Soup Sunday

A few Sundays ago, the youth at our church held a soup luncheon to raise funds for a mission trip.  Each youth family was asked to contribute a pot of soup for the event.  Before I even asked my son what he wanted to take, I knew he would say potato soup.

Given his answer, you might think my son had always liked potato soup. However, he never cared for my tried and true crock-pot potato soup recipe, or my mother's stove top version.  What he did like, though, was the potato soup served at one of his favorite restaurants.  I found a copycat recipe online and, although my son thought the soup tasted good, I didn't think it tasted anything like the restaurant version.  I had to plan ahead of time to make the soup since it required a lot of prep work.  Once the prep work was done, I had to keep a close eye on the soup to ensure it didn't stick while cooking.  In my opinion, the finished dish wasn't worth the amount of effort involved.

Last year, while skimming through my box of untried recipes looking for inspiration, I spotted a potato soup recipe a friend had given me.  Although my friend's recipe used several of the same ingredients as the copycat recipe, it also used some time saving shortcuts.  I decided to make a batch hoping my son would like the soup.  Not only did he think it was good, he thought this soup was better than the copycat recipe!

The soup starts with cans of sliced potatoes, a huge time saver since there's no need to peel and dice a bag of potatoes.  If the potato slices are too large, I take a few minutes and cut them into four or six pieces, depending on the size of the potato.

The potatoes and remaining ingredients -- canned potato soup, water and heavy whipping cream -- are mixed in the pot the soup is cooked in which, for this recipe, is a crock-pot.  Using a crock-pot eliminates the need to keep an eye on the soup and stir it periodically.  While my tried and true crock-pot potato soup recipe made with raw potatoes takes eight hours to cook, this version is ready in two hours.  The short cooking time stems from the fact the canned potatoes are already cooked.  The ingredients just need to be cooked long enough to be heated thoroughly.  When the soup's ready, ladle it into bowls and add your favorite toppings. Around here, that would be cheese and bacon.

You may have noticed there's no seasoning added to the soup.  I don't add salt because both canned items -- potatoes and potato soup -- have salt as do the cheese and bacon.  I put salt and pepper shakers on the table and let everyone season their soup to taste.

The luncheon was held on a beautiful, unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon.  All the soups were a hit and I came home with an empty crock-pot.  I made the soup for supper recently on a rainy Friday night.  While just as delicious, this time there were leftovers for Sunday.

Easy Crock-Pot Potato Soup

6 Servings

2 (15 oz.) cans sliced potatoes

2 (10 1/2 oz.) cans cream of potato soup (undiluted)
1 soup can water

2 cups heavy whipping cream

bacon, cheese, chives (optional; for topping)

Cut sliced potatoes into smaller pieces, if necessary.  Combine potatoes, soup, water and whipping cream in a crock-pot.  Cover and cook on low 2 hours.  Ladle into bowls and add desired toppings.

© Margaret's Morsels

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is only eight days away!  If you're planning your menu or looking for something new to serve, here's some Thanksgiving recipes I've shared in the past.  I'm putting the finishing touches on two recipes -- one vegetable, one dessert -- I plan to post before Thanksgiving.  

Cranberry Delight Spread

 

Cornbread Dressing

Cranberry Orange Relish

 Sweet Potato Souffle

Potato Salad

Carrot Souffle

Southern Cranberry Salad

Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes

One Hour Buttermilk Rolls

Fruit Tea

Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

No Bake Turkey Cookies

© Margaret's Morsels

Spotlight on Summer: Picnic Fare and Quick Cooking

Last week, I posted links to previous blogs that contained recipes for cool and creamy foods.  Today, in part two of the series, I'm doing the same thing, but with foods that are good to take on a picnic or can be prepared on busy summer days with very little effort.  Click the words in bold to go to the page with the recipe.

Picnic Fare:

What better way to celebrate summer than with a picnic?  Picnics are fun, but be sure to keep food safety in mind:  keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold!

Chicken Salad:  This has been my favorite chicken salad recipe for over 20 years!  When I take it on picnics, I serve it just like I do at home:  on a plate with croissants on the side.  If you want to use it for sandwiches, keep the chicken salad in the cooler and assemble the sandwiches when you're ready to eat.  This will keep the sandwiches from getting soggy.

Deviled Eggs:  I like to take chicken salad on a picnic, but my mother liked to take fried chicken.  To accompany the chicken, she always took a batch of deviled eggs.  They're better made the day before so you can pack and go the day of the picnic.  Make sure to leave them in the cooler until you're ready to eat.

Fruit Salad:  My grandmother made this simple salad -- apples, bananas, crushed pineapple and orange juice -- for my mom and her siblings; my mom made it for her kids and now I make it for my family.  It's ideal for a picnic because it doesn't contain mayonnaise, sour cream or Cool Whip. Serve it straight from the cooler as a refreshing fruit salad or as dessert.

Peanut Butter Cookies:  No one will ever guess these cookies only use three ingredients.  They bake in just minutes so you can whip up a batch at the spur of the moment.  They're also easy to pack and mess free since they're not frosted.

Mini Mason Jar Cakes:  Mason jars aren't just for canning anymore.  You can use the four ounce jars to make cute desserts -- cakes, cobblers, pies and crisps -- that are wonderful for a picnic or casual get together.  Don't forget to pack spoons!

Fruit Tea:  Soft drinks and Kool-Aid might be easy to pack for a picnic, but they're not as refreshing as an ice cold glass of fruit tea.  This dressed up sweet tea uses lemon juice, pineapple juice and, the secret ingredient, ginger ale!

Quick Cooking:

Life tends to move a little slower in the summer.  The weather is warmer, days are longer and there's more to do outside.  Who wants to be stuck inside cooking?  These recipes let you put dinner on the table without having to do a lot of work or get the kitchen too hot.

Sauteed Pork Chops:  You won't heat up the kitchen when you cook these pork chops.  They cook in just 11 minutes!  The only thing you need other than the ingredients is a skillet with a lid.

Easy Pork Chops and Apples:  This dish is as easy as they come.  You don't even have to brown the pork chops or cut and peel the apples.  Cook a vegetable separately and you've got a meal that's very easy to prepare.  

Hamburger Macaroni Casserole:  A reader once described this dish as homemade Hamburger Helper, but better.  The macaroni doesn't even have to be cooked separately.  Everything is cooked in the same pan and, from start to finish, takes less than 45 minutes to cook.

Marinated Baked Chicken:  This dish takes very little work, but you do need to plan ahead since the chicken has to be marinated overnight.  The marinade is super easy to mix up:  you use equal parts of Italian salad dressing and soy sauce.  The recipe can easily be doubled or, if necessary, halved.

Broccoli with Lemon:  This recipe starts with fresh steamed broccoli.  If you don't have time to steam the broccoli, microwave a package of fresh broccoli florets that's sold in a microwave-safe bag.  You can mix up the rest of the ingredients while the broccoli is in the microwave.

Potato Salad:  You might not think of this dish as quick, but it can be when you don't have to peel, cut and boil potatoes.  Ore-Ida Steam 'n Mash cut Russet potatoes -- which cook in only 10 minutes in the microwave -- can be substituted for fresh potatoes.  No one will ever taste the difference.

Check back next week for this series finale:  foods that won't heat up the kitchen.

© Margaret's Morsels

Brunch: Part 2

In part 1 of the series, I shared a recipe for Baked Omelet Roll.  Today, I want to share a recipe for a side dish that's equally good with breakfast as it is with lunch items on a brunch menu.

Most restaurants serve potatoes with breakfast and brunch, usually home fries or hash browns.  I also serve potatoes, but in the form of Potatoes O'Brien.

Potatoes O'Brien are potatoes cooked with chopped bell pepper -- either red or green -- and onion.  I use equal parts of bell pepper and onion which keeps either ingredient from overpowering the potatoes.  Since I use green pepper, I add diced pimentos -- sweet red pepper -- for color.  Pimentos add a burst of color without adding much flavor.

Potatoes O'Brien without pimentos.

Potatoes O'Brien with pimentos.

Unlike most recipes for Potatoes O'Brien, this one starts with steak fries -- large flat shaped French fries -- instead of fresh potatoes.  This makes the dish quicker to prepare because you don't have to peel potatoes.  Because frozen French fries have already been partially cooked, the cooking time is minimal.

The steak fries need to be diced into cubes approximately the same size.

The fries are too hard to cut when frozen.  Remove however many fries you think you'll need from the bag and let them sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before dicing.  If you need more potatoes, repeat the process.

The pepper, onion and pimentos are cooked in butter until the onion is tender.  Add the potatoes and seasonings and cook until the potatoes are browned and heated, 15 to 25 minutes.  If you're serving the potatoes with Baked Omelet Roll, start cooking the potatoes before you start the omelet.  This way, the omelet won't get cold while the potatoes finish cooking.

Next week, I'll share a recipe that will make a sweet ending to this brunch trilogy.

Potatoes O'Brien 

4 Servings

1/3 cup chopped bell pepper

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp. diced pimentos, drained

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3 1/2 cups diced frozen steak fries

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add bell pepper, onion and pimentos; cook until the onion is tender.  Reduce heat to medium.  Stir in potatoes, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are browned and heated, 15 to 25 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

A Potato Primer

Potatoes are the workhorse of the produce world.  They can be baked, boiled, fried, mashed, roasted, sauteed, used in casseroles, soups, salads, breads and even desserts.  Potatoes are available in the produce department as well as in cans, boxes, the freezer section and, of course, as chips.  This versatile vegetable even has a day honoring its greatness. October 27 is National Potato Day.


There are different varieties of potatoes available in the produce section. The moisture level and starch content differs in the potatoes.  This means different varieties are better suited for certain types of cooking.  Potatoes with a high starch content -- baking or Russets -- are best when baked, fried and mashed.  Potatoes with a lower starch content -- boiling, blue, purple and new -- hold their shape better and are best suited for soups, salads and casseroles.


One of my favorite potato recipes is Scalloped Potatoes.  A lot of people use the term scalloped and au gratin interchangeably.  Although both use cheese, there's one big difference.  Scalloped potatoes have a white sauce, but au gratin potatoes do not.


The recipe for Scalloped Potatoes is only one of two in my collection that calls for milk to be scalded.  To scald milk means to bring the milk almost to the boiling point.  Scalding milk isn't hard and it's even easier when you follow these tips:

• Use a thick bottomed pan for even cooking.

• Rinse the pan with cold water before adding the milk.  This will help keep the milk from sticking.

• Cook the milk on medium heat and stir constantly.

• Heat the milk until small bubbles appear around the surface of the pan.  Don't let the milk come to a boil.  

I like doing as much prep work ahead of time as possible and this recipe is no exception.  Although I don't combine the ingredients ahead of time, I grate the cheese, chop the onion and measure the dry ingredients early in the day.  When it's time to cook, I only have to peel and slice the potatoes and scald the milk.  The potatoes need to be sliced the same thickness -- or as close as possible -- so the potatoes cook evenly.  I slice my potatoes thin like this:

Once the potatoes are sliced, you layer them with the other ingredients, except the milk, in a pan that has sides at least 2-inches deep.  I use a Corning Ware casserole dish that holds approximately 3 quarts.  Once the ingredients are layered, the scalded milk is poured on top.  It takes 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes for the potatoes to cook, but it is worth the wait.

Ready to bake.

I like to serve Scalloped Potatoes with meat loaf, but it's a great side dish with any meat.  Once you've tried this recipe, you'll never want the scalloped potatoes that come in a box!

Scalloped Potatoes

4 to 6 Servings

1 (8 oz.) pkg. Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

1/4 cup finely diced onion

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 lb. boiling potatoes

1 1/2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into very thin pieces

1 1/2 cups milk

Combine 1 1/2 cups cheese, the onion, flour, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl; set aside.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/8-inch thick slices.  Arrange 1/3 of the potatoes on the bottom of a greased baking dish with sides at least 2-inches deep.  Put half the cheese mixture and 1/2 the butter on top of the potatoes.  Make a second layer using another third of the potatoes and all the remaining cheese mixture and butter.  Cover the top with the remaining potatoes.

Scald the milk and pour over the potatoes; top the potatoes with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.  Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

© Margaret's Morsels

Dip into This

When I host a shower or casual get together, I like to serve an assortment of appetizers.  Some I purchase ready made, but the rest I prepare.  One dip I love to serve is Baked Potato Dip.  After a friend gave me the recipe, I read it three times trying to find the potato.  The recipe title actually refers to ingredients put on a baked potato rather than a dip that uses a potato as an ingredient.

No potato needed.

When I make the dip, I use light sour cream and sharp Cheddar cheese. You can use regular sour cream and mild Cheddar, if you prefer.  I don't recommend substituting anything for the real bacon pieces.  They taste more like cooked bacon than anything else on the market.

The recipe easily makes enough for 8 to 12 people.  If you have more than that, you don't need to double the recipe.  You can use a 24 ounce container of sour cream and 1 1/2 to 2 packages of Ranch dressing mix. The rest of the proportions stay the same.

This dip is very thick so you need to serve it with a sturdy chip.  I think it goes great with Fritos Scoops.  The dip is best made one or two days ahead so the flavors have time to blend.  The hard part about making it ahead of time is keeping your family out of it until the party!

Baked Potato Dip

8 to 12 Servings

1 (16 oz.) carton sour cream

1 (8 oz.) pkg. Cheddar cheese, grated

1 (1.0 oz.) pkg. Ranch dressing mix (dry)

1/2 bottle real bacon pieces

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate overnight before serving.

© Margaret's Morsels