Smoked Sausage, Potato soup

I saw a couple recipes for potato and sausage soup while wandering online. I thought Kielbasa would be yummy like this. And so today cuz its cold and raining out all day, I decided to make this. This is not the original recipe tho. As always I tweak things to make them mine. But it goes together fast and the only real cooking is the potatoes to get soft. So if your looking for a fast meal, this works good with a nice crusty bread with butter.

My bf said its really good. I asked him if its good enough to make again and he said yes. When that happens, then I post it here for all of you.......why? Cuz hes picky so if he likes it I know many others will too. Enjoy.

Smoked Sausage, Potato soup- Makes 2-3 servings.

1c. diced onions
1tb. butter
2tb. flour
5-6 small or med. potatoes, peeled and diced
1qt. chicken broth ( I used my own that I can)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
S and P to taste
8oz. smoked sausage, diced or sliced ( I used Kielbasa)
1/3 of a bag of frozen spinach
1/2 tsp cajun spice
1/4 tsp. ground garlic
1c. half and half
Parmesan cheese

1. In a large sauce pot over moderate heat, saute onions in butter until very soft (about 10-15 minutes), stirring frequently. Add flour and cook for 3 more minutes.

2. Add potatoes, broth, bay leaf, thyme, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are very soft (about 30 minutes).

3. Add sausage. Continue simmering for 5 more minutes. Stir in spinach, Cajun spice, and garlic. Add half and half and heat thru. Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Processing a big batch of potatoes....

I managed to get my hands on some local organic potatoes. So I had decided to dry all of them until my SIL got a big stash and couldn't use them all up fast enough. I told her they could be canned and since shes been giving me lots of stuff lately and she asked if I would do that. ... I did. I found out I really like them. I tested them this morning when one jar didn't seal and had to be used up. And then I made breakfast burritos and decided that I will use up the rest of my organic potatoes by canning them. This is how I did all of it. 

 Dehydrating potatoes....

I took one bag of my organic potatoes to dehydrate. First you want to peel them all and wash them. I cut them into thick 1/2 in. slices then diced those slices. You don't want them too big because you want them to dry thoroughly. You could also slice them thin to use to make homemade Au gratin.

Then I got a big pot and filled it with water, bring that to a boil. Also get a big bowl of ice water ready. Be sure you have a strainer or colander that you can lift in and out of the water to make it easier to do the blanching. Once its boiling fill the strainer with the cubed potatoes and plunge into the boiling water. Let it come back to a boil then boil for about 4-5 min. Test and when a skewer can be inserted they are done. Do not over cook tho or they will just fall apart.

When they are done, plunge the strainer with the potatoes in the water to cool quickly. Remove and put in a colander on the side so any excess water can drip off. Repeat this process with all of your potatoes. If you don't cook them enough when they dry they will have black spots in them.

Once they are done, layer them on your dehydrator trays, making sure to leave some spaces around them so they dry thoroughly. I set the temp. to 135 degrees and let it run till the potatoes are dry. Mine dried in about 5hrs. but I was going to bed so I shut it off and checked it the next day. Since I live in an area of humidity I ran it the next morning for another hr or so just to be sure. Then you let it cool. Don't seal them in anything until they are cool but don't leave them out too long or they may start to reabsorb humidity in the air. I put mine in lg. canning jars but you could seal them in bags too...but these sometime have sharp edges so you might want to double bag for long term storage.

BTW someone told me they also dry the potato peels if you know they are organic. This gets ground up when dry and can be used to thicken gravies and such. Its good for those who have to be gluten free. Of course if you plan to do this, make sure you scrub all the potatoes well, first. 

Canning Potatoes

I canned what my SIL gave me so she wouldn't lose them. They couldn't use them up fast enough and she knew they would rot. Canning is very easy if you have a Pressure Canner.  I made qts jars for her but for myself I will make pts. since there's only two of us here.

First fill a lg container with water and sprinkle in some salt, maybe a tb. or so.  It depends on how many potatoes your doing. Peel the potatoes and cube into 1in. cubes, you don't want them too small cuz they will get mushy. If your potatoes are small you could can them whole. Soak these cubes overnight. The reason for this is, it helps remove alot of the starch which settles in the jars and makes them look really cloudy. However if you don't care about that, then skip this step.

Next day get your pressure canner ready, your jars and lids. Boil a pot of water because you will add this to the jars.  

 Now fill each jar with the raw potato cubes, shake it well to make room for more. Leave a 1in. space at the top. Put 1 tsp. salt in each jar and then top with the boiling water. Wipe the rim and put on the lid and ring. At this point I tipped the jar slightly and rolled it to try to release any air bubbles then I checked the water level again. If it needs more add it. You need a 1in. space.

When all are filled put in canner and put the lid on. When canner starts to vent, let it vent for 10min. Then put the weight on it and start your timing. At ll lbs. pressure,  40 min. for qts...35 min. for pts. Let cool and remove from canner. Let cool on a towel on the counter overnight, check seals.

Today I checked them and one of the jars didn't seal so I decided to use it up. I made these ....

Breakfast Burritos 4-6 servings

1qt. jar of canned potatoes
1 med. red onion, chopped
4oz of loose breakfast sausage
4 strips of thick bacon
6 eggs, beaten
2 oz cheddar cheese , shredded
S & P
6 lg. burrito tortillas

Drain the potatoes in a strainer and run a bit of water over them to remove excess salt. Heat a pan and cook the sausage and bacon till browned. Remove. Save bacon grease in the pan.  Add potatoes to the pan. If you need more oil to keep from sticking add a bit of butter to the bacon fat. Add the chopped onion and fry till onions are soft and potatoes start to brown. Add meats back to pan. Add beaten eggs and stir well cooking the eggs. Top with cheese and let melt.

Scoop enough of the potato mixture into a tortilla that has been steamed or grilled and roll up . You could add almost anything to these and serve with salsa or anything you like to have your eggs with.

Its not dinner till the alarm goes off....

Well, my fire alarms work in the new house lol. Found out by accident. They are really sensitive too cuz there was no smoke in the house. I was baking a few strips of bacon for tonights side dish and the alarms went off. I was shocked but put the fan on over the stove. Within a min. or two it shut off. It was a night of buzzers and alarms tho and I was doing many things at once. I had the washer and the dryer going, doing my wash and I was microwaving the potatoes for tonites dinner too. So when the alarm went off I wasnt sure what it was. Plus I have only been here two wks and didnt even know if they worked yet. I really have to not multi task so much lol.

Anyway tonites dinner was a marinated london broil that I often use on steaks. Its on a previous blog http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/search/label/marinades and I made some cole slaw and a Loaded Baked Potato Casserole that I make now and then. I saw it long ago and thought it was a great idea.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

This makes as much or as little as you want. Heres the amts. I used tonite. But honestly you can just wing it.

5 sm. potatoes, microwaved till tender, about 8 min. total but test them halfway thru
4 green onions chopped, white and some of the green
4 slices of thick bacon, cooked then crumbled
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream

Scrub the potatoes, then microwave. I usually do about 5min. then turn them over for another 3min. Then I test to see if they are tender. First I make a layer of half of the potatoes, then top them with half the bacon, onion, S & P, cheddar and then drop small dollops of sour cream on top. Then repeat with remaining ingredients. I used a ceramic casserole that has a glass lid.

You want to cover it so it doesnt brown alot on top and cooks quicker. You dont need to cook it long, just until the cheese melts and is heated thru. At about 400 degrees for 15-20 min.

If you want to get creative you could try a mixture of cheeses or add some green chilies too. This amt. tonight serves about 4. Because theres only two of us here, Ive saved the rest in a smaller casserole to heat up another nite. I love that I just scrub the potatoes and when they are cooked, just cut them into chunks and use. The skins are good for you.

My Belated Mothers Day Dinner

I had a nice Mothers Day this weekend. I postponed it till bfs surgery was over since things were getting pretty hairy around here. I'm glad I did. My daughter would have had to run between two houses that day anyway to see her MIL. This way I did it on Saturday so nobody had to leave early to get home for work the next day and we could have a leisurely day. But I wore myself out cooking and cleaning. This house has been a terrible mess and this week was so darn hot, I just did nothing. So Saturday I had no choice but to cook and clean as much as I could get done.

I had a 4 rib prime rib I thawed overnight for our dinner. I bought a whole one at Christmas time and had them cut it in half. I froze half then,,,,cuz the price was just incredible. So we had prime rib, my tomato, zucchini gratin and sour cream mashed potatoes. My daughter bought a great chocolate mousse cake that was very light.


Seas Prime Rib

1 prime rib with bone, any size, mine was a 4 bone roast
lots of garlic, for this one I used about 6lg. cloves
S & Freshly ground P
Dried thyme, I used about a tsp for this

Preheat over to 500 degrees.

Make a paste of everything but the roast. I do this by hand by chopping the garlic fine and then adding the salt and smashing it together over and over with a knife. I do this when I make salad dressing too. Its a chefs trick. But if you don't have that you can use a sm. food processor. After the garlic is in paste form I add the Pepper and thyme and touch of Olive oil to ease spreading it all over the roast with my fingers.

Put roast in pan and put in preheated oven for 1hr. Then lower heat to 350 degrees and roast for another hr. From this point on test with an instant read thermometer. You want it to be about 130 degrees for medium. If you have a smaller roast test earlier.

Once it has reached the correct temperature take it out of the oven and just let it rest for 15 min. so all the juices distribute properly. It will continue to cook while this is sitting. I make a bit of au jus by adding some beef broth (not consommé, too salty) to the drippings and stirring up all the brown bits till bubbly. Then I strain it. If there is too much fat in the pan , remove it or the au jus will be a greasy mess. This will serve 6-8.




I have posted this recipe on my pesto blogs before but I thought Id post it here again for those that missed it. I have made this and changed it a bit. The original called for 2c. bread crumbs which for this amt. is just too much. I also doubled the mozzarella cheese cuz we love it. I substituted marinated artichoke hearts in a jar for the fresh and we just loved this. Its almost like a vegetable lasagna but no pasta.

Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin

For the topping::

1 cups Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
dried Italian Herbs or basil/oregano/marjoram, to taste

For the veggies::

3 medium zucchini, sliced in long pieces, 1/4 inch thick
5 cloves garlic, chopped
A handful of halved artichoke hearts or a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed of most of the marinade
4 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
2-3 vine ripe tomatoes, sliced thick
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pinch salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced - you can use garlic and herb marinated mozzarella also

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a gratin dish or large pie plate.Place the crumbs in a bowl and using a fork, toss with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to coat; season with Italian Seasoning or dried basil/oregano/marjoram.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the zucchini, garlic and artichokes, and sauté briskly just until the zucchini is a bit golden and still tender-crisp. Remove from heat and pour the veggies into a bowl to cool slightly. When cooled, gently toss the zucchini mixture with the prepared basil pesto, to coat. Layer the pesto veggies in the gratin dish/pie plate.

Spread half of the crumbs on the squash mixture. Layer with slices of mozzarella. Top with sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs over the tomatoes.Bake the gratin until it is bubbly and hot, about 20-25 minutes. Serves 4.

Heck, Id just serve this as a side dish or even just a vegetarian type meal with some nice crusty bread!


I make alot of these because my son just adores mashers.

Sour cream Mashed Potatoes

5lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into sm. chunks
1 stick of butter
1/2 c. sour cream
cream, half and half or milk
1 bunch of chives or green onions, chopped fine
S & P

Put potatoes in lg. pot and cover with water and about a tb. salt. Cook till tender, then drain. Put back in pot and throw in butter. For me when I'm busy I do it to this point and let the butter melt while I do other things. Once melted, mash potatoes. Add sour cream and mash again. If very thick add a bit of cream or milk to get the right consistency. You don't want them runny. Taste and adjust S & P. Then stir in chives or green onions.

Hash 'N Eggs

I freeze lots of lil bits of stuff from our dinners and one of the things I like to use them in, is hash. Today I made roast beef hash from a chunk of beef leftover from one dinner we had awhile back. Someone I know online tried my recipe and said that its not good. He said his wife made it and he had to eat 4 plates of this heheheehe and thats not good. I guess it was a keeper :)

Hash 'N Eggs

OK I just wing it with what I have on hand but this was today's mess.....

1 chunk of roast beef (about 1lb) chopped in bite size pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced fine

Potatoes, cooked or raw, chopped

Roasted pepper or green pepper, maybe 1/4 of one

Worcestershire, S & P

Parsley, fresh, chopped about a tb.

Thyme about a tsp. but taste it

Lotsa butter

OK I usually cook the onion first in a bit of butter, when its almost done I add the garlic. Just saute them to soften. When done I keep a sm. bowl nearby and dump it in. You want to do things in stages not all together at first.

Next I cook the potatoes, you can use any amount you like, depends on how many you like in your hash and how many you want to feed so you can add a bit more to stretch it if you want. For this batch I would have used 2 raw potatoes, peeled and chopped in bite size pieces. I happen to have had some frozen garlic and rosemary ones in the freezer. There really wasn't enough for a meal so I chopped these up instead and used them. I have kept even leftover french fries if there's too many left and I feel guilty tossing em away. Steak fries would be good for this or oooooooo yea those yummy garlic fries they sell in the freezer section. Toss in more butter and cook taters till crispy and done. Dump into that sm. bowl.

Now toss in more butter and add the chopped beef. Toss in some S&P and the peppers and thyme and parsley. Throw in a shot of worcestershire, I used about 1 tb. for this but do it to taste. Cook till beef is tender and getting a bit crispy. Add all the stuff from the sm. bowl to the pan and mix. I usually taste it then and add more of whatever I think it might need. Once taste is adjusted, you can take part of this out and freeze it if you want. It does make alot.(Two of us with hearty appetites had this with another meal leftover to freeze). Or keep all or some of it in the pan and crack the eggs on top. Cook till eggs are done to what you like and serve.

I know its not exact but this is one of those great use it up leftover recipes. I use it when I make corned beef for St. Pattys Day and I add those taters from it too. Its real tasty. I wouldn't add the thyme or worcestershire then. You can use leftover chicken or turkey too, sage would be nice with a touch of thyme and parsley. Roasted taters would be nice added to it or you could even add some cooked carrots or even apple.

Easter Egg Potatoes

This time of year you can find mixed colored potatoes sold together in small bags. They are perfect for making this next dish. Before these became popular I used to stand in the grocery stores picking out the tiniest potatoes of whatever color they used to sell to make this dish. Now that purple potatoes are common and this mix too .........its a snap to make.


Easter Egg Potatoes

1 bag of sm. mixed colored potatoes
1 red onion, cut up in lg. pieces
1 stick of butter
Lots of chopped parsley

The trick that makes these potatoes so yummy is .......you simmer the potatoes covered in water. Add some salt and the chopped red onion and cook till tender. Drain well. The potatoes pick up a subtle onion flavor so the whole dish is pemeated with it not just in bites. Toss with butter and some parsley. Add more S & P to taste and serve. My kids just love these!

The leftovers are excellent for hashbrowns for breakfast the next day with some leftover ham and eggs. Ive even frozen what I had left and used it in a frittata another time.

No peeling just make sure potatoes are clean!

If you like things a bit more herbal , add a bit of chopped fresh dill to the dish too but it really doesnt need it.

Italian Potato Salad

This was my Italian mom in laws recipe. While we are partial to creamy potato salad, this one is a nice change.

ITALIAN POTATO SALAD

4-5 lg. potatoes

2 stalks celery

1/4 of a red onion, sliced very thin

lots of extra virgin olive oil (approx. 1/2c or to taste)

red wine vinegar (approx. 1/4c. or to taste)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2tsp. dried oregano

S and P to taste

Put potatoes in a lg pot and cover with water. Boil till potatoes are tender (If a fork goes in deep to the middle easy, they are done). Drain and let cool till you are able to handle them. Peel and slice potatoes (about 1/2in. thick or so) into a lg. bowl. Thinly slice the celery thinly across the ribs and add. Toss in red onion slices but separate them so they blend. (I rough chop mine after slicing because I do not like large pieces of raw onion, but thats just my preference) Drizzle olive oil over all and toss. Sprinkle with garlic powder, oregano, and S & P and toss again. Potato slices will break up as you toss and that's OK. Saves time when you slice so you don't have to make everything bite size to start with. Drizzle with red wine vinegar and toss again then taste. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 4-6.

This tastes best at room temperature and is great for picnics. No mayo to worry about getting warm and making anyone sick. Refrigerate if not using right away but take out a bit early to serve. Cold oil doesn't taste great. If you use lil red potatoes (like above) you don't have to peel them , just make sure they are clean.