Today was the first day back to school after a LONG Thanksgiving week break (YAY! I love school!). Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but when you have so many running in and out of your house all the time, a moment to just say "Ahhh silence!" is nice too! LOL. Its about 55 degrees here and rainy today (supposed to get down to upper 30's this week)... and we know what that means! COLD WEATHER COOKING! YAY! One of my favorites! This is where we put a bunch of pots and slow-cookers on and cook all day and by dinner time the house smells so great and you can curl up with that bowl of homemade whatever and watch your favorite movie. NOT HERE lol! It will be feed the army, make sure everyone gets homework done and eat and showered after sports/band practice and go to bed so we can start all over again tomorrow. Can you believe I actually have time for anything else? LOL I can't sometimes!
So what's on the stove? Well I have 4 incredibly large pots (like 30 qts each you fry turkeys in) plus 2 smaller ones (12qts each) and I make alot of big one dish meals like soups and stews, etc. in and each pot is normally about half full of food. And then of course you have big oven meals like oven roasted chickens, casseroles, etc. Today's menu includes potato soup, pinto beans & ham, shrimp gumbo, and deep fried catfish nuggets. All these I will be serving with cornbread and my guests (however many show up LOL) can pick their meal. Kinda like 'Mom's cafeteria" or mess hall LOL! IF there is any left, I take sandwich size reseable bags and freeze individual portions for times where mom isn't feeling too great or I just don't want to or am too busy to cook (LOL imagine that!). I also save portions for my parents who live about 15 minutes away as they are still rebuilding their home and lives courtesy of lovely Hurricane Ike.
I get alot of my recipes from the internet or some of the many cookbooks I own. However I never really follow them to the "T"... I always change them in some way. Adapt them to my gang's likings if you will... Today I'll share the potato soup recipe with you. This recipe makes about 8 servings and is a HUGE hit in my house. I found the original online at allrecipes.com...
Ultimate Potato Soup
Ingredients
1 pound bacon, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
3 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan, and set aside. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
2. In the bacon grease remaining in the pan, saute the celery and onion until onion begins to turn clear. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cubed potatoes, and toss to coat. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Return the bacon to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to just cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
3. In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream, tarragon and cilantro. Bring the cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir the cream mixture into the potato mixture. Puree about 1/2 the soup, and return to the pan. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Well that's all for today... have to get some more stuff done (like cleaning, breaking out the decorations, cooking, etc.) today. I could sit here and write all day BUT I'm gonna try to pace myself LOL! I want to keep you coming back for more ya know! LOL! But I'm gonna start taking pictures too (when I can remember) of all this craziness I call my life lol! So look for those coming soon as well! Until next time... HUGS!!
