Soup is a staple in our house for lunch during the winter, every time the batch is empty within a few days I make a new one. This soup is so delicious! You definitely need Bay Leave spice in case you don't keep it in the house. By the way if you want to know anything about spices McCormick has a very cool site with a section called Enspicelopedia, everything you every wanted to know about any spice. Did you know that Enspicelopedia is a portmanteau word which is a blend of two words or morphemes into one new word!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 leek or 1 large spanish onion - chopped
1/2 pound bacon or ham - in snippets (i use a pair of kitchen scissors)
4 large potatoes cleaned and chopped into small cubes
Knorr Chicken Bouillon - 1 cup
1 whole bay leave, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp thyme
2 1/2 tbsp flour
Heat butter(oil) in large pot and cook the onion and bacon. Do not brown. Add to the pot the potatoes, chicken stock and spices. Cook over low heat till potatoes are tender, about 10 - 15 mins. Mash with hand masher. Mix the flour into the milk, with a whisk get rid of any lumps. Pour milk into soup and heat to thicken. Ready to serve in about 10 minutes. Try and find the bay leave and remove, it is a bit too pungent to eat. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top.
In our house breakfast is probably my favorite meal. It's funny cause I find that many of my breakfast entrees are also good to eat for a quick dinner meal as well. My oldest son loves eating this and I think making it too since it can be prepared in the same pan that you bake it in and ultimately he might even eat right from the pan when no one else is around! I can see him adding some diced hot pepper in just to turn it up a notch :)
Rosti is a traditional Swiss potato pancake.
Use an oven capable no stick pan and very thick oven mitts - the pan will be extremely hot at serving.
Preheat oven to 425F.
6 slices of bacon cut into 1/2" pcs - fry on top of stove till cooked through but not too crispy
1/2 sweet bell pepper chopped + 1/2 spanish onion chopped + 2 raw grated potatoes - put these into the pan and cook until slightly softened
In a bowl beat (with a fork) 4 large eggs + a swig of milk or Egg Beaters Original then pour over top of the mixture in the pan. Add kosher salt, pepper and parsley. Move pan directly into the hot oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Egg mixture will be somewhat puffy and firm. Turn off your oven and add some grated cheese to the top of the pan. Close oven door for a few minutes and it will be ready to serve. If you want to make it a dinner serve it with a salad.
This is a recipe that never comes out the same since it will be very personal or whatever is in the fridge that day! You could turn this into a straight vegetarian if you like and omit the meat. Instead of bacon you use sausage (pork or turkey) or ham (if ham use about 1 tbsp olive oil with it). Peppers and onions can be substituted for asparagus, scallions, leek, any colour of pepper. Even the hot peppers if you want it spicy. The two ingredients that must remain constant are the potatoes and the eggs.
This potato always feels special when served and it is our favorite to go with a BBQ steak. We had to have this last night for our valentine dinner. It is great to prepare ahead and serve for company too, just finish the final bake before serving. One day we were at the neighbours and they insisted we stay for some ribs and salad, so i popped home to do up half a dozen of these to take back with us, they absolutely loved them. I hated to tell them how easy they are to make and it only took us about 10 minutes!
Pick out 1 large potato for each person, prick with fork on all sides and place on plate with a paper towel under the potatoes. Microwave for 6 minutes, then flip them over. Check with a sharp knife to see how soft they are, you may only need another 2 to 3 minutes. When fully soft, using a pot holder to protect your hands slice the top of each potato (discard). Then using a spoon scoop out the soft insides of each potato leaving a bit of a wall and bottom. Take this bowl of scooped potato and add 1 or 2 tbsp butter or margarine, 1 tbsp of low fat sour cream, and 1 tbsp of milk. Salt & pepper. Mix with a fork till mashed. If it is too thick add a bit more sour cream or milk. Do not make it too loose. Add the following to your liking; at least 1 chopped green onion for each potato, Oscar Mayer Bacon Bits or homemade bacon bits. Fill the hollow potatoes with the mixture. Top with grated cheddar cheese and a few more bacon bits. Return to the plate and bake again in the microwave for 2 minutes, serve immediately.
