later. Remove the clams from the shells and set aside.

Cook the bacon over the coals for 4 minutes or until cooked to your liking, then cut into any size you like.

Rinse out the pot and return it to the heat. Add the butter and let it melt, then add the leek and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or until softened but not browned. Stir in the potatoes and wine and cook for another 5 minutes or until the wine has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften. Pour in enough of the clam broth to just cover the potatoes (about 3 cups) and add the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently for a further 10–15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the clams.

When the potatoes are nice and tender, add the cream and stir in the chopped clams and bacon. Season to taste. Bring to a simmer, then remove the pot from the heat. (You don’t want the chowder to come to a full boil.) Fish out and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

The chowder should be allowed to sit for a while to cure, at least 2 hours. Gently reheat before serving. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with crackers on the side.

Aunt Snooky’s World Famous Chili

This recipe will warm you and get you through your adventure filled day.

2 lbs. ground beef
1 green pepper, diced
3 lg. cans tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic
1/4 - 1/3 cup chili powder
(2) 16 oz. cans dark kidney beans

In a 5-quart Dutch oven, fry meat and onion, pepper and garlic. Drain. Add tomatoes (mashed). Add salt and chili powder. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, covered and stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and liquid. Heat a little longer and serve.

Super Simple Chili Soup

The ideal camping situation involves 3 things: the great outdoors, a quality KZ RV, and... chili! However, it’s got to be simple! Here’s a KZ favorite to make on the campfire or in the RV. Get out your pepper shakers!

6 qt. Tomato juice
8 lb. browned hamburger
1 medium onion
2 green peppers (optional)
3 cans chili beans
1 cup brown sugar
3 pkg. chili powder

Combine all ingredients and simmer 2 hours.

Noodle Soup

Feel like you’re cooking for a family of "bottomless pits"? Fill those tummies with a hearty straightforward Noodle Soup. This recipe is a cinch to put together, and may be made with your family’s favorite type of noodles. For a more filling meal, serve it up with a crunchy crusty bread or garlic bread.

5 cups noodles
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp. chicken base
2 slices onion
2 potatoes
14 cups water

Put water in oven until it boils, then add noodles, potatoes, sliced into little pieces, and onion slices, cut up into little pieces. Put potatoes and onions into boiling noodles. Cook noodles and potatoes until done. Add 2 cans cream of mushroom soup and chicken base.

Creamy Potato Soup

Who doesn’t love a good potato soup? Face it... anything with bacon in it is bound to put it right at the top of the list of favorites with the family. Here’s a hearty soup recipe that will have your mouth watering before it’s even done cooking!

2 cup diced potatoes
1 diced carrot
2 stalks celery
1 cup diced bacon or ham
1 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
2 cups water

Add vegetables to boiling water and cook until tender. Make a paste with flour and milk, add to vegetables. Add bacon or ham. Add cheese if you want.

Cheddar Chowder

How to pack more "YUM" than you ever imagined into one little soup bowl: (just follow this recipe!)

2 cups potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Water (enough to cover)

White Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup ham, diced
2 to 3 cups milk

Boil vegetables 10 to 12 minutes. In small saucepan, melt butter and flour. Stir until smooth. Slowly add milk. Cook until thickened. Add grated cheese and melt. Add to vegetables. Serves 6.

Cheese Soup

Ever order a bowl of rich, creamy cheese and broccoli soup at a restaurant and think, "Sure wish I could make this myself. (Sigh)"? Well, now you can. Here’s our super delicious recipe for cheese soup that will taste great every time. And here’s the best part... it has BACON in it!

1 head cauliflower
1 cup broccoli
1 medium onion
1 lb. bacon
1 cup milk
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. Velveeta cheese

Cut up cauliflower and onion. Put into a pot and just cover cauliflower with water. Cook over medium heat until cauliflower is done.

While cauliflower is cooking, cook or microwave bacon and chop up. Cook or microwave broccoli.

When cauliflower is done, add milk and Velveeta cheese to cauliflower and water. Cheese depends on how large the head of cauliflower is. Cook over medium heat until cheese melts. Then, add broccoli and bacon. If this sets for a while, you may have to add a little milk to thin down a bit.

Ham and Lima Bean Soup

Super high in protein, this ham and lima bean soup will give everyone what they need after a long day. Whether that day has been work or play, happy taste buds and a happy tummy are a great way to wrap it up!

1 lb. dry baby lima beans
1 tsp. baking soda
3 qts. or so water
Ham and ham bone
3 potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped

Put lima beans in pot and cover with 1 inch of water and 1 rounded tsp. of baking soda. Boil 1 minute. Drain and rinse with cold water. Pick out bad beans.

Put beans, ham bone, 3 qts. water and chopped onion in pot and simmer for 3 hours. Add cubed potatoes and cook till done.

This recipe can be made with green split peas, too.

Leek and Potato Soup

A one pot, classic you’ll love. This recipe is done simply on the stove top. Serve it up with your own little twist.. top with crumbled bacon, your favorite cheese or even croutons. Mmmm!

4 oz. butter
5 cups chopped leeks
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 to 4 cups roughly chopped potatoes
2 qt. chicken stock
1 to 2 cups heavy cream
Salt & pepper

Melt butter in saucepan; add leeks, celery and onion. Stew slowly until soft, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are cooked through (20 – 40 minutes). Heat the cream and add to the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Chicken Chili

Recipe from “Newbie RV’er”, a member of the Venture Family Forum

“Newbie” writes, “Typically, for the first night camping, I make dinner very easy, such as heating up some homemade chicken chili and honey cornbread. The following recipe is a huge hit for us.”

Ingredients

3 Chicken Breasts (uncooked)
1/2 cup Chicken Broth (I use chicken bone broth – add more if needed, as the original recipe calls for 2 cups)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes (the original recipe also calls for 1 can tomato sauce, but I never add it)
1/2 Yellow Onion
2 Jalapenos, diced (I remove the inside membrane and seeds)
Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 small Butternut Squash (peeled & diced – it seems to just melt into the sauce. The original recipe calls for corn, so add corn if you like. We wanted something a bit healthier, so the butternut squash works great)
3 cans Black Beans (I add these near the end, with the cream cheese)
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 tablespoon Garlic
4 ounces Cream Cheese added at end of cooking (but be sure to give it time to melt in) Salt to taste

Directions

Throw everything in a pan, except for the black beans and cream cheese, and cook for 4 hours. It looks pretty thin when I first start cooking it, but it always breaks down into a good thickness.

Pull the chicken out halfway through, shred it, and return to the pot.

Add black beans and cream cheese the last hour.

Add toppings of your choice – chopped raw onions, diced jalapenos, cheese, cilantro, ...

“Newbie” continues, in closing, “We make this dish ahead of a trip in the fall or winter. We love to have an easy dinner to serve up that first night, and this is a great one!”

White Chicken Chili

Recipe from Lyle, a member of the KZ Family Forum

Base Recipe

3 cans Great Northern White Beans
8 oz. pepper jack cheese (do NOT grab pepper jack with habanero)
16 oz. of your favorite salsa
1 roasted chicken

Dump beans, undrained, and salsa into a crock pot. While that’s heating, cut up cheese and add to crockpot. Next, bone and shred chicken. (Skin or no skin, your choice.) Easy to split up and freeze. Just put in a pot and heat up.

If you’re cooking for a gang, just double it up; makes a full 6+ quarts!

Chicken ’n Rice

Recipe from Lyle, a member of the KZ Family Forum

This is one that I came up with a long time ago. Easy stovetop fix. Takes about an hour, give or take.

Base Recipe

2 cups 5 minute rice
1 box Uncle Ben’s Original Quick Long Grain and Wild Rice
1 10.5 oz. can Cream of Chicken soup (Chicken & Herb version if available)
1-2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, depending on size and how much chicken you like

Boil chicken breasts in a large stock pot with lots of water. Season to taste. (I add black pepper, garlic powder and oregano.) Add rice and seasoning packet to another large pot. When chicken is done, pull out and place on cutting board. Ladle stock, including as much spice as you can bring over, into pot with rice. (I tend to use 2 cups of stock to 1 cup of rice.) Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat. Chunk or shred chicken. When done preparing chicken, add soup to rice, stir, then add chicken. If it’s still a little “dry”, add more stock.

When I do a double recipe, I use 4 cups 5 minute rice, 2 boxes of Uncle Ben’s and a 22.5 oz. can of soup. If you like your rice less creamy, add the soup along with the stock and it’ll cook into the rice.

Serve with your favorite veggie side. We like asparagus, whether canned or sautéed in EVOO and garlic. :-)