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.

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.

Onion Soup

This had all the makings of  a disaster. Really. I looked at dozens of recipes and couldn't settle on one. I forgot to get beef broth. I had last minute ideas. Well, all things considered it turned out almost right. I'll tell you what I did, and what I should have done:

Mmmmm... soup!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Large onions, cut into large pieces
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1 Bay leaf
8 Cups (2 liters) chicken broth (I use low-fat and low-sodium)
1/2 cup white wine
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. Soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
Worcestershire sauce to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic. I cooked the onions until they were soft and somewhat translucent. this turned out well, but I think I should have cooked them until they were softer an almost transparent. In any case, you want to stir them constantly so they won't burn.

When they're close to done, add the wine, soy sauce and vinegar. For the sake of convenience, it would be best to combine them in a cup or bowl beforehand. Reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking and stirring for a few minutes, until the liquid is reduced to about half.

Add the chicken broth and the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to minimum and bring to a slow boil, stirring on occasion. When it boils, add the Worcestershire if you like. Let it simmer for a few minutes and remove from the heat.

I have it plain out of the pot, but there's no reason you can't add a slice of garlic bread and grated cheese on top. If the soup's not hot enough to melt the cheese, you can pop it in an oven for a minute or two, I suppose (I haven't tried it). Or just add some croutons.