My sister, Marisa and her roommate, Laura came to our house for Thanksgiving. To make things easy on me I decided we would have soup and salad on Wednesday night. The soup could get happy all day in the crockpot and my sister would make layered salad.
The soup turned out so good Laura has been asking for the recipe, so here is what I did...
Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks (about 1/4's of a regular potato) to fill the crockpot about 1/2 to 2/3.
Chop an onion and add to crockpot.
Chop about 3 stalks of celery - you want about 1 c of chopped celery.
Pour in a box of Chicken stock/broth. This should cover the potatoes, if not add more.
Add salt/pepper. Potatoes need lots of salt, but you don't want to add too much at this point. Same with the pepper. Probably about 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1 tsp of salt.
Let cook about 1/2 a day on low.
After cooking that long the potatoes should just want to fall apart.
At this point I puree the lot. I have a stick blender which I just stick in the crockpot and blend until it looks good. You can also scoop out portions and puree in the blender/food processor. If you use the blender/food processor method, be CAREFUL the hot liquid will be steamy and want to push open the lid to the blender!
Just before serving add 1/2-3/4 c. heavy cream and gently stir into the soup.
Add more salt and pepper to taste.
That is basic potato soup. To this base you can add different items to change things up. Some possibilities...
1-2 cup grated cheese after the puree
Bacon after the puree
Chopped carrots at the beginning with the celery
Use pork broth/stock instead of chicken
1 c chopped leeks
a couple of crushed garlic cloves at the beginning (they will be pureed later)
It is possible to cook this on the stove and not the crockpot, however, you will need to watch it more carefully. The low constant temperature of the crockpot cooking for several hours is part of what makes this simple soup so delicious!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Baking, Baking and some more Baking...
Within the past couple of months baking has been happening a bit more often. The first endeavor was by Patrick. He loves sourdough, so he set about to make a sourdough starter. He carefully measured and nurtured the starter for a week and then made some biscuits. He made three batches before letting the starter go.
Here is a picture of the man at work.
On my baking front I decided to attempt to make my own bread. The first week I tried this recipe. It looked easy. Now I know that this may not seem so terribly exciting to others, but you see I have not done that much baking with yeast. I worry about the whole kneading thing and then there is the bake time and worrying about too crispy of a crust. Just plain too much worrying.
The bread was good! I couldn't believe it I actually made bread!
The following week I turned to my new favorite cookbook Joy of Cooking. Wonderful birthday present from Herm and Frederica! The very first recipe was white bread. It stated that this recipe was in the very first Joy of Cooking in 1931. I figured, it must be good if they've kept it around for the 75th anniversary cookbook. (That's the one I have.) It also said it "stales slowly and cuts well for sandwiches." I also learned that if you cover the cooling bread with a damp cloth it makes a nice soft crust.
So for the third week in a row I have two homemade loaves of bread cooling in the kitchen. One will get wrapped up and put in the freezer and the other will make some wonderful toast in the morning.
As I was brushing butter on the warm bread (that's the other thing you do to make the crust soft). I started to think about my great grandmothers. I thought about them brushing their bread on their bread making day. (Yes it does take about 1/2 a day.) I knew most of my great grandmothers and I wondered which one would be the most proud of me. I then I remembered that my Great Grandpa Gray was a baker.
Of all my great grand parents he is one that I knew the best. He said that if he could do it again, he wouldn't be a baker because they have to get up way too early. I thought of him mixing dough and getting the ovens ready for the bread. I think he would be proud that I've tried my hand at baking bread. I wonder how different his bread recipe was the one I've been using. I don't recall any of his bread - but I DO remember his shortbread cookies. I wish I had his recipe.
In the meantime I will try to continue to bake bread on Saturday. We'll see how that works out during the summer. If it gets too hot, I will definitely pick it up in the Fall again. Hmmmm homemade bread and soup. I think that is a good combination.
Here is a picture of the man at work.
On my baking front I decided to attempt to make my own bread. The first week I tried this recipe. It looked easy. Now I know that this may not seem so terribly exciting to others, but you see I have not done that much baking with yeast. I worry about the whole kneading thing and then there is the bake time and worrying about too crispy of a crust. Just plain too much worrying.
The bread was good! I couldn't believe it I actually made bread!
The following week I turned to my new favorite cookbook Joy of Cooking. Wonderful birthday present from Herm and Frederica! The very first recipe was white bread. It stated that this recipe was in the very first Joy of Cooking in 1931. I figured, it must be good if they've kept it around for the 75th anniversary cookbook. (That's the one I have.) It also said it "stales slowly and cuts well for sandwiches." I also learned that if you cover the cooling bread with a damp cloth it makes a nice soft crust.
So for the third week in a row I have two homemade loaves of bread cooling in the kitchen. One will get wrapped up and put in the freezer and the other will make some wonderful toast in the morning.
As I was brushing butter on the warm bread (that's the other thing you do to make the crust soft). I started to think about my great grandmothers. I thought about them brushing their bread on their bread making day. (Yes it does take about 1/2 a day.) I knew most of my great grandmothers and I wondered which one would be the most proud of me. I then I remembered that my Great Grandpa Gray was a baker.
Of all my great grand parents he is one that I knew the best. He said that if he could do it again, he wouldn't be a baker because they have to get up way too early. I thought of him mixing dough and getting the ovens ready for the bread. I think he would be proud that I've tried my hand at baking bread. I wonder how different his bread recipe was the one I've been using. I don't recall any of his bread - but I DO remember his shortbread cookies. I wish I had his recipe.
In the meantime I will try to continue to bake bread on Saturday. We'll see how that works out during the summer. If it gets too hot, I will definitely pick it up in the Fall again. Hmmmm homemade bread and soup. I think that is a good combination.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Philly Cooking Creme Party!
On March 12th - I hosted a Philly Cooking Creme Party! (Yeah, houseparty.com!)
On the menu was...
Homemade Pizza Rolls
Homemade Pizza Dough
Red Pepper
Sausage
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Handful of Mozerella
Italian Cooking Creme
I chopped up all the pizza toppings into tiny dices. Then mixed in the cheese and the cooking creme. Rolled out portions of the dough, cut into rectangles. Taking each rectangle I scooped some of the mix in the middle and pinched all the sides closed. - cooked according to the dough recipe, served with some pizza sauce for dipping.
Chicken Veloute Supreme Soup
This was, by far the favorite recipe of the night. I wasn't sure about this so I made some the week before and loved it. Due to the fact that I couldn't find any of the Garlic Cooking Creme, I had to make some changes.
Changes:
First - the whole trying to make a rue with mushrooms still in the pan, just didn't work for me. May work for you, but I didn't do so well. I sautéed the mushrooms and then pulled them out of the pan, made a rue with equal amounts of flour and butter and then returned everything back to the pan.
Second - I used only half a tub of regular cooking creme (Cheryl used a whole thing of regular cream cheese whipped with some milk). I then added about a teaspoon or so of garlic.
Third - I added green onions.
This soup REALLY needs to be served with good bread. Dipping bread into the soup is just too wonderful for words.
Santa Fe Casserole
I had no doubts that this would be good. Notes for next time...Add in chopped olives and perhaps a small can of green chiles!
Creamy Bacon Pasta
Again I couldn't find anything but the regular cooking creme the day of the party, so instead of the italian creme listed in the recipe, I used regular. I forgot to add some garlic when I sautéed the onions - that would have been good. The next day I reheated this with some extra cheese - that made it much better. (Isn't everything better with a little cheese?)
Cream Cheese mini tarts
Cream Cheese tart shells
Filled with nutella, peach-raspberry jam and pear butter
I have to say that these little things are ADDICTIVE. I have now made three batches - well the third batch is in the oven as I write. I don't know if I would make these any bigger than the mini-muffin size. Although the suggestion of pushing the dough out flat and baking it as one big dessert sounded good. I am justed excited to have a mini-muffin pan - plus I love little things. I have also added vanilla and almond to the batter.
If you would like to comment on Philly Cooking Creme see this link.
On the menu was...
Homemade Pizza Rolls
Homemade Pizza Dough
Red Pepper
Sausage
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Handful of Mozerella
Italian Cooking Creme
I chopped up all the pizza toppings into tiny dices. Then mixed in the cheese and the cooking creme. Rolled out portions of the dough, cut into rectangles. Taking each rectangle I scooped some of the mix in the middle and pinched all the sides closed. - cooked according to the dough recipe, served with some pizza sauce for dipping.
Chicken Veloute Supreme Soup
This was, by far the favorite recipe of the night. I wasn't sure about this so I made some the week before and loved it. Due to the fact that I couldn't find any of the Garlic Cooking Creme, I had to make some changes.
Changes:
First - the whole trying to make a rue with mushrooms still in the pan, just didn't work for me. May work for you, but I didn't do so well. I sautéed the mushrooms and then pulled them out of the pan, made a rue with equal amounts of flour and butter and then returned everything back to the pan.
Second - I used only half a tub of regular cooking creme (Cheryl used a whole thing of regular cream cheese whipped with some milk). I then added about a teaspoon or so of garlic.
Third - I added green onions.
This soup REALLY needs to be served with good bread. Dipping bread into the soup is just too wonderful for words.
Santa Fe Casserole
I had no doubts that this would be good. Notes for next time...Add in chopped olives and perhaps a small can of green chiles!
Creamy Bacon Pasta
Again I couldn't find anything but the regular cooking creme the day of the party, so instead of the italian creme listed in the recipe, I used regular. I forgot to add some garlic when I sautéed the onions - that would have been good. The next day I reheated this with some extra cheese - that made it much better. (Isn't everything better with a little cheese?)
Cream Cheese mini tarts
Cream Cheese tart shells
Filled with nutella, peach-raspberry jam and pear butter
I have to say that these little things are ADDICTIVE. I have now made three batches - well the third batch is in the oven as I write. I don't know if I would make these any bigger than the mini-muffin size. Although the suggestion of pushing the dough out flat and baking it as one big dessert sounded good. I am justed excited to have a mini-muffin pan - plus I love little things. I have also added vanilla and almond to the batter.
If you would like to comment on Philly Cooking Creme see this link.
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