Continuing with the theme of “OMG is it cold in New England”, here is a bowl of homemade hearty winter Minestrone with Tortellini and Turkey Meatballs, sure to warm you up and fill you up. It’s delicious. Also, coincidentally, February 4 is National Homemade Soup Day. Yeah, not joking, but coincidental because I made the soup first and then I heard about the “holiday”.
So Hasselback Potatoes…. I think that most of you know the story (and the reoccurring results) of my Hasselback Potato Skillet Bake winning the Idaho Potato Recipe of the year about a million years ago (back in 2015). The recipe resurrects itself every now and again and I make it for myself sort of often. Many of you also know that I spend a lot of time randomly pondering “How can I make this recipe better?” for lots of my recipes. Well, I got to thinking about that this afternoon, after finding some perfectly sized russet potatoes (on the small side): How do I make Hasselback potatoes even better? They are already sort of like a baked/jacket potatao meets potato chips/crisps, so why not not go all in: bacon (and the bacon fat)…. cheddar … scallions. Yup, these Bacon + Cheddar Hasselback Potatoes are sort of a love child between baked potatoes, potato skins and chips. Serve with sour cream. Add on some pickled jalapenos and serve with guacamole. Simply to die for.
winter is soup season, and this one turned out great: Carrot and Smoked Gouda Bisque. It’s sweet and savory at the same time, righ and smokey too. Might even be healthy, except for the rich cream. Either way, it was delicious.
It is, however, hard to photograph. You might have heard me complain before: soups and chowders aren’t fun to photograph — monochromatic, often light colored liquid. [Yawn]. This time, I went for adding a few carrot swirls, just to give it some contrast in the picture. Totally unnecessary for the recipe though. 🙂
Comfort food.
We’re heading into January, the worst month of the year, and I am already seeking solice in comfort food. And this, for me, might be the most comforting of all the comfort foods out there in my opinion. Kartoffelschnitz und Spätzle (Potato and Spätzle Stew) It was a soup / stew that my Oma used to make when I was a child. It is winter food. Ward off the chills food. Very Swabian and regional to the Stuttgart area of Germany. It’s a rich, hearty, homemade beef broth, homemade spätzle (freshly made, frozen, or if you live in an area that has them, in the deli cases; avoid the dried) and not only spätzle, but doubling up on the carbs, also potatoes. Just what I needed today.
I’ve started to feel a little under the weather (and the actual weather isn’t helping!) but hopefully nothing that a hearty bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup won’t solve. And of-course, I made Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch, but it is a bit of a “cheater” recipe: a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, meat removed and then the broth made from the carcass. Used little spaghetti-o pasta just because they are cute. Best soup that I have had in ages.