Cream of Potato Plus

This is youngest daughter here, and I have made my husband happy this week by learning how to cook an easy, cheap, and fairly healthy version of one of his absolute favorites--cream of potato soup! It was so good that I tried the recipe a second time, tweaking the ingredients a bit for even more nutrition, and it worked out great. I'll indicate the reasoning behind my tweaks after the photo of my recipe.

My ingredient list was what I tweaked from the original recipe. The use of red potatoes was because that is what I had on hand, but it came with an added health bonus--they're the least starchy potato variety. Furthermore, I chose not to peel the potatoes, but instead to wash them, thus preserving the skins. Did you know that the skins pack both extra nutrition and fiber? It means that your soup won't be creamy white, but the red skins looked pretty, especially when I crumbled a little bit of sinful bacon on top. Even better, I didn't have to peel potatoes! That's a relief.

The use of skim milk had obvious benefits; it is what we stock in our refrigerator, and it is fat free. I would like to see the nutrition facts for the soup with skim milk.

Finally, I swapped 1 cup of potato for 1 cup of broccoli florets. It was just enough broccoli to make the soup a faint celery green shade, barely discernable, as you can see in the above photo. Nutritionally, the addition of broccoli was a boon! It is lower in calorie, higher in fiber, lower in starch, and adds huge doses of vitamin K and vitamin C, plus it helps your body generate vitamin D, of which most adult Americans have a deficiency. Both my husband and I were pinned as deficient at our most recent physical. This choice made a hint of difference in the taste and appearance, but my husband slurped down what he deemed to be two huge bowls in pleasure!

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Here is the original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens' The New Cookbook: Prizewinning Recipes. It is--hands down--my favorite cookbook.

Cream of Potato Soup
Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 4 side-dish servings

Ingredients
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon dried dill or basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, half-and-half, or light cream
1 dash black pepper

Steps
1. In a large saucepan cook desired potatoes and onion, covered in a large amount of boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Set aside 1 cup cooked vegetable mixture.
2. In a food processor, combine the remaining vegetables and broth. Cover and process about 1 minute or until smooth. Set aside.
3. In the same saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, seasoning, salt, and dash of black pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more.
4. Stir in the reserved cooked vegetables and blended vegetable mixture. Cook and stir until heated through. If necessary, stir in additional milk to reach desired consistency. If desired, season to taste with additional salt and black pepper.

Nutrition Facts
Per cup of soup (no indication of which milk product is used)
236 calories
5 g total fat (3 g saturated)
13 mg cholesterol
509 mg sodium
40 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
8 g protein
5% DV vitamin A
47% DV vitamin C
10% DV calcium
10% DV iron

Fabulous French Toast and Middle School

I have been teaching Skills for Living for the past three weeks.  Last week we started a unit on cooking, definitely one of my favorite life skills.  Twelve and thirteen year olds with an occasional fourteen year old thrown in have few real life skills. We started cooking at an odd point.  Although I spend two days teaching about safe food preparation, there were no lessons on measurements and heat for cooking.  That was okay since the recipe we followed was pretty silent on both.  I learned the following things:

1. For some, cooking is a natural talent.

2. The level of previous cooking knowledge even at this young age is astounding.

3. As is the case with three year olds, if you specifically say not to do something, chances are the child will do it anyway.

So here is a no fail recipe for French toast

For four servings.

4 eggs

1c milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cooking spray

8 slices white bread, cheap and slightly stale is better

Break the eggs into a bowl.  Remove all the excess egg shell before continuing. Whisk slightly.  Add the milk and vanilla.  Whisk until the mixture is slightly frothy.  Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture, coating both sides but do not soak.  If you over soak the bread, it will fall apart.

Place each slice in a preheated frying pay, sprayed with cooking spray.  Over medium heat, cook each slice until the bread is browned and dry, turning at least once. Use a spatula. If you turn more, no big deal.  If it breaks, you have now made French toast fingers.  If it is not quite done, put it back over the heat for a couple of minutes but turn the heat down.  If the pan starts to smoke, reduce the heat.  If there is nothing to cook, remove the pan from the heat.  You may need to clean the pan between slices, depending on the mess you made.

If you spill the bread or egg mixture onto the burner, it will burn.  You cannot clean it until the surfaces cool. Just turn on the vent fan and crack a window.

When your French Toast is ready, pour a liberal amount of maple syrup (imitation) over top after you put the toast on the plate.  No you cannot eat this directly from the pan.  Don't add extra vanilla, it won't taste better.  Cinnamon would be a nice addition.  Yes your Mom/grandmother has a better recipe but then they didn't teach it to you so you have to eat your own cooking.  Use a fork and clean up after yourself.

Actually each child made a pretty possible slice of French Toast and the recipe is a keeper.

This week, measurement lessons and from scratch Mac and cheese.

Cooking school

Tomorrow begins a first for me.  Although I have taken many cooking classes all over  the world, the only people I ever taught were my daughters and now the Grillmaster.  Tomorrow begins a month of cooking classes for me to teach for middle schoolers.  Yes, I am working as a Life Skills teacher.  We will cook breakfast (French toast) tomorrow, followed by lunch, supper and a dessert.  I already practiced the French toast with my 3 year-old granddaughter. I'll share the recipes and results on the blog but not the kids.  I promise to share any comments they make though.  I am a little nervous.

Last week we talked about food safety and preparation. I now realize that there is a lot of misinformation out on the web and other places about food, nutrition and safety.

Cooking with teenagers

For the next four weeks, I will be teaching cooking lessons to 130 middle school children.  This should be interesting. I will post the recipes and the results but no pictures of the kids.  We will start with French toast, then move to homemade Mac and cheese.  We will cook fudge and then, a two part lesson on pizza with homemade dough.  I would like to cook more complicated dishes but am also teaching food safety and recipe conversions.  This should be great. More details to come.

Greek Inspired Shrimp and Pasts

I am always inspired to cook with fresh ingredients in the spring, sometimes before really good quality fresh produce is available.  I am also inspired to shed a few late winter pounds as the layers I am wrapped in are decreasing as the temperatures rises.  This simple recipe is based on a few fresh ingredients and believe it or not, originally was published in a weight loss cookbook.

12 oz. cooked frozen shrimp, extra small, shelled, tails off

1 small yellow onion, medium chopped

4 spring onions(green) chop both the white and about 2 inches of the green stems

4 small or 1 large red pepper, chopped

Two cloves garlic, fine chopped

Sauté the above ingredients in a skillet with 1 tsp olive oil, while cooking 2 cups (uncooked measure) Orzo Pasta according to package directions.

When the pasta is al dente cooked, after about 8 minutes, drain and add to the shrimp mixture.  If there is excess liquid in the shrimp mixture, go ahead and drain that liquid off before combining.

Add

1 14 to 15 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

12 to 15 Kalamata olives, sliced in halves, lengthwise

1 Tablespoon Capers or 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350.

Serve with a salad and hot crusty bread. 

Makes 6 servings, calories less that 500 per serving.

Fresh Herb

The best flavor comes from herbs which are harvested directly from the garden and immediately added to your recipe.  I have been experimenting with herbs for the last several years and have had consistent success with many.  My garden this year includes sweet basil, Thai basil, Italian and Greek oregano, chives, cilantro/coriander, lemon thyme and silver thyme, plus fennel and dill.  They aren't all planted out yet but here's the start. 

I decided to skip the lavender this year.  I don't like the flavor much and it is a tough plant to nurture in such a small space. If you want to plant lavender, I think the Spanish lavender holds up well.

I am going to stagger planting my cilantro this year to make sure I have an even supply of tender leaves.

The Grill master has planted green beans and tomatoes this spring.  He also planted peppers, both hot and sweet.  We are trying cantaloupes and cucumbers. We may not have enough sun.  Okra is on  hold for another week or so as they don't do anything until the weather is miserable hot.

Tortilla Chicken Soup for the slow-cooker

Without a doubt, Chef Dean Fearing's Tortilla soup is the best. I loved it since the first time I tried it at the Mansion on Turtle Creek back in the 1980's.  I believe that it is in the simplicity and elegance of the ingredients.  But I followed his recipe only rarely because it is time consuming to start with a raw chicken and build a stock, then make that into a finished soup.

I have come up with my slow-cooker version of his soup which relies on some prepared ingredients.  If you have the time, make your own stock, the sodium content of the prepared ingredients is higher than it should be.

However, you can mitigate the sodium by using these ingredients and adding in some no salt added chicken broth.

Here is my recipe:

I 32 oz carton Swansons Mexican tortilla broth

1 26 oz carton Swansons Chicken Cooking Stock

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 large yellow onion, puréed 

Rinse the chicken and lay flat in your slow cooker. Cover with the remaining ingredients.

Set the timer for 6 hours.

Go about life

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, remove the chicken and shred it when cool.

Transfer the broth to a stock pot for finishing. This is much easier if you use the slow cooker bags.

Add

1/2 to1 Tablespoon cumin

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

2 bay leaves

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

Many people like corn or black beans or both in their soup.  Some add potatoes or carrots. If you do, then they should be added now.

Add salt ( probably not necessary) and cayenne pepper to taste. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust up!

Simmer for 30 minutes, then return the shredded chicken to the pot. Heat the chicken.

Garnish each bowl individually with avocado slices and shredded cheddar cheese. You can also add tortilla strips or pulverized corn tortillas. Either way, it is a flavor thing so pick the texture you prefer.  I like pulverized tortillas.  Garnish as desired.

The Grillmaster likes lots of hot so I added a Poblano pepper, charred and chopped to the condiments.

Enjoy!