Bring on the soups

Now that its been getting colder, I am trying to make some soups for dinner. I like them occasionally, but when I mention making one, hubby tells me it's too hot! (usually in the summer when I want soup, so I guess he's right, but shhhh :)  )

This soup was really good.  You can make it healthier if you want but since it's all we were eating, I didn't mind as much.

What you need (I also used 2 dl of Halbrahm, but forgot to include it in the photo)

2 dl Halbrahm
1 container sauer halbrahm
Cheddar cheese
50-75g butter
2.5 cups milk
green onions
8 pieces of bacon
6 medium potatoes
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper as desired

Bake your potatoes and then peel and cut them into the size chunk you want in your soup. (You could always puree them as well if you just want a thick soup, but I like the chunks)

Cook the bacon and pat it with a paper towel.  Crumble and set aside

Shred the cheese - about 1/2 a cup to mix in and another 1/4 cup for the topping

Slice the green onions as well. Mine are in a bag since I had already sliced some for another dish.

In a large saucepan/pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour slowly with a whisk.  If your heat is too high, you'll burn the flour and have to start again.  When creamy, add the halbrahm and milk slowly, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil.

Lower the temperature to medium, add the bacon, 1/2 of the sour cream, onions, bacon, cheese and salt/pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring every other minute.  It will thicken.

Put in a bowl and then top with some sour cream, cheese, bacon and onions if you have any remaining. Enjoy.

  

Great tortillas

I've been put on a budget. Hardest. Thing. Ever.  It's the end of the month. With having had visitors most of the month, I am counting the days till the first (C'mon..hurry up!) Anyway...I wanted to make tacos, but Taco Shells and Tortillas both are way more expensive than I would like (have everything else).  Flash back to one day this summer when Coop was having a sale....

Coop website: Flour...4 1kg packages for 2 chf
me: I use flour
website: Thank you ...we will deliver tomorrow
me: WTF...what am I going to do with 8 bags of flour.... never shop online at 3am while you're feeding the baby..

Normally this wouldn't be a problem.  However living here is severely taxing my organizational skills and it's more of a Jenga game with a lot of things (working on it though!)

So today, my oldest son helped me make tortillas.  It was lots of fun. (He slept through the hard part so probably had more fun than me).  It was nice.  I remember long ago to when I was little and I would help my mom make tortillas.  They were wonderful! (This was back when she fried them afterwards...drool.....She's stopped now - which is good and sad at the same time).  I remember waiting for those tortillas to come off the stove and hoping they wouldn't be nice and round.  Those odd square shaped ones had to be eaten right away.  And if they were all round, well then, mom would give us one to try to make sure they were ok :-)  I miss living near my mom, but the visits we share are all the more special now that we don't get to spend a lot of time together.  And having my own kids and baking what my mom and I used to make is great as well!

What you need: (makes about 18 tortillas)

4 cups of flour
1 heaping tsp of salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 even Tbsp shortening (I used butter)
1 1/4 cups very warm water

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder.  Add the shortening/butter and mix well. Make a hole for the water and then add it as well. Not sure if you can see it very well - but push the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl.

Knead (I use my hands) for a couple minutes until a soft dough forms and everything is mixed together well.  Let stand for 20 minutes. Cover with a towel.  Form as many balls as you would like tortillas.  I usually start out with 15-20 and then slowly add bits to other dough balls as I get on since I don't like rolling them out. I end up with 12-15

When rolling, try to make a circle...unless you need an excuse to try one to make sure they're ok for other people (they're wonderful right off the stove with a little butter on top).  Next, it's kind of like making pancakes.  When the tortilla begins to bubble, it's time to flip it (cast-iron skillets are great for this, but I used my 7 chf Ikea pan - dry)

I usually will roll a tortilla when I put the first one in, and when I'm done rolling I flip it - seems to be about the right time.

If you leave the tortilla in longer, the brown spots get bigger. Don't worry about it - they all taste great!





Here is my finished stack...now to see if they will last to taco night!