Baked Potato Soup

This is from the Taste of Home cookbook. It's not very light, but definitely comforting on a cold, snowy night.

• 4 large baking potatoes (about 2-3/4 pounds)
• 2/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 6 cups milk
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Bake potatoes at 350° for 65-75 minutes or until tender; cool completely. Peel and cube potatoes.
In a large saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; whisk in sour cream. Add potatoes and green onions. Garnish with bacon and cheese. Yield: 10 servings.

Ideas for lightening the recipe:
--Use 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup olive oil
--Use 3 cups 2% milk and 3 cups chicken broth
--Use fat free sour cream
--Use reduced fat cheese
--Use turkey bacon

Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

This soup is easy, ready in about 10-15 minutes, and tastes great! It makes a lot too (I doubled the recipe for a Relief Society dinner for 30 sisters), but it reheats well.

1 medium onion, chopped
6 Tbs. butter
6 Tbs. unsifted flour
3 cups water
5 cups fresh broccoli, cut into large bite-size pieces
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups half & half

In a large pot, cook onion in butter until tender; stir in flour until smooth. Slowly add the water while whisking. Then add bouillon cubes, broccoli, and Worcestershire sauce. Don't worry, it will look like a lot of broccoli and not a lot of liquid. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and slowly add half & half. Then add cheese one handful at a time, stirring each addition until melted before adding the next handful. Return to the lowest heat setting possible until ready to serve, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let the soup boil once you've added the cheese, or it will curdle and separate.

Soups

I am so excited to see some new recipes on here! I've been thinking of trying something new and exciting on here - seasonal requests. I will post a call for recipes based on the season, holiday or event and anyone who wants to can post any recipes they have. Feel free to keep posting anything and everything you want to on a whim, this is just a way to get us all thinking and keep us from feeling like we need to post all of our recipes at once!

So, since it is officially freezing cold in good old Salt Lake City, Utah, this is a call for soups. If you have a favorite soup, post the recipe here for all to enjoy! I am seriously lacking in the soup recipe department, so I only have one recipe of note and I have already posted it, but I will search for some new ones and let you know if I find any good ones!

Happy souping!

Crab omelet

This decadent omelet is a perfect lazy Sunday morning entree, drizzled with a lemony hollandaise sauce.

4 eggs, beaten
1 C. shredded imitation crab flakes
¾ C. shredded cheese (cheddar, mont. Jack, or other)
Pinch of salt
2 T. oil for pan

Heat frying pan on med. with oil and pour in omelet eggs. Cover with lid for a minute or two, or until the eggs begin to firm up. Sprinkle ½ C. of the cheese and crab in center of omelet, fold over and recover, turning heat to low. (if necessary, add a little water to pan to help keep moist while cooking).
Remove omelet from heat and place on serving plate. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and cover with Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise sauce:
3 egg yolks, beaten
½ C. butter
1 T. + 1 tsp. Lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
Dash white pepper
2 T. hot water

* for extra fancy omelet, top with steamed asparagus before adding saucy and cheese.

Artichoke Chicken

Artichoke Chicken

For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (can use chicken tenders, instead but double the number)
¼ c. flour for dusting chicken
Salt and pepper
¼ C. Olive Oil for pan

Split chicken breasts to half thickness. (if using tenders, omit splitting) Salt and pepper breasts. Lightly rub both sides with flour. Heat large skillet with olive oil. Place chicken into pan and cook on medium heat WITHOUT TURNING until you can see the bottom sides browning. (about 3 min.) Flip over and do the same on the other side. (breasts should be easy to turn if cooked until crisp on one side) Avoid over cooking chicken, as it will become tough. (cut center of breast to check for doneness. Chicken is done when it is white) Remove chicken from pan and place on serving plate. Cover with towel. Make sauce: (sauce can be made at same time if wanted)

*oven method: dust chicken with flour as above. Spray cookie sheet and place chicken on it. Spray tops of chicken breasts. Bake at 350 oven for 10-15 min. flip chicken over and bake for another 10 min. (lower fat, but harder to control tenderness of chicken)

Sauce:
1 half pint heavy whipping cream
1 pint half and half
1 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic
2 Tbsp. Butter
½ can artichoke hearts, quartered and drained
5 med. Mushrooms, sliced (or sliced zucchini, red pepper, or chopped spinach)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp Corn Starch (thinned with water- for thickening sauce)
¼ C. white wine or cooking sherry

In saucepan, add all ingredients EXCEPT cooking wine and corn starch. Let cook on medium heat until mushrooms are tender. Add cornstarch mixture and stir until sauce is thickened. Add cooking wine and continue to cook on LOW heat. (if sauce is too thin, add more cornstarch and water mixture until desired thickness) Pour over chicken, garnish with grated parmesan cheese.

Rainbow Ribbon Jell-O

This is a really fun Jell-O I always had as a kid on Christmas Eve, and it's become a family favorite with my in-laws too. It might seem labor intensive, but it's actually really easy as long as you get the timing right and you're planning to be home for a few hours. This year I did it in between wrapping gifts, so it wasn't a big deal at all.

6 small packages Jell-O, any color
** i.e., for Christmas, I do 3 raspberry and 3 lime, for the 4th of July I did 3 strawberry and 3 berry blue

For each layer:

Dissolve 1 package Jell-O in 1 cup boiling water. Divide into 2 separate bowls. To 1 bowl, add 3 tablespoons cold water. Mix together and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Let set approximately 10-15 minutes in fridge, until it appears firm and isn't sticky to the touch. To the other bowl containing the other half, add 1/3 cup sour cream and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. When the transparent layer is set, spread sour cream layer over the top and let it set 10-15 minutes until firm (be more careful with this layer and make sure it's really set, since the transparent layer you'll be putting on top of it will be warm). Repeat with remaining boxes of Jell-O, alternating colors as desired (I usually do transparent red layer, sour cream red layer, transparent green layer, sour cream layer, etc.).

Just before serving, spread a small container of Cool Whip over the top.

Andes Mint Cookies

Ok, I know it's not the Christmas season anymore, but these are tasty enough to make any time of the year!

3/4 c butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 T water
12 oz. bag chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 lb. Andes Mints

Melt together butter, brown sugar and water in a saucepan. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Let stand 10 minutes to cool.

In a mixing bowl, add in remaining ingredients except mints. Chill dough at least 1 hour ( I just stick my KitchenAid bowl right in the fridge).

Roll into balls (or use a little scoop for uniformity) and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven and place 1 unwrapped mint on top of each cookie. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then swirl melted mint on top of cookie (I use a fork and it works great).