Mason Jars

image credit: Overstock

These long-time kitchen staples can literally be used for anything. Freeze a smoothie, can summer vegetables, sip iced tea, shake a homemade salad dressing, or use to pack up an ecofriendly picnic. Even when you don’t want to cook, eating healthy is key to a happy summer. Perfect for summer, New England Country Soup takes little time to prepare, and looks great served in a small pint glass mason jar at picnics and outdoor lunch affairs. Pair with bamboo soup spoons and a brightly colored napkin and you are made in the shade. You can find mason jars at your local grocery store, hardware store, or online at places like amazon.com.

Cuppow! (Mason Jar Drinking Lids)

image credit: Cuppow!

These nifty little lids are the next best kitchen invention since, well, the mason jar itself! They fit on all standard glass jars (specify wide-mouth or regular-mouth) and make summertime sipping that much easier. Best tasting beverages in a nice chilled mason jar: tea, iced coffee, sparkling water with berries, frosty chocolate milk, even plain tap water. A great way to get your daily fluids during the hotter months.

Stick Blender

image credit: the kitchn

If I haven’t declared the importance of this tool before, I apologize. It is quite literally my most used tool in the kitchen. It easily transitions from winter dishes like creamy mashed potatoes to spring and summer favorites ranging from fruit smoothies, pureed chilled soups, whipped cream for desserts, even creamy salad dressings and dips for fresh crudite. It stows away easily, travels well, and makes quick work of any kitchen adventure.

Lodge Grill Pan

image credit: amazon

Did you know that cast iron is an easy way to quickly grill, sautee, or toast most foods without overheating your kitchen? Using a single stove top burner, the iron retains most of the heat and stays hotter longer so that you can economize your cooking without breaking a sweat (note: no promises, who knows how hot this summer will get). With a well seasoned pan you also need less fat to cook with so your food with ultimately be healthier. You can also use the pan outside on the grill or in a campfire. It’s one kitchen tool that gets you cooking closer to nature.

Watermelon Knife

image credit: Sur la table

This nifty Kuhn Rikon knife not only looks the part (you’ll never lose this knife in the utensil drawer), but it easily slices through all manner of melons providing you with a healthy, thirst quenching treat to beat the heat. It will inspire you to eat fresh, good-for-you melons all summer long.

Wilton Ice Cream Sandwich Cookie Pan

image credit: Wilton

While we at New England Country Soup find great dietary nirvana in a nice green salad, delicious broth based soups, and quick roasted summer vegetables, we’ll admit that there’s nothing wrong with a little sweet indulgence every now and then. Use this pan to make homemade soft cookies to create your own ice cream sandwiches. Take the whole summer to come up with a dozen variations and even try making your own ice cream filling! You can stick with the tried and true cream and milk mixture or try some lactose free options like almond or coconut milk, they even add to the flavor! Use the cookie recipes provided with the Wilton cake pan or try this recipe from BraveTart or this gluten-free version from Tartelette.

Sun Tea Pitcher

image credit: amazon

In my house, sun tea is a warm weather must-have. Anytime there is enough sunlight, there is a glass pitcher on the porch soaking up the vitamin D and turning plain water into rich, tanniny tea.  Make sure to use glass (plastics will melt and may leach harmful chemicals, such as BPA, when heated, especially in sunlight!), use plenty of tea bags (at least 3) and make sure to have ice and chilled mason jars for an afternoon of sipping. This is a great way to make tea without any electronic appliance or creating additional heat in your kitchen.

Here are some other useful tips for keeping your kitchen cool: 

Isolated Cooking

Cooking in the microwave or with a Crock pot or a slow cooker isolates cooking energy and keeps your kitchen from filling up with excess heat. You can still enjoy all your favorite warm foods spending very little time in a warm kitchen. Did you know you can make baked potatoes in a crock pot?! And, as you already know, one of the ways to quickly heat up our packages of soup is via the microwave!

Prepping not Sweating

There is a reason why the French love their mise en place, or “everything in it’s place.” When cooking with a heat source, we often let it heat longer than necessary because we take too much time cutting, dicing, slicing, and pouring, when we could have prepared everything before. Take a little time to prepare your cooking needs and you won’t find yourself in a haze of heat the whole time.

Small, but Effective

When you absolutely need to use the stove or oven to cook, be sure to use the smallest pot necessary. For example, when you are boiling noodles or steaming vegetables, use only enough water to cover the food rather than filling the pot to the brim. This will keep excess steam from escaping into your kitchen.

Hopefully these warm weather tools and cool cooking tips will help you and your kitchen stay nice and comfortable this summer. Stay tuned for more tips and adventures as the temperatures climb! 

Image Credit: Southern Living

It’s that time of year when the wildflowers are starting to bloom, the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds (perhaps a bit more in certain parts of the country), and the new bright rays of springtime are shedding some rather unsavory light on your dusty, dingy winter-time kitchen. A stove splattered with old stews, counters stained with juice and sauce, and you don’t even want to peek into the bottom drawers of your refrigerator.

Okay, okay, maybe your kitchen isn’t that bad, but right now is the perfect time to do a little spring cleaning. A few minutes each day and you’ll have your kitchen in tip top shape in less than a week.

Our fans love our soups because we use ingredients they can pronounce and most likely have in their own kitchens. And we think your household cleaners should be the same! Natural cleaners can make your spring time cleaning regime safe, quick, easy, and most importantly, cheap!

We’ve condensed our all natural cleaner suggestions into an easy to remember metaphor: when trying to clean, simply dress your greens! Okay, yes, that was a little silly, but truth be told, the major players in natural cleaning agents are the same ingredients used to make a quick homemade salad dressing.

Below are the “salad dressing” ingredients you will need, followed by the combinations of those ingredients that are appropriate for various parts of your kitchen.

Salad Dressing Ingredients 

Vinegar: Instead of using a nice, aged balsamic you’ll only need a bottle of plain, white vinegar. Buy the largest bottle you can find, you’ll be using this EVERYWHERE!

Bonus: If you don’t like the strong smell of white vinegar, simply flavor it with citrus peels or an essential oil like peppermint or vanilla. I keep a separate bottle of peppermint oil (found in the baking aisle) under the sink along with my vinegar. Combine everything in a spray bottle and shake to combine. (Note, let the citrus + vinegar combo sit a few days to let the citrus oils disperse properly.)

Citrus: Watch the produce section for bags of lemons or oranges on sale. Grab whichever is cheapest (lemons are usually the go-to citrus in this instance) and don’t worry about blemishes, you won’t be eating these!

Salt: Any salt will do, kosher, table, sea…everything except perhaps rock! Be sure to save your nice flavored or specialty sea salts safely in the pantry.

Oil: You’ll need olive or canola oil (whichever you have on hand really). No need to use expensive or flavored oils like sesame or safflower. (Note: sometimes a cutting board calls for a specific mineral oil. If it calls for a specific brand, use it. If it calls for a specific type of mineral oil, use it.)

Arm yourself with these simple ingredients, a few sturdy non-linty dish towels, and some sort of abrasive sponge or bristle brush. These cleaning tips can be applied to many other parts of the kitchen. Follow these simple equations and instructions and you’ll have a squeaky clean kitchen in no time!

Where to Use these Salad Dressing Ingredients 

Oven: Salt + Vinegar + dish towel

If you don’t have an automatic oven cleaning sequence simply sprinkle salt (or if it’s really, really greasy, baking soda, which is also edible…just not great in a salad dressing) and splash with vinegar. Swab in a circular motion with dish towel or with sponge in tougher spots. Wipe everything away with a clean, damp dishtowel.

Crisper Drawers: Vinegar + Citrus

Remove contents and place drawers in the sink. Run hot water into the drawer, filling a few inches, and add 1/2 cup vinegar in each. Let cool slightly (or wear rubber gloves) and scrub with one half of a piece of citrus (lemon, orange etc). Empty, rinse, dry, replace!

Dishwasher: Vinegar

Just like any new appliance (which should be run through with a dose of vinegar-water before its first use…think coffeepot, blender, etc), your dishwasher needs the same treatment. Run an empty dishwasher with a cap full of vinegar on its hottest setting.

Microwave: Vinegar + Citrus

Run an empty microwave with a bowl of vinegar with a wooden chopstick or skewer in the bowl (prevents the vinegar from boiling over). The vinegar will evaporate slightly and create a cleansing steam inside the microwave chamber. For stickier spots, clean with a half of a citrus. Wipe clean with a damp dish towel. Remember, wear gloves, that vinegar is hot!

Cast Iron: Salt + Citrus + Vinegar + Oil

Sprinkle a dirty or slightly rusty cast iron pan with salt, rub with a citrus half to remove stuck on pieces or superficial layer of rust. Apply a splash of vinegar and keep scrubbing gently, in a circular motion. Rinse with hot water (NOT SOAP!) and dry thoroughly. Once dry, liberally apply oil with a clean paper towel. Place in clean oven at 400F for up to an hour to seal in the “season.” You can also use very edible bacon fat, vegetable or fruit shortening.

The following cleaning tips do not use the “Salad Dressing Method,” but are still vital spring cleaning to-dos: 

Freezer Finds: Organize your freezer! It takes only a few minutes, you’ll find things you forgot about, realize you need to stock up on frozen blueberries, and make room for leftovers! Use pantry dividers, plate stackers, and even school locker organizers to help create more room inside a tiny freezer.

Spice Check: You note the use by date on all your herbs and spices, right? I thought so. If you don’t, no worries, but you should start doing so. Spices and herbs have a shelf life, too! Use this cleaning time to throw out any “expired” spices or herbs or put any soon-to-turn flavorings into your newly cleaned freezer for a prolonged life.

Knife Service: This is the best time to have your knives serviced and sharpened. That weird cylindrical stick thing that might have come with your knife set isn’t actually a sharpener, but rather a “honer.” It aligns the knife blade, but does not sharpen it. To do this you’ll need a whet stone and several other tools, but instead of doing this yourself, pay a small fee to have it done by a professional. You’ll get sharp knives and peace of mind (while keeping all pieces of your hands!).

Hopefully these kitchen spring cleaning tips gave you a clear cooking space and a clean slate. Now with this done, you can take on a new culinary hobby, tackle a long term gastronomic goal, or just sit in your kitchen with a nice cup of tea and breath in the clean. Sigh. 

To all fried food and sea food lovers, I have two words for you: Clam Cakes. When I first heard about this dish, I thought Clam Cakes were some oddly sweet concoction that Rhode Islanders came up with given the abundance of clams on their shores.

So, it was about three years from the first time I heard of them, to the first time I tried them… After a long day of sunbathing on a boat, my friends and I sped back to land in search of food. We came upon Iggy’s, a Rhode Island institution, and up on their exterior walk-up menu board I saw it: “Clam Cakes.” Maybe it was the effect of being out in the sun too long, but my prior misgivings disappeared: “one large order of clam cakes, please”.

Well when my number was called, I saw a mountain of dough balls, and I checked to make sure it was the correct order. Sure enough it was… I brought them back to my table with ketchup and malt vinegar as the cook suggested. My friends and I completely decimated the batch in a matter of minutes; they were absolutely delicious, crisp outside, with a dense yet airy interior spotted with rough chopped quahog clams. Ever since then I can’t go to a beach in Rhode Island without stopping in for a batch of clam cakes to share with friends after day at sea.

image credit: From the Open Road

When in Providence, one would be remiss not to venture into the Federal Hill area, Providence’s little Italy. Among the many restaurants, which now include many non-Italian purveyors, you will come upon Venda Ravioli in De Pasquale Square. Venda Ravioli is a gastronomic wonderland… Delicious imported meats and cheeses from all over Italy and Europe, and an enormous variety of prepared foods you can pick up to warm at home (or have them warm your choices up for you and dine al fresco by the beautiful fountain in the square). My personal favorites? Well they include meat and mushroom stuffed artichokes with marinara; manicotti with a smooth, creamy (yet not over-powering) ricotta filling doused with a healthy amount of ‘gravy’ (marinara); and Chicken Florentine. And the meatballs are likely the best you’ll have, unless your Italian grandmother doubles as your personal chef.

image credit: Merchant Circle

When I was younger, I was, to say the least, a picky eater. So when I was invited to a dinner party for a college classmate to be hosted at his family’s Indian food restaurant, I was less than enthused. Nevertheless, I got myself together after my last final of the semester and headed towards Kabob and Curry on the east side of Providence. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed were the savory scents in the air. After being ushered into the upstairs dining room, I was amazed at the range of colors, textures and shapes on display, all edible of course.

Although all the food looked delicious, I hesitated. My mother, an excellent Portuguese cook in her right, didn’t make a good curry; I suppose Portugal’s colonization of India centuries ago wasn’t long enough to impart the culinary skills to my familial ancestors.

Alas, I was coerced into trying to foods before me, and I was amazed how quickly my palate was won over. I loved nearly all the dishes I tried, from the naan with an assortment of chutneys, to the tandoori chicken to the vindaloo lamb… all complex, deep, and rich. I later learned that my favorite dish, the vindaloo, came from Goa, a former Portuguese colony. Needless to say, I have been an avid Indian food junkie since.

image credit: Indo Curry

I hope you enjoyed my quick culinary tour of Rhode Island! Please let me know if you need any other recommendations for a road trip, long term stay, or just a quick bite to eat! 

If you are new to the New England Country Soup blog, my name is KC, and I am the trusty New England Country Soup (NECS) intern. I am currently in a Master’s program studying gastronomy, and, as you can imagine, I am a big foodie just like the rest of the NECS team! We began the Kitchen Confidential (KC, if you will) series in the fall, and some of our most popular KC posts revolved around foodie stocking stuffer suggestions.

That said, with Easter / springtime celebrations in full ‘bloom,’  we have decided to showcase ways to celebrate food a little more this time of year (obvious egg hunts aside). We’ve pooled our culinary savvy to bring together the best foodtools, Easter edibles, and Nature-to-Table kitchen curiosities to share with you!

Every culinary cottontail would love to find any one of these fresh foodtools in his/her Easter basket. Better yet, use one of the ceramic berry baskets (fig. 4, pictured center) and fill with fresh straw or recycled paper grass and another little gift or two.

1. Pie Piper: This little ceramic blue bird won’t tell you when your pie is done, but it does help release unwanted steam. $4.95, www.surlatable.com

2. Springtime Soup Spoon: You’ll be the envy of the table with this sweet yet sleek rabbit soup spoon. A bright soup like our rosy red Chicken Pomodoro or the dark contrast of our Caribbean Black Bean soup would look fantastic against this white ceramic spoon. Don’t leave it in the sink, lest others steal it for their own soup slurping! $1.95, www.surlatable.com

3. Egg Nests: It’s the egg cup, reinvented. Simple design, simple to wash and comes in cheery colors. $7, www.shapeways.com 

4. Berry Baskets: Unlike those one-use pulp paper baskets you get when you buy a pint of fresh berries, these ceramic containers hold their shape and look great on the kitchen counter. $14 each, www.anthropologie.com 

5. Farm Fresh Shakers: You will definitely fool your dinner guests with this realistic pair of farm fresh brown eggs sitting on your kitchen table.If you aren’t partial to shakers full of salt and pepper, fill them with ever-popular cinnamon and your favorite ground savory spice (try: ground white pepper or paprika). $26, www.shopterrain.com 

6. Flowercakes: Cakecrafting classic Wilson makes these little paper cups in a variety of flower varieties and colors. Use to bake or fill with small candies and tuck into baskets (think jellybeans, candied sunflower seeds, or even chocolate covered blueberries). $3 – $6, www.amazon.com 

1. Foodie Survival Kit: Spices are integral to the flavor profiles of our soups; so, naturally, we are featuring a spice survival kit. For any foodie on the go, this is the kit to have. Similar to a first aid or disaster kit, except it probably won’t save your life, just your palate, with its travel-size spice containers. A good choice for the nature-loving camping foodie, too! $26, www.uncommongoods.com

2. Sugary Pastels: These are top quality sanding sugars made with all natural dyes. They come in a variety of holiday colors, but these pastels just seem so appropriate for springtime. $4-$10, www.amazon.com

3. The Anti-Peeps: Some people swear by Easter Peeps, but if you are looking for something a little more gourmet this year, these handmade oldschool marshmallows will do the trick. $7.99, www.cardullos.com

1. Simple Seeds: Celebrate the upcoming spring and the ever approaching edible season with a few packets of vegetable, fruit, or herb seeds. Easy, inexpensive, and they look like culinary trading cards. Go to your local gardening store or nursery or purchase online at places like www.burpee.com. Prices vary.

2. Edible Starters: Make an Easter basket even more impressive (and Earth-friendly!) by tucking a few small plant starters around a few other gifts. The first task of the morning, before a big Easter brunch or dinner, is to get these plantlings into new pots or, if it’s warm where you are, into the fresh spring dirt. Couple savory herbs like oregano and basil, or sweeter ones like mint and chamomile. Keep it extra rabbit-friendly and pair a few pots of young lettuces with a few packets of heirloom carrot seeds. Seek out these gifts at your local farmer’s market, large grocery store, nursery, or even places like Home Depot. Prices vary.

3. Eco Eggs: We are, of course, big fans of all natural ingredients and, therefore love this kit! If you’re trying to avoid the artificial Easter egg dyes this year, you’re in luck thanks to a new company called “Eco Eggs.” This set includes all the power and color of natural dyes (from things like beets, onions, berries) harnessed into a neat little crafty package. $15.99, www.amazon.com 

We do hope the Easter bunny has mobile wi-fi and has access to this post. Otherwise, we might just have to treat our loved ones (and, perhaps ourselves) to a shopping spree! 

Stay tuned for upcoming springtime Kitchen Confidential posts!

The Southeast Final was held at Creations, the teaching restaurant at The Art Institute of Atlanta– it was a very fun venue for the finalists and their friends/families!

The finalists’ prep tables ready for them to arrive!

Just imagine the wonderful smells as the five finalists prepare their recipes!

The finalists simmering and sampling their soups!

Slicing baguettes so the audience can have some bread with their soup samples!The judges scoring the finalists’ and NECS soups on taste.

The NECS team announcing the winner!

The Presentation Table showcasing all the delicious looking homemade soups!

Illinois Central College (ICC) has a wonderful facility where the 5 Midwest finalists prepared their soups.

Adding a very fun element to the day, ICC set up cameras in the kitchen and interviewed finalists as they prepared their soups!

The judges’ table ready for the “taste” portion of the day.

ICC students helping the finalists make their way around the kitchen.

The Soup Challenge finalists with the ICC team and New England Country Soup team!

Poisson d’avril

Poisson d’avril, or rather, April Fish, is the French equivalent of April Fools, but with a much yummier trick. The day is often celebrated by playing innocent tricks,  sticking paper fish on people’s backs, and eating an array of foods shaped like fish. While no one really knows the origins of this bizarre holiday, or its relation to fish, the celebration remains a delicious one. 

Image Credit: Heflinreps

Gastronomy of a Fool

Mastering fake food has become an art these days. For years moms and dads spent hours tinting milk all the colors of the rainbow, filling cupcake tins with meatloaf and pink frosting mashed potatoes, and switching wrappers on the foods in their kids lunches. And, this year they’ve stepped it up yet another notch. With detailed replicas, color matching, and optical illusions, these tricks are complex but rewarding. We’ve compiled some of our favorite food tricks from around the web.

Banana Pudding Lasagna

Image Credit: Foodnetwork

Layers of sponge cake, cream, strawberry preserves, and a tricky topping of shaved white chocolate and thin strips of mint make this sweet lasagna both deceiving and delicious.

Chicken Stir Fry, or is it?!

Image Credit: Family Fun

From this picture, you can’t really tell that those chicken pieces are really dried apples and those sugar snap peas are actually strips of fruit leather. Strangely, the cashews are actually cashews.

Sweet Sushi

Image Credit: Family Fun

For lovers of sushi and for those who have yet dared to try it. Use bits of taffy to mold a wad of wasabi and mound of ginger.

Tomatfaux Soup and Grilled Cheese Combo

Image Credit: Apartment Therapy

This winning food pair gets a sweet deceptive makeover this April Fools. The sandwich is actually pound cake slices and the tomato soup is really red dyed vanilla pudding. Sprinkle on some chopped mint to look like fresh basil.

Simple and Sleuthy 

Simple pranks often go overlooked, thanks to breadwinners like the intricate tricks above. But, these easy deceiving jokes have their place and if used at the right moment, provide ample hilarity. 

Pre-Peel Prank

Image Credit: Family Fun

Slice a banana before its even peeled! Its a simple slight of hand and trick of the eye and only uses a needle and a bit of thread!

 The Undrinkable Drink

Image Credit: iVilliage

This trick works best with jello flavors that look similar to household juices, but you could always use unflavored gelatin with all sorts of drinks. Just be sure to insert the straw before the gelatin fully solidifies.

Jelly Eggs

Image Credit: Oh Happy Day

These eggs are a great way to brighten up a morning spread or a lunch time salad. Your fool will go to crack their soft or hard boiled egg and find a rainbow wiggly surprise beneath. Follow the link for details on how to trick.

Some other ideas include candied apple onions (just replace the normal granny smith with a nice an tangy vidalia onion) and salger (that’s a mix of salt and sugar imagined by character Leslie Knope on the TV show Parks & Rec…either way it won’t taste very good).

Palatable Pranks

These tricks are little less traumatizing and rely on first look and surprise. While they aren’t exactly edible, they are food related and still funny. 

Tinted Toothbrush

Image Credit: Wikipedia

So you see those blue, teal, and green bristles on your toothbrush? They are a prank in the making. Simply squeeze food coloring, food gels, or even better, fresh blueberry juice onto the colored bristles of your unsuspecting fool’s toothbrush. Use an eyedropper or a small q-tip so that you only stain the correct parts, apply liberally. Then when the fool goes to use their toothbrush, they’ll have a clean, but brightly tinted set of chompers.

Donut Seeds

Image Credit: Disney Family Fun

This trick can be applied to all manner of cereal and snacks. Play into the trick and actually plant them to see if they grow.

The Food Has Eyes

This prank pretty much explains itself. The fool will open the fridge to find a bunch of eyes staring right back. This works well with a well stocked pantry, snack drawer, a set table, or even your co-worker’s food stash in their desk drawer.

Hopefully this list inspires the trickster in you, and remember, a small trick goes a long way. For example, you could always tell someone you got their Starbucks order wrong, like you picked up a caffeinated cup instead of their normal decaf, and just watch them go crazy! Happy Fooling!

The Culinary Institute at Illinois Central College

Chef Vidya traveled from Grover, MO, Chef Amy came from Atlanta, IL, Chef Linda from Mahomet, IL, Chef Barbara from Park Hills, MO, and Chef Dianna from Washington, IL. The five finalists spent the first part of the morning preparing their soups to compete head-to-head with New England Country Soup on taste and nutrition for a chance to win a foodie weekend getaway to Martha’s Vineyard.

Despite the fierce competition, there was a friendly air of culinary camaraderie….

Chef Linda measuring ingredients for her Island Paradise Chicken Soup

Chef Amy butterflying chicken breasts for her Creamy Chicken Fajita Soup

Chef Barbara and Chef Charles (ICC) starting the blender for her New Orleans Style Creamy Shrimp and Rice Soup

Chef Vidya preparing the veggies for her Hearty Vegetarian Lentil Soup

Chef Dianna expertly dicing the peppers for her Backyard BBQ Chicken Soup

Soon it was time for the judges to step up and start slurping. They scored each soup against its NECS competitor and assigned “Taste” scores.

Judges (left to right): Danielle Hatch of the Peoria Journal Star, Chef Josh Adams of June, and Chef Joy Ashwood of ICC Culinary Institute

After the final soup, the judges determined the winner of the Presentation Table. Congratulations to Chef Dianna whose Backyard BBQ Chicken Soup won best looking soup!

Contestants proudly showing off their soups at the Presentation Table

Finally, it was time to announce the grand prize winner and Soup Challenge Champion…and the Golden Ladle goes to…Vidya with her Hearty Vegetarian Lentil Soup!

Vidya Swamy with her Hearty Vegetarian Lentil Soup, grand prize winner of the Midwest Soup Challenge Final!

Here is Vidya’s Soup Challenge experience in her own words:

My March 24th experience as a finalist at the New England Country Soup cooking contest was indeed memorable. Five finalists arrived from different areas of the Midwest to participate in the challenge.  Each of us, as I learned by just talking to them during the cook-off and prior to that, have a flair for cooking creative meals. Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary is what makes cooking fun. And so we did. Five different soups competed against five of the New England Country Soup flavors.

I would say my experience was similar to ‘The Iron Chef’ show we see on TV, with cameras going around showing the chefs at their finest, viewers watching from outside the enclosed kitchen space, the entire hour projected on TV, and contestants seriously focusing on their objective to make their creations taste the best. Hats off to the organizers of the challenge, everything moved like clockwork, very professional and without a glitch.  Three judges proficient in the area of culinary art were invited to taste our soups against New England Country Soup. 

The scores for nutrition and taste were tallied.  Lo and behold, my ‘Hearty Vegetarian Lentil Soup’ from Vidya Swamy’s Kitchen turned out as the winner.  This was a totally unexpected, pleasant surprise. I received a standing ovation accompanied by a bouquet of flowers, a heavy-duty brushed stainless steel ladle, two dinner tickets to the culinary restaurant at Illinois Central College, and a weekend getaway to Martha’s Vineyard. 

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated this past Saturday. We hope to see you in Peoria again next year!

This past Saturday, the five Southeast Soup Challenge finalists took over the kitchen at The Art Institute of Atlanta for a fun and friendly day of competition.

Creations restaurant, The Art Institute's teaching restaurant

Chef Naylet traveled from Miami, while Chef Robin arrived from Sarasota, Chef Cheryl from Wake Forest, NC, and Chefs Felice and Robert (competing husband and wife!) from Raleigh, NC. The five talented home cooks spent the morning preparing their soups to compete head-to-head with New England Country Soup on taste and nutrition for the chance to win a foodie weekend getaway to Martha’s Vineyard.

The kitchen filled with the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of these five outstanding recipes …

Chef Felice prepping the veggies for her Mushroom & Barley Soup with Rye Croutons

Chef Cheryl preparing cabbage for her Turkey Larb Soup

Chef Naylet chopping peppers for her Carried Away Blcak Bean Soup with Sweet Plantain Chips and Mojo Relish

Chef Robin dicing celery for her Gullah Style Green Lentil Gumbo

Chef Robert slicing carrots for his Gulf Coast Fish Chowder with Caramelized Orange Scallops

As the soups simmered, the judges tasted each homemade recipe and its respective NECS competitor and assigned “Taste” scores.

Judges (left to right): Chef Josh of Publix Apron's Cooking School, Chef Jim Gallivan of The Art Institute of Atlanta, and Jenny Levison of Souper Jenny!

After the judges’ Taste deliberations, they determined the winner of the Presentation Table. Congratualtions to Chef Robert whose Gulf Coast Fish Chowder with Caramelized Orange Scallops for winning this leg of the contest!

Robert's Gulf Coast Fish Chowder with Caramelized Orange Scallops, Southeast winner of Best Presentation!

Robin's Gullah Style Green Lentil Gumbo competing against NECS Lentil Soup

Cheryl's Turkey Larb Soup competing against NECS Sweet Chicken Curry Soup

Naylet's Carried Away Black Bean Soup with Sweet Plantain Chips and Mojo Relish competing against NECS Caribbean Black Bean Soup

Then, it was time for the Golden Ladle grand prize winner to be announce. Lo and behold, it was Robert’s wife, Felice! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, this duo ‘dominated’ the Southeast final!

Felice Bogus, grand prize winner of the Southeast Soup Challenge Final!

Felice's Mushroom & Barley Soup with Rye Croutons, winner of this year's Southeast Final!

Congratulations to everyone who participated on Saturday! We hope you had a blast and hope to see you again next year!

]]> http://www.soupchallenge.com/new/2012/03/27/southeast-soup-challenge-winner-felices-mushroom-barley-soup-with-rye-croutons/feed/ 0 http://www.soupchallenge.com/new/2012/03/21/midwest-soup-challenge-judge-3-danielle-hatch/ http://www.soupchallenge.com/new/2012/03/21/midwest-soup-challenge-judge-3-danielle-hatch/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:09:58 +0000 New England Country Soup http://www.soupchallenge.com/new/?p=1692 Read More, Post Comments >]]> Danielle Hatch has been the Journal Star’s entertainment editor since 2007. She reviews restaurants in the Peoria area and writes about festivals, concerts, comedians and culinary matters in the print edition and online at PJStar.com. She recently kicked off a personal cooking blog, Down the Hatch, at Daniellehatch.blogspot.com. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich., and started her newspaper career at age 15, writing briefs for the Iosco County News Herald.