Archive for January, 2012
No-Fuss Potato Soup
from Taste of Home www.bestsimplerecipes.com
- 6 cups cubed peeled potatoes (can mix in cubed peeled turnips as well)
- 5 cups water
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1/4 cup cubed butter
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- snipped chives (optional)
In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the first nine ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 7-8 hours or until the vegetables are tender. Add milk and parsley’ mix well. Cover and cook 30-60 minutes longer or until heated through.
Garnish with chives if desired.
Daikon Radish with Chicken
- 1 daikon radish
- 2 boneless chicken legs w/thigh
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Cooking Sauce:
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon mirin rice vinegar
- dry white wine
Peel daikon and cut in half then cut into 1/2 inch moons.
Cut chicken into 1/2-1 inch pieces.
Heat oil. Add daikon and chicken and saute over high heat. Stir in crushed garlic and chili flakes.
Add together all of the Cooking Sauce ingredients. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring. When the sauce has nearly evaporated, sprinkle in some sesame oil.
Remove from heat and serve.
Great with rice!
Broccoli Cheese Soup Review
I usually don’t make soup, I’m more of a stew person. However, I’m trying to venture a bit more with my cooking. This broccoli soup recipe fits my criteria: Easy AND all items are ‘regular items’ (unlike the capers sitting in my cupboard for a recipe I never got around to making and-now-can’t-remember-what-recipe-they-are-for).
Here’s the link for the original recipe, followed by my notes in blue.
Katrina Runs for Food Broccoli Cheese Soup
Here’s a PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
My first time cooking Broccoli Cheese Soup
- 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature I didn’t use room temperature butter
- 1 1/2 lbs fresh broccoli Yes! FRESH broccoli. Most recipes call for frozen broccoli. Blech!
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, sliced One carrot was not enough for us. Next time I’ll use two. Sliced thin they cooked very well, ended up tender.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth Keyword – Low Sodium. I didn’t have broth on hand so I used boullion granules PLUS a sharp cheese. It was almost too salty.
- 1/2 cup cream or 1 cup milk I used milk. It did not make the soup runny.
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese I used Fagundes St. Jorge cheese. It’s a sharp cheese AND we have it available through FFF.
That's about a pound and a half.
Melt butter in medium pot over medium-high heat.
Add onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.
Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color.
Add stock and bring to boil.
Reduce to simmer and add broccoli. Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. I used this time to grate the cheese and wash the cutting board, knife, etc.
Pour in cream and cheese. Stir to combine and melt. Serve hot.
I had to be fast with the camera. The steam kept fogging up my lense!
SUMMARY:
I really liked this recipe. The time it took from start to finish was about 35 minutes, easily a weeknight meal.
5 out of 5 stars for me
Happy Cooking
Pam
Tuscan Bean Soup with Shrimp Review
Every day there are recipes in my inbox. I subscribe to many lists. FEW recipes catch my attention enough for me to actually try. I specifically look for easy recipes because I really don’t enjoy cooking during the week. Weekends are a different story. When I have all day I purposely plan meals that can simmer on the stove for hours. During the week I’m tired and hungry when I walk through the door. Husband and three active kids are hungry too. (This time of year we only have one sport going on, usually there’s two or three.) You know what I’m talking about!
I love to read the posts of Pioneer Woman. She’s a bit snarky, a quality I find irresistible. Usually her recipes seem to be a bit ‘involved’ for me, but the Tuscan Bean Soup with Shrimp looked tempting. Click here for the original recipe. I pretty much followed her recipe with the exception of 3 things:
- I didn’t have any basil on hand (one of those “planning” things I tend to NOT get to. Working Mom….)
- I used frozen shrimp (again, Working Mom)
- I had crushed red pepper flakes in my pantry
Tuscan Bean Soup with Shrimp --- Pardon the picture quality. I used the camera on my phone.
The soup got 4 out of 5 stars at my house. I had not cooked with red pepper flakes before and did not realize how spicy this would be. I like spicy foods, but my family does not or it would have been 5 stars.
The Kale stayed crunchy, even when re-heated for left overs. I will definitely make this again (with less pepper flakes). I also plan on using the base for the broth again with other ingredients.
This is a very forgiving recipe. You can use whatever greens you have on hand. Add carrots, celery, etc. Next time I plan on adding potatoes and sausage instead of beans and shrimp.
If you try this recipe, let me know.
–Happy Cooking
–Pam
