Ham n Cheese Potato Soup

My, how time does fly! I can't believe how long it has been since my last post!

Anyhow, we had a lovely Christmas along with a lovely ham. So that meant leftovers! I'm proud to announce that I had all of these ingredients on hand, so this is a true 2DG special. Let's get to it...

Peel and chop 5 or 6 medium red potatoes. Put them in a stock pot with 2 cups of boiling water. Cook until tender. Mine only took about 8 to 10 minutes. While that's going on, chop an onion and dice about a cup or two of that yummy leftover ham.

When potatoes are done,  reserve the starchy cooking water. You should have almost a cup left. Add enough water to it to get a cup of water. Put it aside.

Here's the decadent part.
In the now empty stockpot,  melt 2 T bacon fat & 1 T butter.  Saute the onion until it's tender. When it is, add 3 T flour. Stir and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

Now slooooowly add the reserved potato water, whisking as you go. Put in the cooked potatoes.  Slowly stir in 3 cups of milk. Soup will thicken up as you do this. When all the milk's in, add the diced ham and stir. Now grate in 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and a tiny bit of sugar, about half a tsp. Grate in a little fresh nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer on low for about half an hour.  Stir it occasionally.  It will become silky smooth and delicious!

Enjoy!

Cream of Celery Soup

I have a surplus of celery. Really. In the fridge, I had almost a full bunch and another completely full bunch. Then today, in our Orlando Organics delivery, I got another full bunch.


So what could I do with bunches of celery? Cream of Celery Soup!

I rough chopped the nearly full bunch and sliced a medium onion and sauted these in about 2 Tbsp. butter. I let them go for about 10 minutes because of the large amount of celery.

To that, I added about 3 cups of a combination of chicken stock and veggie stock. (I had these in the freezer. I made them some time ago.) Let them simmer for about 15 minutes or so.

After straining the broth, I put it back in the now clean pot and added 2 cups of milk, and another half cup of milk in which I had dissolved about 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. I let this simmer for another few minutes, and voila!

Cream of Celery Soup.

In the picture I garnished it with some fresh ground nutmeg and parsley flakes. Whatever doesn't get eaten will be frozen to be used later in sauces, soups, casseroles, whatever. The perfect 2DG dish!

Enjoy!
-J

Mock Crab Soup

Being from Maryland, blue crabs and crab soup have a special place in my heart, as does Old Bay Seasoning. I've been making "Crab Wings" for years, chicken wings that I season with Old Bay. I also make a wing sauce with lots of Old Bay in it to go with them.

Here's the 2nd Day Gourmet part...

After we're done with the wings, I take any leftover wings and any bones that we have and make a soup, just the same way my mother used to make crab soup after we had steamed crabs. I usually add some chicken thighs to up the meat content a bit, too.

Here's how...

The leftover wings, bones and thighs go in a soup pot with water. I add tomatoes, onions, and whatever fresh or frozen veggies I have on hand, usually peas, corn, carrots, celery, green beans, in any combination I happen to have them. (This time I didn't have any frozen veggies, so it was just tomatoes, onions, peas and carrots, but it was still very tasty! I think it was the best ever this time!)

Then I put some of the leftover wing sauce in there and add Old Bay as needed. Let it go for an hour or so, then remove all the chicken and bones and them them cool. After they've thoroughly cooled, carefully pick all the meat from all the bones and put the meat back in the pot with the soup. Discard the bones, they've served you well at this point!

Enjoy, Hon!