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Gluten-Free Condensed Cream of Celery Soup

Okay, there is an upside to this recipe and a downside.

I will start with the downside. You will need celery juice.

You could buy it (make sure it is GF) or if you are anything like me, you can dig out the gift your husband gave you a few years ago for Christmas… during  your “juicing phase” that lasted all of a week. Right up until the moment your husband convinced you to drink a glass of beet/kale/carrot/tomato/apple juice because, “the apple juice hides the *tastes like dirt* flavor of the beets and kale.”

My husband is a liar. I drank apple flavored dirt. That was then end of my juicing phase. The juicer had been sitting in a box in the garage for 2 years until I resurrected it for this recipe.

GF Condensed Cream of Celery Soup

1 cup Gluten-Free Magic Mix

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

1/8 tsp. Celery Salt (optional, but I liked it)

3/4 Celery Juice (I have made this with the full 3/4 cup of celery juice, which was pretty strong. And also with 1/2 cup celery juice + 1/4 cup water, which was milder. Adjust to your personal taste, just be sure to use 3/4 cup of liquid).

• Add Magic Mix, onion powder and celery juice to a saucepan. Mix well.

• Turn heat to medium and stir constantly until the mixture thickens (this does not take very long).

Use one recipe of this for each can of Condensed Cream of Celery Soup called for in your recipe.

Comparison time (this is the upside):

So I have to comment further on this. I am actually glad I did not research Campbell’s version first or I would have tried to replicate it. When I first opened it (fully expecting at least a light green color), I was surprised at how yellow it was (remember, it has been MANY years since this product was used by me in a recipe). I then moved closer to smell it. Know what it smelled like? Glue. Wet wheat flour. I did not detect even a hint of celery! Huh?

So here is the good news I mentioned above. Since the Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Celery Soup does not smell like celery (as for taste, well, I just cannot tell you that. Nor will I ever be able to). I am assuming that you could also just saute some celery and fold it into a GF Magic Mix Cream Soup Base.

Gluten-Free Magic Mix Condensed Cream Soup Base:

I cup Gluten Free Magic Mix

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

3/4 cup water (remember, the Magic Mix has powdered milk in it)

Suggestions for GF Condensed Cream of Celery Soup (without the celery juice):

Add 1/8 – 1/4 tsp. Celery Salt or Celery Seed for added celery flavor

Fold in 1/4 cup sauteed celery.

If you use this method, I would recommend making it the day ahead to allow the celery flavor to develop.

How I made celery juice:

I have the Breville  BJE200XL juicer. It is available on Amazon.com for $99.90 with free shipping. Breville makes a few juicers in different price ranges and you can read user reviews on Amazon.com There are other brands of juicers too and you can see some samples here. Overall, Breville seems to rate among the highest with users and I agree, I absolutely LOVE mine (just not for the aforementioned juice blend)! Back in the fall, I started juicing apples to make the boys fresh apple juice. I have also juiced pears and grapefruit. If we manage to actually produce any tomatoes this year, I would like to make my own tomato juice for condensed tomato soup. I am also curious to see if juicing blueberries, raspberries, etc. would work as a natural food coloring in some things, but that is an experiment for another day. I really know nothing about that subject! Does anyone else happen to have a dehydrator? Can you dehydrate liquids in a home dehydrator? Sorry… see why I can get so behind??

Check this out on the health benefits of celery juice from Natural News.com, and all these years I thought celery was as nutritious as Iceberg Lettuce!

I really like the celery juice version, especially after reading about the health benefits of celery juice. The combined celery juice and onion powder taste reminds me of the aroma from sauteing celery and onion for Thanksgiving dressing. I only have one recipe that calls for Condensed Cream of Celery Soup, and by the time you add it to a bunch of other ingredients, the celery bits aren’t noticeable anyway, which is why I don’t mess with the added celery.

Gluten-Free Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup

GF Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup

1 cup Gluten-Free Magic Mix

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

3/4 cup Tomato Juice (see below)

• Add Magic Mix, onion powder and tomato juice to a saucepan. Mix well.

• Turn heat to medium and stir constantly until the mixture thickens (this does not take very long).

Use one recipe of this for each can of Condensed Tomato Soup called for in your recipe.

Comparison to the “real” thing:

The texture and consistency of the Campbell’s is quite a bit thinner than what I came up with. The Campbell’s version is more like a thick Tomato Sauce. I will tinker around and see if I can come up with something more like the Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup (eventually, I am a bit backlogged at the moment ). Any which way, I have been using the GF Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup in all my recipes that call for Condensed Tomato Soup and we have liked it all the same, even if it does lend a creamier consistency to the finished product. Besides, it’s been 5 years… I have essentially wiped out any real memories of casseroles in my former gluten-life!

Okay, I couldn’t stop myself. Monopotassium Phosphate (this is only a clip from Wikipedia, click on the link for further info):

is a soluble salt which is used as a fertilizer, a food additive and a fungicide.

I love how they sandwiched “food additive” in between “fertilizer” and “fungicide.” Couldn’t they have at least put “food additive” first??

What I used in the Gluten-Free Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup Recipe (this is actually rather funny in an ironic sort of way!):

Click here for a list of Campbell’s Gluten Free Products.

Since I do not drink tomato juice and I do not use condensed tomato soup all that often, I freeze the left over juice in ice cube trays to use as needed. :-)

Gluten-Free Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

GF Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Gluten Free Magic Mix

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

3/4 cup canned Chicken Liquid (if not using canned chicken, use GF Chicken Broth)

1/4 cup canned Chicken, chopped (if not using canned chicken, use baked Chicken Breast)

• Add Magic Mix, onion powder and canned chicken liquid or chicken broth to a saucepan. Mix well.

• Turn heat to medium and stir constantly until the mixture thickens (does not take very long).

• Fold in 1/4 cup chopped chicken.

Use one recipe of this for each can of condensed cream of chicken soup called for in your recipe.

See the bottom of this post for the canned chicken I used…

Comparison time:

Onward and upward…

For the canned chicken, I used a 13-0z. can of:

What I do to store leftover canned chicken:

By freezing the leftover canned chicken in ice cube trays covered with water, you will eliminate freezer burn and the funky texture that can result from freezer burn! I use one or two “cubes” of chicken that has been thawed and drained in future batches of condensed cream of chicken soup.

Also, when I make chicken salad or something else that calls for canned chicken, instead of discarding the liquid, I freeze it in ice cube trays too, then thaw several cubes for the soup recipe once I get a surplus!

Gluten-Free “Magic Mix”

I am re-posting this recipe in a “cleaner” format. I use this recipe in my GF condensed soups. If you are new to my blog and are looking for a good condensed soup recipe to use in your favorite casserole recipes, you have really got to try this! I found the recipe a few months ago on a website called “Everyday Food Storage.” This is not a gluten-free website, but there are some really neat recipes than can be easily converted to gluten-free and dairy-free. The basic principle behind the website is how to cook with long-term food storage stuff like powdered milk, canned goods, dried foods, etc. While I have only tried the Magic Mix recipe thus far, there are some other recipes that might be worth looking at if you have had trouble finding commercial food products to fit your particular dietary restrictions. Crystal Godfrey (author of Everyday Food Storage) also offers some great tips on how to prep foods in advance to make cooking faster and easier for working parents or those that are new to cooking at home in general and don’t exactly “love” it like I do. Just remember, it is not a gluten-free website, so you will have to make the appropriate substitutions if you are gluten-free.

Gluten Free Magic Mix

2 1/3 cups Dry Non-Instant Powdered Milk (I have been using the instant non-fat powdered milk available in grocery stores. I am going to try the Organic Valley Non-Instant Powdered Milk after I finish digging my way out of the instant powdered milk I bought from Costco! Click here for a list of Organic Valley’s Gluten-Free Products.)

1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (I have been using my Better Batter GF Flour recently, I have also used Tom Sawyer’s GF All Purpose Flour. I do not know if the xanthan gum and pectin/gelatin in those mixes makes a difference or not).

1 cup Butter, at room temperature (I use Smart Balance in the tub).

• Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

• Using a whisk attachment, mix ingredients together slowly at first, then gradually increase speed until incorporated.

• Keep mix tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
  

Next up… recipes for:

GF Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

GF Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

GF Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup

GF Condensed Cream of Celery Soup

I recently made the Magic Mix using Vance’s DariFree Non-Dairy Milk Powder and Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, but totally forgot to take pictures! It worked very well in the Condensed Soup Recipes but added a slight sweetness to the overall taste of the soups.

If you happen to try this recipe using other non-dairy milk powders, please come back an leave a comment on what you used and how it worked out! .