EASY! Large Crowd Roasted Potato, Cheddar and Broccoli Soup

Need a warm comfort food? Here is another potato soup, with roasted potatoes. So easy and GOOD!

I'm using a 20 quart roaster. Yes. Big pots and cookers are prized around here. Roasters are only about $40.00 - we even roast our turkey in it to save oven space. Love my roaster!

You will have reduce the size of the recipe for your crowd, or just invite the church over.
I started this early in the day, 11 a.m. It will be perfect in time for dinner at 6:30 p.m.

What you need:
15-20 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
3-4 large onions, sliced
2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 cup minced garlic
3-4 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. of Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, sage mix)
1/2 c. olive oil
3 quarts of chicken broth
10 cups of broccoli
1 15 oz. evaporated milk
2 cups half-n-half
*You can add more evaporated milk if you want. I only had one can, but would have added three to this.
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Add to roaster:
Yukon Gold Potatoes - peeled and cubed - The kind of potato is important. These are my favorite, they taste like butter when roasted!
large onions
Tbsp. salt
minced garlic
onion powder
pepper
Italian seasoning
olive oil
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 Set the roaster at 450 or the highest setting. Stir continually, roasting the potatoes to perfection. They will bubble and crisp up. I roasted mine for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The first hour on high, turn down to 350 for the last 45 minutes.  YUM!

Next:

Add 3 quarts of chicken broth. When I have homemade, I use it. If not, I like Swansons Natural Chicken Broth. Now it will simmer, until almost supper time. If you have a cold, you have an excuse to eat some now. But steaming for a few more hours until the final ingredients are added is better!

Finally:
Add the broccoli, evaporated milk, half-n-half and cheese.  Simmer until the broccoli is as tender as you want. We simmered maybe 20 minutes.

OH BOY!

That's it. It's not going to last for me to get a better picture when it's daylight! Enjoy! This is simple, and can cook most of the day while you tend to other things. 

Theresa

Crockpot Meals: Chicken and Dumplings

I wasn't sure how often I was going to use my crockpot when I got it, but now I'm so glad I got that for Christmas! I love using it. Even though there is only two of us to cook for right now, I love being able to start dinner early, and add things in here and there over the afternoon.

I'm currently looking for more good crockpot recipes, if anyone has recipes they would like to share, please do! I made chicken and dumplings on Saturday, thought I'd share the recipe...

Chicken and Dumplings

It's been a little strange planning meals and making up recipes for only two people. It took a while for me to start seeing things in little portions and sizes. I've cooked for years with several pounds of meat for a big family, not one chicken breast in the pot for two of us! I'm sure I'll laugh one day thinking back on when dinner was one piece of chicken...

This recipe makes about 6-8 servings. I always plan about 1 lb. of chicken per meal for us, and this made plenty. Double or triple this recipe according to the size of your family. A doubled recipe would still fit in the crockpot, but if tripled I would use a big stock pot, over low heat.  

Turn on the crockpot to high, and add 1/4 cup butter and 1- 1 1/2 lb. of chicken chicken breast. Heat just until the butter is melted and the pot is hot. Add:

     1 tsp. dried thyme

     1-1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (I love extra pepper!)

     1/2 tsp. crushed rosemary

     1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

     1 tbsp. mined garlic

     2 1/2 tsp. sea salt

     3 cups water

Cover and cook on high in crockpot (medium heat for stovetop) for 2 hours. Then add: 

     1 large onion, chopped

     2 cups carrots, thickly sliced

     1 1/2 cups celery, thickly sliced

     1/4 cup chopped celery leaves

     3 cups of water, or chicken broth (I added 1 tbsp. of chicken bouillon and 3 cups of water)

     1/3 cup white wine or sherry (optional)     

Cook for another 2 hours on high, until vegetables are tender. 

Remove the chicken breast and shred it into large pieces. Add the chicken back into the crockpot. Taste the broth and add any extra salt or spices needed. Ready to make the dumplings!

The Dumplings

In a bowl add: 

     1 1/4 cups soft wheat flour 

     1 cup unbleached white flour (I love the King Arthur brand of unbleached flour!)

     1 tbsp. baking powder

     1 tsp. sea salt

     2 tbsp. fresh or dried chopped parsley

     

Whisk together, and make a well in the center of the mixture. In the center add: 

     1/3 cup melted butter

     1/2 cup half & half

     1/4 cup water or milk 

     1 large egg

Mix with a fork just until combined. I started this in the crockpot, but moved it to a stock pot on the stove to cook the dumplings. I had figured that the dumplings would take about 1 hour minimum to cook in the crockpot, and we wanted to eat sooner. I'll start this a little bit earlier next time! Dumplings only take about 20 minutes in a pot on the stove. 

For crockpot: add the dumpling batter by 1/4 cup scoops into the pot, one scoop next to the other, not on top of each other. Cover and cook for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into a center dumpling comes out clean. 

For stovetop: bring chicken soup to a low boil over medium-high heat, then add the dumpling batter by 1/4 cup scoops, just like the crockpot instructions. Lower heat to medium-low, just high enough to keep the mixture bubbling. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a center dumpling comes out clean. 

Dinner is ready... Enjoy the recipe! Jessica