Mennonite Monday - Cheesy Potato Soup

Mennonite Monday started because I wanted to make recipes from the Bethesda Mennonite Church Cookbooks (both the yellow and the white cookbook for those of you who own them). I also wanted to take pictures of each recipe that I made, so I would know for future reference what the recipe should look like. I am by no means a great cook, but I think it will be fun to try new and different recipes each week. Not all of these recipes are for ethnic Mennonite food, but the women from Henderson know how to cook, so I can safely say that these recipes will be good. Check back each Monday for a new recipe and feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite recipe from these cookbooks, or if you have some tips on what I should make and how I should make it.

This week I wanted to make a recipe that used ingredients that I already had on hand and needed to use.  I found the Cheesy Potato Soup (pg 207W), which made a great meal for a snowy evening.  I will mention that is doesn't make a huge recipe, which is good for Mike and I, but for a larger family, you may want to double it.  

Cheesy Potato Soup 

4 medium potatoes

5 strips bacon, diced

1 to 2 cups milk 

2 slices Velveeta Cheese

2 Tbl diced onion

2 Tbl butter

1 Tbl flour

salt & pepper to taste

Cube the potatoes and cook till done.  Fry bacon and onion.  Drain off all but 1 02 Tbl of fat.  Add flour and stir.  Drain off most of the liquid from potatoes.  Add milk, cheese, butter, salt and pepper, bacon and onion mixture, stirring and cooking till it thickens.  

 Peeled potatoes.  The recipe didn't say if the potatoes should be peeled, but I did because I thought we would like it better that way. 

 I diced the potatoes in fairly small chunks. 

 Boiling the potatoes.  It took about 15 minutes of boiling for them to be cooked. 

 I cut my bacon using a kitchen scissors.  

 This was the first mistake I made, completely draining my potatoes when the recipe said to drain most of the liquid. 

 I used minced onion instead diced onion, so I just added it to the potatoes instead of the bacon. 

 Adding the four to the bacon. 

 Once the flour is stirred in. 

 Adding bacon to the potatoes.

 Since I drained off all the water, I added 2 cups of milk instead of 1. 

 I wasn't sure what a slice of Velveeta was, so I decided to go by the 4 oz. mark on the package, so I ended up using 8 oz. of Velveeta.  This my have been too much, but I figured it would be better to have to much instead of not enough. 

 Instead of using salt and pepper, I used nature's seasoning because it has a bunch of different flavors in it and I basically use it on everything I cook. I should also add that I forgot to add the butter.  (That was my second mistake on this recipe)

The finished product.  Despite the two mistakes I made, it turned out very well.

Mennonite Monday - Cream of Broccoli Soup

Mennonite Monday started because I wanted to make recipes from the Bethesda Mennonite Church Cookbooks (both the yellow and the white cookbook for those of you who own them). I also wanted to take pictures of each recipe that I made, so I would know for future reference what the recipe should look like. I am by no means a great cook, but I think it will be fun to try new and different recipes each week. Not all of these recipes are for ethnic Mennonite food, but the women from Henderson know how to cook, so I can safely say that these recipes will be good. Check back each Monday for a new recipe and feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite recipe from these cookbooks, or if you have some tips on what I should make and how I should make it.

~

Sorry for the delay in posting my Mennonite Monday this week, but Mike and I were on a mini vacation, which I will post later in the week.  Since fall is quickly approaching, it is a great time to think about different soups we can make on chilly days.  This week I decided on Cream of Broccoli Soup (pg 204 W).  I hope this recipe will warm  you up this fall.  

Cream of Broccoli Soup

10 oz frozen or fresh broccoli, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 soup can of water

3 Tbl butter

3 Tbl flour

1 can cream of chicken soup

6 slices Velveeta

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

Saute onion in butter, add flour and stir.  Add broth, water and cream of chicken soup, chopped broccoli and stir and simmer for 10 min.  Put into blender until broccoli is chopped.  Return to stove; add cheese and stir and simmer until cheese is melted.  Season with salt to taste if necessary.  Yield: 6 servings. 

 I always cut off the ends of my onions first so they are easier to peel  the skin off. 

Then I slice it the long way. 

 Then I chop the other direction. 

 Butter and onion. 

 While the onion was cooking I measured my other ingredients.  Since I didn't have chicken broth, I used chicken stock. 

 Since this recipe didn't use all of the container of chicken stock, I wrote the date on the container and put it in the refrigerator. 

 Browned onions

 Mixing in the flour. 

 Adding the broth, water and cream of chicken soup. 

 Adding the broccoli that I didn't chop.  I figured that it would get chopped up in the blender, so there was no need to chop it ahead of time. 

 Simmering. 

 I didn't know what 6 slices of Velveeta was, so I just used all the Velveeta I had, which was about a cup.

 Before it was blended. 

 After it was blended. 

 After adding the Velveeta. 

 After you add the Velveeta make sure you stir it, otherwise it will burn to the bottom of the pan and you will have to pick out the brown spots. 

Mennonite Monday - Green Bean Soup

I know I am late posting Mennonite Monday, but I decided to have a relaxing Labor Day napping, watching TV, and basically not do anything all day long.
Actually... I spent my morning canning, I made chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake, banana cupcakes, went for a 4 mile run, picked tomatoes, mowed the lawn, and went to a friends for supper and to play cards. It was a pretty busy day and I didn't even remember it was Monday until this evening. So better late than never here is my Mennonite recipe for this week.

Earlier this summer I made Green Bean soup and have been saving the recipe for my blog for a few weeks, but with summer coming to an end our time is limited to make green bean soup with fresh green beans. I recently learned that Green Bean Soup is not very common depending on where you are from. In Henderson, Green Bean Soup is a summer staple. Why would anyone choose to eat soup in the summer when it is hot? I assume it is because this is when there is fresh green beans and summer savory available , which is very important when making the soup.

Green Bean Soup
1 1/2 lb ham bone and meat
8-10 sprigs parsley
1 small onion
1 1/2 cup diced potatoes
1/2 cup light cream
2 tsp salt
7 whole allspice
4 sprigs summer savory or one tsp dry
4 cups cut green beans
1 Tbl butter

Place ham bone in soup kettle and cover with water. Put allspice, parsley, and savory in cheesecloth. Add to the kettle. Simmer 2 hours.

This is what the ham bone looks like after 2 hours. I was a little nervous about cooking with a ham bone because I have never done it before. However, it was really easy and it gives the soup a great flavor.

After the ham has cooked, shred the meat off of the bone and return the meat to the kettle.

Add beans, onion and potatoes to kettle and cook until vegetables are tender.

Remove spice ball. Just before serving blend in cream, butter and salt.
We also mix in sour cream and vinegar at the table to taste.