Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

Oh my gosh!  The name of this soup is absolutely,.... well, just does not adequately describe it.  Not nearly enough praise!  I really, really love this stuff!  (Can you tell?!) 

One of the women in our ward has been sick, so I made it for her and her hubby last week.  Their teenage granddaughter was there, too.  I had no more than gotten back home after delivering it to them when the granddaughter called to say she'd gotten my number from her grandparents so she could tell me they thought it was the best potato soup they'd ever eaten!  Of course, I already knew that!! ;) But it was really nice to have someone go to the effort to tell me they liked it, too.

My daughter, Andrea, gave this recipe to me back in 2006 and we've loved it ever since. (Thanks, babe! xox)  She got it off allrecipes.com and it is still there. 

I have made some very minor changes in quantities only.  Not sure why, but it just worked out that way.  The changes don't alter the taste at all, but gives a little more soup, which is a good thing!  Oh wait... I just remembered that I did add diced carrots to the original recipe... a good move!  The carrots add a nice visual, as well as taste, to the soup.  I make the dices relatively small.... celery and carrots maybe 1/2" dices.  Potatoes are maybe 1/2"to1" x 1", give or take... it's not rocket science... just cut them small enough that they will cook quickly.

The last time I made this, I started the rue (butter and flour thickener), and for some reason, the butter browned really fast and never started thickening... not sure why this happened, maybe the heat was too high, but I ended up throwing it away and starting over with margarine.... worked just fine... just like all the other times I made it.  Oh, yeah, and this time I even used reconstituted non-fat dry milk and it was still rich and amazing!

I'm pretty sure this will become one of your favorites, too.  It is really easy to make and fairly quick.  The original recipe says it is ready in 45 minutes... I don't know for sure because I've never paid attention to the time.  All I know is it really is good!  Also, the original recipe says eight servings...  Don't plan to actually SERVE eight people, however, because everyone will want seconds!  The pot I used is a big pot, so this picture doesn't really accurately show how much the recipe makes.

Enjoy!

DELICIOUS HAM & POTATO SOUP

4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup diced, cooked ham
3 1/2 cups water
2 T. chicken bouillon granules
1/2 t. salt, or to taste
1/2 t. ground white or black pepper, or to taste
6 T. butter or margarine
6 T. all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups milk

1.  Combine the potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, ham and water in a stock pot.
2.  Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3.  Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
4.  In a separate saucepan, melt butter/margarine over medium-low heat.
5.  Whisk in flour with a fork or wire whisk and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute.
6.  Slowly stir in milk, being careful to not allow lumpsto form, until all of the milk has been added.
7.  Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
8.  Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until heated through.
9.  Serve immediately.

Perfect Whole Wheat Bread

Whew! My dizzies are starting to let up a bit so I'm trying to get my life back... We got snow today so what's better to do than make bread?!  Steve's been asking for cinnamon rolls for ages and been thinking it'd be fun to make our own sub sandwich rolls, so that was the project of the day.

I love this bread recipe.  It turns out perfectly, as you might expect considering it's name, every time.  I got this recipe about three years ago from a friend here in town, J. Decker.  (Thanks, girl!)  I use it a lot.  It's quick and easy and good for you.  It doesn't have a lot of fat in it and uses honey so that's pretty healthy. 

I use freshly ground white wheat.  I LOVE white wheat!  Everything comes out so nicely.  This recipe usually makes 4 good sized loaves, but today I divided the dough into quarters and made two loaves, 6 sandwich rolls and a dozen cinnamon rolls.  However, I guess this time I should really call the cinnamon rolls just sweet rolls cuz I forgot to put the cinnamon on the dough before rolling it up! duh... apparently old age is setting in!  But they still taste really good. 

Like I said, I used white whole wheat flour, but I'm sure regular red wheat or even white all-purpose  flour--or any combination thereof, would still be good.  But you'll be amazed at the light and soft texture the white wheat gives you.  The real magic of this bread, however, is the method... quick & easy!

I used between 10 1/2 and 11 cups of flour, having ground 8 cups of wheat.  There was plenty with some left over, which I put in the freezer to maintain it's nutritional value.  If you're using a Bosch or some other bread making mixer, add the flour until it cleans the sides of the bowl.  I used hot water from the tap and extra virgin olive oil.  My baking time is 30 minutes.

PERFECT WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

10-12 cups whole wheat flour (or half white/half WW)

2 T. yeast

1/2 cup wheat gluten

4 cups warm water

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup honey

1 T. salt

Place six cups flour into mixer bowl with kneading

        arm. 

Add dry yeast and gluten;  mix well. 

Add water and mix for one minute. 

Cover and let dough sit for 10 minutes.  (This makes

        the bread lighter.)

Add the oil, honey, and salt.  Mix in.

While mixer is going, quickly add remaining flour,

        1 cup at a time, until dough forms a ball and

        cleans the sides of the bowl.

Knead 10 minutes in machine or 12-15 minutes

        by hand.  Dough should be smooth and elastic.

Preheat oven to 150. 

Lightly oil hands.  Divide dough into 4 equal portions.

Shape and place into bread pans coated with nonstick

        cooking spray.

Place into warmed oven and let rise about 20 minutes.

When almost double in size, turn oven to 350 and

        bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Turn out of pans onto a wire cooling

        rack immediately. 

Spread tops with butter.

When cool.  Store in plastic bags in the freezer for up

        to a month. 

Makes 4 - 1-lb. loaves.

I hope this becomes your favorite go-to bread recipe, too!

Apparently the "Cinnamon" Rolls were a hit... SOMEbody's been hitting them pretty hard! 

(I loved using this old pan today.  It was my mom's.  *sigh*... miss you Mom.)

Still dizzy!

I haven't forgotten ya... I'm just still dizzy (for almost 4 weeks now!) and crazy busy to boot... I've got a recipe I'm hoping to try tomorrow, so check back...

xox