Loaded Leek & Potato Soup

I love soup, and potato is a favorite. Let’s face it. There are so many different versions - basic creamy; leek & potato; loaded baked potato; potato & broccoli; to name a few – so how could you possibly grow tired of it?

The beauty of soup is its flexibility. There is nothing wrong with following a tried and true recipe. But what if you don’t have an ingredient? Or perhaps you’re in the mood to experiment. Soup can handle it. And who knows? You may find a new darling.

Leek and potato is a version I’ve wanted to try for some time. I have a copy of the cookbook “From Julia Child’s Kitchen.” After reading her rapturous description of the classic French version, why wouldn’t you want to savor it? Well, maybe someday I will. I actually bought some leeks to make soup. However, when I decided to make it, instead of opening the cookbook, I started pulling out some of my favorite potato soup ingredients. When I finished my soup, it only had 3 ingredients in common with Julia’s – leeks, potatoes & dairy. Though it may be bragging, I have to say I was quite pleased with myself when I tried it. I enjoyed a second bowl. Bacon does have the reputation of making any dish better. Although I think it was the smoked paprika, along with a generous amount of black pepper that took it over the top. Until you’ve had smoky potato soup with a bit of attitude, you haven’t lived. Of course, this is just my opinion.

The following is a list of ingredients. There aren’t any measurements because making soup is about freedom, baby, yeah!

In order of appearance:

3 Leeks

3 Potatoes (I like Yukon Gold)

2 Slices of Bacon, diced

Potato Starch (optional)

Unsalted Chicken Broth

Whole Milk

Grated Parmesan

Parsley, minced

Pepper

Nutmeg

Smoked Paprika

Start by prepping your vegetables. Fill 2 bowls with cold water. Cut the tops and root ends off the leeks. Slice in half lengthwise then horizontally into ¼” strips. Place the cut leeks into one bowl of cold water to remove any dirt between the layers. Peel and dice your potatoes into your favorite soup size and put into the other bowl of water. (Putting potatoes in water does remove starch, which isn’t a big deal for creamy soups, but you want your prep done before you start cooking. If left sitting in the air, peeled potatoes can turn a rather unpleasant color.) Begin cooking by putting the diced bacon in your soup pot. Let it cook until the fat renders out. Use a spider or small strainer to remove the leeks from their bath. (You want to keep the dirt at the bottom of the bowl.) Add the leeks to the bacon. When they’re translucent, you can add the thickener of your choice, just enough to coat the bacon and leeks. Pour about 2 c. of chicken broth into the pan. Stir well to make sure there are no thickener lumps. The potatoes can now join the party. Pour in enough milk to cover everything, plus a little extra. The amount you use depends on how much liquid you like. Steam coming from the pot is an indication that it’s warm enough to melt cheese. I had a chunk of Parmesan so I grated it directly into the soup. Sliced cheese can be used too. Grated just melts faster. After the cheese is melted add the remaining ingredients. Do the spices in smaller increments and taste. Your soup is finished when you’re satisfied with the results.

Note: You will probably add salt. Just wait until everything is in the pot before you do. Bacon and cheese both provide salt. Treat the same as the spices, small amount at a time. Think you might a like Southwestern vibe? Use Chipotle Chile Powder instead of smoked paprika, or a wee spoonful of Adobo Sauce.

Rose Water

Valentine’s Day has just come and gone. Millions of flower bouquets, especially those containing imported red roses were given. For many people, the occasional bouquet they receive or purchase is the only relationship they have with the Queen of Flowers. Which is such a pity. The rose has a centuries-long history with mankind. Though always revered for their beauty and fragrance, until the 20^th century, roses were often given prime space in the garden because of their healing and culinary value. Perhaps it’s time for modern society to rediscover the all the ways in which roses can enrich life. 

(I know I did a post about store-bought rose bouquets, but the truth is I would much rather spend that money on rose bushes, especially varieties with strong fragrance. While they’re pretty, commercial bouquet roses rarely have any fragrance. A rose without scent has no soul.)

Rose water is the perfect introduction to crafting and cooking with botanicals. I mostly use it as a face toner because it’s soothing and doesn’t dry out my skin. It’s also emotionally uplifting, like opening a bottle of summer when it’s made with fragrant roses. Who couldn’t use that during a cold, nasty winter? (Being able to pronounce the ingredients of your skin products is an additional bonus.)

Rose water can be found in stores, but I haven’t tried it. Since I have roses in my yard, I prefer to make it. I’ve found instructions on the internet for making with a distillation process. However, it’s not necessary to make things so complicated. Infusion works just fine and doesn’t require much in the way of equipment or materials. And by not using heat, you aren’t destroying the essences of the rose that make it an aromatherapy and health powerhouse.

Here’s what you need.

A large mouth glass jar with lid (2 pint minimum; 1 qt. is better. Jam jars or Mason jars are ideal)

Distilled water

5-6 organic, fragrant roses (double petaled)

Vodka or Gin (Distilled grain, unflavored. Do not use rubbing alcohol!)

Natural coffee filter or cheesecloth

Funnel that fits opening of storage bottles

Decorative, stoppered glass bottles for storage or gift giving (optional)

This bowl contains examples of double-petaled roses. 

The varieties are antique Hybrid Tea 'La France' (big pink rose),

 Pioneer rose 'Thomas Affleck' (dark pink)

and David Austin English Rose 'Tamora' (peach-pink) 

Here’s what you do:

Make sure your containers are clean. Wash with hot, soapy water. You can rinse with boiling water or dry in the oven. Oven drying will probably work best with the large mouth jar since the glass will dry faster turned upside down. Smaller bottles may fall thru the racks unless they can be turned on their sides across the racks. To oven dry, put glass in a cold oven and heat to 350°. Turn the oven off when it’s done pre-heating. Allow the glass to completely cool before handling it. Hot glass can break easily. Glass sanitized by boiling should be removed immediately and allowed to dry while hot. Handle it carefully, with protection, to avoid burns and make sure tongs or other equipment hold the glass securely during transfers. If you aren’t already into some sort of preservation with jars this project might be the introduction that gets you started. Cushioned tongs for handling canning jars would be a good investment, even for just occasional use. Accidents with hot, broken glass are not fun. That being said, while this can be a child-friendly project, unless you know your child has the maturity to follow instructions and handle materials with care, keep their handling of glass to a minimum or not at all, especially when it’s hot.

Pull all the petals off the roses and put them into the jar. Cover with 2 cups of distilled water. The petals will float, so use a wooden spoon handle or bamboo skewer to poke them into the water periodically. As they absorb water, most of them will sink. Let the petals steep until the water turns the color of the roses, and it looks like all the life has been sucked out of the petals. (Might take at least 48 hours.) Put a fine-mesh strainer over an easy-pour bowl or large glass measuring cup. Line the strainer with cheesecloth or a natural paper coffee filter. Empty the contents of the jar into the strainer. Once all the liquid has run through the strainer into the bowl, dispose of the solids. (To keep landfill waste to a minimum, put the used petals in your compost and wash the cheesecloth for another use. If you use a coffee filter, it can go into the compost too.) Add 2-4 tbsp. of the alcohol to your rose water. After blending, the finished product can be dispensed into the storage bottles with a funnel or returned to the larger jar.

 

 Small bottles like this one are ideal for keeping small amounts 

of floral and herbal personal products out of the refrigerator.

This one is in my stash. They are easy to find in craft and hobby stores.

It's rare to find them for more than a dollar or two.

Keep a few on hand for gift giving.

To keep your rose water from spoiling, you must keep it refrigerated. Use small bottles, no larger than 1 - 2 oz. if you want to keep some in the bathroom as a toner. The alcohol does act as a preservative, but it will only keep the product fresh for a week or two without chilling. If you find anything growing in your rose water, throw it out and make another batch. To increase the longevity of your product, it’s important to make sure everything is clean. That’s why you should use glass for steeping the petals and storage. Plastic can’t be heated enough to sterilize it without melting. Not to mention it may contain chemicals you won’t want leaching into your natural product.

Giving and enjoying bouquets is special, but life is too short to be so limited. Look at your living space with new eyes. There are all kinds of gardens and gardening. Our relationship with plants should be about so much more than just decoration, or hard work with very few rewards, if it is to be truly enriching. I wish you healthy, holistic gardening and crafting.

The Project Queen

Grain Free Spätzle

We love homemade pasta here, but speaking as the cook, it can be a bit labor intensive by the time the dough is mixed, kneaded, rolled out, cut or shaped, etc. Sometimes you want the taste and texture of handmade noodles without all the work, which is one reason I like to make Spätzle. Another reason to make it? It uses whole eggs, so no egg whites sitting around in your refrigerator while you try to decide what to make with them.

For those who have never attempted homemade pasta before, Spätzle is a great entry-level recipe. The version I usually like to use, from The Pasta Bible, has 4 ingredients - flour, eggs, salt, & water. Everything is just blended until you have a paste with the consistency of natural peanut butter. You can’t get much simpler.

When we first starting looking at lifestyle changes to help my husband manage his health issues, eliminating grains had to be considered. Of course, when you start removing something from your diet, you realize how much you’re giving up. Especially, when you let go of grains. They make up a frighteningly large part of the SAD. (Standard American Diet.) I’ve been using the internet for a long time to find all kinds of things, so alternative recipes are no exception. That includes pasta. Thanks to the site Paleo Cupboard, I found a recipe that helped me rethink my favorite spätzle recipe.

Though not strictly true for all gluten-free and paleo recipes, some of them I’ve tried recently tend to have a rather long list of ingredients. I didn’t want to make Spätzle complicated. Doing so would have ruined why I like to make it in the first place. As long as you don’t have issues with eggs, the good news for pasta is that you only need to change the flour. Spätzle is a dumpling type noodle, so it’s easy to experiment with. If the paste is too thick, you can add water 1 tbsp. at a time until you have the right consistency. Too thin? Add small amounts of flour and starch.

This is the formula that worked for me.

1 ½ c. Almond Flour

1 c. Arrowroot Starch

1 c. Tapioca Starch

1-2 tsp. Salt

5 large eggs

1 tbsp. Water

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl before adding the eggs and water. After adding the wet ingredients, stir just enough to get most of the lumps out. Use a spoon to drizzle the batter into boiling water that has a bit of cooking oil added to it. (Oil isn’t used to cook commercial pasta, but you will need it for this recipe because of the starches.) Stir the pot to make sure no noodles stick to the bottom. When the noodles float to the top, remove them with a spider or fine mesh strainer. They cook quickly, so you’ll find yourself making a few batches at a time. Once you have your noodles, they can be sautéed in butter and herbs, added to green beans (see my post for Green Beans and Spätzle), or perhaps made into macaroni & cheese. They will also work in soups. Instead of cooking in boiling water, add the paste to the broth when the soup is almost finished cooking. You won’t want mushy noodles in your soup.

The Project Queen

 Grain-free Spätzle makes great Tuna-Noodle Casserole.

I used a full recipe to make a 9" x 13" pan.

To keep the dish grain free the crumb topping was made with almond flour.