A couple days ago, I was looking at a chicken carcass. I hate to waste good food. For years, I’ve made my own chicken and vegetable stock, and never make it the same way. Sometimes I buy chicken legs or a whole chicken, but most of the time I just use the chicken or turkey carcass, leftover vegetable scraps from the freezer or veggies that have seen better days.  Whenever I use leeks, I freeze the part that I don’t use which are the dark green leaves. I wash the leaves and put them in a bag. Mushrooms stems give the stock a great Unami flavor. Ginger and garlic add more flavor. I add a couple of carrots, a couple of celery stalks with the leaves, and a whole onion cut into half (leaving the skin on). Some cooks blacken the cut side of the onions in a frying pan to add color, but I don’t. I put all these ingredients in a large cast iron pot and cover them with cold water. When the water boils, I add 1 teaspoon of salt, some pepper, and garlic salt. I always add a couple of bay leaves. So, you see I really don’t have a specific recipe. Click here for some general guidelines:

Here are two fo my favorite soup recipe. My wonton  and my veggie shrimp soup are perfect for cooler days, a reprieve from the heavy holiday food. 

Normally I have been making this soup with store-bought wontons that I keep in the freezer. It is an easy and light dinner that is ready in 20 minutes. But when I decided to post this recipe I had to make my own wontons. I found a recipe I liked  at  (click here for the video on how to make wontons). I modified the original recipe to make less wontons. I didn’t like the flavor of my wonton wrappers so I made mostly pork-shrimp balls. For all purposes you can make this soup with pork-shrimp balls  only. Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has.

In about a month I will be in Hamburg, a city in Northern Germany. I can’t wait, but in the meantime here is a recipe for Krabbensuppe, a  delicate pureed vegetable soup , topped with bay shrimp. This soup is a staple in that region served with a tasty local little shrimp called Krabben. (click here for the recipe)

This soup is a treat for the cooler days. It makes for a light dinner or a first course for a dinner party. It appeals to the diner in you. In Paris it is a quintessential bistro staple.

 
That was the case this last time when I visited Paris in late August. (Click here to read more about Paris.) Everything was just the way I like it, except the onion soup. It was horrible—the broth had no depth, it tasted like dishwater with vinegar added. This prompted me to try my hand at making my own onion soup. Why not? Years ago, I made Julia Child's recipe from her book Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Unfortunately, I have no memory of it. I do remember making my own broth by roasting beef bones. This time I choose to use organic beef broth from Trader’s Joe’s. The soup was excellent but I think it would be even better with homemade stock. For vegetarians, you can substitute vegetable stock. If you choose to make it this way, add some juniper berries and one star anise for additional flavor.

Time has been flying by. We have had some beautiful fall weather here in Santa Cruz. The fires around us have been polluting the air making it hard to breath. My heart goes out to all the people that experienced pain and suffering. 
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I have been cooking simple meals like baked salmon with broccoli and my German green sauce. I made my quinoa salad and baked shrimp with feta for my monthly book club. I also baked my banana bread and I made my lentil salad for my girlfriend’s Open Studio. Cooking always improves my life.

Lentil Soup with Carrot Salad

Ok, I'm officially pouting. I don't want to face the reality of real life, making appointments, getting things in order, cleaning up my poor dried-out yard, going to the doctor and so on. I don't want to be a participant of life, I want to be an observer. I want to sit in a little French cafe watching people. I want to drink an Anis with lots of ice in the cafe Les Deux Magots in Paris where Hemingway and Jean Paul Sartre had their drinks, I want to admire all the beautiful decorated shop windows and walk until I find another cafe or museum.

I will post about my trip to France, later but for reality's sake, I need to make something that will bring me back to earth like good old fashioned lentil soup. I have made this lentil soup many times. It's an old friend of mine. I got some sausages, carrots, potatoes, and fresh herbs  at the farmers' market and will use them for my soup. This recipe is not written in stone, so you can add different ingredients. I have sautéed pancetta with the veggies and that was delicious. It is very easy to make a vegetarian or even vegan version of this soup by omitting the meat and  Parmesan cheese rind, using vegetable broth instead of chicken. You can also add baby spinach with the basil at the end to up the health factor. Puréeing part of the soup gives it a creamy texture. I use an immersion blender, but a blender or food processor will do the same thing. As you see, there are many variations on the theme. Have fun and enjoy this wonderful filling  and healthy soup.   

For a little salad, I grated a couple of carrots, added some lemon juice and raisins. It is a great addition to the soup. 

I buttered my bread and added thinly sliced radishes sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

Your throat starts to scratch, you don't have any energy, your nose starts to dribble! 
You know you're in trouble and you just hope that it will not be the cold or flu that your friend has—but your body is telling you otherwise. As far as you're concerned, you have several choices. Make yourself a stiff grog, a German remedy. Pour some rum in a glass, add some hot water and chug down the whole thing. This cured me many years ago on the island of Sylt in Germany.  
Another choice is chicken soup. Hopefully, you kept some of your own in the freezer just for this occasion, but if not, gather up your energy and cook this soup. It might help, but at least it will make you feel better and your body will have a secret weapon to help you in the days ahead. This soup does not have to have exact ingredients, just add what you think will help you. Anything goes, because your body is going into battle. Good luck!  However, you don't need the common cold to enjoy this soup. It is delicious and tastes great when you need a little comfort.  Just in case, make sure you freeze a little extra.

This soup has it all. The ingredients and spices are good for you and it tastes great—even to carnivores. Children (and the young at heart) will love it, because it is flavored with peanut butter.  Each ingredient and spice is loaded with fiber, protein and antioxidants. The different flavors—ginger, curry and peanut butter—are pleasing to the palate. Whenever I make this soup,  everyone loves it and wants the recipe. 
When I was a vegan years ago, I cut this recipe out of the local paper. It originally comes from:  Stop the Clock! Cooking: Defy Aging-Eat The Foods You Love by Cheryl Forberg .