We are in a warming trend, but there is still snow on the ground, and hot soup sounds good. This recipe is from the Denver Post, at least 30 years ago. I don't have the fresh thyme or green onions, but I'm sure it'll be fine without, and I might add some garlic. Reading through it, the steps are a little bit fancy - steaming the potatoes, not boiling them, for example. But I'm doing it all to see if it's worth it.


Creamy Potato Onion Soup
5 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups white onions (4 medium), chopped
8 green onions, white part only, chopped
3/4 pound redskin potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Salt, white pepper
Balsamic vinegar to taste

Place chicken broth, bay leaf, and thyme in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and barely simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Set aside. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a soup kettle. Add onions and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes. Do not brown. Steam potatoes over boiling water in a covered pan for 10 minutes, or until tender. When the onions are ready, add the potatoes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme from the broth, and add it to the vegetables in the soup kettle. Cook until heated through. Puree the mixture in a food processor until smooth. Return it to the pan and reheat, adding salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into 4 to 6 shallow soup bowls. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar over the soup in each bowl.


This next one is a calorie-laden wonder, but it'll warm you up.

Beer Cheese Soup

1 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 pound flour
1 pint beer (medium bodied ale such as Fat Tire)
1 pound cream cheese
3 quarts milk
2 pounds shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter, cook the onions and peppers in it until translucent, add the chopped garlic. Mix in the flour and cook the roux slowly for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the beer and whisk in until smooth. Melt in the cream cheese. Add the milk and bring slowly to a simmer. Add shredded cheese slowly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.



The other day, I posted this recipe for caramel sauce: Cranberries with Caramel Sauce

This sauce is easy to make. The recipe called for frozen cranberries. It was okay that way, but I liked it better over partially thawed mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) - my thought while eating it was 'this is as good as pie.' I also tried dipping fresh pineapple chunks in it, and that was also good. It's so sweet, you need a tart fruit to go with it. I'm going to try it on pumpkin pie some time.