Potato and Ham Soup

A quick search on the Yankee Belle Cafe blog will show you that we love soups around here. Chowders, Stews, Chilies, Soups... If it's cold and snowy outside (or even just cloudy and cool), we're getting out our Crock Pots, Instant Pots, or Stew Pots and whipping up some comfort food.

As you can see by the title of this post, today is no exception!

After a very mild week or so before Christmas, we finally got the winter weather we've been expecting. On Wednesday, a storm blew through bringing high winds, c-c-cold weather, and a few inches of snow to our area. East of us, in "East River," they got the real blizzard. 10" - 12" of snow, plus the cold and high winds.

One of my favorite pictures from last winter - we haven't been up
to the Hills since October!

At our house, cold weather means a fire in the wood stove and soup. We had some ham and potatoes, so I decided to try this recipe for my Instant Pot (no worries - you can easily fix it in your slow cooker or on top of the stove.)

Potato and Ham Soup
serves 8 - 10

ingredients:

6 - 8 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 8 cups)
4 stalks celery, chopped (about 2 cups)
4 carrots, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup frozen or canned corn (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons finely minced onion
1 pound ham, cubed
3 cups broth - ham, chicken, or vegetable
1 teaspoon rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

To add at the end of the cooking time: 2 cups whole milk or 1 cup half and half, 1 cup milk. And if you like your soup a bit thick and "chowdery," whisk a quarter cup of flour into the milk before adding it in.

*note: if you're using a slow cooker, add the rosemary and salt and pepper at the end of the cooking time.

Put the potatoes, vegetable, garlic, onion, ham, and broth in your pot and stir to combine.

Instant Pot: Lock the lid and set to cook on high pressure for 10 minutes (allow 30 minutes or so for the pot to come to pressure.) Let the pressure release naturally (about 15-20 minutes.) Switch the pot to the high slow cooker setting, then add the milk. Stir to combine and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Slow Cooker: Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 6 hours. Add the rosemary, salt, pepper, and milk, and stir to combine. Cook on high for another 30 minutes.

Stove top: Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer and let it cook for at least an hour. Add the milk and bring back to temperature (close to boiling, but not quite.)

That's it! Serve with your favorite toppings and some good bread, and I guarantee you'll feel warm all night. :-)

Are soups a part of your winter menu like they are for me?

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Easiest Pot Roast Ever Makes for TWO Great Meals

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings is to watch the Food Network. If I'm cleaning or working around the house, I like to have it on because I never know what I might discover. Like this totally different pot roast recipe.

You can find all the details here: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mississippi-pot-roast-3517283

Though it's still done in a Crock Pot, this is not your typical brown gravy, onions/carrots/potatoes roast beef. Aside from being uber easy, it has a unique flavor that lends itself to some wonderful leftover possibilities.

Gather all of your ingredients.

Place the roast in the bottom of your slow-cooker and simply toss the other ingredients on top of it.

Put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove roast to plate and allow to rest 10-15 minutes.

Now, armed with a couple of forks, simply pull the roast apart and serve as you like.

Depending on the size of your roast and how many people you're feeding, you'll likely have leftovers. I always get a roast that's slightly bigger than I need so I'll be guaranteed to have leftovers for another quick and easy meal.

A couple of days later, it was time for roast beef sandwiches. However, since the flavors of this roast are so different and a little bit tangy, this calls for a different kind of roast beef sandwich.

Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add two slices of rye bread.

Top each with a slice of provolone cheese. I picked provolone because it's a mellow Italian cheese, perfect with the flavors of the meat.

Add some of your leftover roast to one side. Be sure to get some of the pepperoncini in there.

Cover with the other side and grill until both sides are toasted to a golden brown.

Since was for dinner, I cooked up some sweet potato fries as a side dish. The sweetness of the fries was a perfect match for the tanginess of the sandwich.

Now that's some good eatin'. Best of all, I had two meals that involved very little effort on my part, which gave me more time to write. 

Well, we finally got a tiny bit of rain here at the ranch. Emphasis on tiny, though it was a very soothing rain. And with the sun still shining, made for a nice photo op. 

That's Spanish moss dripping from the trees, but if you look closely, especially there on the bark of that darker limb, you'll see little diagonal lines. That's our rain.

So what do you think about this variation on your typical pot roast? Would you give it a try?

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Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus, lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children, two dogs and countless cattle. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining and sometimes adventurous manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com.