Saturday, March 2, 2013

Weekend Cooking: More New Recipes

Yes, Pin It and Do It is over (for now), but I was home sick a couple days this week and turned to Pinterest for inspiration. My challenge was to find a few easy  recipes using only ingredients I had on hand... no trips to the grocery store allowed.


I started out with Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Smoked Paprika from The Lemon Bowl. A butternut squash was on the counter, but I didn't feel like peeling and chopping. For this recipe, I simply cut it in half, rubbed on some olive oil, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper, then roasted the squash. Once cooled, I scooped the squash into a soup pot, added chicken broth and let my immersion blender finish the job. It had a wonderfully warm, smoky flavor from the paprika, but I'll cut back on the cayenne pepper next time. (photo from Pinterest)


My next discovery isn't really a recipe at all, but a method for Quicker Baked Potatoes from she wears many hats. I'm usually a purist and bake potatoes whole - I never even use the microwave. Amy says to cut them in half, rub on an olive oil/kosher salt mixture and bake for 30 minutes. Parchment paper makes clean-up a breeze. I had sweet potatoes on hand, and we all loved the crispy, slightly salt texture of the skin. I may never bake a whole potato again!

Finally, I have Crock Pot Potato-Corn Chowder in my slow cooker today. It already smells good. I'll let you know how it turns out...

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.

29 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness. I'm really hungry now. The soup sounds fabulous and I'll pretty much eat a potato any way I can except for microwaved and those look so good. We do something like those but I toss the potatoes in a mix of garlic and oil and then roast them. A lot like these but maybe a bit more greasy I would say. The chowder sounds fabulous as well. On another note, I hope you're feeling much better!

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  2. Oh, humm. I've always been a baked potato purist too. Now I'm wondering about the cut in half quicker method. I'll have to add potatoes to the grocery list.

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  3. Seriously? I LOVE baked sweet potatoes but we rarely eat them because they do need to cook for so long and we're really really trying to eat dinner with Elle instead of after she goes to bed. Pinning this as well! (and since you have until tomorrow to submit posts I would totally count this...) ;)

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  4. WE all love our potatoes here and I always baked them whole..until now! Sounds good and I like the idea of crispy and salty!

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  5. What a great idea to cut them in half!!

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  6. These all sound like fun and easy recipes to try! I hope you are feeling much better. I am making chili in the crockpot this weekend. Love the aroma.

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  7. Sorry to hear you've been sick JoAnn. Hope you're back to normal now. I like all of your new ideas. I'm going to try the potatoes right away as this is a new trick for me too. I hope the chowder turns out yummy.

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    1. Margot - I'm much better now, thanks. You'll be surprised at how good the potatoes are, and so much quicker, too. The chowder was good, but a little bland... will need to add an extra something next time.

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  8. Like the pumpkin soup method. I will try this next time - I bet it tastes different because of the roasting. Cheers

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  9. I hope you are feeling better soon. All three of these sound delicious.

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  10. These all sound so delicious! I'm definitely going to try the baked potato trick - easy and perfect for when you're not feeling well.

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  11. I love sweet potatoes...I will have to try that method.

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  12. Yum, the butternut squash soup sounds so good, and I love sweet potatoes and corn chowder. Great choice of recipes :).

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  13. I've never thought about cutting a potato in half. I either cute them in cubes or leave them whole to roast. Nice idea!

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  14. What a wonderful idea to cut them in half to bake! Everything sounds wonderful. I have never had corn chowder!

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  15. I do actually microwave sweet potatoes, but that recipe looks great - I'll have to give it a try!

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  16. Mmmm, still sitting under the covers and my stomach is growling. I want to know how that chowder turns out, although I sent my All-Clad crock pot insert back for warranty replacement BEFORE CHRISTMAS and still haven't gotten it back. I'm having serious crock pot withdrawals and have vowed never to buy another All-Clad product again.

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    1. Sandy - The chowder was good, but seemed like it needed more flavor. Not sure how to tweak it yet, but it needs some adjusting. Thanks for the tip on the All-Clad products... very frustrating!

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  17. Those recipes all sound good. I may even try a microwave version of squash soup in my make-do "kitchen" -- that could be something to make during my remodel. Thanks for the idea!

    I am also going to find you on Pinterest!

    Rose City Reader

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    1. Gilion -You found me! I followed you, too :-)

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  18. Mmmm, I love potato soup. I can't wait to hear how your chowder turns out.

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    1. Angela - The potato-corn chowder is gone tonight, so I guess that means everyone like it! It seemed a little bland to me, but I didn't add all the salt the recipe called for - next time I'll follow it exactly ...and maybe add a little more pepper, too.

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  19. I've pinned the soup and potato recipes! Thanks for getting me back over to Pinterest. I've added a new board and deleted a few pins (recipes) that didn't work. I need to remember to look at Pinterest when I sit down to make my weekly menu! Lots of good recipes out there!

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    1. Les - Pinterest has made dinnertime around here much more interesting. I made the sweet potatoes again last night... think we'll be eating a lot more of them now!

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  20. Sounds all great! And I'd love a bowl of that hearty soup if I wasn't feeling too well... It looks so comforting! I hope it made you feel better?

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    1. gnoegnoe - The soup must have worked... I feel fine now ;-)

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  21. That butternut soup looks delicious. I love butternut soap, especially if its a bit spicy :)

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