Showing posts with label mashed potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mashed potatoes. Show all posts

12.04.2010

Souper Saturday!

"Chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation."
-Clementine Paddleford


Hello! I am pressed for time today, but I wanted to share a great soup recipe. It makes a lot, so have some friends and family over and make it party! Enjoy!


Clam Chowder:
Servings: 15 cups

Ingredients:

* 4 oz pancetta, cubed
* 4 Tbsp butter
* 1/2 cup diced onions
* 1/2 cup diced celery
* 1 cup leeks, diced
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup flour
* 32 oz. clam juice
* 4 cups heavy cream
* 2 lbs white potatoes, peeled & diced
* 16 oz clam meat
* 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
* 1 Tbsp chopped thyme
* 1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
* Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment Needed:

* Stockpot

Directions:

1.) place pancetta & butter to stockpot on medium.
2.) Cook 2-3 min, until pancetta is crispy.
3.) Add onion, celery, leeks & garlic; stir well.
4.) Cook about 5 min, until soft but not browned.
5.) Add flour; stirring until completely blended.
6.) Cook, stirring & scraping bottom of pan every 30 seconds, about 2 min.
7.) Whisk in clam juice and cream.
8.) Add potatoes.
9.) Increase heat to medium-high.
10.) Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 min, until it comes to a boil.
11.) Reduce heat to medium-low.
12.) Simmer 10-15 min, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are fork-tender.
13.) Add clam meat, herbs, & pepper sauce.
14.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.
15.) Stir until soup is warmed through, about 3 min.
16.) Ladle soup into warmed bowls.

Thought of the Day:

"Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped."
-African Proverb


Have a great day and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

3.06.2010

Souper Saturday!

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."
-Albert Einstein


Hello and Welcome! Today I have another wonderful soup recipe to share with you! Enjoy!


"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie."
-Jim Davis


Vegetarian Potato, Leek, and Spinach Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

*2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*1 1/2 Cups potatoes diced
*1 Cup leeks cleaned and diced
*1 1/2 Cups mirepoix (carrots, celery & onion) diced
*2 Cartons vegetable stock
*1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
*1 Cup light Cream, at room temperature
*1 Pkg baby spinach cut into fine strips (chiffonade)
*2 tsp lemon juice
*1 Tbsp thyme, finely chopped


Equipment Needed:

* Stock/soup pot
* Hand blender (you can use a regular blender)
* Saute' pan

Directions:

1.) In a soup pot, soften vegetables in olive oil over medium-high heat, about 5 min. 2.) Stir occasionally, do not brown.
3.) Add vegetable stock to pot and bring to a bring to boil on high.
4.) Reduce heat and simmer 30-40 min.
5.) Carefully puree soup with hand blender in pot until smooth (or carefully pour into blender, puree and return to pot).
6.) Salt and pepper to taste.
7.) Add nutmeg and stir well.
8.) Remove soup from heat.
9.) Temper light cream (pour cream into bowl and slowly add 2 cups of hot soup to cream).
10.) Add cream mixture back into pot.
11.) Quickly saute' spinach.
12.) Add sauteed spinach to soup.
13.) Just before serving stir in lemon juice.
14.) Ladle into bowls and garnish with thyme.


"Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?"
-Author Unknown


Joke of the Day:

Little Emily was complaining to her mother that her stomach hurt. Her mother replied, “That’s because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it." The next day, the pastor was over at Emily's family's house for lunch. He mentioned having his head hurt, to which Emily immediately replied, "That's because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it."



Have a great weekend and remember: Go Ahead & Indulge!

1.11.2010

Mangia Monday!

Hello! I hope you had an enjoyable weekend, and wish you well for the upcoming week! I am sharing a few recipes today that will make a great family meal - Enjoy!

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.
-Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses


Home-Style Pot Roast



Serves: 6

Ingredients:

* 3 yellow onions
* 1 beef chuck roast, (about 2 1/2 lb.)
* 3/4 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
* 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 Tbs. canola oil
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 tsp. sweet paprika
* 1 1/2 cups beef broth
* 1 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
* 2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish

Equipment Needed: Dutch Oven

Directions:

1.) Slice the onions into 4 pieces, then Set aside.
2.) Season the chuck roast with the salt and pepper.
3.) Spread the flour on a plate. Coat the roast with the flour, shaking off the excess.
4.) In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the oil.
5.) Add the roast and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on both sides.
6.) Transfer to a plate.
7.) Add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil to the pot and heat over medium-high heat.
8.) Add the onions, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. minutes.
9.) Stir in the garlic and paprika and cook until the garlic is fragrant.
10.) Stir in the stock, tomatoes and the 2 Tbs. of parsley.
11.) Return the beef to the pot, nestling it in the onions.
12.) Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low.
13.) Cover and simmer until the beef is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
14.) Transfer the pot roast to a deep serving platter.
15.) Season the onion mixture with salt and pepper.
16.) Skim off any fat from the surface.
17.) Spoon the onion mixture around the roast and garnish with parsley.
18.) Serve immediately.



Garlic Mashed Potatoes



Serves: 10

Ingredients:

* 4 lb. small Yukon Gold potatoes, skins on/left whole
* Salt
* 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 3/4 cups half-and-half, warmed
* 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
* 4 Tbs. garlic (crushed into a paste)
* Freshly ground pepper, to taste
* Chives, finely chopped

Equipment needed: Potato Ricer

Directions:

1.) Place potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches.
2.) Generously salt the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3.) Reduce heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are tender.
4.) Drain well in a colander.
5.) Set a potato ricer over a large bowl and pass the potatoes through in batches.
6.) Add butter, 1 1/4 cups of the half&half and the sour cream and stir until smooth.
7.) Add more half-and-half until the desired consistency is reached.
8.) Stir in the garlic paste, and pepper to taste.
9.) Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and garnish with chives.
10.) Serve immediately.

(Potatoes boiled whole in their skins absorb less water and produce lighter, fluffier mashed potatoes)


Have a great day!

Until Tomorrow: Go Ahead & Indulge!

11.26.2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2009!





"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy








"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
-H.U. Westermayer








"Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart."
-Seneca






Wishing everyone a day filled with love and laughter!