Simple Food: Spicy Potato Soup

Soup is good food.  I like fancy soups with lots of vegetables, wild rice, maybe a swirl of cream fraiche on top, but sometimes the simplest soups are the most satisfying.  My family has been making this potato soup for years now.  It is great winter comfort food.

This soup has very few spices, so it gets its flavors from beef, onion, potato, and tomato.  If it is cooked too quickly the flavors will not have sufficient time to blend.  A slow simmer on the stovetop for an hour or so will result in the best flavor because the ingredients will blend together nicely.  And it makes for some amazing leftovers.

•1 pound ground beef
•1 onion, chopped
•Salt and pepper, to taste
•1 29 oz can tomato sauce
•4 cups water
•4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
•1 teaspoon- 1 Tablespoon hot sauce of your choice plus more to pass at the table

Brown the ground beef, onion, and salt and pepper in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Drain, if necessary.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Bring up to a slow boil.  Reduce heat.  Simmer over medium low heat for about an hour to an hour and a half, or until potatoes are very tender.  Serve with a green salad and crusty bread, or crackers.

 

Crock Pot Manhattan Clam Chowder

There is nothing like a nice pot of soup on a cold day.  It's especially nice if you come home to a house that smells like someone has been cooking all day.

I love using the crockpot year round because it makes it so easy to have a good meal after a long and hectic day, but I especially love using the crockpot in the winter because hearty, cold weather soups and stews always taste the best when they have been simmered all day long.

A while back Wade and I were at a restaurant and had bowls of New England clam chowder.  I told him about the Manhattan version (my favorite of the two) which is made with a tomato and garlic base, carrots, celery, onion, and smokey bacon.  Yum!  Wade had never heard of this version. and I hadn't eaten any in years, so I knew that we would have to have some this fall or winter.  I adapted my recipe from Emeril.  It cooks up especially nice in the crockpot.  Serve with a loaf of warm crusty bread and butter.

•4-5 strips lean bacon, chopped
•2 medium onions, chopped
•1 teaspoon celery seed (or a few stalks of fresh celery, if you have it)
•1 carrot, peeled and diced
•1 1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
•4 cloves minced garlic
•3 bay leaves
•1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
•2 teaspoons dried thyme
•2 Tablespoons dried parsley
•1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
•2 cups chicken stock
•1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
•2 10 oz cans baby clams in their own juice, undrained
•Salt and pepper, to taste- go light on the salt since the clams are already quite salty

Cook the chopped bacon in a skillet until it is slightly crispy. Drain on paper towels.  Mix the drained bacon pieces and all of the remaining ingredients together in a crockpot.  Cook on low for about 8 hours, until the potatoes are cooked through and the onions are translucent.

Rhubarb Dal

Indian dals, or lentils,  are some of the simplest and most flavorful recipes around, not to mention frugal.  I make lots of dals from the recipes at Quick Indian Cooking when I am eating at home by myself because they come together so fast and they are relatively healthy.  It keeps me away from Taco Bell.  Most of the time...

A while back I commented on another lentil recipe that looks really tasty over at Ma Vie en Food.  Sarah, the author of the blog, also directed me to two other lentil recipes.  Since I have some rhubarb from last summer chopped up in the freezer I thought I'd give this recipe a try.  I don't really know what to do with rhubarb besides dessert sorts of things, and Wade and I are neither one big fans of sweet things.  The tanginess of rhubarb blends unexpectedly well with savory, earthy Indian spices.  I improvised a bit and meshed together a couple of spices and cooking techniques from other dal recipes.  This is very healthy and filling when served over brown rice with a little bit of lemon juice and chutney.

•1 cup dried red lentils
•1/2 teaspoon turmeric
•1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
•1 small onion, diced finely
•2 Tablespoons ginger, minced
•2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
•4 green cardamom pods
•4 whole cloves
•1 Tablespoon ghee, or vegetable oil
•1 teaspoon black pepper
•1 dried red chile
•1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
•1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•Salt, to taste

Place the red lentils, turmeric, rhubarb, onion,  garlic, ginger, cardamom, and cloves in a medium sized saucepan.  Cover with water by about two inches.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Continue cooking until the lentils become tender and begin to disintegrate, adding water as necessary.  Heat the ghee or oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the dried pepper, black pepper, cumin seeds, and cayenne.  Cook, stirring constantly, for about one minute.  The spices should have a pungent smell, but not smell burned.  Remove the dried pepper and stir the mixture into the lentils.  Season with a little salt, if desired.  Serve over rice with some lemon and chutney.