Sunday, October 17, 2010

Potato Soup

Last week my sister and her family came for a visit.
I made two different soups, 
Potato Soup and Italian Wedding Soup.
Both were delicious!

The complete recipe for the soup is at the end of this post.
I need to point out that I do not add the onions or the butter to the soup.
The bacon, chives and sour cream are for garnishes.  

AND I now use fat free half/half.  
Not the heavy cream or the regular half/half as in the picture. 
This makes the soup not as fattening. 

Potatoes and Chicken Broth...

Peel and dice your potatoes and add them to a nice size pot...
Cover with the chicken broth and bring to a boil...
Continue to cook until the potatoes are fork tender...
While still in the pot, mash the potatoes with a potato masher.
You don't want this soup too smooth...
Add one cup cheddar cheese and one cup half and half...
Adding the cheese...
Continue to cook until the soup is thick and your house smells like heaven.
If the soup is NOT thickening, 
you MAY need to thicken the soup with a flour/water mixture, as if
you're making a gravy.  Add the flour/water mixture to the boiling soup.
I do not use cornstarch as a thickener.  
I only need to do this when I use the fat free half/half.
  
Ready to serve with a nice topping of bacon, chives, 
cheddar cheese and sour cream!
YUM!
Potato Soup:

6 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

3- 14 oz cans chicken broth
1/4 c butter
2 1/2 t salt
1 1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 c whipping cream or half and half
1 c shredded SHARP Cheddar cheese
3 T chopped fresh chives (for garnish)
Sour cream (for garnish)
4 bacon slices cooked and crumbled (for garnish or you can add directly to the soup)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (for garnish)

1.  Combine first 6 ingredients in a 5 qt. slow cooker.
2.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or on low 8 hours or until potatoes are tender.
3.  Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened; stir in cream and cheese.   

4.  Top with sour cream and sprinkle with bacon, chives and Cheddar cheese before serving.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Apricot Chicken

Don't you get tired of making the same chicken dishes all the time? 

I found this recipe a few weeks ago and have made it about 3 times and...
IT'S DELICIOUS!

And all you need is apricot jam and orange juice.

Mix together 1 tablespoon of apricot jam with about 1/3 cup orange juice.
I am only making ONE chicken breast.  
You will need to increase the amounts for more chicken.

Nice consistency.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Brown both sides in a little bit of oil.  

Transfer chicken to a baking dish.
Pour apricot jam/orange juice on top.

Bake until done!

Now doesn't that look delicious?
The first time I made this recipe I also made a few chicken legs with a breast.  
My son LOVES chicken legs.
He took one bite from the chicken and said,
"My mouth is tingling from this delicious chicken." 

Let me know if you try it!

ENJOY!