Wednesday was a cloudy, dark, and gloomy day. Soft, light snow fell followed by heavy, wet snow – perfect day for hot steamy dishes like soup. For lunch I wanted something simple and comforting. On top of the fridge we have a bag of alphabet pasta Jay and I purchased on a whim several months ago and at last I felt inclined to make use of it. In a small pot I put a cup of previously made chicken stock and a cup of water and while it heated on the stove I looked around in the fridge for something else to throw in besides alphabet pasta. I added two small pieces of cassava (yucca), about 2 oz each, 3 oz of skinless, boneless chicken breast, and 2 garlic cloves broken in half. I left the pot cooking on medium heat, thinking that maybe I should have added more water. 20 minutes later the cassava was cooked – it had swelled and absorbed a large amount of water so I added a little more to make it soup-y. The chicken was cooked and the garlic made everything smell like a cozy cottage during a snowstorm. This is when I added the alphabet pasta. 10 minutes later I checked back and what I found was a pot of gooey slop. It was not the soup I had looked forward to but it smelled amazing. I topped it with a bit of sour cream and paprika. Jay, who said it didn’t look very appetizing, tried a bite and then another and another. “Damn, that’s pretty good,” he said. So simple in taste and so easy to make. I will call it Alphabet Cassava Slop.
For dinner, still in the mood for soup, I brought out the Cooking Light magazine my friend gave me and I flipped over to the potato soup recipe featured on the cover. In hindsight I should have realized that potatoes would make for a very thick and heavy soup – turned out to be more like super tasty mashed potatoes. Jay said, “Potato stew.” But I think he was being nice. I’d probably make this again but next time I’ll use less flour and add more stock or milk.
Here is my version of the potato soup recipe, serves 2-3
2 baking potatoes
1/3 whole wheat flour
3 cups 2% milk
2 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
3 bacon slices, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400F. Bake the potatoes for an hour or until tender. Let them cool and peel then coarsely mash them. The magazine says to lightly spoon flour (all purpose flour) into a dry measuring cup and then level it with a knife but I scooped whole wheat flour with the measuring cup so maybe that affected the portion. Who knows. Place the flour in a pot and gradually add the milk and whisk until blended and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes until thick and bubbly. Now, I’m not sure but I think what I did wrong was to heat the flour and milk as I whisked, making the mixture thicker than it should have been so just keep that in mind in case you decide to try this. Next, add the potatoes, a little more than half the cheese, salt and pepper and cook until cheese melts. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and 3/4 of the onions. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes but don’t let it boil. Serve with cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and green onions.
