Potato and ham soup

There's something freeing about only loosely following a recipe when you're in the kitchen. Yesterday, I did just that. I made a huge pot of potato and ham soup, mostly made by experimentation rather than strictly following any one recipe, and happily it worked out rather well. It needs a few adjustments if I ever make a batch again, like smaller chunks of ham, creamier milk, and perhaps a bit more salt, but over all, I enjoy what it turned into.

The ingredients are wonderfully simple, too. It's 3 parts milk to 2 parts water, then you add in chopped and cubed pieces of ham (remember to cut off the rind if it's there), a small amount of finely chopped onion, 3 tablespoon of flour to help thicken the mix, then some salt and pepper to taste. Then just wait for it all to cook, and voila, you've got a nice batch of soup.

Or chowder, technically, since it's made with milk, but since I always think of chowder as being much thicker and more packed full of various ingredients, what I made last night is still soup to me.

I learned a few things in the process, too. Like remembering to always be on hand to stir the soup when you're making it with milk, because if you don't it can and will foam over, or get a skin.

No word on how long this soup will keep, as I only made it last night. All I can tell you is that it's still fine this morning, but for all I know that will change by nightfall. I sure hope not, though.

We're supposed to get a lot of rainfall today and tonight, which means that in all likelyhiid the snow will melt and then all the water will freeze over to make the streets into skating rinks. Fortunately, there isn't anything I particularly need to leave the apartment for today, and possibly tomorrow too, so I'm content to stay comfortable inside while all this happens. I've got plenty of food and drink, and am not likely to run out of essentials suddenly before the horrible weather passes.

I knocked on wood as soon as I finished typing that, just to be safe.

Take care, wherever you are, and stay warm and dry!

Kitchen experimentation!

Yesterday I experimented with some leftovers and made a rather tasty turkey hash. It's simple to make, and is pretty yummy too. So I figured I'd post a recipe here, for any readers who want it and just in case some day I forget it.

Turkey hash
Serving for 1 person

1 potato

leftover pieces of turkey

Butter or margarine

Water

Tasty spices

1. Peel the potato, then dice it, lots of little pieces.
2. Take some leftover little scraps of turkey, about a small handful, and rip it or cut it up into small pieces too. White or dark meat, whichever you prefer. (I used a mix of both.)
3. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and add a teaspoon of butter or margarine to the pan. Cooking spray may work well too, but I find using butter or margarine adds a little extra flavour.
4. When it's hot enough, put the potato-and-turkey mix into the pan.
5. When the mix starts to stick to the bottom of the pan a little, pour a little bit of water in, about enough to make it a millimetre or two high.
6. Keep mixing the mixture around with a spatula, so that it doesn't burn or stick. Do this until all (or at least most) of the liquid is gone.
7. Add your spices. I used Lowry's Seasoning Salt and a dash of No-Salt Herb and Garlic seasoning. Mix this all into the potatoes and turkey.
8. Put on a plate and eat!

Quick and easy. The cooking takes less than 10 minutes. Really, dicing the potatoes took longer to do, and the meal was well worth it. I have enough leftover potato that I think I'll make myself another serving for lunch!