Have you seen these photos from artist Benoit Jammes? Hilarious dipictions of fruits and veggies skating around a kitchen. I love the idea of all of our household items having ragers while we're out of the house for the evening.
You can see the rest of the photos and more art from Benoit Jammes here.
When the weather gets colder my mind goes to one place. Ok, two... Soup and hot tubs. Since we don't have a hot tub, I mainly just think about the soup. This year I tried a soup I had never made before. And the main ingredient is a vegetable I had never even cooked with before. But, when I saw this recipe for leek soup in the October issue of Bon Apetit (and I saw how easy it was) I couldn't wait to try it.
We've made this soup many times now and it's so delicious--creamy, smooth, and the potatoes on top add the perfect bit of crunch. This is the ideal fast meal after a day of skiing.
Leek soup with shoestring potatoes and fried herbs
Serves 8
For the soup you're gonna need...
1 stick of butter
6 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
1 small onion, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 cups of whole milk, divided
1 cup of heavy cream, divided
1 cup of plain whole fat yogurt, divided
Black pepper
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add leeks, onion, and garlic and then season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are very soft, 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then add the milk, cream, and yogurt. Mix together and then, using an immersion blender, blend all of the ingredients together. Return the soup to heat over medium and add small bits of water in 1/4 cup increments if you think it is too thick. It should be thick enough to hold the potatoes on top but thin enough that if a spoon is dragged along the top it doesn't leave a trail. Season with salt and pepper.
For the potatoes you're gonna need...
1 russet potato, cut into thin matchsticks
Vegetable oil for frying (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley
1 sprig of rosemary
Kosher salt
Flaky sea salt
Rinse the potatoes under cold water and then pat until completely dry. If they're too wet, they will splatter a lot when placed in the hot oil. Fit a medium sauce pan with thermometer, pour in the oil to measure about 2 inches deep. Heat the oil until the temperature comes to 350 degrees. Working in batches and returning the oil to 350 degrees, add the potato by the handful and fry. Turn them occasionally until they turn golden and crispy--about 2 minutes. Then, using a slotted spoon, take the potatoes from the pan and place them on a paper towel to drain. Fry the parsley and rosemary for about 15 seconds. Mix the herbs with the potatoes and let cool. Season with salt and place them on top of the soup like a little nest when you're ready to serve.
Enjoy!
We celebrated River's six months of life by preparing his first food (if we don't count the french fry I let him suck on while we were skiing last weekend...). I was expecting him to make funny faces, spit it all out, and just start playing with it. These seem to be the common stories among parents when it comes to trying food for the first time. But River surprised us once again and, even though he's been battling a fever for the last few days, he loved it. He kept reaching for more and did a great job of mixing it in his mouth and swallowing it. It was actually pretty anti-climactic--but in the best way. We took pictures, and videos, and even FaceTimed with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. Another milestone reached!
His first food was just a pureed baked sweet potato mixed with a little water to thin it out. We'll eat this for a few days and then switch to something else. I found all kinds of little food recipes on the Weelicious website and I'm so excited to try them out. We're using these and these to store the food in the freezer. They're so convenient. The idea of encouraging River to love food as much as we do is so exciting. I've been reading this book and it makes me very curious to see what River's relationship with food will be like.
River, this month you...
Learned how to clap your feet
Tried food for the first time
Had your first bad fever
Learned to scoot all around the floor
Started reaching out to pet Hank
Made my heart melt daily
Merry Christmas!
It's Christmas Eve! I've spent the day handing out gifts to neighbors and friends and hanging out with River. He's rolling all over the place, so he is keeping me busy. Christmas Eve is such a special day. So much anticipation and excitement in everyone. They say it's even supposed to snow tomorrow. The weather forecast has been a hard one to trust lately, but I'll go along with it. I haven't had a white Christmas in awhile and I can't think of anything more special for River's first Christmas. Tonight we are having dinner with friends to celebrate Christmas Eve and then going to look at Christmas lights before reading The Night Before Christmas to River and heading off to dreamland to see dancing sugar plums.
1, 2, and 3. Homemade truffles for the neighbors and friends
4. A special ornament
5. Christmas through River's eyes
6. River's first Christmas present
7. Finally got out for some skiing
