Homemade Potato Soup

What's not to love about potato soup?  It's creamy, luscious, inexpensive, and filling!  I recently discovered Pioneer Woman's version, and I had to try it.  She cooks the potatoes in with the broth - GROUND BREAKING.  I made a couple of changes to lighten it up a bit.  Looks pretty tasty though right?  It's so easy to do!

Here's what you'll need... this will make about 4 servings.

- 3 yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced (no need to peel. heh heh)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon of cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- approximately 1 cup of milk (i used 1 percent and it turned out fine)

I think that's it!

So first, you will want to chop up the onions, carrots and celery to roughly the same size, like this!

Also dice the potatoes into chunks that are roughly the same size, so they cook up evenly.

I'd recommend getting all the chopping done right away, once we start throwing things into the pot it goes really quickly!

So first, warm a large pot (I used my favorite dutch oven) to medium high heat.  Add in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then throw in the carrots, celery and onions. Let that cook for about 2 minutes, then add in the potatoes.

Let that cook for about another 5 minutes.  At this time, I added the cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.  Looking back I think it may have been interesting with some dried mustard, so I'll probably add a dash of that next time.  Also be careful with the salt, if you are using full sodium chicken broth it won't need much.  Just add a bit, and you can also add to it later.

Please excuse my phone photos!  I should just instagram everything to get that perfect contrast and filter.  (Side note/confession time: I am instagram obsessed).

Give that a quick stir and add in the 4 cups of chicken broth!

Beauty.  Bring that to a boil, and let it carry on for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes start to get tender.

In the meantime, mix together 1/2 cup of milk and the flour in a separate bowl or measuring cup.

After the soup's been boiling for about 10 minutes, add in the flour/milk mixture and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

OK!  At this point I defer a bit from PW's recipe.  You'll want to blend this to get it to the right texture.  For me, I blend the crap out of it until I get more of a puree texture.  If you want to leave some chunks of potato, just blend 2/3 of it.  I've been utilizing an immersion blender to make this easier, it's my new favorite toy in the kitchen.

Also, important note.  If you're using a regular blender, make sure to let it cool off a bit and only fill the blender up half way at a time.  The mixture will expand when it's blended ... and this is how blender splatter disasters happen.

Once it's all blended, add in the parsley and remaining milk.  I added in a little bit of water too because it was a little thick for my preference, but up to you entirely.  I also thought it could use some sweetness, so I added in about 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.  I'm an addict, I know.

YUM!!  Feel free to add some cheese, scallions, or bacon to the top to garnish.  I just added some cheese because I'm lazy.

Settle in with a good book, and you pretty much have the perfect Sunday meal.

Worst thing I've ever eaten.

Just kidding!

Enjoy,

Courtzilla

Fluffity Stuffity Potatoes

Ever had twice baked potatoes?

No?

Then I would argue you haven't lived. These things are potatoes made from little fluffy pieces of heaven. They are argueably not healthy for you...they are also arguably some of the best potatoes ever. Read on if your waistline can handle it. If not, wait about half an hour and I'll post my summer vegetable salad recipe!

You'll need:
- 5 - 10 yellow potatoes. Not the huge ones, the mid-sized ones. Make however many you need/want for lunch the next day.
- a smidge of cream cheese
- couple spoonfuls of sour cream
- a sprinkle of cheese (I think I used Monterrey Jack cheese, but you can use cheddar or whatever you've got)
- couple tablespoons of chopped chives
- garlic
- bacon bits? peas and carrots? onions? peppers? Let's be honest... this is a good way to use up your veggies.
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Ok! First, you want to preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, rinse and scrub your potatoes. Throw them on a baking sheet, and drizzle some olive oil on them. You can also add some salt and pepper right now.



Let them bake along all honky dory in the oven for about 45 minutes.


Toasty.

Now, once they've cooled a bit you want to scoop out their souls, so they become shells of their former selves. Like this!


Now, you definitely don't want the souls to go to waste... so mash them up with the cream cheese, cheese, sour cream, garlic, and chives! Plus... any of the extras like bacon bits etc.




Doesn't THAT look appetizing.

Now, take scoops of the stuff, and load them into the potato boats you made earlier.


Now, you just want to stick them back in the oven for about 15 ish minutes!


VOILA!!


Delicious.


My roommate Rob is as happy as a clam. What a lucky guy.

Next up! The corn salad you see pictured.

Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla

Drunk Potato Wedges

So, last night I had a random Courtzilla Cooks moment at a friends place at around 2am. What we had - potatoes. What we wanted - drunk food. Solution?

Drunk Potato Wedges.

Recipe... ehhh.... photos of me making it... ehhh... these important things become irrelevant at that hour. But here's a basic break down of what I did.

- Washed potatoes.
- Preheat oven to 425
- Cut potatoes into wedges.
- Drizzle wedges with olive oil.
- Sprinkle on seasonings... in this case, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of cayenne.
- Put in oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until browned.

Make sure you toss it up once about 20 minutes into baking so they don't stick to your pan.

Then, you end up with this!





My friend Ian, enjoying his drunk wedges. Note - the disaster of a kitchen and the naked lady cup he's holding. NSFW kids.



You also end up with a fantastic invention.... we called it, "Ranch-up". Or maybe it was "Ketchanch". I can't say I clearly recall.



Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla

The BEST mashed potatoes ever.

These, ladies and gents, are so good. SO DELICIOUS. My roommate makes boxed mashed potatoes, and I cringe in horror every time I see it out of the pantry. Why? Why bother making mashed potatoes if they aren't THESE mashed potatoes? Isn't it like eating cardboard? Ugh, I am shuddering as I type this. UGH.

You will need: (this is for the full recipe, I only made about 1/3...one person and all)
- 5lb russet or yukon taters
- 1 stick of salted butter (I only had unsalted, but you can always add salt later)
- 1 8oz package of cream cheese
- salt, pepper
- 1/2 cup milk or cream
- whatever seasonings you like

Yup that's it. It's the cream cheese that's key, it makes the taters so creamy. They turn out perfect every time.

To start, peel the potatoes, and rinse them off in cool water.


Once they're peeled and rinsed, chop them up into smaller pieces. This just makes them boil a bit faster, and more evenly.


Find a pot and dump the taters in it. Pour water in so it just covers the taters. Throw the pot on the stove top, and bring to a boil.


You'll want to boil these for about a half hour, or until they are fork tender... aka, you can stick a fork in them with no resistance. They shouldn't be falling apart, but you want them done enough so you can mash them with minimal lumpage. Ha, lumpage. That's a fun word.

Alrighty, once that's taken care of, drain the taters and put them back in the pot. The best way to mash them is to put them back on the stove, and turn the heat on to low. This will get rid of any lingering water. Mash them up with a handy dandy potato masher. I love my potato masher! I've done this with a fork before, but man, so much easier with a masher.


My hand looks like an alien. Moving on. You'll want to keep mashing till it gets to about this consistency.


Once you've reached this stage, you can go ahead and turn the stove off. Now you'll be needing all of these fixin's.

I added paprika for some additional seasoning, but you could easily use cayenne or something to give it a bit of a kick. Or onion soup mix. Or garlic powder. Or if you're reallll fancy you can add some roasted garlic. Go ahead and add all the ingredients all at once. Oh man. Oh bejesus. Check out the creamy that is this photo.


I added a bit of milk to thin it out a tad. You definitely want to taste it. I needed to add way more salt since I only had unsalted butter. I then smoothed it out in a baking dish.


Now at this point you can cover it and use it for later, which is awesome. If you want to do that, just put some butter on top and bake it at 350 for about 20 minutes! It's great if you're having people over and won't have time to cook everything all at once.

Now this is good to go from here. Unless you're Courtzilla, and have a pension for meddling. I went ahead and whipped up this really fancy gravy to spoon over it.


Now I won't list the recipe here, it's farrrr to difficult for most home cooks. Only the truly gourmet would even attempt to make it.



Oh dear, how did that photo get in here?

No matter.



This was so good.

Serve them with mini meatloaf meatballs! Maybe I'll make those tomorrow. It's either that or penne alla vodka. Anyone have a preference? Leave a comment.

Enjoy.

<3 Courtzilla

(Who is, yes, staying in, eating mashed potatoes, writing a blog post, and watching Pride and Prejudice on a Saturday night. It's like I just got dumped or something.)