Tony is home, I'm leaving, I ovulated, and Recipes

My husband got home last night after being in France for 2 1/2 weeks. It is nice to have him home....of course it is just in time for me to leave tomorrow morning for Dallas. The good thing is that I'll be home late Wednesday night, so we'll just be apart for a couple of days.

Had bloodwork on Friday to check my progesterone. Dr. M called me Saturday morning and said I did indeed ovulate, although it was probably around day 24 or 25. He said I should get a period any day now so it is not necessary to go on provera. Whew!

Here are three of the soup recipes from the soup exchange. I'll post the others next week. Enjoy!

CARROT SOUP
1 small onion finely chopped
3 cups carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
4-6 T butter
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups heavy cream or milk
2 teaspoons curry powder
Melt butter in large saucepan. Saute onions 5 minutes or until transparent, then add the carrots. Cook for 5 more minutes and add stock. Cook another 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Puree in blender if you want a velvety texture, put through strainer. Return the soup to the pan and whisk in milk or cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley.

CREAMY GREEN BEAN AND CHICKEN SOUP
2# chicken breast, cubed (do this while still partially frozen)
6 t Le Gout chicken base (.95 version)
3 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup carrots, peeled and cubed
1 cup celery, chopped
3 bay leaves
4 cups water
3 (1#) cans green beans, drained
Place above ingredients in a 6-8 quart stock pot. Cover. Bring to full boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile:
3 T butter
2 onions chopped
3 T flour
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 t dried basil, 1 t salt, 1 t pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
Fry onions in butter until dark gold. This makes them sweet. Add flour and stir. Turn off heat. Add rest of ingredients to onions and stir. Add this mixture to the soup base above. Return soup to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover. Cook 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve.

PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
1 T EVOO
3 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced or pressed
1 t dried oregano
1/4 t red pepper flakes
3 anchovy fillets, minced to paste
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups chicken broth
Salt, pepper to taste
8 ounces small pasta
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes. Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion and celery, cook until softened about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and anchovies, cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Add beans, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, 2.5 cups of water, and salt, bring back to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add parsley, salt and pepper. NOTE: this soup does not hold well, the pasta absorbs the liquid and becomes mushy, so if you want to make a large pot to last several days, just add the pasta right before you eat it. You can refrigerate the soup (minus the pasta) for up to 3 days.