Klapsakkaa--- Buttered Potato Soup

Velvetty, creamy potato deliciousness! This soup was one of the Scandinavian dishes we prepared on Sunday in celebration of our Swedish friend Matt's birthday.   Looking at the ingredients I didn't expect to like this soup as much as I did, but it had a depth that my potato soup recipe seems to lack and was so easy to make.  Whats not to love? PLUS I know I cant be the only one who hates left over mashed potatoes.

Buttered Potato Soup
modified from Scandinavian Cooking by Beatrice Okakangas
2 cups mashed potatoes
4 cups Milk
2 cups half and half
salt and pepper to taste
dash of ground allspice
 In a medium saucepan beat potatoes and milk with a whisk till smooth. Stir in half and half and let come to  barely a boil.  Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with a dash of allspice.  Garnish each serving with parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of butter.

We added a little bacon and some cheese to the leftovers and it was even better if that is possible!

Pappas Rellenas and Sopa de Lima (March Daring Cooks Challenge)

I was on a mission as soon as I read the recipe for the March Daring Cooks challenge.  I was going to find some Purple Peruvian potatoes! Alas I went to every grocery store in the area to no avail.  Finally I went to Seattle for work and got a chance to visit the Pikes Place Market (WHICH I LOVED!!!) In the market I barely had to look, there were my little purple gems. 
Due to being sick with what I am going to refer to as the plague for the last week I just got a chance to perform the challenge tonight for SA and our friends Tiff and Matt. It was fantastic! I used a mixture of spicy sausage, onions,garlic, olives and cheese.

Pappas Rellenas
For the dough:
2¼ lb (1 kg) russet potatoes
1 large egg
For the filling:
2 tablespoon (30 ml) of a light flavored oil
½ lb spicy sausage
6 black olives, pitted and chopped (use more if you love olives)
2 hard boiled large eggs, chopped
1 small onion, finely diced (about 1 cup (240 ml))
1 finely diced aji pepper (ok to sub jalapeño or other pepper – if you are shy about heat, use less)
2 cloves garlic, minced or passed through a press (if you love garlic, add more) 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) (1/8 oz) ground cumin (use more if you like cumin)
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) (2 gm) (1/16 oz) sweet paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
For the final preparation:
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash salt
1 cup dry (240 ml) (110 gm) (4 oz) or fresh (240 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) bread crumbs (you can use regular, panko, make your own or use store-bought)
Oil for frying (enough for 2” (50 mm) in a heavy pan like a medium sized dutch oven)
Directions:
In order to save time, you can boil the potatoes, and while they are cooling, you can make the filling. While that is cooling, you can make the potato “dough.” In this way, little time is spent waiting for anything to cool.
For the dough:
Boil the potatoes until they pierce easily with a fork. Remove them from the water and cool.
Once the potatoes have cooled, peel them and mash them with a potato masher or force them through a potato ricer (preferred).
Add egg, salt and pepper and knead “dough” thoroughly to ensure that ingredients are well combined and uniformly distributed.
Forming and frying the papas:
Use three small bowls to prepare the papas. In one, combine flour, cayenne and salt. In the second, a beaten egg with a tiny bit of water. Put bread crumbs in the third
Flour your hands and scoop up 1/6 of the total dough to make a round pancake with your hands. Make a slight indentation in the middle for the filling.
Spoon a generous amount of filling into the center and then roll the potato closed, forming a smooth, potato-shaped casing around the filling. Repeat with all dough (you should have about 6 papas).
Heat 1 ½ - 2 inches (4 – 5 cm) of oil in a pan to about 350 – 375° F (175 - 190°C).
Dip each papa in the three bowls to coat: first roll in flour, then dip in egg, then roll in bread crumbs.
Fry the papas (in batches if necessary) about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip once in the middle of frying to brown both sides.
Drain on paper towel and store in a 200ºF (95ºC) (gas mark ¼) oven if frying in batches.
Serve with salsa criolla (or other sauce of preference) immediately.

I served the Pappas Rellenas with Sopa de Lima:

Sopa de Lima (Tortilla Soup with Lime)
delightfully borrowed from Home Sick Texan
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
10 cloves garlic
2 quarts of chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne
1 cup chopped cilantro, divided
2 teaspoons lime zest
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
Crushed tortilla chips
2 jalapeños, stems and seeds removed, diced
1 avocado, pitted and peeled, cubed
1 lime, cut into slices

Place the quartered onion and 10 cloves of garlic under the broiler. Cook until blackened, about 10 minutes, turning once. Place the cooked onion and garlic into the blender, along with 1 cup of the broth. Pour into a large pot.
Add the rest of the chicken broth to the pot, and stir in the allspice, cinnamon, oregano, cumin, cayenne, 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro and lime zest. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings, and then stir in the lime juice.
Serve with Monterrey Jack, crushed tortilla chips, diced jalapeños, remaining 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, avocado and lime slices.
Blog Checking Lines:
Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

Lentil Soup with Preserved Lemons

Recently we had a snow day.  And by snow, I mean, that it snowed a bit and covered all of the trees in a beautiful white glaze.  SA and I managed to have the same day off that day so we decided to take a drive up into the mountains. It was gorgeous:

We stopped by a local lake and I got accosted by a goose? The question mark was because I think it was a goose.  I have never heard something make a sound like this one was making.  I think it wanted part of my Luna bar... at any rate, it made Curry loose his mind!!!

look at that evil glint in his beady eyes! He was out to get me!!!!



see? Curry was loosing his mind over the snowdrifts.  This picture we like to affectionately call, digging to china, because that's what he was doing in the big pile of snow!!!

 At any rate, after we got home we were hungry for something warm in our belly's and soup fit the bill quite nicely.  This lentil soup is delicious, but the addition of the preserved lemons on the top took it to the next level.  I started the preserved lemons from a recipe on chow back in December and they were the perfect accoutrement, and highly delicious in their own right.

Lentil Soup with Spiced Preserved Lemons
polska kielbasa cut into chunks
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes with chiles
2 cups dry lentils
6 cups of chicken broth
2 cups spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and carrots, and sausage and cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic oregano cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in lentils, and add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve stir in spinach, and cook until it wilts and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Top with rinsed chopped spiced preserved lemons.

Zuppa Toscano & Spicy Nuts (a two-fer!)

When you look at a map right now snow and freezing rain are reeking havoc across the US.  Luckily so far here in the valley, we are snow-free, regardless of the forecast showing a "wintry mix" for tonight.  It is however cold.  That kind of cold where just any meal wont cut it.  Its genuine "stick to your ribs" dinner kinda weather, and no better time to have a warm tasty soup!

There are about a million different recipes out there for this soup and the first time I made it I got the recipe from my friend "M," and of course I had to slightly modify it because...well because that is what I do!

Zuppa Toscano

an amalgamation of recipes.

1 lb Italian sausage (I used spicy the first time and the jimmy dean natural this time!)

Three large russet baking potatoes, sliced in thin slices with a mandolin

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups spinach chopped
2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half (I used heavy w/c the first time and half and half this time.  I think milk would even be fine.)

fresh rosemary and oregano to taste
salt and pepper

In a large pot cook and drain sausage leaving a little bit of grease in the pot. Add onion and garlic sauteing until translucent.  Add potatoes to the pot and then cover with chicken broth and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Stir in spinach, rosemary and oregano and salt and pepper and continue to simmer for five minutes.  Stir in heavy cream right before you are ready to serve it and bring it back to a low boil.  Serve immediately.

                                                              

So many jokes tonight while SA and I were cooking dinner. I mean how many meals can you cook when you can joke around about sausage and spicy nuts? Yes, sometimes SA and I have the humour of a 14 year old boy. However I digress! This recipe is wonderful and one that I got from my friend K.  Back in another lifetime I used to live with K and his wife at the time and they would cook up some fantastic grub, one of the things being these salad condiments. This recipe (not really a recipe more like just some quick directions) is great because its so flexible. Out of almonds? Use cashews? Don't have brown sugar? Use white! Don't like em spicy? You are lame!  Don't add the spice! etc.

Spicy Nuts

1/2 c Almonds
1/4 c. brown sugar
red pepper flakes to taste (I used chipolte red pepper flakes)
coarse salt

In a small pot combine almonds and brown sugar over low heat.  Stir constantly and until sugar reaches the caramel or light brown stage (about 330 degrees.) pour nuts onto a cooking sheet lined with parchment and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and coarse salt.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firm.
These rock my ever loving socks on salad.
Tonight we had a salad of spinach topped with carrots, spicy nuts, blueberry dehydrates cranberries and a quick citrus vinaigrette! YUM!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Curry

     While I was changing and putting on a bit of makeup for the pre-Thanksgiving potluck dinner we had this past weekend I asked SA to either put the roasted squash into the blender for me or to put it into the food processor.  When I came back down I stopped and stared.  My helpful non kitchen oriented husband was spooning spoonfuls of my squash mixture into a strainer and straining it through. And there was squash on the ceiling. I was gone less than ten minutes!
     Turns out SA had decided to use the blender and instead of adding chicken stock as I had told him to he was using a spatula to push the squash into the blender.  What happens when you do this?!  The blade eats the spatula.  I panicked when I heard this! I couldn't believe he ruined my beautiful roasted vegetables.  I almost lost my cool.  Luckily right as I was about to launch into a full fledged freak out he recovered the piece of plastic and it was the whole piece.  Crisis averted and I could take back over the process!
     I have made several butternut squash based soups before but by far this is my favorite.  The curry adds a depth and a subtle spice to the creaminess of the squash, but my most favorite thing was the condiments we added! I never would of thought to add banana and coconut but they were an unexpected delicious addition!

Recipe Source: Modified from a Barefoot Contessa Recipe

Curry Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
3 to 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 yellow onions
2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored
3 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 teaspoon good curry powder*


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the butternut squash, onions and apples in 1-inch cubes. Place them on a sheet pan and toss with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Divide the squash and the apples and onions into two different pans and spread it in a single layer. Roast Squash for 45 minutes or until very tender and roast the apples and onions for 20 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done either blend them with a little of the chicken stock or put them in a food processor.  When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add enough chicken stock to make a thick soup. Add the curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.  Reheat and serve hot with condiments either on the side or on top of each serving.

Condiments:
Scallions

Flaked coconut
Roasted cashews, toasted and chopped
Diced banana


* I would recommend starting off with 1/2 a tsp of curry powder and adding it and tasting so you do not put too much in.



chēzˈbûrˌgər so̵̅o̅p

cheese·burg·er (chēzˈbûrˌgər) noun: A hamburger topped with melted cheese.
soup (so̵̅o̅p) noun: A liquid food, with or without solid particles, made by cooking meat, vegetables, fish, etc. in water, milk, or the like
     I have a confession to make:  I don't like soup.  I never have.  It is less than thrilling for me to be served a bowl of soup and I dislike the muddled tastes of most soups most of all, however this year in an effort to be more conservative and push myself to enjoy different things, I am on a mission to find soup recipes that I like.
This definetley fits the bill.  I dont know whether it is because its more chunky than most soups or because it has some of my favorite elements (HELLO CHEESE!!) but I really enjoyed this recipe and will most definetly be adding it to my repotoire of recipes that feed a crowd.




Cheeseburger Soup
1 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced
3/4 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 cups vegetable broth
4 cups potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons margarine
ketchup, mustard and sweet pickle relish for garnish.

In a large pot, brown ground beef and onion add broth, celery, carrots, parsley and potatoes. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour. Add the milk and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese; continue to stir until cheese is melted. Make sure once you have added the cheese that you do not let it boil. Garnish with ketchup, mustard and sweet pickle relish and serve with crusty bread.