Creamy Potato Leek Soup with Cheesy Toast Dippers

Wow, I was trying to see on my blog here the last time I posted a savory recipe instead of just desserts and sweets.  It’s been a while.  Welcome back savory.  I guess since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve just been making simple dinners, which means I’ve been using the recipes I’ve already posted about.  Sweets are just what I love and I think I get carried away sometimes.  But I wanted to share this delicious soup recipe because it is to die for.  I had never tasted a Leek before I made this soup, but I’ve seen so many recipes lately I wanted to try it.  In fact I craved it.  So I just went for it.  I threw in a little bit of this, a little bit of that.  It is perfect! I’ll definitely be making this again and soon because it was good.  I was so surprised that my kids, ages 2 and 4, were licking their bowls clean.  (They never do that.)  You have to make the cheesy toast dippers to ‘dip’ into the soup, because it was the perfect touch (in my opinion).  

Have a great week and I’m sure I’ll have something sweet to share very soon!  :)

Creamy Potato Leek Soup with Cheesy Toast Dippers

6 slices bacon, sliced
3 leeks, cleaned and sliced
6 or 7 potatoes, cubed
44 ounces chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup fat free half and half (you can use heavy cream if you’re feeling daring)

In a large soup pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside, but keep the bacon fat in the pan. Saute the leeks in the bacon fat for about 6-8 minutes or until soft. Add potatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper, parsley and thyme. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through and soft. Using a blender or food processor, puree half of the soup and add back into the remaining soup. Add the half and half (or cream) and mix until smooth. Use the bacon as a crispy topping.

For the cheesy toast dippers:
Slice a baguette into thin pieces and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with shredded cheese(I use cheddar) and sprinkle some dried parsley on top of the cheese. Place on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for just a few minutes or until the cheese is melted. Dip into the hot soup!

Enjoy!

Baked on March 10, 2009 | Recipe Card: bread, main dishes, soup | 5 Bites 

A Day In The Kitchen!

It started off innocent enough. I had bought some poppy seeds the other day and I just felt like making some muffins. It was snowing today. Cold, dreary, snowy, rainy, sunny for a minute, then snowy again. Days like these I just feel like baking something warm and cozy and delicious. My 3 year old daughter gets really excited to bake with me in the kitchen, so I do it often. My husband says I have an addiction. So what, he reaps the benefits so what does it matter anyway? Anyways, I finally got my own copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my home to yours in the mail the other day, and I’ve been dying to break it in. I found the recipe for her Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and decided to give them a try. Mmmmm…so good. They are moist, delicate, light and tasty. Yes, I do make many lemon recipes here on this blog, only because it is one of my favorite flavors. It just makes everything so fresh and vibrant.

I decided to use my mini muffin pan, just because little muffins are so much cuter. Drizzled with a bit of lemon icing and these were the perfect little treat.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

For the muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

For the icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray 12 regular-size muffin tins or 24 mini-muffin tins. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with you fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, and with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them. Mix the icing and lemon juice and drizzle over muffins. Enjoy!

Still Cooking…

So, I thought that since it was a stormy blizzard outside that I definitely needed to make soup for dinner. I don’t care what they say, I make soup all year round. Not necessarily on a hot day, but days like this require soup. I’ve been craving soup, salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden lately, but actually making it to the restaurant after a long day with 2 kids is impossible. So I made my favorite soup, Zuppa Tascana. It is basically thinly sliced potatoes, onions, italian sausage and chicken broth with a little cream and some kale added in just before serving. This soup is delicious! I made some breadsticks and added a yummy salad on the side, and that was dinner.



Zuppa Tascana Soup

1 lb Italian Sausage
2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half and than sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2- 32 ounce cartons chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 bunches kale, chopped
freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, if desired

Brown sausage in large soup pot. Remove sausage and set aside. To the pot add chicken broth, potatoes, onion, and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cream and sausage to the pot and warm through. Add kale right before serving. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Nope, still in the kitchen…

Nope, not done yet…I still had more baking to do. I had a birthday in the family and had decided to bake cupcakes for the special day. I knew I wanted to make Carrot Cake Cupcakes, but couldn’t decided whether to make Dorie Greenspan’s recipe or The Sweet Melissa Baking Book recipe. Everything I have made so far out of Sweet Melissa’s has been gourmet. I decided to give her cake a try. Of course this recipe was made for a layer cake, but I thought it would work fine as cupcakes. They were delicious, but definitely would have been better as a cake. They just lacked the firmer texture of a cupcake. They were a little too soft and delicate to. But since they tasted so delicious, I decided to make the frosting and hoped that they would be enjoyed. I found these adorable cupcake holders (picture below) at Target and I loved the finishing touch. Now, I am exhausted so I’m going to curl up on the couch and watch “The Office”.



Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound carrots, grated medium fine
3/4 cup walnut pieces, coarsely chopped

For the Frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8×2 inch round cake pans. Line each pan with an 8 inch round of parchment paper.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs at high speed until light and frothy, about 1 minute. Decrease the speed to medium and add the oil, sugar, and salt, and mix until just combined. Decrease the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
3. Remove the bowl from themixer. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the carrots and walnuts.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Spin the pans to level the batter. bake for 45 mintues, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a rack to cool for 20 minutes before turning the layers out onto the rack. Cool completely before filling or frosting.

Frosting:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and zest. Start on low speed and then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the butter and mix on medium speed until just fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.

Frost between the layers and around the cake until smooth. The cake keeps in a cake aver in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It tastes great eaten at room temperature or chilled!

Baked on April 24, 2008 | Recipe Card: Dessert, Muffins, cupcakes, soup | 18 Bites 

Soup Kitchen

It has been an especially harsh, cold winter this year in Utah, and all I want to do is curl up on the couch with my warm fuzzy blanket and watch re-runs of Gilmore Girls all day long….but since I’m a responsible mother of two, that’s not possible. Anyways, the only other thing that I enjoy more than that on a cold wintery day is a warm cup of soup. So last week was officially soup week. I am going to share my mom’s super yummy chicken noodle soup recipe that is a staple in my house. It’s easy and fast and it couldn’t taste any better, especially when it’s snowy outside.

Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup

1/2 small onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 tbl olive oil
3 32 oz. boxes Chicken broth
2 cups shredded chicken
1 lb. egg noodles (I like the frozen kind)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 tbl fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil and add onions, carrots and celery, and cook until soft. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook as directed on package. Add chicken, cream of chicken soup and parlsey. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Sounds easy enough right? It makes a ton, and it’s even better as leftovers!

More Soup!!!!

Chicken Minnestone Soup

2 C. Shredded chicken
4 cups water
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 (10 oz.) can beef broth
1 (10 oz.) can bean w/bacon soup
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 oz.) can navy beans
1/2 lb. dried noodles of your choice
1 tbl. sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Add ingredients and stir together. simmer, uncovered, over low heat for at least 1 hour. Makes excellent leftovers!

Baked on February 5, 2008 | Recipe Card: soup | 1 Bite