As you might have guessed from the limited number of posts on Finding Joy in My Kitchen in recent days SnoWhite is out of town. This has meant that I have not been able to enjoy of SnoWhite's wonderful cooking and that I, like many of you, have had to figure this cooking thing out.
Fortunately, I know how to turn on the oven and I can search through the recipes to find something good to eat. Unfortunately, SnoWhite has the camera with her so I cannot take salivating pictures of the foods that I am making like she does.
Last night, I tried the Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup and I decided to make a few changes to recipe because I like to do that and I think experimenting is half the fun of cooking.
First off, I decided that after boiling the potatoes and adding the broccoli that I would make the cream base somewhat following the suggestion in the potato soup recipe. I like the consistency of the cream base in this soup better, so rather than using the milk suggested in cheesy broccoli potato I used the half and half, a little more water, a little corn starch, and flour. When I added the half and half I removed the pot from the flame, this avoids the curdling of the mixture when you add milk or half and half.
Second, I decided that the recipe may benefit from a little bit of butter (about a 1 tablespoon), some garlic, and more pepper. I do not like to use measuring cups or teaspoons as I think half the fun of cooking is just throwing things together, tasting what I make as I go, and adjusting as I see fit. This is what I did, I added the garlic and pepper, and brought the mixture to a boil and tasted what I had a few times to see if I liked it.
After it boiled, I removed the pot from the heat and let it cool for two or three minutes. Then, I added extra sharp cheese slowly to the mixture I had created. I did this slowly by adding a little bit of cheese at a time and stirring it in. I do not like adding the cheese when the mixture just finishes boiling because I would not get the right consistency and I think this is important.
Finally, when you have mixed in all of the cheese I added parpika (liberally) and a little bit of salt.
It tasted really good; sorry I do not have any pictures.
I also apologize that I do not have exact amounts for the modifications since I did not exactly measure as I was throwing the soup together. Anyway, I hope that my modifications may inspire you to modify other recipes from SnoWhite. Some of her recipes are pretty similar and I think it is fun to mix and match a few different things and see what you come up with.
I may try to post another recipe in the next couple of days if I get a chance.
Thanks for reading...
Frog Prince
