Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Recipes to Share

I wanted to share a few of my favorite recipes with you. Some are some are mine, some I've gathered. Here is my tried and true potato soup. It always gets compliments.

Potato Soup

This soup is thick, rich and creamy. It can easily be altered for a lower fat/lower sodium version. Served in a bread bowl with a smoky provolone set under the broiler, this soup becomes a meal and leftovers are even better.

3 lbs russet potatoes
1 jar roasted garlic alfredo
1 box chicken stock
1 small onion
½ lb smoked turkey bacon
1 large can cream of chicken
1 small can cream of mushroom
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup heavy cream
Parsley
White and black pepper
Garlic salt or Sea Salt to taste


Optional:
Large rolls for bread bowls
Smokey cheese of choice

Get ready for some chopping. Don’t try and make everything perfect, this is a rustic dish. Take out your big knife and all your frustrations here:
Wash and rough cut potatoes (skin on) into ½ inch or smaller pieces - have fun and chop away.  Rinse and set aside to drain.

Warm butter in a large stock pot over medium heat.
Snip or cut turkey bacon into small pieces.
Cook until tender crisp in butter and remove.
Dice onion while bacon is cooking and add it to the pot after removing the bacon. Sweat onion until translucent. Add potatoes turning to coat completely in fat. Cook until the potatoes are browned slightly around edges. Sometimes I have to add a little extra butter here- depends on the potatoes. Just enough to lightly coat potatoes.

Carefully pour stock over potatoes and onions and simmer until fork tender.

Wisk together cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and alfredo sauce. Carefully add to pot along with reserved bacon, stirring gently but often, simmer on LOW for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are fully tender but not completely falling apart.

Swirl in ½ cup heavy cream. A few grinds of white and black pepper and some parsley finish the soup.

To use bread bowl, cut a ‘cap’ off the top of roll. Scoop out the interior, leaving enough for ‘bowl strength’. Butter the cap and sprinkle with garlic salt
scoop soup into bowl and cover with cheese
set under broiler until cap is browned around the edges and cheese is bubbling.


-Mary




Low fat/sodium substitutions hints and tricks:


butter- light margarine
cream of chicken and cream of mushroom -  available in light or fat free and low sodium
heavy cream- fat free half and half
chicken stock- available in fat free and low sodium

1 comment:

Amanda@Imperfectly Beautiful said...

Mmmmmm...that sounds so yummy. I LOVE soup, especailly at this time of year. Thanks for the lower fat version. Does it taste as good? I might try it this week.

~Amanda