Potato Soup

Tonight I made potato soup with French bread on the side for dinner. This is my very favorite potato soup recipe ever, so I must share!

Potato Soup

4 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed (bite-sized!)

1/2 small onion, diced (or 1 small shallot)

2 14 oz cans of low fat chicken broth

1 cup water

salt & pepper to taste

pinch of basil

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup heavy cream

Garnish

4 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped

chives, chopped

shredded cheddar or cheddar/jack cheese

Boil potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover them for approx 25-30 min. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the rest of the soup - the soup takes about as long to make as the potatoes take to boil. In a medium to large soup pot, melt butter - do not brown! - and sauté onion until soft. Stir in flour and mix until smooth. Add chicken broth, water, salt & pepper, and basil while stirring. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the flour does not sink and burn on the bottom. Mix in the cream. Drain potatoes (if it's been 30+ mins) and carefully add to soup. Serve with cheese, chives, and bacon on top! For super extra tastiness, add 2 more pieces of chopped bacon to the soup before you add in the cream. Enjoy :D

Orange Chicken

Made orange chicken for dinner :D Yom yom! I've made this a couple times now and it's always tasty! Thought I'd share the recipe ^___^

Orange Chicken

2 lb boneless chicken breast, in bite sized pieces

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

1 tbsp minced ginger root (or 1/8 tsp ground ginger)

1 tsp minced garlic or garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper

1 tbsp cooking grade rice wine

Orange Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp orange juice

5 tbsp sugar

5 tbsp white vinegar

Combine all ingredients of Orange Sauce and set aside. Mix egg and milk in one bowl and salt, pepper, cornstarch, and flour in another. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture, then coat in cornstarch mixture. Deep fry chicken in small batches. Heat wok and add 1 tbsp oil and stir fry ginger and garlic until fragrant (very quickly!). Add chili peppers and rice wine. After a few seconds, add Orange Sauce and bring to a boil. Add chicken until coated - if the sauce needs to be thickened, add a mixture of cornstarch and water mixed together (this keeps the cornstarch from clumping). Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Trifles (Mini Trifles!)

Christmas was a fun cooking day! Tasty breakfast, potato soup for lunch, and a nice roast beef spread for dinner. But the fun new thing I made today was a bunch of mini chocolate trifles! In case you were wondering, a trifle is a layered dessert in a clear dish (trifle dish, appropriately). We got a set of 4 mini trifle bowls just for the occasion :D Super tasty!

Chocolate Trifle

1 Package Chocolate Mousse (pudding also works)

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix

1/2 Container Caramel

1 Tub Cool Whip

4 Skor Bars

Prepare the chocolate mousse and cake as directed. Crumble the chocolate cake in a bowl and mix with caramel until evenly sticky. Crush your Skor bars. In your trifle bowl or bowls, spoon in the chocolate cake mixture and pack it down, put a layer of mousse, then a layer of Cool Whip. Top with crushed Skor bar. Repeat! It will be harder to layer the chocolate cake on top of the Cool Whip, so be gentle. Refrigerate after making them for a couple hours to let the mousse set.

Shepherd's Pie (or Cottage Pie for purists)

Disclaimer: I know that Shepherd's Pie is specifically made with mutton and that it should really be called Cottage Pie since I make it with beef, but, too bad :P In Ireland they call it all Shepherd's Pie and we tend to do the same in Americaland so deal with it :D

So, I actually made this for dinner when my sister was here last week, but apparently I took a picture of it so :D Now you must suffer through hearing about it!

Shepherd's Pie is pretty easy to make, but the one thing that really makes it for me is the potatoes! If you use fake mashed potatoes for the top, it's just squishy and gross. I happened to have some left over Yukon gold potatoes that I mashed up for the top and it was divine :D The meat part was a mix of onion, carrot, peas, corn, and some other spices to give the beef a bit of kick. Topped it with cheddar cheese and baked it until it was gold - best thing to do is rough up the top of the potatoes with a fork before you bake so it gets crunchy peaks.

Fortunately I made lots, since everyone had seconds!

Potato Pancakes (Reibekuchen or Latkes)

So, it being the holiday season and also getting pretty cold this morning, I thought I would haul myself out into the coooold cold kitchen and make potato pancakes to go with breakfast this morning. I haven't made them in fiftybzdillion years, but they are just as tasty as I remember (and as messy to make!!!). I make them with onion and fry them in olive oil, then top them with butter or garlic & herb sour cream. Yum :D I like them nice and crispy, not like some of the lightly cooked 'yellow' ones you see (gross!).

In case you're interested in making these, here is the recipe:

Potato Pancakes

3 Potatoes

1 Small Onion

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Flour

Shred potatoes and onion together - pat dry with paper towels to remove extra water. Mix in eggs and flour - this will not make a 'batter' but it will make the potatoes all stick to each other when you fry them. Fry in pan until golden brown on both sides. Serve plain or with butter, sour cream, or apple sauce. Enjoy!

Fettuccine Alfredo

Tonight I made Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner :D Super tasty!

This is the first time I have made Fettuccine Alfredo with cream cheese - usually it's a pretty easy combo of butter, cream, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. The cream cheese is totally worth it! It makes the sauce smooth and creamy. Definitely going to do it that way from now on!

Went with fresh fettuccine and sprinkled some extra shredded Parmesan cheese on top, paired with cheesy garlic bread on the side. So content (and full!) :D

What is this thing?!

Just a blog to recount my cooking shenanigans :D

-Tro