Horsein’ Around With Soup.

If you were not aware, January is National Soup Month. I love a good potato soup recipe and to celebrate National Soup Month, I thought I’d go looking for a new-to-me recipe. I found this Potato Soup with Horseradish from the Hengstenberg website. The ingredients on the list didn’t seem too far-fetched or crazy, the recipe is fairly simple. Perhaps the only complicated part of this recipe may be the conversion of grams and liters and what nots. So I had some side notes of what I thought were the correct converted versions, but I’ll let you all covert your own (it’s quite easy when one can Google and find an answer!) – there was some guessing involved in some, or I should say, estimation approximations.

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You can easily download or print the recipe from the Hensgenberg website and have it handy for when you’re in the kitchen. There is some prep work to do – cutting of potatoes, an onion and a little bit of cauliflower. Eventually the onions and the potatoes make their way into a pot with butter to fry up a bit. Then comes vegetable stock to the onions and potoatoes, they get happy happy for a while.

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While that’s simmering, the bits of cauliflower are tossed into the oven on parchment paper, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper to taste. The cauliflower gets happy happy in the oven for about 12 minutes. Once that is done, it can sit out and cool off.

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At this time you can fry up some bacon to be used later for garnish. Also, you will want to mix the sour cream and Hengstenberg Hot & Spicy Horseradish in a bowl until well combined. That mixture can be set aside.

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Once the potatoes, onions and veggie stock have simmered for approximately 25 minutes or so, you’ll add the horseradish and sour cream mixture to the pot, remove from heat and then use a hand blender to purée.

My family has been interested in a hand blender for cooking and food preparation, so this was an excellent opportunity to get one and try it out for ourselves. I picked up this Kitchen Aid Hand Blender to try out. It was not very expensive at all. There are some brands and models that can get up in price, but if you’re just starting out, stay in a lower price range!

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Once the mixture has been blended and puréed, the soup is almost ready! Place in a bowl, garnish with the roasted cauliflower and bacon and some parsley. Our soup that we made did NOT have parsley added to it, only because I couldn’t find fresh parsley at the one quick store stop that I made earlier today.

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Below is our finished soup. Our soup is much darker in color than what is shown in the Hengstenberg recipe. We think we may just have darker vegetable soup stock here than what they had on hand and/or maybe we didn’t have enough potatoes added in the mix. Maybe we added TOO much vegetable stock? We aren’t sure, but it did taste delicious! We did have to add a little extra salt and pepper for taste. What’s fun about trying these recipes out is that you can tweak it and make it your own! Mine may not look as pretty as what was presented with the recipe, but it turned out great! Next time we try this recipe, we may add in a little more seasoning and play with some other ideas. Try this recipe and tell us how yours turned out!

 

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Buttery Bliss.

The holiday season is here! With it comes time with family, loved ones, friends and DSC_0010maybe even the opportunity to meet new acquaintances. Sometimes these events and gatherings take place in the morning, maybe later in the day or evening. But one thing I can say that can be enjoyed any time of day or night is this: shortbread. Great as a dunking partner with your morning cup of Joe or with your afternoon tea, or perhaps as a side dessert item with a cordial after dinner, shortbread goes well with just about anything.

We’ve talked about a lot of different cookies, butter cookies and shortbread, and again, we have another variety to bring to you attention! Walkers Shortbread has got some awesome shortbread cookies and other baked delights. As do many of the products featured here at Gourmet Nibbles, Walkers reminds me of days growing up and visiting my grandparents house and seeing these baked treasures out on the table. They weren’t always out, they only made an appearance for special occasions.

What I love best about Walkers Shortbread is the packed butter flavor, with a dense, yet flaky finish that leaves you wanting more bites of cookie bliss even before you’ve finished your first cookie. They come in all different shapes and sizes. For instance, the package size you are seeing with Santa, the two pack, is perfect for grabbing on the go when you can’t sit down at home and enjoy a quick nibble or perfect for stocking stuffers this Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas and the holidays, giving the gift of shortbread, I think, is better than giving candy or other sugary sweets and treats. Shortbread is just a classic item to have in your house, it goes with just about anything. Shortbread is perfect for before or after any meal. Set it out with snacks or appetizers, or serve it with dessert and post-dinner beverages.

Exporting shortbread from Scotland since the 1970s to over 60 countries, Walkers used the original recipe of Joseph Walker who set out on his ambitious baking adventure to bake “The World’s Finest Shortbread”. As times have changed and new factories built, the company produces a new range of shortbread and biscuits on the following conditions: They would have to continue to use the finest ingredients of plump fruits, aromatic spices, chunks of real chocolate and wholesome nuts. (Source: Walkers Website “Our History”)

For any time of the day, for any occasion, Walkers shortbread will be perfect for just about any event. Go out and grab some and discover the rich, buttery bliss that this product has. You will not be disappointed! They also have a variety of cute holiday shapes, packaging and more! If you ever find the Scottie shaped shortbread from Walkers, that shape is one of my favorites!

By the time this post is even published, you bet those shortbread in front of my coffee mug this morning are LONG GONE! Nibble, nibble!

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