Do the Mashed Potato... Soup - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday XVI

 I made this soup while at my sister's last month.  It was my attempt to use up the leftovers in her fridge.  I had made chicken pie, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli for dinner the night before.  The potatoes and broccoli were items I thought my sister could eat after her jaw surgery.  Unfortunately, she was having swallowing problems that night, so she went with a smoothie instead.  As a result, we had a lot of potatoes and broccoli left over.  I just can't stand to let food go to waste, thus the Mashed Potato Soup.  It turned out quite well, and my sister was able to eat it.  Bonus.  She liked it too.  Double bonus, particularly since the leftovers made a lot of soup!

This Week's Soft Moist Selection

Mashed Potato Soup

(There are no measurements for this one, as I don't know how many leftover mashed potatoes you have.  I just went with what looked right when I made mine.  At the time, I thought I was making something truly original.  I felt like the queen of the kitchen. Since then I've discovered several recipes for mashed potato soup on the webbernet.  If you need measurements, go have a look at one of them.  Otherwise, wing it, and imagine you're the queen of your kitchen.)


Butter or oil
Chopped onion
Minced garlic
Leftover mashed potatoes
Leftover steamed broccoli
Broth
Salt and pepper Your favorite cheese (gouda or cheddar work well.)

• Heat butter/oil in your soup pot.
• Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
• Add mashed potatoes, broccoli, salt and pepper.  Add enough broth to cover the veggies.   Simmer for a while.
• Blend with immersion blender until smooth.
• Add cheese and heat.

Lovely Local Lemons and Kiwis

Take a close look at the upper left corner of the photo.  See that?  There's snow in the mountains.  About 190cm of snow.  That's not unusual.  It is December after all.

Now take a look at the fruit in the foreground.  Those lemons and kiwis all came from within 50km of that snow.  I kid you not.  Both are Island grown - Vancouver Island that is.  I purchased the lemons earlier in the week at Brambles.  These luscious yellow beauties are from a grower in Deep Bay and were picked by Brambles' owner and her kids last weekend.  

The kiwis are from the Black Creek garden of one of hubby's co-workers. Once they're ripe enough, we'll cut them in half and eat them with a spoon. (The kiwis, not the co-workers.) Mmmmm.  Breakfast.  The lemons, on the other hand, require a bit more preparation.  Though they are delicate-skinned with a sweet perfume, they're still lemons.  After much deliberation, I decided the best way to serve them would be with brandy.

Local Lemon Hot Toddy

Serves 1

1/2 lovely local lemon
1 1/2 ounces brandy (rum is good too)
2 generous tsp local honey
3/4 cup hot water

• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a mug.  Once you've picked out the pips, toss the spent lemon into the mug too.
• Stir in honey and brandy.
• Top up with hot water.
• Enjoy.

If I had been thinking ahead, I would have picked up a bottle of Phrog Gin and made this a totally local beverage.  Maybe next year.  Unfortunately it will be that long before the lemons are available again, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

 


 

Just Call Me Jethro

I had my first experience with local food here in North Carolina last night.  There was a possum in the back yard.  I understand they're good eating.  Of course, I could be wrong.  I believe I got that bit of information from reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies.  Doesn't really matter. I'm pretty sure that even if I managed to catch the little guy, I wouldn't have been able to prepare him in a way that my sister could eat.  Her jaw surgery went well, but she's still surviving on liquids until she's all healed up.

Though I was able to find possum recipes and instructions for catching and cleaning possums online, I wasn't able to find anything about possum smoothies.  Thank goodness.  I left the little fella to wander along the fence and enjoy the moonlit night.  

(What would be the correct word for preparing a dead possum for cooking?  Cleaning? Skinning? Butchering?  Whatever it is, that last link is my favourite.  Note that it's even a website from North Carolina!)

Greeting From North Carolina

Some of you will have noticed that I've been rather quiet recently.  I'm currently in North Carolina with my sister, her kids and her cats.  (Hubby is home with our cat.)  I thought I'd have the opportunity to write while I'm here.  Obviously I was deluding myself.  More when I get home.  Thanks for stopping by.

I Got Nothin' - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday XIII

My sister is having surgery this week. It should help to improve the problems with her jaw.  If all goes well, she may no longer need my soft, moist selections.  I feel I should have an amazing recipe to celebrate that possibility, but I've got nothing.  Surprising, considering our meals this week: turkey stew, borsht, sweet potato and yam soup, chili...all soft and moist, but other than the soup, none that she could easily prepare on her own.  These meals all have great potential for adapting, should they be needed.  I guess you'll know how things went if you find me back here next week. 

From Pumpkin To Pie In Twelve Easy Steps

First, find a friend who is willing to let you work for vegetables, and is willing to let you share the harvest even when there are only two pumpkins.

Admire the fruits of you labour.

Butcher with care. Preferably outside, as you don't want to get guts all over the kitchen.

Mind your fingers!

Plan on saving the seeds.

Wonder at absence of seeds and the presence of strange, unidentifiable globs. Did this one grow too close to the power lines?

Salvage the few seeds you find, and hope for better luck next year.

Cut the pumpkins into chunks and head to the kitchen.

Add some water to the bottom of the roasting pan, cover (in this case with foil, as the lid would no longer fit on the pan) and bake until the flesh is soft.

Scoop the flesh from the pumpkin pieces and puree, first with a mixer, then with an immersion blender. (The contents of the bowl represent less than half of the puree we got from those two pumpkins. L kept the contents of the other bowl. This was mine.)

Transfer pureed pumpkin to containers and freeze. Don't attempt to can your pureed pumpkin. Apparently home-canned pumpkin is an excellent way to promote botulism. Remember to reserve one container for your pie. (These jars contain the puree from the bowl in the picture above. The jar on the right is homemade cranberry sauce from L at Sleeping Cougar. Yum!)

Homemade pumpkin puree is much more watery than it's store-bought counterparts. Use less liquid in your pie recipe, or consider draining your pumpkin before preparing the filling.

(I used less liquid, and I still had to let the cooked pie dry in the oven on a low temperature. It gave us time to digest the wonderful turkey dinner hubby prepared.)

Enjoy your pie!

Using Up Leftovers - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday XII

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in the Great White North.  To celebrate, Hubby spent all day yesterday cooking a turkey.   I know, tomorrow is actually Thanksgiving Day, but his cooking yesterday means that there are enough leftovers to see us through the rest of the weekend.  You can read that as "no more cooking for the rest of the weekend".  Sounds good to me. 

Because I'm still in the clutches of a turkey-filled stupor, I'm going to keep today's post brief.  This week's Soft, Moist Selection was inspired by leftovers.  An appropriate choice considering what's currently in our fridge.  Before you click away from the page, let me assure you that there's no turkey in today's recipe.  I'm not going to subject you to a turkey smoothie.  At least not yet.



This Week's Soft, Moist Selection

Lovely Leftovers Smoothie

(There was green tea left in the pot and a half a can of coconut milk in the fridge.  They came together with a banana and some chard in this smoothie.  I love it when nothing goes to waste.)

Makes 3 1/2 cups


1/2 cup green tea 
1/2 can coconut milk (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 - 2 cups water
1 large leaf of Swiss chard (about 1 1/2 cups) stem removed, torn into pieces 
1 banana
honey - to taste
pinch of nutmeg

- Blend tea, coconut milk and chard
- Add banana, water, honey and nutmeg and blend