As stated in Chef Ryan Callahan’s book, Cooking for Chemo...and After!, it is not the recipes alone that will help you begin to eat and enjoy your food again while going through chemotherapy. It is the cooking techniques that we teach you to apply that will truly transform the way you cook for someone undergoing chemotherapy. The recipes provided to CONQUER have already had our Cooking for Chemo techniques applied to them.
Our cooking methods (roundness of flavor and palate cleansing) are specifically focused on helping you combat the debilitating side effects from chemo, such as metallic taste, nausea, loss of appetite, and mouth sores. Our goal at Cooking for Chemo is simple: to help those undergoing chemotherapy be able to enjoy eating their food again.
Ease of Preparation: Beginner
Dish Description:
c It’s very similar in construction to clam chowder. The appeal of baked potato soup is that without the seafood aspect, the dish loses its pungency and becomes more approachable.
Tasting Guidelines:
This dish should taste savory.
The weight of this dish is medium but can be balanced with red wine vinegar.
The texture of this dish is soupy.
This dish is good for people with low to moderate treatment side effects.
This dish gives an emotional response of having a warm full belly.
This dish is best categorized as classic American.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 cups potatoes specifically yellow or red potatoes, diced
- 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
- 2 large cans chicken broth
- 1/2 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Flavor Balancers:
- 4 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
Aromatics:
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp bay seasoning, optional but highly recommended
Garnish:
- 1/4 cup crispy bacon, green onions, and sour cream, chopped for garnish
Recipe Directions:
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is thoroughly melted, stir in flour until all butter has been absorbed by flour. Stir thoroughly and be careful not to burn. Allow mixture to remain over heat for 30 seconds to cook out the flour flavor. Immediately remove mixture from heat and set aside for later use.
- Bring a large stockpot to medium heat and add oil. Then add garlic, celery, onions, and carrots. Cook over medium heat. Allow to cook until onions are translucent. Stir in potatoes, remaining seasonings, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil for 30 minutes or until potatoes become tender. In the microwave, cook the milk until warm but not boiling. Add to pot after potatoes are tender, making certain to stir in thoroughly. At this point, taste the soup and make any necessary flavor adjustments.
- Over medium-high heat, slowly add roux and allow soup to thicken until a desired consistency is reached. This process should happen in 2- to 3-minute increments.
- The method is: Add roux. Stir. Return to simmer while stirring. If after returning to a simmer, the soup has not thickened sufficiently, add roux and repeat process.
- After soup is sufficiently thick, turn burner to low heat and slowly stir in cheddar cheese. Serve with bread and garnishes.
Chef Tips: If soup is too heavy, add vinegar. If soup does not feel full in flavor, it’s missing sugar. If it doesn’t taste savory, add a little monosodium glutamate (MSG). If you are not concerned about color, instead of using MSG, add a little soy sauce instead. Soy sauce will darken the color of the soup.
For more information about Chef Ryan and Cooking for Chemo, visit cookingforchemo.org
