Rhubarb Soup

*Sorry about the photo quality. I dropped my camera, broke it and had to borrow my dad's Kodak.*

Rhubarb Soup
Nope you didn't misread that! It's soup with rhubarb AND it's delicious. Really. I had 4 servings and everyone else had seconds - :P

This is my adaption of the Spring Pottage Recipe from this article in the Grit magazine : Sweet and Savory Recipes for Rhubarb. This is a great article with lots of interesting facts about rhubarb.

~
Rhubarb is a leafy green vegetable like celery or swiss chard, but in 1947 the U.S. Customs Court passed a ruling that rhubarb should be classified as a fruit and forever after rhubarb was eaten with pounds of sugar.

This recipe uses the tartness of rhubarb instead of covering it up with sugar.

It adds a touch of citric acid without the danger of curdling the cream.

Just remember, the ancient Chinese used rhubarb as a purgative. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Rhubarb Soup

2 Tbs olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 cups potatoes - cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup carrots - cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cups celery - cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups diced rhubarb - soaked in salt water before using

2 tsp roasted garlic paste

2 Tbs honey

4 cups hot vegetable stock (*cheater's recipe below)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp sweet marjoram

salt and pepper

1 cup heavy cream

Saute onion in olive oil until golden. Add vegetable broth, potatoes, carrots, garlic paste, honey and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add celery and rhubarb, simmer for 2-3 mins. Add marjoram, salt and pepper. Remove and discard bay leaves bay leaves. Remove soup from heat and gently stir in cream. Serve.

Cheater's Vegetable Stock

1 pkg Knorr Vegetable Soup

1/2 cup white wine

2 Tbs golden miso

2 tsp soy sauce

4 cups water

Fresh rhubarb from my garden. Since moving into my house, this is the first time in 5 years that I have harvested any rhubarb. Or eaten any rhubarb.







Chopping rhubarb

Soaking rhubarb in salt water

Sauteing onion

Simmering soup

Almost ready!

Adding cream.

Yum!

This is sooooo tasty!

My Mom hates rhubarb and she even had seconds!

This is the best rhubarb recipe ever and it can make a rhubarb hater a rhubarb lover.

Mushroom Stroganoff

This is a nice quick winter dinner.

It's warm, creamy and mushroom meaty.

~

3 Tbs butter

1 med onion - chopped

3 cup sliced mushrooms (I used a mix of fresh and canned)

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups sour cream (you can use less if you want to)

3 Tbs. flour

cooked egg noodles

salt/pepper

~

Saute onion in butter until onion is transparent. Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt. Cook mushrooms until all liquid is reduced. Mix in flour. Add vegetable broth and sour cream. Mix in cooked egg noodles. Flavor with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Purple Potatoes

Remember waaaaay back when I told you about my purple potatoes?

And how they were so sweet and yummy?

They're actually blue potatoes - a variety called "All Blue", because they not only have 'blue' skin, but blue flesh too.

Do these potatoes look blue to you?

Whatever, it was probably named by a color blind man.

No offense men!

but you're more likely to be color unaware.

This is the only recipe for scalloped potatoes you will ever need.

Really.

No joke.

Write this down.

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Onions

Cream

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

Chop onions

Thinly slice potatoes.
Your color choice.


In a greased baking dish layer potatoes and onions.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and nutmeg lightly over each layer.



Keep making layers.

Pour your cream over the top until it covers the potatoes.

It should look like this.
And I hope you are not making this with milk!

No cheating!

You have to use whole fat yummy CREAM.

It won't work with milk - not even 2%.

Sprinkle on some more pepper, salt and nutmeg.

Bake at 350 degrees - until bubbly and light golden brown on top.

About 1 hour.

Now looking at the pics - when it's cold it looks blue, when it gets warmed up it looks purple.

So weird.

But tasty.