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Thursday, September 25, 2008
dinner for the new great depression
Oh, now that's a really cheery thought. (My confidence in government bailouts is not so strong. I'm feeling very October-1929ish these days; how about you? Have been for months, actually. Hence the extra push toward self-sufficiency. Wacko survivalists, that's us.)
Seriously, though, last night I made potato soup for the first time in a long time and it was a huge hit. Considering that (in pre-crash dollars) it only cost about $3.50 to make enough for two meals for all four of us*, plus about 40c for saltines, I'm thinking this will be in our regular rotation from here on out. (Also, if we had a good garden and goats, we could make it almost entirely from things we grew ourselves. Next year!)
*except we were little piggies and overstuffed ourselves (especially me) so we ate it all at once. Bad us! That is not using it up, wearing it out, making it do, or doing without. But we could have been comfortably not-hungry and had enough leftover for tonight.
OK, without further ado, let me put my Betty Crocker hat on and type out the recipe.
Cut 1/2 pound of bacon into 1/2" to 1" slices; brown in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat.
When the bacon is almost cooked, add about half an onion, chopped. Cook together until the onion begins to brown.
Meanwhile, cut 6 potatoes (peeled if you prefer) into smallish cubes. Add to bacon and onion and cook for a few minutes. Then drain off some of the fat and add enough broth (your choice -- I use water and chicken bouillon cubes) to cover all the potatoes -- about 3 cups. Simmer for 15 minutes, until potatoes are soft.
Add 2 cups of milk along with plenty of salt and pepper, and bring nearly to a boil (actually, full disclosure, mine boiled, which I think goes against some deep and strong "Thou Shalt Not Boil Milk" cooking tradition, but it didn't harm my soup any). Then add 1 cup of milk thoroughly mixed with 1/3 cup of flour, and cook until hot and thickened.
This is easily expandable. Leaving the bacon the same, add more potatoes, more broth, and a little more milk, and you can make a batch that will feed six people twice, if nobody's greedy.
You can use cream or half and half if it makes you happier. I had 2% milk on hand this time, so that's what I used, but I usually use 1% or nonfat.
Also, you can add whatever vegetables you like to this. You could get in all three of your major vegetable requirements for the day if you added some carrot and broccoli, for example. (I've done the carrot, but never the broccoli... yet.) You can make it without the bacon -- just use a little oil to brown the onions and potatoes. Of course it loses some flavor, but it also loses some fat and is cheaper that way.
You can also add cheese if you want to. My husband thinks (silly man) that cheese and potatoes should never, no never ever, be placed in any kind of near proximity to one another, and also we were out of cheese, and furthermore we are all already fat enough, so I left it out. It's fine without, and cheaper.
Comments
Perhaps we shall call it the "Great Depression 2" or "The Greater depression" "The Next Depression" "Great Depression part duex" So many fun titles!!
Posted by: debi at September 25, 2008 12:30 PM
My husband is the opposite; he's not a big fan of mashed potatoes, but was very near to admitting he liked the ones I made a week or so ago, with some garlic and looooooots of cheese.
I think it must be rather hard to be a conservative these days, with the people proclaiming themselves in your camp asking for control of lots and lots of money with no oversight. I know that as a liberal-ish type I was much happier after I realized that didn't mean I had to like Bill Clinton; I'm thinking being an old-skool conservative (i.e. limited small government) must be a lot like that.
Posted by: dichroic at September 25, 2008 11:01 PM
PS. My vote for Depression cooking is 'throw it all into crockpot: whatever meat and veg you happen to have around, some broth and some spices. More broth for soup, less for stew. Less meat if you happen to have less meat on hand - I think my chili recipe, for instance, would be just fine with half the beef and with more beans, or with real beans soaked overnight instead of the canned ones I use, or with half the quantity served over spaghetti instead of just with bread, to make two dinners instead of one.
Posted by: dichroic at September 25, 2008 11:05 PM
Paula, you're completely right about being a conservative right now. Honestly, it's hard to identify myself as a Republican when so many of that party's policies and actions make me just as annoyed/angry/disillusioned as anything the Democrats could say. Like Reagan said about the Democratic party, "it walked away from me." Unfortunately, there's nowhere else viable to go.
Posted by: Rachel at September 25, 2008 11:30 PM
That soup recipe sounds like my Curry potatoe soup recipe. I use coconut milk and curry paste instead of broth and regular milk - vegan bacon bits instead of bacon and I add corn. SO yummy.
Posted by: jennifer at September 26, 2008 12:44 PM
