It snowed all day today. I stayed home and baked bread this morning. I used the basic white bread recipe in the book that comes with my KitchenAid mixer. The dough hook did the kneading and I let the bread rise in a cupboard that has a heating duct behind it. It rose better than any bread I've ever made, and tasted wonderful. I decided to make soup to go with the bread for dinner. I managed a good soup from ingredients that I had, since I didn't want to go out in the snow. Here is the recipe, more or less the way I did it. It's a combination of ideas from The Joy of Cooking and other sources.
3 T butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 lb (2 large) potatoes, cut in cubes
1 can chicken broth
4 cups water
2/3 lb (2 medium) zucchini, shredded in food processor
1 carrot, shredded in food processor
1/3 C dry sherry
juice of 1/3 lemon
white pepper, nutmeg
Melt the butter in a large pot (4 qts). Cook the onion for about 10 minutes and then add the garlic and cook about 5 more minutes until all is soft. Add potato cubes, broth, and water. Cook about 20 minutes. Add shredded zucchini and carrots. Cook around 10 minutes more, until potatoes are soft.
Strain to remove liquid and puree the solid part in the food processor. Add the puree back into the liquid. Stir well. Add sherry and lemon juice. Season with pepper and nutmeg. Serve or wait awhile and reheat if necessary.
(If I had an immersion blender, I would use it instead of the food processor, saving a dirty pot and strainer. If I were doing it this way, I also would just slice, not shred, the zucchini and carrots, since they get pureed anyway.)
Served with a dollop of sour cream and lots of bread, butter and cheese. The two of us ate up a little more than half the soup. It would serve 6 or 8 as a first course.
