Potato & Bacon Soup

Guy Fieri provided me with a great way to work through a big bag of potatoes and the summer's backlog of bacon-of-the-month:

Recipe

4 large potatoes (or more smaller potatoes)
12 slices bacon
1/2 c flour
6 c milk
5 oz cheddar cheese, grated
3 tbsp chives, chopped
sour cream
salt & pepper

Bake the potatoes at 350 degrees until cooked through and soft, about 45 minutes.  Once those are close to done, slice the bacon into thin strips (lardons - thanks Guy).  Crisp them up in a thick-bottomed pot, then remove but leave the drippings.  Stir in the flour and cook a minute.  Add the milk and whisk together, then cook about 15 minutes, until thick and bubbly.

Scoop out the insides of the potatoes and mash them into the milk mixture.  Add in most of the bacon and cheese, and some salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and serve with more bacon and cheese, plus chives and sour cream.

Notes

This one goes simply enough, not a ton of prep and everything goes in phases.  The one tricky bit was the potatoes.  Obviously, they took longer to bake than the 45 minutes, then were very hot to get out of the skins.  Next time, I'd probably just skin them before baking - not sure why that isn't the default.

In the end, the potatoes fit nicely into the soup.  Except for a few slightly undercooked lumps, we actually had a nice, thick broth with a ton of flavor:

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Gave the top half of this recipe a try - will have to go back again for the sweet potato and bacon fritters.

Recipe

8(-ish) bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1 tbsp coconut oil

Rub
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Glaze
1/4 c honey
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine rub ingredients and get it on the chicken.  Heat the oil high in a cast iron skillet and brown the chicken, a few minutes each side to get the skin crispy.  Then transfer to the oven and cook for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile combine the glaze ingredients, then brush on the chicken and cook until done (at least 10 more minutes).

Notes

The chicken came out well, but it felt like it could have been crispier and spicier.  Some of that may be on me/something that can be fixed.  Still ended up as a nice meal:

Zesty Shrimp Penne

One of my favorite reasons to cook is to mix up what I'm eating, especially getting some seafood into the diet.  While I'm not a big shrimp fan, this recipe looked worth a shot (and a trip to Whole Foods to actually get some of the critters).

Recipe

1 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups penne

Combine the olive oil, cheese, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes.  Add to a Ziploc bag with the shrimp and coat thoroughly.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes (but plenty more if you have time).

Later on...  Get your pasta going.  About halfway through, Heat a skillet and add the contents of the bag.  Cook the shrimp until done, a few minutes each side.  Toss in the pasta (and some pepper never hurts) and serve.

Notes

As with other recent pasta experiments, I was worried about the amount of sauce going on the pasta.  As I poured in the penne, I wondered if I'd missed something and if I'd just be eating plain pasta with some shrimp tossed in.  I shouldn't have.  The pasta soaks up the rich, oily marinade and just gives you mouthfuls of flavor (you can see the sheen in the picture).  This recipe packs a lot of punch for relatively few, easy ingredients and steps - a nice combination of salty and a little sweetness.  Might become a go-to recipe when I feel like splurging on (pre-shelled and de-veined) shrimp!

Homemade Sauerkraut

Continuing to keep that jar full of veggie snacks.  Next up was getting in touch with the German heritage with some sauerkraut.

Recipe

1-2 jalapenos
1 head of green cabbage
2 large carrots
2-4 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper

Set aside a couple outer cabbage leaves, and chop the rest thinly.  Slice your garlic and jalapeno, and grate the carrots.

With about a third of the cabbage at once, squeeze the cabbage with some salt, releasing some of the water and making it wet.  Add the rest of the cabbage in stages and do the same.  Then mix in the carrot, garlic, jalapeno and pepper.

Next, the mixture goes in the jars, pressing it in to bring the water level above all the veggies (this may take a while).  Wedge in an outer leaf or two, and add a weight (e.g., shot glass) to keep everything under water.

Finally, everything sits out for at least a week - uncovered, room temperature, making sure everything stays submerged.  Once it's done to taste, you can cover and leave it in the fridge.

Notes

I only gave it that one week.  It's very fragrant for a small kitchen!  Because of the timing, my kraut didn't end up very strong, but it fit very tastefully into sandwiches and other dishes.

The original recipe has you char the jalapenos over a flame - also not very practical for the NYC kitchen.  I was also worried the full recipe wouldn't fit into my one jar.  I shouldn't have - it all mashes down pretty seriously.

Overall, a lot more work than pickling, but an interesting change!

Penne a la Vodka

Apparently this is a manly, alcoholic pasta dish:

Recipe

1 lb penne
1 lb Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
1 can (16 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 c heavy cream
2 tbsp vodka
4 c loosely packed spinach, chopped
Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter
salt & pepper

Brown the sausage in a cast-iron skillet, then set aside to drain on some paper towels.

Probably about now, start boiling water for your pasta.

Melt the butter in your skillet, and saute the onions until soft.  Then add the mushrooms, garlic, and red pepper.  Once that's all soft, add the tomatoes, cream, vodka, and sausage.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Toss with the pasta and spinach, and top with cheese and serve.

Notes

I'll have to take their word for it that the vodka is a crucial element of the recipe - it's good but doesn't really have a drunk taste.  My main concern was really there being enough sauce to cover the pasta.  It ended up more minimal than the basic Italian/pizza joint staple.  It's a lot of ingredients to prep, but it does rotate them through one skillet - you end up needing a handful of bowls ready.  All in all a little gimmicky, but good for a couple hearty pasta meals.

There's a little bit of a comparison to the pumpkin & sausage pasta from earlier.  This one today is probably a little simpler - fewer ingredients - but the vodka maybe doesn't stand out the way pumpkin does...