Back in 2009 I think it was, I taught in St. Louis and stayed with a fellow quilter, Darlene. She served the most wonderful soup and she shared her recipe. I asked if it was ok if I put it on the blog and at that time, I was maintaining a separate recipe blog. I put it there. I also had a printed copy of the recipe but several months ago, a friend was over and I gave it to her because I knew it was also on the internet. We ate lunch out today so I hadn’t planned to fix dinner but it’s cold and damp and cloudy and I began thinking about this soup. I looked in my recipe files here at Patchwork Times and it wasn’t there and that’s when I realized it was on the other website and it’s gone! I called my friend and she’s out of town and the printed recipe is at her house. That’s not helping! 🙁
Thank goodness for the “Way Back Machine” because I was able to pull it up and this is what we’re having for dinner tonight. I cooked a ham this week so I have plenty of leftover ham and everything else is sitting right in my pantry or fridge. Vince will be happy when he hears what we’re having for dinner . . especially since he thought he wasn’t getting any dinner! 🙂
Thanks Darlene for one of my favorite soup recipes.
Ingredients:
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup butter
2 T. flour
2 cups water
3 cups potatoes, diced and cooked
1 – 17 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1/8 tsp. ginger
salt & pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
2 cups ham, diced
1-1/2 cups evaporated milk
8 oz. cream cheese
For the ginger, I don’t always have fresh ginger around and I like it so much better than powdered ginger. This is what I use. I can keep it in the fridge much longer than fresh ginger would keep.
Herbs
I know . . the one on the left is cilantro and not ginger but they do have ginger, I’m just out of it. It’s Pop & Cook and I love having these little cubes in the freezer.
Herbs
In the tube is Gourmet Garden and I keep many of their tubes in the fridge. You can often find discount coupons online for Gourmet Garden herbs.
Directions:
Saute onions and celery in butter. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and celery and stir til the flour barely begins to turn beige. Add the water (which can be water from the potatoes, or liquid from the corn). Stir until the water/flour is blended. Add corn, bay leaves, ginger, salt, pepper and ham. Stir in milk and cream cheese. Heat until cream cheese is melted. Add the potatoes and cook til they’re warm. Sometimes if it’s a little thick, I’ll add a bit of milk – 2%, whole milk . . whatever is in the fridge.
Darlene’s hints:
I dice the potato before cooking and cook until just tender – do not overcook.
Sometimes I add more corn than is called for.
Do not over salt as the ham adds saltiness.
Keeps well for several days in the fridge or can be frozen.
Serves 6 – 10 depending on serving size. (This only serves 6 – 10 if they aren’t very hungry! When Chad was home, he would eat half of this in one sitting!)
My Note: This will scorch if you cook it too high and on my gas stove, low is just about too high.
Bev Austin says
Soup sounds wonderful, will try some soon. Fresh ginger is the best! You can keep it fresh by sticking a nice sized chunk in a pot of soil, It grew and grew on my windowsill, had it for a long time, must try growing some again.
Barb says
I have kept fresh ginger root in the freezer and it works great. Haven’t tried the suggestion from Bev, but that sounds like a good option too.
Barb
Ellie says
Sounds like a great recipe ! Will have to give it a try. I keep fresh ginger in a heavy plastic bag in the freezer and just grate it as needed. Keeps indefinitely and I always have fresh ginger handy.
Grace says
Soup sounds delicious. I will definitely try this recipe next time I have ham left over, probably right after Thanksgiving. As far as freezing the soup, do you freeze it after adding the cream cheese, or do you add the cream cheese after the soup is defrosted? I have heard that you can’t freeze cream cheese, but don’t know whether it’s okay if the cream cheese is an ingredient.
Rosalie says
What is the “Way Back Machine”?
Recipe sounds delicious!
Sherrill says
I’ve had the squeeze tube herbs before but never seen the little cubes. Those look very convenient!
Lee says
This will be a must try! Ginger and cream cheese, hmmm, interesting. For creamy or cheesy dishes, I bought a diffuser to place over my gas burner, It really helps prevent scorching in the bottom of the pan.
Jan O in St Louis says
Darlene’s Iowa Chowder is delicious – I’m glad you remember it. An article she wrote about creating a fireworks quilt was published in the July 2013 issue of American Quilter. Sadly, Darlene passed away on Sept. 23.
JudyL says
Oh, Jan! I’m so sorry!
Dot says
I love the Wayback Machine! Did you hear that archive.org, the nonprofit that runs the Wayback Machine, had a bad fire yesterday? It destroyed $600,000 worth of the equipment they use to scan and archive books. Very sad.
Susan Fields says
I got that recipe from you years ago from you and we love it……… The day we moved into this house my sister in law and I made that and had the whole family here……….. Wonderful memories attached to that recipe……..
helen-mary says
Another ginger tip: peel and slice, then store in the fridge, in a jar filled with sherry. The ginger sherry makes for delicious chinese sauces, and the ginger keeps pretty much forever in the alcohol.
Karin Vail says
I made this (minus the ginger and substituted frozen hashbrowns for the potatoes) for an annual friends/family soup party/contest a couple years ago – and won the contest. There were some mighty fine soups, but this one was the first to disappear!