NEW ORLEANS —
LOADED Potato Soup
Ingredients
6 strips (uncooked) bacon cut into small pieces
3 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
⅓ cup all purpose flour
2 ½ lbs gold potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. Creole seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
¼ - ½ tsp. ancho chili powder
1 cup sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, and additional sour cream and bacon for topping optional
Directions
- Place bacon pieces in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot over medium heat and cook until bacon is crisp and browned.
- Remove bacon pieces and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
- Add butter and chopped onion and cook over medium heat until onions are tender.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Sprinkle the flour over the ingredients in the pot and stir until smooth.
- Add diced potatoes to the pot along with chicken stock, milk, heavy cream, Creole seasoning, salt, pepper, and ancho chili powder. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Reduce heat to simmer and remove approximately half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Alternatively you can use an immersion blender.
- Return the pureed soup to the pot and add sour cream and reserved bacon pieces, stir well.
- Allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes before serving.
- Top with additional sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, or green onions.
Butter Parmesan Mushrooms
Ingredients
4 Tbsp. butter, divided
8 oz portobello mushrooms or your favorite, stems removed and any dirt wiped with a paper towel to clean.
4 oz. beef stock
6 garlic cloves, diced
1/4 cup tomatoes, diced sun dried
1/2 cup parsley, diced and divided
kosher salt to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Directions
- In a large heavy pan melt 1/2 the butter until foamy and lightly browned.
- Add garlic, let brown on medium heat, for 1-2 minutes.
- Add mushrooms. Cook mushrooms to golden brown, turning occasionally, until they have browned bits on all sides about 5-6 minutes.
- Add sun dried tomatoes, and 1/2 the parsley, cook 1-2 minutes to soften and reduce some of the tomatoes tartness.
- Add stock and second half of butter, and let reduce by half, about 4 minutes.
- When sauce is thick and mushrooms have cooked down to about half their size, seasoning with salt to taste, remove from heat and top with second half of parsley and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Steakhouse Creole Tomato Salad
ingredients
1 red onion, sliced thin
4 large ripe tomatoes
½ cup Classic Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Slice the onion in half, then thinly slice the halves.
Core the tomatoes and cut them into 1-inch pieces.
Directions
- In a large bowl, toss the onions and tomatoes with the vinaigrette. Serve at room temperature.
Classic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup vinegar of your choice, such as red wine, white wine, balsamic, unseasoned rice and cider
1 shallot, finely minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard or more to taste
½ tsp. kosher or coarse salt or more to taste
black pepper, freshly ground
Directions
- Put the olive oil, vinegar, shallot, mustard, and salt in a bowl or container with a lid.
- Whisk the vinaigrette to mix, or cover the container and shake it well. Taste for seasoning, adding more mustard and/or salt if necessary and pepper to taste.
- Tip: Add any of the following to the rest of the vinaigrette, alone or in combination.
1 or 2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic finely minced
1⁄2 teaspoon dried herbs or 1 teaspoon minced fresh herbs—either a single herb or a combination; basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley
1 teaspoon sun-dried tomatoes minced
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon black olives minced
1 or 2 tablespoons crumbled or grated cheese, such as goat cheese, feta, blue cheese or Parmesan
