Potato Soup with Veg and Bacon

Mmm. Made this mostly for my mother-in-law, as the family was visiting this weekend (my son's 3rd birthday). Again, helps to have a stick blender for this. If it's a little too thick when it's time to serve, add a little milk.

6 thick slices bacon

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced

4 cups chicken broth
4 cups cubed potatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt

cracked pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In frying pan, cook bacon until crispy. Drain, chop finely, and set aside.
2. In dutch oven or large pot, heat oil until almost smoking, then add onions, carrots, celery. Stir on occasion, until slightly browned and reduced to about 1/2 it's original volume. Remove from pot and set aside.
3. Add potatoes and chicken broth, turn heat to medium-low and simmmer until potatoes are soft. Use stick blender to puree smooth. Return vegetables to pot, add bacon, season with salt to your liking, and serve. Garnish each bowl with a little cracked pepper.

Veg Soup with Lentils

Soup again. :) Recipe is here. The most useful part of this recipe is actually the simple vegetable stock made in the first 1/2 of it (I didn't use mushrooms or fennel in the stock). Knowing how to make your own stocks will elevate your cooking skill and open doors to some great food. Actually, that's a good idea...I'll post about making stocks sometime (lobster stock was the best I've ever done). Demi glace also, if you're feeling hardcore.

I ate four bowls of this. I'm pretty full right now.

Chuckwagon Pot Roast

No, I'm not a cowboy...the name comes from the gravy having a base of BBQ sauce. I always make this in my slow-cooker. This is not a show-off dish, it's a family meal.

1 blade beef roast approx 1.5 kg
salt
flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup bbq sauce*
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef stock
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 onions, chopped

Dry exterior of roast with a paper towel, then dust with flour, pepper, and salt. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and sear roast on all sides. You want a nice brown crusty surface. Place the roast in the cooker, and add the carrots, onions, and potatoes.

Combine the bbq sauce, dry mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and beef stock. Wisk together and pour over the roast and vegetables.

Cook on low for about 9 hours...test the carrots and potatoes before serving.

Tips: If you brown the vegetables in the skillet, much like the roast, it'll be better overall. But it's not required. You must sear the roast, however. A slow-cooker will not brown meat, and the results are not appealing either in taste or appearance.

To serve, remove the roast and then the vegetables into seperate platters, then you're free to thicken the sauce if you like.

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Not "spicy" as in hot, but spicy as in cloves and cinnamon. If you ask Ryan, they're "yaaaaaaaayyy!" good.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.


3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not over bake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Garlic Clam Linguine with Wine

My wife is out tonight watching the new Harry Potter movie (or trying to, it was sold out...too many little munchkins), so I got to make whatever I wanted. Well, I usually do that anyway.


1 slice bacon, cut lengthwise then chopped
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can baby clams, drain ½ the juice
¼ cup white wine
½ tablespoon butter
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Any long pasta (I used whole wheat spaghetti)

Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley

1. Add bacon to a hot, stainless steel frying pan or sauté pan.


2. When browned, add olive oil and onion, and stir occasionally until softened. Add red pepper and garlic, stir often to prevent garlic from burning.


3. Add can of clams, white wine, and butter. Heat through, then add tomatoes and salt / pepper. Heat through and serve on pasta. Top with parmesan and parsley (this dish needs a little color).

White Bean and Hot Chili Soup

Another light, healthy meal. Makes four servings, each are 316 calories, 7.6 g. fat.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced onions
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can white beans
3 cups chicken broth
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp chili flakes (or more if you like it zippy)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
parmesean cheese

1. In large pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir frequently, for 3 minutes or until translucent.
2. Add all other ingrediants (except the parmesean, which is a topping). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are softened. Serve garnished with parmesean, and maybe a celery leaf if you want to show off.

I'm having a bowl as I post this...it's really good. As it so happens, today is the first snow of the year, this is a great soup for a cold day.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Eating light tonight, after the weekend food-fest. I make this light salad dressing all the time, and we never seem to get tired of it.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. majoram (or a dash of oregano)
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 cup honey (or white sugar)
ground black pepper to taste


Kraft recently put out a bottled version of this, and I thought I should try it. It's beyond horrible. I really have no idea how it escaped the layers of taste testing that a big food company has.

On another topig, last night I made a really good curry sauce to pour over some roasted chicken pieces and rice, but I basically made it up on the spot and didn't record anything. I was dumb. Hopefully I can re-create on my next go, and I'll post it.