EASIEST BLENDER VICHYSOISSE

Photo By Carol Guilford

From The New Cook’s Cookbook, available in E-bookfrom Amazon.

 I wrote: “Vichysoisse is mainly known as an appetizer soup, but I also like it as a main course—a dinner to serve on unbearably hot summer days when all you really want to do is sit in a tub of ice water and sip a gin and tonic. “

Satisfying paired with a fresh fruit salad.

4 servings

Utensils: blender, small saucepan and lid

1 ½  cups raw potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 large baking potato)

½ cup sliced leeks (white part only)

        or

½ cup sliced green onions (white part only)

2 cups chicken broth

       Go organic, sold in quart-size

¼ teaspoon curry powder

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup milk, or add milk to consistency you like

fresh chives, chopped *

1.      Wash, peel and dice the potato(s).  Cut off the whiskers and peel off the thin onion skin of the leeks or green onions.  Slice the bulbs thinly.

2.      Put the potatoes, leeks and chicken soup into a small saucepan.  Use medium heat to  bring the liquid to a boil, then cover the saucepan and adjust the heat so that the liquid will gently boil.  Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

3.      While still hot, pour everything in the saucepan into the blender container.  Add the curry powder. Cover the container and blend for 30 seconds. Pour the cream into the blender. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add the milk.  Take a taste and add salt, to taste.

4.      Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.  I don’t even pour the soup into a container; I just put the blender into the fridge. Mix well before serving.  Top individual bowls with chives. 

* My neighbor, Catherine gave me a great tip about chives that will turn brown in a New York minute.  She cuts them and freezes them--then they are ready and fresh for use, such as on a baked potato with sour cream and chives.

EASIEST SARDINAS EN CAZUELA (Sardines in Casserole)

Adapted from The Art of Spanish Cooking, (Doubleday, 1963) by Betty Wason (1912-2001.

Wason, notably,  was a war correspondent for CBS during World War 11, a time when discrimination against women reporters was common.  

She authored 24 books, including Bride in the Kitchen and Cooking Without Cans.

If I wrote ‘cute,’ the title of this recipe would be “Day Before Payday Dinner.”

You need a small casserole.  The picture of the dish below is in my ancient ceramic Corningware deal. I went on line to see if Corningware was even around today (it is) but it is made in China, not in Corning, NY. Very inexpensive. I was amazed by the reviews.  I never even had a lid; evidently, now there are plastic lids and the complaints were beaucoup. I don’t use this small 15-ounce (5X7) to cook a casserole that needs covering or to store anything, so... An 8X8 glass Pyrex works too. 

2 tins sardines  

Sardines can be stinky, even the expensive ones. I used Beach Cliff  in water, made by Bumble Bee that vouches for their sustainability.

½ cup olive oil

1 cup sweet onions, chopped fine

1 (4-ounce) can  Dromedary pimentos or Trader Joe's fire- roasted red peppers, sliced small. 

kosher salt

1.      To prep, rinse the sardines (in tin) quickly, and drain.  Drain the pimentos and pat dry. Chop the onion.

2.      Put ¼ cup oil into the bottom of the casserole.  Spread out the chopped onions over the oil. 

3.      Arrange the sardines over the onions, then arrange the pimientos over the sardines.  Cover with ¼ cup olive oil.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.

4.      Bake, uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

 

Wason writes: “Serve hot from the casserole with forks and crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Astonishingly good.  I hesitate to give servings for this, for once I ate half the casserole all by myself. As an appetizer, it should serve 4 to six.”

Photos by Carol Guilford