Potato Leek Soup.......Yeah, it's basic but it's really good on a cold night

So in the 16 years that I've been married one of the many things I have learned is that when the wife says I want something, it's probably in your best interest to satisfy this request.  This fact holds true for the positive and negative in your future endeavors.  It will be remembered if it was done and if it wasn't done.  Your most likely to be in a better position if you do it.

So my dear wife said last weekend, "I would love a bowl of Potato Leek Soup".  So off I went to the market to get my usual groceries for the week and looked for Potato Leek Soup.  I didn't find anything worth buying so I looked on my phone for recipes and they all came back very busy.  How difficult could it be?  really?  it's potato and leeks.  There is the creamy factor but I wanted to stay away from Dairy.  So I bought a 2 lbs. bag of small baby yukon Gold Potatoes, 4 Leeks.  I knew I had crushed garlic at home and got some Chicken Broth.

So home I went.  I cut off the dark green leafy portions of the leeks and cut off the end part.  I split the four leeks in half lengthways and ran them under cold water to get them nice and dirt free.  Then I chopped them up real fine and put them aside.

Then I boiled up those baby potatoes till they were soft.  I'd say about 20 min.

I went downstairs to my fridge and got a very healthy (or unhealthy, depends on how you look at it) spoonful of bacon fat.

May I step away for a moment and make a request of all of you people who enjoy cooking.  The next time you have Salsa that is in a glass jar, clean it and save it.   then when you cook bacon, take the drippings from the pan and pour the in this glass jar and put them in the fridge.  Then use it when you want to add a little kick to your dishes instead of butter or oil.  Trust me.  You'll be happy you have this jar of gold.

Ok, so I got my spoonful of bacon fat and put it into my stock pot and let it quickly melt away.  When it got good and hot, I added my leeks and sautéed them till they were nice and soft.  Then I added the garlic and sautéed them for another minute or so till it was fragrant.

Pretty huh?  and it smelled good too.  So all the veggies were nice and soft.  I added 2 quarts of Chicken broth and brought it to a boil.

When it was good and warm, I added the potatoes and let them get warm in broth.  When all was good and warm I brought out the magic wand.  I love this tool.  I ground up all the potatoes and leeks till it was nice and almost smooth. 

I was looking for a thick soup but without the cream and without the gritty feel.  So I broke out my sieve.  I spooned soup from the pot it was in through the sieve and into another pot.  I made sure I got out as much soup as possible.

What I had below the sieve was a silky smooth soup that actually shimmered a reflection off the top.  Very cool to look at.  But I wanted it thicker.  Now many recipes call for milk, cream, half and half at this time.  But i wanted the creaminess without the cream.  So the soup was filled with starchy goodness from the potatoes so I just simmered it till it reduced to a nice consistency.  remember to keep stirring the pot and scrapping the bottom so that you don't burn the soup.  

When your all done there is so much you can do here.  We chose to just eat it as is.  But you can drizzle olive oil or flavored oil on top.  you can add a protein like shrimp or lobster to it. Put what in it you want to have.  Sky is the limit.  oooh maybe some thick bacon pieces next time.   Yeah, now I'm thinking .

Hope you enjoy yours.

   

Rack of Lamb Recipe.............Oh so easy and oh so good

Ok, so I've decided I've been on Hiatus too long and thought I'd jump back in with a recipe.

I love Rack of Lamb. I love to get it at restaurants but I really love to make it at home.  Problem is that Anita doesn't like Rack of Lamb so I don't get the opportunity to cook it that often.  Well Anita went away for the weekend so I had the opportunity to make a great meal for myself.  It makes me crazy when people say "Oh I don't like to cook for just myself or just for two".

WHY THE HELL NOT!!!!  You know what you like.  you know what you want.  So make it.  I love cooking for a meal with Anita and I and I also love cooking for a crowd.  But I can truly find the pleasure in cooking for one.   Tonight will be starting off with Steamer and a nice Oakey Chardonnay.  Then Rack of Lamb with Grilled Portabellas and Vidallia's accompanied by a lovely Shiraz.  Yes it would be better to share this with someone but I do just fine.

So you want to make Rack of Lamb do ya!!!

Well here is what you need to do.

Prepare your ingredients:

2 Tablespoons of minced Rosemary
1 1/2 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt
4 cloves of Garlic
3/4 cup of Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon of White Balsamic vinegar (regular would be fine here)

in a food processor, put in your rosemary, salt and garlic and process the heck out of it.  try to get it as minced as possible. maybe a minute.

Add Mustard and vinegar and process for 1 to 2 min.

Put your Rack of Lamb in a roasting pan and with the ribs curved down.

cover the entire rack with the Mustard mixture and let it sit at room temp for 1 hour.

Have some wine.  have some steamers, have a beer.  Heck, do the jig if you want.

When your hour is almost up, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Place Rack in the oven for 25 minutes for medium rare.  30 minutes for medium.

After the time has passed, pull the lamb out of the oven and tent it with Aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 min.

then Dive in.

Let me know how you did.

Diet Shmiet, I Gotta Eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Salad, Salad, Salad.  How much roughage can a person eat.

Don't get me wrong, I love salad. Nothing like a crisp refreshing crunch salad for lunch or even for dinner.  How many times have you had a nice seared Tuna over crisp fresh greens with a full bodied soy based sesame dressing and felt so content that it was a good meal. Many times I'm sure.  I know I have.  But every extra that you throw on adds calories.  When your trying to lower your calories, less is obviously more.  

The craziest thing when dieting is the word Salad itself.  You're out to a meal with some friends and everyone is ordering a burger, or a big sandwich and you say, I'm going to have a salad.  "I'm watching myself".  Ah the magic words.  "I'm watching myself, I'll have a salad".   Then you order a cobb salad.  You might be having more calories than your friends with the burger.  But its a salad right?  I see all that lettuce right there.  It's a big bowl of lettuce right?  see it?  It's right under the two whole eggs, mound of chopped bacon and pile of blue cheese.  Looks a little dry, better add that Ranch dressing.

For three months now, my main meal for lunch and dinner has been a salad that consists of just lettuce, tomato and cucumber and a protein.  That protein could be grilled chicken breast, grilled or baked fish, or even a can of Tuna.  Plus a serving of dressing.  Having that for lunch and dinner for months on end can wear on you.  So you gotta change it up a bit.  But I want to really get to my goal so how do I eat sensibly and get filled up on something other than cold salad?  It's all in educating yourself on what to have and what not to have.

I've always loved fish and this recent changing in eating has enabled me to embrace fish again.   I probably eat 5 portions of fish a week minimum.  Mostly over salad.   Now that it's getting cold here in the Northeast, having a warm meal is something I want to have more when I sit down for dinner.

One of my favorite pieces of fish is Cod.  It's mild, flaky, meaty and just plain good.  I like to have full tasting food and nothing is ever too spicy for me.  The key is how to control the fatty lubricant so the meat doesn't stick to the vessel it's cooked on.  Grilling is always great because when anything reaches it's optimal seared exterior, it just flips easily.  But Cod is not good for the grill. So I prefer to bake it. I have discovered that oil, whether it be olive, canola or vegetable, it's still about 125 calories per tablespoon.  That's a lot.  Especially when I'm used to pouring on about 10 tablespoons on anything before I season it.  So I've embraced the spray not stick solution.   PAM.  So here is my recipe for you.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Spray your baking dish with some PAM or any other non stick spray.
Mix up 1 tablespoon of minced garlic with 1 tablespoon or Sriracha sauce.
Squeeze the juice of one lemon onto the piece of fish.  Coat both sides of the fish with the garlic paste.
Bake for about 7-9 minutes until the fish flakes.
When it's done, add another splash of lemon and add with steamed Brussell Sprouts.  ( I just split and steamed them)

Then you have this:

That meal right there was probably 400 calories total.  And it was delicious.  Yes, there is no starch and no bread.  And the spouts serving is rather large.  Personally I love Brussell Sprout so that is no big deal for me.  But it was hot and fulfilling.

It's very easy and you can put a spin on it any way you want with spices.  Experiment and let me know how you like to prepare this dish.

Chicken Feta Burgers............Nice Alternative Burger

Who doesn't love a good burger?  Nothing like a drippy juicy burger to satisfy a good food craving.  I love bacon on mine. but then again, I love bacon on everything.

Last Saturday Anita said our friend Wendy's Sister Lori sent her a recipe for Feta and Herb Grilled Chicken Burgers.  After looking at the recipe I said, this looks like a damn good burger.  Then after eating it I can concur that it was.  So here for you is the recipe.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Feta & Herb Grilled Chicken Burgers

1 lb ground chicken

1 egg lightly beaten

1-½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic

½ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup chopped mixed herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme) I used fresh herbs here but you can use dried.  I think it actually might have called for dried.

¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes not packed in oil. I got these from the olive bar at Stop and Shop

1 Tablespoon Lemon juice

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

salt & pepper

olive oil

4 slices of block feta cheese

4 hamburger buns

½ cup diced or sliced jarred roasted red pepper

1-cup arugula 

Combine first 9 ingredients (ground chicken to salt & pepper) and shape into 4 patties. 

Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of each patty.

Grill for 5-7 minutes per side.  In the last minute of cooking, place one slice of feta on each burger and lightly toast the buns.

To assemble burgers, place patty on bottom bun and top with hummus or tzaziki sauce (sour cream, grated cucumber, lemon juice & oregano), add roasted red pepper and arugula .

Some notes.  you might look at this recipe and say "Oooh Chicken, it's got to be lower calories".  Well I'm thinking with all that Feta Cheese your almost equal to a beef burger.  So if your calorie conscious, you might want to cut down on the feta considerably.  It will be just as tasty.  I know next time will put about a 1/4 of it in the burger and a very small sliver on top.  

I also never made Tsaziki sauce before.  I just winged it and of course added too much dried oregano.  but it was a cool combination with the hot burger.

Again, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.