Lip Smackin' Good Sweet Potato Bisque with Truffle Oil

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


     Most members of my family do not get excited about sweet potatoes.  I happen to like them, and so does my mom.  So most years I make them mainly for the two of us and I'm always trying different recipes hoping that someone else will come around to them.  For a long time I was always making a sweet version with maple syrup, brown sugar or a struesel topping.  Both my mom and I always enjoyed them, but there were always so many left over.  Finally, last year, I decided to make a more savory version and just simply made mashed sweet potatoes.  This was much more popular, so I realized I needed to give up on the sweet, sweet potatoes.

     Even though more of the family ate the mashed sweet potatoes, there were still leftovers.  So to use them up, I created a sweet potato bisque, which was even more popular than the mashed sweet potatoes.  It was definitely a savory bisque with onion, garlic and even a little bit of hot sauce.  It really turned out to be a good combination of flavors.  There is just a little bit of sweetness from the sweet potatoes and then there are the flavors of the garlic and onion, with just a hint of heat in the background.

     This year I decided that I'm going to make the bisque for Thanksgiving and serve it as an appetizer.  I'm also going to bump it up a notch and drizzle it with a little white truffle oil (YUM).

Sweet Potato Bisque with Truffle Oil

• 4 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used already cubed)
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups chicken stock
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• hot sauce to taste
• salt and pepper
• truffle oil for serving

Put sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender.  Drain.

Meanwhile, chop onion and garlic.  Melt butter in a dutch oven or other large pot over medium heat.  Add onions along with a little salt and peppr and saute for about 5 minutes, until translucent.  Add garlic and saute for another minute.

Add cooked sweet potatoes to the pot.  Mash with a potato masher and add milk and chicken stock.

Add nutmeg.

Puree bisque either with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.  

Add hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat through and let simmer for a few minutes to let flavors combine.

Dish into individual bowls and drizzle with truffle oil.  Serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 11/22/11
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 11/23/11
Shared at Easy Natural Food on 12/4/11

An At-Home Date Night with My Sweetie and Seafood Chowder

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      Even though Nicole and Kelly are both off at college and Alex is a junior in high school, it still seems odd when Steve and I find ourselves at home without any of the kids around.  That's just what happened on Saturday night.  Neither one of the girls had come home for the weekend and Alex was busy performing in his school play (which we'd already been to several times).  So it was just the two of us.  Earlier in the week I thought that maybe we'd go out somewhere for dinner, but in the end we both felt like staying home for the evening.

     Since we decided to stay home, I thought it would be nice to make something special for dinner, have some wine and enjoy each other's company.  The meal that came to mind for me was seafood chowder, it feels very special but it's really not that difficult to make.  It also makes a large batch, so I knew there would be plenty of leftovers to freeze for later.  To round out the meal I very simply dressed some mixed greens with really good quality balsamic vinegar and olive oil and I spread some crusty multi-grain bread with garlic herb butter and popped it under the broiler.  Add to that Earth, Wind and Fire radio on Pandora and we had all the makings for a lovely date night!

Seafood Chowder

 Adapted From Pampered Chef's Celebrate

• 4-5 medium red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 1 lb)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 large ribs celery, sliced
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped
• 2 - 6 1/2 oz cans chopped clams, drained, reserving clam juice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 lb bay scallops
• 1 lb cooked medium shrimp peeled and tails removed
• 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped



Chop all of your veggies.

Drain clams, reserving clam juice.  If clam juice does not measure 1 cup, add enough water to equal 1 cup.

Melt butter in a large dutch oven.
Add onions, carrots, celery and red pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes and the  add potatoes and continue cooking until onions are translucent

Add clam juice, chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, place flour in a medium size bowl and gradually whisk half and half into flour.  Whisk until smooth.

Add clams, scallops and shrimp to chowder.  Gradually whisk in flour mixture.  Return to a boil and cook two minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly.  Add parsley and taste to see if chowder needs more salt or pepper. Cover until ready to serve.

ENJOY!

Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 11/9/11
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 11/10/11
Shared at Easy Natural Food on 12/18/11.

Curried Pumpkin Soup, a Perfect Lunch for an Autumn Day

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


     Today is one of those chilly, cloudy autumn days that just make you want to curl up.  Since Steve is working from home today (and so I had someone to eat with), I thought some nice warm soup would make a perfect lunch for us.  I am stocked up on canned pumpkin, so why not make a pumpkin soup?

     I wanted something on the spicy side.  I figured that would really help to warm us up and forget how chilly it is outside!  So curried pumpkin soup it was.  I had the curry spice, some coconut milk and of course, I had just made a very large batch of chicken stock.  I figured that was a good base for what I wanted to do.  The end product really was not much more complicated than that.  The only other things I added were onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and cilantro.

     It turned out nice and spicy.  The coconut milk was really just a note in the background, adding just a little sweetness to help balance the spiciness.  The curry came through and the cilantro added some nice flavor.

Curried Pumpkin Soup



• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to your taste)
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder (again, more or less to your taste)
• salt and pepper
• 1 14 oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup lite coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• chopped cilantro for garnish

Chop the onion, garlic and cilantro.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a soup pot.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes, then add red pepper flakes and garlic.

Add salt and pepper to taste and the curry powder.

Stir in pumpkin puree.

Add coconut milk and combine.

Add chicken stock and stir in.

Finally, puree the soup until smooth.  I use an immersion blender, but you could also use a blender or food processor.

Serve with chopped cilantro.

ENJOY!


Shared on Newlyweds Blog on 10/25/11
Shared on Lady Behind the Curtain on 10/26/11
Shared on Hugs and Cookies XOXO on 10/26/11
Shared on Deelicious Sweets on 10/30/11
Shared on This Chick Cooks on 11/30/11
Shared on Family Fresh Meals on 11/30/11
Shared on Easy Natural Food on 1/1/12

Chicken Noodle Soup with an Italian Twist

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      Monday was a bit of a scavenger hunt in the kitchen when it came time to make dinner.  I had nothing planned and I REALLY didn't want to go to the grocery store....so I started foraging around the pantry and the fridge and freezer.  It's amazing what you can find when you know you need to make dinner and don't want to shop.  The first thing I figured out was that I wanted to make soup.  I had everything I needed to make traditional chicken noodle soup, but I really felt. like something with a little more pizazz...so a little more foraging and I had it.  I would make chicken noodle soup with an italian twist!

     How was I going to do this, you ask?  Well, I already had shredded chicken in the freezer, so the chicken part was taken care of.  I also had roasted red peppers and onions in the freezer as well as white wine, garlic, cannellini beans and a bountiful supply of canned tomatoes.  So along with the usual suspects for chicken noodle soup (chicken stock, carrots, celery, pasta), I was set.  I now had a plan!

    The end result was pretty darn tasty.  I put some red pepper flakes into it, so it had a little bit of zing to it.  It made a nice big pot of soup, so we are now reaping the rewards and have a lot of leftovers for lunch.

     If you decide to make this yourself but don't have any cooked chicken or roasted peppers and onions on hand, I have a couple of tips for you.  For the chicken, you could either use a rotisserie chicken, or you could cut up a pound of boneless chicken breasts.  Add the uncooked chicken to the soup and it will poach in the broth.  For the peppers and onions, you could either use a jar of roasted red peppers, or just cut up a fresh one and instead of the roasted onion, just cut up a raw onion.

Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup



• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups roasted red peppers and onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp herbes de Provence
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 6 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup short cut pasta (I used whole wheat fusilli)

First, get all your vegetables prepped.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add carrots and celery season with a small amount of salt and pepper.  Saute for a couple of minutes.

Add peppers, onion and garlic to the pan and combine.  Add red pepper flakes and herb de Provence and saute until peppers and onions are warm.

Add wine to pan, bring to a boil and allow to cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the beans and combine. Then add tomatoes and combine.

Then add the chicken stock and the chicken and bring to a boil.

Once soup is boiling, add peas and pasta.  Cook for about 10 more minutes, until pasta is tender.

When pasta is tender, turn off heat and stir in parsley.

Serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at Recipes for My Boys on 10/13/11
Shared at Everday Sisters on 10/17/11
Shared at Easy Natural Food on 12/11/11