Pictures from the Soup and Twice Baked Potatoes

I made the soup tonight just so you could have pictures of it! Oh - and because Marc's been sick and asked for it too.

So the pictures:

Butter in the sauce pan ready to go

Onions Chopped - Squash cubed

Sweating the onions

Adding the squash to let it glaze

Simmering

Post boiling

Preparing to be blending with the immersion blender (aka the stick)

Ta da!

It was super yummy! I really like it and it re-heats super well. Another perk - it's a one pot meal meaning clean up is easy. I didn't actually have to put the onion and squash into bowls, but it just felt cool.

Another fun little dish we did during our hiatus was marbled twice baked potatoes. They included a mixtures of sweet potatoes and regular russet potatoes. This was also from the Food Network Magazine. They were so yummy pre-2nd baking I ate the leftovers from the bowl with one of our roommates. The side dish is time consuming on the amount of bake time, but the "active" time of doing something is really short. 

Ingredients

4 large russet potatoes

1 large sweet potato

1/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

2 scallions, thinly sliced

3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Put the russet and sweet potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake 30 minutes.

3. Pierce each potato a few times with a fork and continue to bake until tender, 15 to 20 more minutes for the sweet potato and 20 to 25 more minutes for the russet potatoes. 

4. Let cool slightly.

5. Peel the sweet potato. (no need to be neat about it - your not saving the skin from this one)

6. Transfer to a bowl and mash lightly with a fork until almost smooth. 

7. Trim a thin slice off the top of each russet potato, cutting lengthwise. (This is to keep the potatoes standing easier, I skipped it and they stood up just fine)

8. Scoop most of the flesh into another bowl, leaving the shells intact. 

9. Add the sour cream and butter to the bowl and mash with a fork. 

10. Stir in the scallions, 1/2 cup cheese, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste.

11. Gently fold in the sweet potato.

12. Generously fill with the marbled potato mixture and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

13. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

14. Place the stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese melts, 25 to 30 minutes.

There were absolutely delicious. Quite possibly sinfully delicious. I took pictures of these too!

Mushing the sweet potato

Potato skins

Russet Potatos

Plus scallions & Sour cream

Plus everything!

Before baking

And after

We served these on the side of a pan seared pork chop with the bone still in. I don't like bones in my food so I made Marc have mine. I forget what I had with it, the potatoes were that awesome.

Tomorrow is tacos. I haven't told Marc yet because he always says no to them, but I really want them. If he /really/ doesn't want some, well there's leftover soup!

Woo - 12 day break, now back to normality

So, I've been on a hiatus. It isn't that we haven't kept up with our meal planning or cooking, it's just that I've been tired and not feeling like taking so many pictures while cooking. Then I realized I miss the blog and sharing recipes. So here we are.

One of the meals that we did have was a squash soup. Marc made it while I was at a baby shower. It was part of our seasonal item experiment, and it was delicious. The recipe is courtesy of Food Network Magazine. I hope to make it again soon, so that way I should have pictures for you. The recipe has you make it in hollowed out mini pumpkins. It was great for presentation, but I don't think it really added to the overall flavor. Plus, it takes time and on a weeknight, no one really wants to spend extra time on something that won't add a lot of flavor. It's been included though, if you want to try it out.



Ingredients

For the Bowls (optional):
4 small baking pumpkins (such as hooligan or sugar pie), acorn squash or sweet dumpling squash
2 teaspoons sugar
Kosher salt

For the Soup:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
Kosher salt
2 sprigs thyme
1 medium butternut or kuri squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons
heavy cream (optional)
Freshly ground pepper

For the Toppings (all completely optional)
Pepitas (hulled green pumpkin seeds)
Sourdough and/or pumpernickel croutons
Paprika, chili powder or Spanish pimenton
Crisp prosciutto, serrano ham or bacon
Fried onions
Fried sage or parsley leaves





Make the bowls:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Use a paring knife to cut a large circle around the stem of each pumpkin (make a zigzag cut, if desired).
3. Remove the lid and scoop out the seeds and fibers.
4. Sprinkle the inside of each with 1/2 teaspoon each sugar and salt.
5. Place the pumpkins and lids on a baking sheet; roast until tender, 20 to 35 minutes, depending on their size.

Make the soup:
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt.
3. Strip the thyme leaves into the pot, increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the squash and sugar and cook, stirring, until glazed, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

7. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender, crack the lid to let steam escape and puree until smooth; return to the saucepan (or puree directly in the pan with an immersion blender).
8. Stir in the heavy cream, if desired. Season with salt and pepper, and top as desired.


We didn't use any of the toppings. Marc had bought some thick cut prosciutto in order to fry and add to it. Whatever taste test he conducted while I was away did not bring positive flavors to his palate. It's an immensely filling soup and I think you could really have it for a dinner by itself. Definitely a lunch. The recipe serves 4 and I would say that's accurate. We had plenty left over and it heated up really well.

The experiments should increase soon as we have decided to host Thanksgiving at our house this year. We decided that eating two full dinners in one day was not a healthy practice and are combining our families this year. We are still in the processing of trying to decide what to serve. (other than turkey)

What do you serve with your feast?