Potato

Roasted White Vegetable Soup

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments

I haven’t been able to find the time to write more than one blog post a week lately, for that I apologize. The biggest reason for this is that I’m about to put my condo up for sale and I’ve been running around taking care of last minute things to get the place showing ready. My real estate gave me a list of things to do, she said there wasn’t that much, yet it seems to be taking all my time. I can’t imagine what having a lot to do would be like.

This weekend I removed all the caulking from my bathtub and redid it. Caulking is not as much fun as it sounds. Removing it is long and tedious work, and applying it is a lot harder than the youtube videos make it seem. Thankfully I had a nice bowl of soup waiting for me when I was done with the silicone-ey mess.

I had seen this recipe on Tartlette a year ago and it stayed in the back of my mind all this time. This weekend’s deep freeze seemed like the perfect setting for it. The soup is thick and creamy, even though there is no cream. Roasting the vegetables gives them a great almost caramelized flavour. It was a wonderfully soothing meal.

I also made the polenta croutons she recommends from Lisa’s Kitchen. I generally don’t like polenta, but a corn flavoured crunch really appealed to me. I followed the recipe and used cayenne, but I think these would also be great with rosemary or thyme. The croutons lost their crunchiness after a day, so if you make them, eat them all fast!

Roasted White Vegetable Soup

  • 1 Cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 celery root, peeled and cut into pieces
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • 1 L low sodium vegetable stock
  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Place the vegetables, onion and garlic on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 40 minutes.
  3. Transfer roasted vegetables to a large soup pot. Cover with stock. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes.
  4. Using an immersion blender puree soup, or allow to cool and pour into a regular blender to puree (may have to be done in batches)
  5. Serve with polenta croutons.

Enjoy!

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A Messy Potato Gratin & A Blog Award!

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments

My first thought when I pulled this dish out of the oven was that there is no way I can post it. It looks burnt, and it’s a huge mess. But then I tasted it, and it was delicious. The deliciousness pushed me to post it. I figured I could share my mistakes with world so that they are not repeated.

I was inspired by all the bloggers who made potato gratin for French Fridays With Dorie to make one myself. I don’t have the book (yet) so instead I used a recipe I already had. Potato gratin is very easy in theory. Slice potatoes, pour cream over them, top with cheese, bake. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Milk and cream bubble when heated, so don’t fill the baking dish up to the top (unless you like scrubbing burnt cream out of your oven). Another option is to place a baking sheet that won’t warp under the baking dish to catch any overflow. Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible so that they cook evenly, no one likes a raw potato. Also, the cheese can be put on the gratin midway through the baking so that you don’t end up with a burnt looking gratin like mine.

Next up, an award!

When I started this blog I had no expectation that anyone would read it. It was something I decided to do for myself. Through it I have discovered some wonderful blogs and people and I happy (and shocked) to say that one of those people has been kind enough to give me a blog award. Patty of Patty’s Food has passed on the One Lovely Blog Award to me, and I am very honoured.

There are a few bloggers out there whose posts just make me happy when I read them. They are funny and kind and amazing cooks. I hope you take some time to check them out if you don’t already know them.

Janice of Kitchen Heals Soul

Roxan of Kitchen Meditation

Heather of Pretty Peas

Azmina of Lawyer Love Lunch

Sarah of Baking Serendipity

 

Potato Gratin

  • 2 lbs potatoes, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • one pinch dried rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • cheese, grated to cover
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  2. In a large saucepan, cook potato slices, cream, milk, garlic and seasonings until the milk starts to boil. Stir very gently so that the potato slices don’t break.
  3. Discard the garlic cloves and pour potato and cream mixture into a baking dish.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, then cover with cheese and bake for 20 more minutes.
  5. Let cool (the gratin will still look liquidy when first pulled out of the oven, but will set as it cools.

Enjoy!