{The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge} Iron Ladle Challenge: SOUP.

There’s a chill in the air on this midwinter day — and a warm, mouth-watering aroma wafting from the kitchen.

That’s right: the Lutheran Ladies are brewing up savory pots of soup in an all-new Iron Ladle Challenge!

Erin leads off with a Finnish salmon soup (lohikeitto) that leaves her co-hosts drooling. Rachel then shares a trio of seasonally appropriate soups: seafood chowder for holiday decadence, “feel-better soup” for post-holiday recovery, and curried butternut soup (AKA sunshine soup) for midwinter malaise. Finally, Sarah shares her foolproof formula for improving the perfect, healthful (Instant Pot) soup every time.

Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto) (From Erin)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1# salmon fillet
2T butter
1 large leek, sliced
.25# mushrooms, thinly sliced
8 cups chicken stock or bone broth, divided
1 jar clam juice
.5# russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 lg carrot, sliced
1t whole allspice
Fish sauce for salt
.5# bag frozen kale (or 1 large bunch of fresh kale) (spinach is too delicate)
10g fresh dill, finely chopped, divided
4-8 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions:

Heat 4 cups of stock and gently poach the salmon fillets until just cooked. Remove the salmon to a plate and reserve the salmon broth. When fillets are cool cool, remove and discard the skin.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a soup pot and saute the leeks and mushrooms for ~10 minutes. Add all of the stock (4 c from salmon and 4 c remaining) to the pan with the leeks and mushrooms, along with the potatoes, carrots, allspice, and half of the fresh dill. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender.
Add the kale and return to a simmer. Stir in a couple of dashes of fish sauce for salt (less than 1 teaspoon). Add the salmon pieces to the soup and gently heat until warmed through, just a few minutes. 
Add cream, the remaining dill, and salt and pepper to taste.

If Freezing (you will use less stock initially)

Heat 4 c stock and gently poach the salmon fillets until just cooked. Remove the salmon to a plate and reserve the salmon broth. When fillets are cool cool, remove and discard the skin.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a soup pot and saute the leeks and mushrooms for ~10 minutes. Add the 4 c salmon broth to the pot with the leeks and mushrooms, along with the potatoes, carrots, and allspice. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender. Add a couple of dashes of fish sauce (less than 1 teaspoon). Strain the vegetables, reserving broth until cool.
Divide among 4 freezer containers:
- Poached salmon
- Frozen kale and dill.
- 2oz clam juice/container
- Vegetables (kale, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots
- Broth (start with ¾ cup, and distribute the remaining)
To serve, heat on the stove until hot, adding a 1 cup container of bone broth to fill out the rest of the broth.
While soup is reheating, put a small puddle of cream (1-2 tablespoons) in soup bowl and slowly add hot soup.

Seafood Chowder (From Rachel)

HT Cari Haan

Saute together over medium heat for approx 5 minutes:

1 stick of butter
1/2 onion – diced
1 tsp garlic salt or powder
1/2 tsp thyme

Mix in:

1/2 cup flour
1 cup half ‘n’ half
2 cups milk
4 oz (half block) of cream cheese (softened in microwave)
1 can cream of potato soup
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 oz. can of minced clams (with juice)
8 oz can of tiny shrimp (with juice)
16 oz of flaked crab broken up in desired sized pieces (I use the artificial crab meat)
16 oz of frozen salad-sized (extra small) shrimp

(May add milk as needed for desired consistency . . . will need to do this when heating leftovers)

Heat until hot throughout. Serve with oyster crackers and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Note: May substitute or add additional seafood as desired. The more you put in, the tastier it gets. 🙂

Rachel’s Feel Better Soup

Note: quantities are approximate. I rarely measure anything for this recipe.

Saute in 2 T olive oil:

1 lb. diced chicken
1 c diced celery
1 c diced carrots

Cook until chicken is browned and vegetables are beginning to soften.
Add 2-4 cups chopped cabbage and/or kale. Cook lightly.
Add 4-6 cups chicken broth or an equivalent combo of bullion and water.
Add salt, thyme, and turmeric to taste.
Add starch of your choice: barley, rice, or noodles. Cook through.
Serve with warm tortillas or crusty bread.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup (From Rachel)

Halve, remove seeds, and oven roast one butternut squash, upside down in a little water. (350 oven for about an hour or until soft throughout)

Cool slightly, then use a tablespoon to remove squash from peels

Use blender, immersion blender, or foley mill to puree squash

In saucepan, combine squash puree with chicken broth (approx. 2 cups), 1 can unsweetened coconut milk, and 1-2 cubes of Golden Curry flavor. Cook over medium heat until all ingredients are blended and soup is hot. Do not boil.

Non-curry option: Use whole milk instead of coconut milk, and flavor with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, or other favorite seasoning.

Sarah’s Instant Pot Soup Formula

Single serving

4(ish)oz meat (beef, chicken, salmon, etc)
8oz baby carrots
4oz green beans or peas (or other legume)
50g cabbage (or a handful lol)
2oz butternut squash
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup water
2 tsp Celtic gray salt (or to taste)
black pepper

Brown meat (not necessary with fish) in olive oil.
Place all ingredients in Instant Pot.
Steam for 0 minutes (will vary by IP make/model)
Instant pressure release.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), and Erin (@erinaltered) on Instagram!

The Lutheran Ladies Lounge is the podcast produced by KFUO Radio and hosted by Sarah Gulseth, Erin Alter, and Rachel Bomberger. Created for Lutheran ladies to have a place to escape to with inviting conversations, laughter, and fellowship with Lutheran sisters, we invite all of you Lutheran ladies to join Sarah, Erin, and Rachel on the sofa in the Lutheran Ladies Lounge to sit, rest your feet, and stay a while. If you’re a Lutheran lady, join us in our Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge.

Sarah Gulseth

A proud Michigan native and fan of anything with the Mitten State on it, Digital Media Manager Sarah Gulseth is also a lover of historical war movies and anything with the label PBS Masterpiece. An avid bicyclist and women’s biking advocate, she rides her bike to work year-round and has the massive bike clothing and accessory collection to prove it. If it’s the weekend, she and her husband Luther are probably out riding bikes, or finding the next awesome coffee shop to frequent, or rehearsing for the next choir concert. You may also find her down a new rabbit hole on Google, researching the latest random fact she found on social media, while eating an unhealthy amount of apples (Macintosh from Michigan, of course) and raw almond butter.