Cooking for Seven

Check out my guest post over at the Tasty Kitchen Blog this week: Outrageous Garlic Soup. And make the soup. It is amazing.

Here was an happy accident:

I asked Dad what he would like for supper. His answer: soup. What could be easier, eh?

I knew that one of Dad’s favorite soups is cream of broccoli, and I was pretty sure I could find some broccoli in the freezer. The catch? The the broccoli was FREEZER BURNT. One floret had turned a weird orange color and it all smelled horrid. Blech.

And so, instead of panicking, I quickly decided to make up a new recipe. That is how this soup was born.

Please do not be scared by the stick of butter included in this recipe. It is necessary. So very necessary. You can add any spices you like, but I found salt, pepper, and parsley sufficient. Also, any type of sausage may be used. I like spicy Italian.

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Sausage and Potato Soup

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Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 3 medium russet potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons parsley
• 2 1/2 teaspoons flour
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/2 lb. bulk Italian sausage, cooked until no longer pink

Directions:

1) Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until transparent. Add the garlic, potatoes, salt and pepper, and parsley and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in the sausage.

2) Add the flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk. Bring to a boil and simmer just until the potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Serves approximately 4-6 people

And now, for the first of the recipes from our Girl’s Party: Creamy Onion Soup.

As I browsed Tastespotting for soup, I stumbled upon this recipe. The picture looked so appetizing. I was very much tempted to make this recipe from Dutch Girl Cooking, but my sister and I were sold on the first recipe. Perhaps another time I shall make the second.

The number of onions in this recipe kinda scared me. In the end I just couldn’t bring myself to put in eight large sweet onions. I can only guess that the recipe meant eight small-medium onions.

The original recipe was not a pureed soup. For my purpose, I wanted something creamy and smooth. It was very easy to puree with a stick blender.

When we served the leftover soup to Dad, he thought it was excellent. This recipe must be good.

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:: Creamy Sweet Onion Soup ::

Ingredients

8 or 9 small-medium or 4 large sweet onions

1 quart chicken stock

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cups white cooking wine (optional)

1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

kosher salt and black pepper

3 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter and olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.  Peel the onions, halve them, and slice thinly. Add to the melted butter and olive oil. Don’t worry about the amount of onions. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20-25 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.

Add the flour and stir to cook, about three minutes. Add the wine, if using, cook, stirring, for another 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pot, heat the milk until hot. Add the stock to onions. Pout in the milk. Stir well.

Increase the heat to medium high and continue to stir. Grate the cheese. When the soup is starting to bubble and thicken, reduce the heat to medium low. If desired, puree the soup with a stick blender.

Add the grated cheese a handful at a time, stirring well, until the cheese is melted and the soup is creamy. Taste the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the Dijon and the cayenne. Taste again and make any necessary adjustments. Serve hot with croutons.

Serves 8-10

Last Friday us girls hosted a party for a few friends. It was so much fun to quickly throw a menu together. Join me for a look at our splendid little party.

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:: The Menu ::

Lunch

Appetizers:

Piped Deviled Eggs

Cheese and Crackers

Soup:

Creamy Onion Soup with Croutons

Sandwiches:

Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Toasted Bread

Salad:

Fruit Salad

Dessert

Vanilla Rice Pudding with Whipped Cream

Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Cream

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Creamy Onion Soup, made by yours truly.

Janna made these delicious Chicken Salad Sandwiches, served on buttered, toasted bread.

Sister Amanda prepared these cute little deviled eggs. They were seasoned just right.

We decided to serve the fruit salad in tea cups. They looked so elegant.

We played a delightful little game. It is a Scandinavian tradition to place one almond in the rice pudding. Whoever finds the almond is promised to be the next to marry.

Breanna found the almond.

Amanda also made poppy seed cake. We served it with orange cream.

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Are you hungry yet? I promise to give you at least a few of these recipes. For now, I must away and roll out tortillas for supper. How prosaic.

Would you like to see more photos of our party? Stop by my photo blog.

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Soup seems so perfect for lunch. Quick and easy, yet very filling. This soup starts by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil. A few seasonings are thown in and cooked a bit longer. The liquid, lentils and carrots are added, and the whole thing is simmered for about 30 minutes. Can it get any better than that?

We didn’t have any chicken broth or tomato paste. I think the soup would have been much tastier if we had. I still liked the flavors from the garlic and cumin. I’ll have to try it again, with the proper ingredients.

You can find the recipe here.

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