Potato Soup and a quick apple dessert!

I'm convinced that potatoes cooked in any way are the best comfort food in the winter.  Maybe that's a result of my mom's Irish roots showing through her daughter's predominantly Italian cooking style.  Maybe it's a result of receiving 4 pounds of potatoes every few weeks from my farm share and having to create multiple potato recipes.  I'll call it an even mix of the two.

Potato Soup

• 4-5 small potatoes (I used Yukon gold, but red would work well too)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 and 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 3 T all purpose flour
• 2 cups 1% organic milk
• 1/4 cup low fat sour cream
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/8 t black pepper
• 1/8 t white pepper
• Toppings: chopped bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onion

Directions: (I apologize for the lack of pictures)
1. Peel and cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes.  Cover with water in pot and boil until tender (15-20 minutes).
2. While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat (I used a small dutch oven).  Add onion to the oil and saute for 3 minutes.  Then add the broth.
3. Combine flour with 1/2 cup of milk and whisk together to dissolve the flour.  Then add to broth and onion with the remaining milk.  Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring often or else the milk will burn on the bottom of the pot.
4. When boiling, cook for one minute.
5. Remove milk mixture from the stove and stir in sour cream, salt, and peppers.
6. When potatoes are done cooking, drain in colander and then add to the milk pot.  Using a potato masher or a fork, coarsely mash the potatoes into the soup.

I served the soup as an appetizer to the rest of dinner: pan-grilled steak, broccoli, and biscuits.  Unfortunately we were so hungry that I didn't take any pictures at all!  I do cook red meat every so often when I can find something that I'll agree to eat-- hormone free and antibiotic free are absolute criteria... grass fed beef is a plus.  I'll have to post my grill pan method of cooking steak next time.

As for my quick and easy dessert-- I had three mediocre apples hanging out on my kitchen counter.  I love having a farm share, but the apples we get in the middle of winter aren't exactly the best for eating fresh.  In comes a recipe that I have from my the preschool teacher I had when I was three years old, (yes, still keep in touch with her 21 years later) and it's really simple to throw together:

Mrs. Weidman's Apple Crisp

• 4 cups chopped apples
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/3 cup soft butter (I used Smart Balance)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spread apples into a 9x13 pan and sprinkle with the half cup of water first, then sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Then mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar, oats, and flour.  Add butter to the dry ingredients and cut in with a pastry blender.  I don't have a pastry blender so I just crumble the butter into the dry mix with my hands.  Add crumble to the top of the apples. 

Bake for 35 minutes, then stir apple crisp all together and serve warm. 

That pan?  Finished by 2 people. I only had 3 apples so my batch was cut in half.  You can also double the batch if you're feeding a bigger group.  It really works with any amount of apples you have sitting around, and you can't ever have too much crisp!  Hell if I ever get stuck with one random apple I might make this in 2 tiny ramekins.  Happy Monday!