potato leek soup

Some days are better than others. I came to this conclusion recently when, around 4pm, I realized that the day I was currently in was not so great and had little chance of being salvaged. And yet I also realized that I can't have great days (days of bright sparkling fireworks of beauty, love, grace and butter) without crummy days thrown in along the way. Some how this knowledge helps me release the crummy days a bit more easily.
I also thought of this poem by Longfellow:

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the moldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark and dreary; 

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the moldering past, 

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast

And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life a little rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

For me, potatoes are my comfort food. Mashed, roasted, baked, fried- I will take it all. This soup is simple to put together and the reward for minimal effort is velvety smooth and savory. Interestingly enough, unlike so many potato soups, there is no cream. I promise you will not miss it.

Note: aside from being great comfort food, this is also great party food. We had a Halloween party one year and I served little tea cups of this soup on the buffet. I loved the moment when I turned to see a couple of gentlemen guests carrying tea cups back into the kitchen for refills (several times.)

The recipe is from The Joy of Cooking.

potato leek soup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large leeks (white part only), cleaned thoroughly and chopped
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
5 cups chicken stock

1) Melt the butter in a soup pot over low heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring, until tender but not browned. This will take about 20 minutes.

2) Stir in the potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

3) Puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (If feeling fancy, garnish with chives.)

curry chicken and potatoes

I love when I taste something for the first time and it feels like coming home: warm, inviting, comforting. That is how I feel about this curry.

I have no childhood memories of eating curry. My parents did a wonderful job of introducing my sisters and I to new foods but I do not believe that any type of curry was ever among them.
The summer I was 17, I spent three weeks in India. I was with other kids from all over the states on a short-term missions trip. I was this skinny, wide eyed kid from Alaska. I woke up the first morning saying over and over to myself, "I am in India, I am in India, I am in India." It was amazing.
I always remember my dinner the first night- my brain was still buzzing from the airplanes and the cacophony of sights and sounds during the drive from the airport to where we stayed. At dinner time, we sat down at tables in a dimly lit hall and were served curry potatoes and chipatis. I rolled the potatoes up in the chipati and ate it like a burrito. It was mildly spiced and the potatoes were a soft golden yellow. I felt it filling me up, nourishing me in a new way. For months when I returned back to the states, I dreamed of those curry potatoes.

I did initially made this dish in an attempt to capture some of that early curry love but ended up falling for it for it's own virtues: tender chicken and potatoes soaked through with aromatic broth.

 I have learned that curry powder is really just a mixture of other spices. This original recipe is from the cookbook "The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes" by Judith Finlayson. It does not call for any curry powder, just a blend of spices. However I, very uncharacteristically, did not read the full recipe beforehand. It was only when I started cooking that I realized it called for caradmom pods and not ground cardamom, cumin seeds and not ground cumin. I added what I had of ground spice and in an attempt to salvage the dish, added a few tablespoons of curry powder. It was such a relief when it turned out so well! I love happy mistakes. Below is my adaptation of the recipe and I really love it.

A note about crockpots: This recipe helped usher in a new era of successful crockpot cooking in my household. I say successful because early on in our marriage I had made several valiant attempts at various crockpot dishes but it all ended in such disaster that I gave it up for a few years. It was only after dinner at a friends home, with a delicious roast they made in the crockpot, that I felt sufficiently inspired to give it another try. It really is pretty fantastic at the end of a day to walk into my home and smell a completed dinner.

curry chicken and potatoes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (this can be a whole cut up chicken, but I think it's best with bone-in, skin-on chicken breast)
6 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs- red potatoes work well)
3 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced gingerroot
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon curry powder 
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 bay leaf
3 cups chicken stock

1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened.

2) Add garlic, gingerroot, coriander, tumeric, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, salt and black pepper, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add lemon juice, bay leaf and 2 cups of chicken stock. Reduce heat to low.

3) While the sauce is on low, scrub and peel potatoes. Cut each potato into half length-wise and then each half into thirds. Place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the crockpot and place chicken pieces on top of the potatoes. (You may certainly add more potatoes- it's a great way to stretch this dish for a crowd or for greedy potato eaters.)

4) Pour sauce over chicken, cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until juices run clear when pierced with a fork.

5) Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the pieces from the crockpot and discard the skin and bones. Also, discard the bay leaf. Shred the chicken and add it back to the crockpot, submerging it in the sauce and potatoes. Enjoy!

beer bread

Is there anything better than fresh baked bread? Some of my favorite childhood memories are of opening the front door and smelling yeast, flour, honey. Watching my mom pound down dough and then setting it above the wood fireplace for its second rising. Straight from the oven and slathered in butter, it was heaven.

A few years ago I went through a short lived phase where I was baking all our bread. It was a high caloric dream indulgence of fresh baked slices with butter and jam at night and then piles of french toast every other day (we could not waste any bread!). Oh, and BLTs, lots of BLTs- anything to let the bread shine. It was wonderful but very time consuming.

Now when I want fresh bread from the oven, I make this: beer bread. It is laughably easy but so satisfying: just a quick whisk of dry ingredients then fold in the beer and it is ready to bake. The beer helps serve as the leavening agent for the bread. It is dense and full of nuttiness from the oats and hops from the beer.

I love to have this with soup- it is easily mixed together and while the soup simmers, the bread bakes and is ready to eat for a simple super. I also think it is too perfect for breakfast. I have a real crush on this bread.

It is lovely from the oven and but also very good toasted the next day. I do confess, that by the third day, it is done. But that is okay because there are rarely any leftovers that remain that long. This recipe is from The Joy of Cooking.

Beer Bread

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups light or dark beer (but not stout), cold or at room temperature but not flat

1) Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.

2) Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl all the dry ingredients

3) Add the beer. Fold just until the dry ingredients are moistened. (please be careful to not over mix). Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center and all the way to the bottom of the pan comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.