Ham & Potato Soup

Last Wednesday, in the middle of our gorgeous 80 degree week, we had a wet and cold day.  The weather came out of nowhere, although I am convinced the Lord, in His sovereignty, gave me this day because I had planned on making my ham & potato soup.  Well, He may not have given this weather just for me, but I praise Him for it just the same.  My parents came over just as we had finished our soup, and I witnessed my mom return to the pot again and again for another little taste.  She must have said "Oh, this is very good" at least 10 times, which, coming from a woman who's food is raved about up and down California (by those fortunate enough to have tried some) just made my heart smile.  I love that we share a love of cooking, and I love that my cooking skills don't embarrass her. =)

For those of you who are still entrenched in winter, here's a recipe worth making while the weather permits.  And please, if anyone else's mom drops by unexpected on the night you make this, you have to let me know if she too fills your home with Ooos and Awws. =)

Ingredients:

• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch squares
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 3/4 to 1 cup ham steak, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 5 TBS butter
• 5 TBS flour (I use sprouted spelt)
• 2 cups whole raw milk
• cheddar cheese, opt.  

Prepare your ingredients.  This is probably as time-consuming as cooking the soup, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time.  This is a great recipe to let your kids help you with~ I gave my 6 year old a butter knife and he diced my ham, carrots and celery.

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, saute your onion in the olive oil, about 3-4 minutes.  Add in the carrots, celery and ham and cook another 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until the ham starts to slightly brown.

 Next, add in the wine and deglaze your pan, then incorporate the potatoes, cooking another 5 minutes or so.  If you'ld like, after the onions are sauted you could add in the other ingredients at once and cook for a few minutes, or even wait and add it all with the chicken broth.  I add in stages to bring out the flavor in each ingredient separately.  

 Add in your chicken broth, sea salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan melt butter on med-high heat.  Whisk in flour to make a rue~ make sure to whisk quickly and until there you have a smooth paste. 

Slowly pour the milk into the rue, whisking continuously.  After incorporated, cook on med-high heat for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened, then add it to the soup and stir well.  For a chunkier soup, take a potato-masher and mash soup several times.  For a creamier version use a immersion blender.

Top with some shredded cheddar cheese and pair it with a slice of spelt buttermilk bread, and enjoy!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop

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Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium organic sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
• olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the potato strips
• 1 1/2 TBS celtic sea salt, or to taste

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Peel your sweet potatoes and slice them into french fries. 

 

Place the fries in a ziploc baggy and lightly coat with olive oil.  Add salt and shake. 

Place the fries in a single layer on cookie sheets.  Bake about 25 minutes, turning just once, until golden and crispy.  Serve promptly, with a little extra sea salt sprinkled on top.

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Asparagus Risotto

Photo Credit

This warm and creamy traditional Italian side dish was made from a mix of fresh asparagus from my Abundant Harvest box and arborio rice.  I must admit that, while my husband and I love risotto of all kinds, my children are not crazy about this dish.  They love rice in general, just not "the slippery kind".  What can I say~ I have little boys. =)

• 1 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cups homemade chicken broth*
• 2 cups water*
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/2 onion, diced (or shallots)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Butter or Olive Oil for sautéing
• Celtic Sea Salt and Pepper, to taste*

*As to the chicken broth and water, you may use all chicken broth, as I did, just make sure to not add any salt.  The flavor will be very, very rich (which we prefer) if you do not cut it with the water.

1.  In a saucepan combine the chicken broth and water and heat on med-high until simmering.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
2. In a large skillet cook the asparagus in about 3 TBS butter until tender-crisp.  Remove the asparagus and keep warm.
3. In the same skillet sauté the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes in your choice of fat.  Add the rice and cook another 2 minutes.  Add in the wine, deglazing the pan with it until most-to-all of the liquid has evaporated. 

4. Increase the heat to a med-high and add in 1 cup of the broth-water mixture.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has been absorbed.  Continue stirring and adding 1 cup of the liquid at a time, allowing each cup to be absorbed before adding the next.  This should take between 25 and 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the texture is creamy.
5. Stir in the asparagus, cream, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and simmer another 2 or 3 minutes.  Serve immediately. 

I paired this with grilled chicken and a salad for dinner, although it is more than filling to enjoy as a meal of its own!  

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Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Even though it is spring time, even in California we have had cool enough weather to extend soup season.  This makes me happy.  :)  I love soup, and this is one of my favorites!  Comforting, creamy, flavorful and nourishing.  I hope you enjoy it! 

* 4 cups free range chicken broth

* 2 cups water

* 2 cups leftover free range chicken meat, shredded

* 1 cup cooked wild rice

* 1 TBS all purpose seasoning of choice.  (I prefer the one from US Wellness Meats)

* 1/2 teaspoon celtic grey sea salt

* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 3/4 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour

* 1/2 cup butter

* 2 cups heavy cream (I use whole raw milk)

* Vegetables of choice (optional)

Combine broth, water and chicken in a large stock pot.  If you do not have leftover chicken, start raw chicken in the broth and water and simmer all afternoon until falling apart.  Shred chicken and add vegetables.  Cook until veggies are tender.  Add rice and simmer until heated through. (Add water as needed to replace what evaporates.)

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in  seasoning of choice until bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

Stir cream mixture into broth mixture. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.   Enjoy!

This post is part of Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet.

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Oh For the Love of Chicken Pot Pie

Need a way for your kiddos to eat a ton of veggies?  Throw them in this pot pie!  This recipe was adapted from one on Allrecipes.com but of course I've changed things up a bit.  TIP: use a deep dish pie plate if you have one.  I currently do not have one (gave mine away- why would I do that?) so I just use my normal pie plate which works fine, just be sure to set the pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow.  There is a little bit of prep to this i.e. making the pie crusts, chopping veggies, but nothing too extensive.  The results are well worth it~ is there anything better than nourishing with a comfort food? ;)  Without further ado...

Ingredients:

• Pie Crust from Cheeseslave (this is AMAZING! I use sprouted spelt)
• 1 lb. Free-range organic chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 1/2 cups organic veggies, sliced
• 1/3 cup onion
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour (again, I use spelt)
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 1/2 cups organic Free-range chicken broth
• 1 cup raw whole milk

Directions:

1. Make your pie crusts in advance and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes.  Remove one, roll it out and place it in a pie pan.  Roll out the top crust and set aside.  There is no need to prebake the pie shell.
2. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. In a saucepan, combine chicken, veggies and broth.  Cover and boil for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain~ save the broth, and set aside.
4. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook the onions in butter until they are soft, about 3 minutes.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Slowly stir in the saved chicken broth, and milk.  Simmer over medium heat until thick.  This should take almost exactly 5 minutes.
5. Place the chicken and veggies on bottom pie crust.  Pour the hot broth mixture over the chicken and veggies and cover with top crust, sealing edges.  Cut away excess dough and make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top crust is golden brown.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

 Enjoy!

The post is part of Real Food Wednesday

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Frugal Yet Delicious~ Buttery Breadcrumb Chicken

I love when my meals are a success with my kids.  Our three boys, ages 6, 4 and 3 are pretty good eaters to begin with, but when my middle son says "MMMM! I love it, mom!" after he tries a bite of his dinner, my heart warms up instantly!  As I do my weekly meal planning I rummage through my pantry and make my meals according to what I've got stocked.  Bread, of course, is something I always have on hand as I'm sure most of you do.  A few months ago I was making dinner and in need of my breadcrumbs from Trader Joes but, of course, I was all out.  So I tried to make my own.  Success!  Why in the world have I ever been buying breadcrumbs?!  It's so easy to make them and they taste so much better (as do most homemade food items).  I love using them in my chicken parmesan, but for a frugal and less timely alternative for a breaded baked chicken, try this recipe for Buttery Breadcrumb Chicken:

• 1 lb. Free-range, organic, boneless & skinless chicken breast (about 1 whole breast)
• 1 cup homemade bread crumbs
• 1 TBS celtic grey sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 TBS garlic salt
• 1 pastured egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

For the breadcrumbs, preheat your oven to 500°.  Toast 3 slices of bread to a medium-brown.  Let cool about 5 minutes.  Break up into small pieces in a food processor and pulse until about pea-sized.

Spread breadcrumbs evenly out onto a cookie sheet.  Bake about 4 minutes, stirring once.  Keep a close eye on the breadcrumbs~ they can burn pretty quickly.

After they come out of the oven, put them back into your food processor and pulse again until nice and fine, or desired consistency.  Ta-Da!

For the chicken, lower the oven temp to 375°.  Place eggs and breadcrumbs in two seperate shallow bowls.  Season breadcrumbs with sea salt, garlic salt and pepper.  Dip chicken in eggs, the dredge in the crumbs.  Arrange in an 8x8 baking dish.  Top chicken with cut-up pieces of butter. 

Bake 30-35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear.  I paired this meal with buttered brown-rice pasta and some kiwis and strawberries from our garden.

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet. 

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Real Chicken Parmesan

Being a fairly new Real Food enthusiast I am pleasently surpised when I can continue preparing my staple recipes simply by rotating out the bad ingredients and exchanging them for the healthier, more nourishing alternatives.  Even just substituting my Target-brand diced tomatoes (I know, I know) with an organic variety from Trader Joes gives me thrills =).  This chicken parmesan recipe is modified to incorporate good fats, sprouted grains and organic vegetables.  The taste is modified too~ it has so much more flavor! Enjoy feeding your families this wonderful, Real meal: 

• 4 free-range, organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs)
• 1/2 cup sprouted spelt flour
• 2 pastured eggs
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 cup organic bread crumbs (or make your own!)
• 2 Tbs celtic grey sea salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 4 slices Mozzarella cheese
• freshly grated parmesan
• 6 Tbs olive oil
• 16 oz. cooked organic sprouted grain spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 450°.  Pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thick.  Place the flour in a shallow bowl and season with 1 Tbs salt and 1 tsp pepper; mix together with a fork.  In a wide bowl combine the eggs and water and beat until frothy; lay bowl next to the flour.  Place the bread crumbs on a wide plate, season with remaining salt and pepper and place next to eggs (you should have a little assembly line of ingredients).

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large stainless-steel skillet.  Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in flour, dip in the egg wash to coat completely (letting excess drip off), then dredge in the bread crumbs.  When the oil is hot add the chicken and cook for 4 minutres on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

Ladle marinara sauce over the chicken and top with both cheeses.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.  Serve hot over the spaghetti.

For the marinara sauce:

• 28 oz. organic diced (or stewed) tomatoes 
• 6 oz. organic tomato paste
• 4 Tbl fresh parsley
• 2 tsp fresh oregano
• 1 tsp celtic grey sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 6 Tbl olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely diced organic onion
• 3-4 organic garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine

In a food processor, blend until smooth: tomatoes, paste, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.  Set aside.  In a large, stainless steel skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat; saute the onion and garlic.  Add in the tomato mixture and the wine.  Simmer on low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  This will yield roughly about 3 cups.

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop 

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Simple Things

It really is the simple stuff in life that makes me happy. We got some wonderful fresh organic potatoes in our Abundant Harvest box, so I had to make mashed potatoes and it is just not right to make mashed potatoes without some sort of buttery vegetable. Why not carrots? We got some of those in our box too. It is not often that I am pleased with EVERY ingredient in my meal, and this is no exception... however, it is pretty close. Other than the Costco EVOO, this is a very nourishing meal. Free range, organic chicken, organic produce, pasture butter, raw milk, Celtic Grey Sea Salt... it doesn't get much better! The best part about all of these ingredients though, is the taste. When I started to research organic and whole foods, I assumed that I would be sacrificing flavor or quality. Not so! I have been pleasantly surprised with just how much more delicious foods are when they are in their natural state. We are so used to the SAD diet that we assume that it is optimal, I mean, why on earth would we be eating this way if not?? It is amazing to me that not only is it terrible for you, but it is just terrible in general. I could never go back to the way I was eating 2 years ago! Fresh, organic carrots caramelized in rich pasture butter sprinkled with fine ground Celtic Sea Salt... there is not another taste in this world to compare that to. Very simple, yet VERY satisfying!

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