Soups On

OH NO! It's still January

and the temps aren't rising much

so lift your spirits with a warm bowl of  Mexican Potato Soup.

Cook's Notes:  This is a one pot meal! It's a flavorful comfort food in a bowl-perfect for chilly days. An immersion blender is a great kitchen tool for this soup, otherwise use a blender. Taste test before you increase the seasonings. Pepper Jack cheese adds a nice little kick to the flavor. The recipe was adapted from cuisineathome.com October 2016 and serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 TB. butter
• 1 cup sweet onions,diced
• 3/4 cup each celery and a combination of mini yellow and red sweet peppers
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp. Mexican oregano or regular oregano
• 1/2-1 tsp. each cumin and ground coriander    
• optional 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 TB. flour, divided
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 5 cups red or Yukon potatoes, diced small cubes
• 4 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese
• 1 cup half and half 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Melt butter in soup pot over medium heat until foamy.
• Add in onions, celery, peppers, garlic, and spices.
• Saute for 3 minutes, then cover, lower heat and sweat veggies for 8 minutes until tender.
• Stir in 2 TB. flour and cook 1 minute more.
• Stir in potatoes and broth;bring to a boil, lower heat and cook until potatoes are fork tender about 15 minutes. 
• Use an immersion blender or regular blender to mix but leave some potato chunks. Pour soup mixture back into pot. 
• Mix shredded pepper Jack cheese with 1 TB. flour. Add to soup with half and half and  cook on low heat 5 minutes. Do not let mixture boil. 
• Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with a dollop of pico de gallo or croutons.     
  

Keeping Kitchen Staples Longer

Spices

Shelf life whole spices two years, ground spices and dried herbs one year

Olive Oil

Unopened one year, opened three months

Butter

Butter can pick up flavors, and turn rancid if kept in refrigerator longer than a month. Store butter in the freezer up to 4 months in a zip loc bag

Eggs

Avoid putting eggs in the egg tray on the refrigerator door which is too warm. Keep them in a carton which holds the moisture and protects against odor absorption

Pasteurized Soy Sauce (the most common type) shelf life one year and store in pantry

Sweetners

Granulated sugar, honey and molasses long lasting

Keep molasses and honey in pantry and opened maple syrup in the refrigerator

Store granulated sugar in airtight container 

Leaveners

Shelf life baking powder and baking soda 6 months 

Instant or active yeast 4 months in the freezer

Flour

All purpose flour shelf life one year stored in an airtight container

Whole wheat flour and cornmeal don't leave in pantry as they can go rancid in as little as 3 months since they contain natural oils. Enclose each in ziploc bags and store them in the freezer. 

Chocolate

Unsweetened and dark chocolate shelf life two years

Milk and white chocolate-6 months

Don't store in refrigerator or freezer as cocoa butter absorbs off flavors from other foods and changes its crystal structure 

Vanilla 

Shelf life long lasting

Keep in a tightly sealed container away from light and heat

Shelf Tidbits from Cooksillustrated.com