Menu Monday

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup {adapted from Tasty Kitchen}

I found it. The perfect potato soup recipe.  It's a bit indulgent, but  not so much so that I feel guilt with every bite.  I'm hoping to make this one more time before Soup Sundays come to an end with the arrival of spring. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 ½ lbs redskin potatoes

3 slices bacon, diced

2 Tblsp butter

¼ whole onion, chopped

¼ tsp garlic powder

2 Tblsp + 2 tsp all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup 2% milk

½-1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 scallions, sliced

½ cup low-fat sour cream

Preparation Instructions

Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Allow potatoes to cool, then dice into 1-inch chunks with skin on.

In a large stock pot brown the diced bacon over medium heat. Once it’s crispy, remove bacon from the pan and drain off most of the grease.

Add the butter to the brown bits at the bottom of the stock pot. Add onion, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and continue to cook over medium heat until onion is caramelized. Add garlic powder and flour. Stir flour until absorbed by the butter and cooked, about 1-2 minutes.

While stirring, slowly add chicken stock to the flour mixture to prevent lumps. Bring to a simmer then turn heat to low. Add the diced potatoes and milk. Add remaining salt and pepper. Cover pot and continue to cook over low heat.

Add 1/2 of the crumbled bacon, 1 cup of cheddar cheese, 1 of the scallions and sour cream into the pot of soup. Stir well and continue to cook over low heat until heated through and cheese is melted.

Serve soup topped with remaining bacon, cheedar cheese, and scallions.

Leftover Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I used leftovers from the Slow Cooker Green Chile Pork Tacos recipe {hence the random corn kernels} to make these.  I just heated the pork up with some apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, paprika, and smokehouse rub, then put it on sandwich buns with some bottled BBQ sauce and store-bought coleslaw.  It took maybe 10 minutes to make and dirtied all of one dish. Weeknight dining at its finest!

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom White Pizza {Budget Bytes}

My first attempt at homemade pizza dough turned out pretty well.  I'm glad I picked a low-maintenance, hands-off recipe for my first try.  My only complaint is that she claims you can get 3 pizzas out of a batch, where I found it to be more like 2.  I loved this pizza, but it's just not functional for a work night. Caramelized onions are delicious, but I don't have that kind of time.  We didn't eat until almost 9!  Would be a great weekend meal though.

 Belated Valentine's Dinner: Crab Mac and Cheese and Herb-Crusted Rib-Eye {Ina Garten and Giada deLaurentiis}

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday night with a decadent homemade meal.  Overall everything was delicious, but a few notes: I used crab instead of lobster for our mac-and-cheese.  I'm not a fan of Gruyere in mac-and-cheese, so I substituted another melty Swiss cheese, Jarlsberg.  Great texture, but it added zero flavor.  Next time I would use all extra-sharp cheddar.  The crab is so flavorful that it needs a bold cheese to stand along side it.  Also, I halved the mac-and-cheese recipe and we still had 2 full servings leftover.  I didn't make the vinaigrette to go with the steak.  I found it was just a smidge too salty.  I cooked it for 4 minutes on one side and 3 on the other, and found that it was a bit overcooked for my rare - medium-rare tastes.  I would've been better off cooking for 3 minutes on each side.  

Homemade Marshmallows {Martha Stewart and Alton Brown}

We had s'mores for dessert with the homemade marshmallows I made.  I used Martha Stewart's recipe, but referenced Alton Brown's more specific instructions {thanks to McV for the advice!}.  These were SO easy to make and really delicious!  It made a ton and I don't really have a sweet tooth, so I sent the majority of these to work with M to give to his assistants and players. I've been assured they were a big hit.  One more thing to check off my 101 in 1,001!

Bon appétit!