Tag - potatoes

Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

Sometimes you just want some soup. Simple, fresh, soup. Today was one of those days. I was even able to use kale from our garden! I had to supplement it with some from the farmers’ market but they were both very good. I would highly recommend this soup for anyone who wants their house to smell magical. Now if only I could turn this soup into a candle.

Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup
2 10 oz packages of organic spicy chicken sausage
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 large bunches of kale, stemmed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 medium sized red potatoes, halved and sliced
2 cartons chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Chop up the chicken sausage (first remove casings if necessary). Place a dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook the sausage until fully browned. Remove it and set aside.

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2. Do not worry about the brown bits at the bottom, just add the butter and oil and scrape with the back of your spoon. Add the onions and garlic and continue scraping. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until translucent.

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3. Rinse and chop the kale and then place into the dutch oven. Stir until all of the kale begins to cook and wilt. Add the nutmeg and cook down for another few minutes until the kale is bright green.

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4. Rinse and cut the potatoes then add them, with the spinach to the pot.

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5. Stir the ingredients together and then add the chicken broth. Cook until it begins to boil then bring it down to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender then add the cream.

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6. Serve! But not to your landlord’s dog. He’ll get a rumbly tummy if you do.

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First Spring Grill

This first grilled meal was supposed to have our garden’s kale in the picture, but unfortunately I lost track of time/the heat of the grill and they charred to oblivion (Jason still ate them?!). The recipe is simple though, just mix the kale leaves with a dash of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic and cook on the top rack of the grill for a few minutes until wilted and the edges are crisp. It’s super simple and absolutely delicious, should you not completely burn them 🙂 The meal was great regardless of greens, however!

Grilled Chicken with Lemon
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 tablespoons garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
8 boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
2 lemons, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Salt and pepper

1. Whisk together lemon juice, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl and add oil in a slow stream, whisking.
2. Discard excess fat from chicken and season with salt and pepper then place in large baking dish.
3. Pour marinade over chicken and let sit in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
4. Heat grill on medium flame and let it warm up to around 350 degrees.
5. Cook chicken for 15 minutes on one side, then place lemon slices on the grill for a couple of minutes. Flip the chicken to cook on the other side and place lemon slices on top of the chicken for the remaining 10 minutes of cooking.

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Grilled Rosemary Potatoes
6 medium sized red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium white onion, quartered
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pot, place potatoes in cold water and heat until boiled. Potatoes should cook approximately 7 minutes until beginning to become tender.
2. In a small bowl, mix onions, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Put onions into grill basket and cook until softened.
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3. Add potatoes to a bowl and mix with remaining olive oil and spices. Place into grill basket with semi-cooked onions. Heat for 35 minutes until potatoes are fully cooked and browned, tossing a few times in between.

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Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob
1. Peel back husks on each ear of corn, and remove silks. Place husks back over corn. Cover the corn in cold, salted water, for approximately 10 minutes.

2. Put corn on top rack of grill and heat for 25 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.

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Note: The chicken is quite crowded in this last picture. I removed the potatoes soon after and spaced it out a bit more once I flipped them over. I also removed the corn in order to cook (and destroy) the kale. I kept the corn and potatoes in a oven set to 170 degrees to keep warm until everything else finished cooking.

Potato Hashbrowns

It still takes me a little bit of time to remember all of the awesome kitchen tools we received from the bridal shower and wedding. The food processor is one of those tools that I know I could be using more frequently, but just need to get used to. For example, this morning while I was preparing breakfast I started shredding potatoes by hand. I got about a quarter of the way through one when I thought, “the shredding attachment!” This recipe is much easier if you use one but if you have to do it by hand, it will be worth it too.

Potato Hashbrowns
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 russet potatoes, shredded
1 small yellow onion, shredded
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1. Shred potatoes and onions, keeping separated.
DSC_0618 2. Heat one tablespoon of oil in skillet. Place half of potatoes in cast iron skillet, evenly distributing (NOTE: This is the de-rusted and re-seasoned pan from this post). Place half of onions on top of potatoes. Be careful not to overcrowd the skillet. If you have a larger skillet and can use full portion of the recipe at once, you may do so.
DSC_0626 3. Let the potatoes crisp on one side then flip them over to allow the other side to cook and crisp. Sprinkle half of seasonings on and mix the potatoes. When the first batch has finished, remove them from the pan and keep warm while you repeat for the second batch.
4. When finished cooking, serve with eggs and chorizo (or sausage, bacon, and/or toast.)

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