Monday, January 19, 2009

Soup's On!

It’s another snowstorm here in N.W. Indiana – again. Those of you who live in warmer climates…you really won’t understand me this week. Each day the drive into work is made clumsy, if not dangerous by the ice, slush and cumulative piles of snow. Snow on top of snow, it gets on your last frozen nerve I’m telling you! Freezing temperatures last week made me think of snow days when my kids were younger, and school was called off because of snow. Then I wasn’t the cook that I am now, which took years of trial and effort. Snow meant trying out a chili recipe or heating up a little pot of Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup, the latter of which was more a hot beverage with a few tiny noodles. Either way, the intent was to warm you up. This week I will feature many of my soup recipes. I thought that new cooks could try a few, and older cooks??? Well, leave a comment and hook a girl up to your favorite soup recipes!

We’ll start with a hearty easy recipe for potato soup. Easy, because I can come home from work, dice up some potatoes and still have time to prepare the soup and serve it before my husband arrives, all cold and hungry.

10 peeled potatoes – diced, rinsed cover with 8 cups of chicken broth (canned is good)
Boil until soft, then mash a little until lumpy; while potatoes are cooking, combine in a frying pan, 4 stalks of diced celery, ½ large onion chopped and 1 stick of margarine or butter. (Yum, butter…) Sauté until soft, then add ¾ cup of flour to make rue. (If the mixture looks greasy, add more flour. Cook for additional 2 min. to heat the flour; add ½ of the rue mixture to potato mixture until all lumps are dissolved and then add the other half of the rue mixture. If your soup gets too thick, add some (about a cup and a half) milk to thin it out. Salt and pepper to taste (my husband loves his pepper – I watch my salt intake) Add milk to desired consistency.

Garnish with crumbled bacon bits (I use turkey bacon, cooked in the microwave to save some time and a few calories) and serve topped with grated cheddar cheese. I love the cheese part!
Drop into a carb induced coma.
OHHHH, the yum, I’m feeling it now.

Watch for tomorrow’s easy recipe – something you can let fester in your crock pot while you work, play or sleep!

1 comment:

Mimi's Toes said...

Thanks for helping me decide my menu for tonight...We love potato soup on a cold snowy day.
I agree with you on the commute to work in the snow & ice. I think we should have snow days like school, but I think I'd rather be at work cause when you are stuck at home, you have to look at things that need to be done around the house and I hate housework. Oh, and Mrs. Grass is one of my favorite drink/soups with tiny noodles.