snow day. soup. & salad.

 

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if (and i do say if) the weather reports are based on factual reporting (a rarity these days to be sure) we'll have snow falling for the next week at least. so far there's been large flakes slowly falling earthward .. then nothing. then a bit. then nothing. sigh. get on with it! to help it along i made soup today and while it rested on the 'warming' burner we took a brisk walk complete with huffing and puffing up the last hill toward our home. when we first moved here i'd have to stop .. fairly often .. due to the elevation and my leaning toward the asthmatic. now though i'm able to keep going. usually. and i'm oh so thankful for that increase in ability! today we took our walk while we could because once the snow starts - indeed if it does - then brisk walks will be met with slipping and sliding and i doubt any graceful outcome. wink. okay so, back to the soup. 

let's start with salad.

the market 30 minutes north now offers containers of baby kale and super greens! you can imagine my thrill over the prospect of good greens. where we used to live, i could bee-bop to trader joe's or nugget market and have my fill. here though? not so much. so you learn to appreciate what you can find. but now i've got good greens available. and life is good {in that way}.

after removing the stems (cuz it's just my thing) i tossed the greens with the last of a tomato and some purple cabbage shavings, pepper, then a drizzle of bacon vinaigrette produced by stonewall kitchen. and i just now remembered that i forgot to include roasted pistachios. next time. tomorrow. for sure.

my uncle AL hates kale. he reads my blog. wink.

my father was a great cook and consistently took pictures of his dishes. i do the same thing but not of the flops which most recently included a cake - worst cake i've ever made in my entire life. it was truly vile. the hubs is sweet though and ate his slice without complaint though i did notice his gills were a tad green. i married up. wink. i think he buried the rest in the back yard. or lit it in the burn pile. i wouldn't blame him one iota.

back to the soup. i have my father's potato soup recipe. years ago i made it - and changed the recipe - then made the horrific mistake of telling him i changed his recipe. you could have heard a pin drop. then his growly voice over the phone wire saying, "what'd you do?!" 'cept there was a naughty word in the question and he should have had his mouth washed out with soap. i had to do a bit of back peddling and never ever again told him i changed another recipe. i actually did change a few more - for the better in my humble opinion. ahem. regardless, i'm sharing my personal recipe for potato (& cheese) soup. it's rich. a little goes a long way, friends. it'll feed you for days if you pace yourself. and you'll need a few brisk walks to counter some of the ingredients. it'll be worth it. pinky promise. 

on to the recipe for sherry's potato cheese soup.

:word to the wise: 

measure out all your ingredients before cooking. 

it'll make the process much more streamlined 

and you won't freak out or forget 

something while following steps.

6 T unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cloves garlic - minced

~ 2 lbs potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 cup carrots - diced

3/4 cup celery - diced

3/4 cup onion - diced

8 slices bacon : cooked crisp & divided

4 cups good quality veg stock or chicken stock (i used trader joe's veg stock)

1 cup 1/2&1/2

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sour cream

4 cups cheese - grated

{i used half medium cheddar & half english cheddar w/parmesan crisps-a trader joe's specialty cheese}

seasoning: fresh cracked pepper (a few or more good turns to taste), dried parsley (1.5 T), smoked paprika (1 T), salt (1.5 tsp), red pepper flakes (one good pinch).

• melt butter in stock pot. add veggies (not potatoes) and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. add garlic and cook 1 minute more. 

• whisk in flour and stir over low heat until a hint of golden. 

•  add seasonings (pepper, parsley, smoked paprika, salt) and all 4 cups of stock along with 2 cups of water. whisk and cook on medium heat until slightly thickened, ~ 2 minutes. 

•  add potato cubes, stir, cover. bring to low boil then simmer until the potatoes are soft - stirring often. this will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes. 

•  once the potatoes are soft you can use a masher in the stock pot to soften some of the potato chunks and make the mixture that much more creamy. or, you can do what i do and use an inversion blender in the stock pot: about 10-20 seconds on high. 

•  now turn the stove burner to simmer and add half the bacon, all the 1/2&1/2 and all the heavy whipping cream. stir to combine well.  

•  add the sour cream and all the cheese, stirring to combine and allow the cheese to melt into a glorious goodness. 

•  serve with a little pile of bacon pieces and chives or scallion greens on top.

option #1: for good ole potato soup omit the cheese & bacon.  

option #2: leftover steamed or roasted broccoli? include it! yUm.

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