Potato Soup, second draft

I really thought I had it, but upon eating a bowl of it I had to demote it to second draft <sigh>. I think I know now (sure) how to improve it. I'll try again a few weeks from now.

In the meantime:

Ingredients:

5-6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
4-6 mushrooms, thinly sliced
4-6 strips turkey bacon, cut in small pieces
1/2 onion, sliced or chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 liters chicken broth
1/2 cup dry wine
1 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon fine herbs
1/2 teaspoontarragon
1 teaspoon corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water.

In a soup pot heat the olive oil then add the bacon. Fry until it's about halfway crispy. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms begin to brown. Add the potatoes and saute, while tossing them about, for a couple of minutes. Reduce the flame to half and add the wine. Toss everything around for a minute or two, making sure it all gets exposed to the wine.

Lower the flame to low and add the chicken broth. You know what comes next, right? Bring to a sow boil.

When the soup boils, add the fine herbs and tarragon. Stir well. The potatoes will take long to cook, say about an hour. Keep checking on them. When they're nearly done, add the milk and corn starch dissolved in water. Stir well. When the potatoes are tender, you're done.

I do like it, but it's not quite right. Not to me. So I'm thinking to either skip the wine or the corn starch next time.

Garlic oven-roasted potatoes

It's not easy to make nice, tasty low-fat potatoes.

Potatoes are low in fat, but the ways to making them tasty are usually not. This one's no exception, but I think it goes towards the lower range of fat content. So:

I'll post the recipe for the chicken in the photo later (that one takes some doing).

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes, diced into small cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, mashed with a garlic press (I tried grating them, but the pres worked better)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fine herbs, crushed.
A few fresh parsley leaves, cut small

Place the olive oil and mashed garlic in a large bowl. add the pepper, fine herbs and parsley. Stir well and let it sit for an hour at least at room temperature. This is to infuse the oil with the spices.

Next add the diced potatoes (you may peel them or not, your choice) tot he bowl and toss until they are all covered with oil and spices. Place on a baking dish, preferably a large one so the potatoes are on a single layer. Put it in the oven preheated to 350-400 F (my oven is set to Celsius and I set it to 200 C) and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked. be careful not to burn them, which is easy to do at such high temperatures.

And be very careful with the oven! Ok. I admit I'm a bit phobic about ovens. I tend to be extra careful when using them.

Chicken with White Wine Sauce

Given my recent success making onion soup, I looked up other recipes using wine of some sort. Between reading and my own ideas, I came up with this:

Now, I made some mistakes with the preparation. Take note: make sure you have all the equipment you'll need! I could have sworn I had a mallet to flatten meats with, but I couldn't find it. So I wound up with rather thick chicken breasts. I wasn't going to pound them flat, I'm not making milanesas after all, but I did want to thin them so they'd cook better. Oh well.

First you prepare and cook the chicken:


Four thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts, not pounded flat.
1/4 Cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. oregano, crushed
1 Tbsp. thyme, crushed

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 thick onion slices, separated into rings

In a large bowl, mix the flour and spices well. Dredge the chicken in the mix so it's evenly covered on both sides, shake off any excess. In a deep sauce pan heat the olive oil on a medium flame and cook the chicken along with the onions. Times vary, but cook each side of the chicken until it's golden brown. You don't want to overcook it, as it will dry out. You also don't want to leave the center raw or half-cooked. Therefore use reasonably thin pieces (as noted I didn't do).

When it's done, set the chicken aside and leave the onions in the pan.

Next:

2 Cups mushroom, sliced
2 Cups half-cooked (boiled) potatoes, thinly sliced but not potato chip thin.
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Teaspoon butter or margarine
1 Cup chicken broth
3/4 Cup white wine (I used a Riesling from Baja California)

In the same pan, still with the onions, add olive oil and margarine (or butter), and cook the mushrooms and potatoes. Again, times vary. You want the mushrooms to release their juices and turn brown around the edges only. When they're done, add the wine.

Keep cooking until the wine is reduced by about half. Add the chicken broth, and keep cooking for a few minutes, letting the sauce thicken. The sauce may not thicken enough by itself, though this can differ according to taste. If you want a thicker sauce, take a tablespoon of the left over flour and spices mix, and dissolve it in 1/4 cup of hot water. Make sure to use hot water, as wheat flour tends not to dissolve in cold water. Add the mix to the sauce and stir.

Add the chicken you'd set aside. If you like, add also another teaspoon of margarine or butter. Let the whole thing cook for another three to five minutes and you're done.

This dish would go very well with mashed potatoes or white rice.