Recipe du Jour: Baked Potato Soup

I made this soup from the best of Cooking Light last weekend, and we've been eating the leftovers all week. It is easy to make, delicious, and perfect comfort food!

Ingredients

• 4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

PreparationPreheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

My pictures!!

The Barefoot Contessa

She is a Goddess, and now that I have cable...I am addicted. I saw a show the other day in which she spent the entire time cooking/baking the perfect TV dinner, then packaged it neatly in a little white box and delivered it to a friend, in hope of cheering the friend up and providing some comfort. Now, isn't that the kind of friend we all want in our lives?

Tonight, I intend to make the following and will enjoy it with my sweetie in front of the crackling fireplace, catching up on all my saved Ina Garten shows. That sounds like the dream evening to me!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Barefoot Contessa
Episode:
Back to School

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter


• 2 tablespoons good olive oil


• 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)


• 2 tablespoons mild curry powder


• 5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)


• 1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)


• 2 teaspoons kosher salt


• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• 2 cups water 2 cups good apple cider or juice

Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Recipe du jour: Penne with wild mushrooms and sage

I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious and so simple. I highly suggested finding an Asian supermarket for an enormous selection of mushrooms. I used enoki, shitake and chanterelle for this one.

Tender wild mushrooms such as oyster, hedgehog, or chanterelle are best for this dish, although cultivated oyster mushrooms are also suitable. Substitute fettuccine for penne, if you like. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
  
• 6 cups coarsely chopped wild or cultivated mushrooms (about 1 pound)
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces uncooked penne (tube-shaped pasta)

Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage; cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms; cook 10 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Add half-and-half; cook until liquid is reduced to 6 tablespoons (about 2 minutes). Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat; keep warm.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place in a large bowl. Add mushroom mixture to pasta; toss gently to coat.

{Source: Cooking Light, September 2007}

Recipe du jour: Artichoke, Spinach, Brie and Crab Dip

I'll post pictures once the mixture is completed. In the meantime, how delish does this look!?

Artichoke, Spinach, Brie and Crab Dip
(the world will be a better place...)

• 1 medium leek (white part only)
• 1 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion
• 1/2 cup drained canned artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach
• 1 pound Brie
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup Riesling or other medium-dry white wine
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco, or to taste
  Accompaniment: toasted thin baguette slices

Preheat oven to 425°F and lightly oil an 11-inch gratin or other shallow baking dish (about 6-cup).

Trim and finely chop leek. In a large bowl of water wash leek well and lift from water into a large sieve to drain. Finely chop onion. Rinse and finely chop artichoke hearts. Squeeze dry and finely chop spinach. Discard rind from Brie and cut into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a heavy skillet cook leek, onion, and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden and stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. Add wine and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add cream and simmer, stirring, 1 minute. Add Brie, stirring until it just begins to melt. Remove skillet from heat and stir herbs into mixture.

Pick over crab meat. In a large bowl stir together crab meat, mustard, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste and stir in cheese mixture. Spread mixture evenly in baking dish and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden.

Serve dip hot with toasts. Makes 6 to 8 hors d'oeuvre or first-course servings.

{Source: Gourmet, 1998)