Leek and Potato Soup

I love how smooth this soup is after it's been blended. I didn't do it this time but if you want it extra velvety smooth then you can run it through a strainer when pouring it out of the blender at the end. Oh and not pictured, because I totally forgot about it until I topped it with cheese, is sprinkling with crumbled bacon. Mmmm.... Bacon....

(updated photo with Bacon!)

Ingredients:

2 - Small to medium onions, chopped

2 - Leeks, chopped

2 - Tbsp butter

2 - Tbsp flour

4 - Cups chicken stock (1 full 900ml box is close enough)

3 - Medium potatoes, peeled and chopped (even through the picture shows 4, I only used 3)

1 - Cup 1% Milk

1 - Bay Leaf

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish: 1 - Cup Old Cheddar Cheese and 1/2 - Pack cooked Bacon, crumbled

Directions:

In a Large Stock pot add onions, leeks, butter and saute over medium heat until soft

Stir in flour and cook for another 2 minutes

Gradually pour in (read dump in) chicken broth, add potatoes and bring to a boil

Once a boil has started, add in the bay leaf, turn heat down to low and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until the potatoes are soft

(Photos missing) - Once the potatoes are done, stir in milk and season with salt and pepper. Ladle mixture, in batches, into a blender and blend until blended. Pour blended soup into a clean pot. Pour through a strainer to get the soup extra velvety

(Not the best looking picture but trust me, it's a good soup!)

Slice up a french loaf and butter a couple of pieces

Ladle the soup into bowl and serve with bread

Top with some old cheddar cheese for some extra flavor

And if you want even more flavour, add some crispy bacon on top!

Kale Soup with Spanish Chorizo

If you've ever had Kale then you know it's not the best tasting veggie. I've tried Kale chips, Kale in salads and it's only okay at best. My Kale Soup with Spanish Chorizo recipe actually makes Kale taste good and it's a great dish for those raining nights.

Ingredients:

1 - Large Onion, finely chopped

3 - Tbsp olive oil

3 - Large Potatoes (I used Rustic this time)

8 - Cups water

1/2 - Lb Spanish Chorizo, cut into slices

1 - Bunch of Kale, center ribs discarded and rough chopped leaves

Salt

Directions:

In a large soup pot, cook onion in olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until translucent

Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices (they will be mashed up later). Add potatoes to pot with onion and cook for 5 minutes

Add water and a pinch of salt, simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 - 25 minutes

Chop up the Kale, removing center ribs and rough chopping the leaves

Cook Chorizo in a large frying pan over medium heat. No need for any oil as the Chorizo will release some of it's own juices. Cook until nicely browned. Transfer to a paper towel and pat dry. At this point I'll rough cut them as I like smaller pieces of Chorizo in my soup.

Coarsely mash potatoes in pot with a potato masher but do not drain any liquid. Stir in Chorizo, simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in Kale and simmer until tender, 5 minutes add salt to taste.

Serve with a nice loaf of bread

Weekend of Appetizers 2

After seeing how successful my last Weekend of Appetizers post was, I thought I should make another. This weekend is inspired by Cheese. The first three recipes come from the Winter 2013 "All you need is cheese" magazine and the last item is what I tried to make with all the leftovers that I had.

Click on the links below to check out the recipes!

Mini lamb (turkey) meatballs with Feta

Asparagus and Brie wonton Tartlets



Ratatouille and Feta Pizza

Ratatouille

Ratatouille

After making my Ratatouille and Feta pizza the other night, I had all these leftover veggies so I decided to try and make something out of them. Basically it's just all the veggies sliced up, layered and then I used the shallot sauce from Asparagus and Brie wonton tartlets to try and give it a little flavor. I'm going to be completely honest here... It wasn't very good but not everything turned out amazing. I'll do some research and find a better Ratatouille recipe, something with some real flavor. If you have any comments, please post them below.

Ingredients:

Carrots
Potato
Eggplant
Zucchini
Mushroom
1/3 - Cup Chicken broth
1 - Shallot, chopped
2 - Cloves garlic, chopped
1 - Tbsp Sherry vinegar



Directions:

Thinly slice the first 5 ingredients and then layer alternating in a oven safe dish

In a sauce pan cook shallots for 2 minutes



Deglaze with broth and reduce by half



Add Sherry vinegar and reduce once again



Pour mixture over the arranged veggies. Add in some more chicken broth

Bake in the oven at 375 for 30 - 40 minutes

Ratatouillve and Feta Pizza

This is a veggie loaded pizza that uses something that I don't often cook with, Eggplant. I used too much rosemary in my sauce but besides that it was something different to serve that's pretty healthy too.



Ingredients:

3 - Naan Bread
1 - Egg
1/4 - Cup of milk
2 - Tbsp tomato paste
1 - Tbsp rosemary (reduced from 2 Tbsp)
1 - Red Onion, thinly sliced
2 - Zucchini, thinly sliced
4 - Plum tomatoes
1 - Cup eggplant, peeled, and finely diced
7 - Oz of Feta, crumbled
Ground Pepper



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Beat egg with milk, tomato paste and rosemary

Place naan bread on a baking sheet

 (I don't even bother with pizza crusts anymore, I always make my pizza's on naan bread)

Spread sauce evenly on top

top with red onion

Zucchini

Tomato

Egg plant

Feta and then sprinkle with pepper

Cook in oven with 10 - 15 minutes

Chop into pieces and serve