Category: Bacon


Nov
2014

Fully Loaded Potato Soup

categories: Bacon, Main Dishes, Soups
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Fully Loaded Potato Soup is thick and creamy, filled with bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onions…tastes like a fully stuffed baked potato! Fully Loaded Potato Soup is thick and creamy, filled with bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onions...tastes like a fully stuffed baked potato in SOUP form.
Do you love to make soup when it is cold outside? I sure do! One of the things I love about the crisp and cool weather in Fall is making Potato Soup… Fully Loaded Potato Soup!

Fully LOADED Potato Soup is packed with all the good things you would stuff a baked potato with, given the chance. Bacon, cheese, chives, sour cream… well, you get the picture! A hot bowl of this flavor-packed potato soup on a cold day is just what you need to satisfy a growling stomach.

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

Trying Out This Soup Recipe On Friends

A couple of years ago I had about 9 ladies from a Bible Study group I was in, over for lunch. I made a big pot of fully loaded potato soup. No recipe was used, I just put it all together (had made it many times from scratch!) and it was wonderful! I received several compliments on the soup. My friend, Judy asked me where I got the recipe, and told her I just made it up as I went along. I couldn’t even give her the recipe because I didn’t write anything down as I cooked. Epic FAIL.

Sooo… it’s now two years later and I finally remembered to document with PHOTOS the making of this delicious and filling, fully loaded potato soup. I made a big batch recently on a rainy, cold, dismal day (aren’t those the BEST days for making a big pot of soup?)

It’s easier than you think to make fully loaded potato soup… and IT IS YUMMY! Perfect for a cool evening’s meal (very filling) and lunch leftovers the next day! Hope you will give this recipe a try… I am confident you will LOVE it!

Making Fully Loaded Potato Soup

Chop peeled Russet potatoes into planks, then cut into small cubes. Smaller potato cubes will cook a lot faster than large chunks!

Cubing potatoes for fully loaded soup

Cook the potatoes with green onions, salt, pepper, and part of the bacon pieces until the potatoes become tender. Let me tell you, it sure smells GOOD, because of those onions and bacon!

Potatoes are cooked with green onions, bacon, etc. for soup

Add a little bit of flour to the cooked potatoes. The ingredients will continue to cook and soften. This flour will act as a thickening agent for the fully loaded potato soup, making it thick and creamy!

Flour is added to potatoes to act as a thickening agent for soup.

Time To Turn The Ingredients Into Fully Loaded Potato Soup!

Pour milk and whipping cream into the pan with the fully loaded potato soup. Once the soup has thickened, add grated cheddar cheese. Continue to cook the fully loaded potato soup, and the cheese will melt into the thickened soup. This will add another layer of flavor and creaminess.

Milk, whipping cream and cheddar cheese are added to potato soup.

Here you can see the thickened fully loaded potato soup, with the bacon and potato chunks! It looks so good, but is not quite finished!

Fully loaded potato soup is thick and creamy.

Right before serving, stir sour cream into the hot, thick fully loaded potato soup! The sour cream will add yet another layer of flavor and creaminess to the soup.

Sour cream is added to fully loaded potato soup just before serving.

Serve The Fully Loaded Potato Soup

Ladle the hot, fully loaded potato soup into individual serving bowls. It looks good just like that, but the garnishes for the soup is what helps put it over the top! Garnish each bowl of soup with crispy bacon pieces, additional cheddar cheese, and chopped chives. That REALLY pretties this soup up, and adds even more flavor! ENJOY!

Fully Loaded Potato Soup is garnished with crisp bacon, cheddar and chives.

This fully loaded potato soup is one of our family’s all time favorite soups. I hope it will become one of your favorite soups, too! Have a great day!

Looking For More SOUP Recipes?

You can find all of my soup recipes in the Recipe Index, at the top of the page. A few of our favorites include:

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:

Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks

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Fully Loaded Potato Soup
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
55 mins
 
Fully Loaded Potato Soup is thick and creamy, filled with bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onions...tastes like a fully stuffed baked potato!
Category: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: fully loaded potato soup
Servings: 8 servings
Calories Per Serving: 478 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
  • 5 large Russet potatoes , cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • Salt and Pepper , to taste
  • 2 heaping Tablespoons flour
  • 5 pieces bacon
  • 5 green onion stalks , sliced (green stem and white bulb),
  • 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (reserve a bit for garnish)
  • 5 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 Tablespoons chives , chopped (for garnish)
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon in skillet. When half way cooked, remove 2 slices. Chop into small pieces and place into a large soup pot. Continue cooking the 3 pieces of bacon remaining in the skillet until crispy. Drain, crumble, and set aside (2 slices will go into the soup later, one will be used for garnish),
  2. Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in the soup pot with the 2 slices of chopped, half-cooked bacon. Add cubed potatoes, and chopped green onions,, and stir to combine. Cook potatoes, stirring frequently for about 7-8 minutes, or until softened slightly.
  3. Generously salt and pepper the potatoes. Sprinkle potatoes with 2 heaping Tablespoons of flour. Stir well to combine..
  4. Add milk to soup pot and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
  5. Add whipping cream (do not boil), cheddar cheese, and 2 slices crispy, (chopped) bacon. Stir to combine.
  6. Simmer on low for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.
  7. Right before you serve the soup, add the sour cream and mix well.
  8. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, and garnish with a bit of crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and the chopped chives. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes

**I usually add 2 slices of halfway cooked bacon to the soup pot to cook with the potatoes for extra flavor, BUT If you prefer, you can cook ALL the bacon until crispy. Add all but one piece to the soup at one time (saving one slice to crumble for garnish!)

Nutrition Facts
Fully Loaded Potato Soup
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 478 Calories from Fat 279
% Daily Value*
Fat 31g48%
Saturated Fat 17g106%
Cholesterol 93mg31%
Sodium 352mg15%
Potassium 872mg25%
Carbohydrates 34g11%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 8g9%
Protein 15g30%
Vitamin A 1075IU22%
Vitamin C 9.7mg12%
Calcium 384mg38%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Fully Loaded Potato Soup is thick and creamy, filled with bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onions...tastes like a fully stuffed baked potato!

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Aug
2014

Rissole Potatoes With Feta

categories: Bacon, Side Dishes, Vegetable Dishes
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Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, rissole potatoes are phenomenal, enhanced with butter, bacon, chives, and feta cheese.Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, rissole potatoes are phenomenal, enhanced with butter, bacon, chives, and feta cheese.
Here’s a fantastic tasting side dish for “Rissole Potatoes With Feta”. Oh wow…they are sooo good! By “good” I mean these potatoes are “phenomenally GOOD”!

My hubby and I went to our local Farmer’s Market on Saturday to look around. Since our home garden is in full production right now, I ended up not buying any fresh produce (it’s a miracle!) EXCEPT for some baby red potatoes, which I had a diabolical plan for.

I found a recipe online this past week from Martha at “A Family Feast” for these potatoes, and decided to give the recipe a try (with just a slight tweak). I loved that they are cooked on the stovetop. It’s been crazy hot in Portland recently and I’ve been trying not to use my oven so I don’t heat up the house!

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

What Does “Rissole” Mean?

Rissole (rihs-uh-lay) is just a fancy way of describing a method (French) of cooking food (usually something “breaded”) by frying it until it is crispy brown and crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

Well…these rissole potatoes fit the bill. Peeled, baby red potatoes… crispy on the outside and garnished with butter, parsley, chives, scallions, crispy crumbled bacon, and crumbled feta cheese. Have mercy…these potatoes were absolutely FANTASTIC! I really hope you will give them a try… This recipe is a definite keeper, and is going to be used in our home…OFTEN!

My pictures only show HALF the quantity of this recipe, because I made these just for myself and my husband. These rissole potatoes are fantastic, but we can’t eat an entire batch of them. Well, maybe another time- just not this time. Enjoy!

How To Make Rissole Potatoes

Peeled baby red potatoes are boiled in water for 10 minutes to start the cooking process.

Peeled, baby red potatoes are boiling in water in pan, to make rissole potatoes.

The rissole potatoes steaming in melted butter, in a covered skillet.

Rissole potatoes are steamed in covered pot, with butter.

To Serve The Rissole Potatoes

Once the rissole potatoes have finished cooking, it is time to serve them!  That’s one of the best parts. The potatoes are garnished with chives, parsley, parsley, green onions, bacon, butter and feta…oh my goodness. So good!

The finished rissole potatoes are garnished with feta, parsley, and crisp bacon.

That’s it! See how easy it is to make these delicious rissole potatoes? Hope you enjoy this simple vegetable side dish, and have a great day!

Looking For More POTATO Recipes?

You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. A couple recipes you might enjoy that use potatoes include:

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:

Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks

Author's signature.

Recipe slightly adapted from: http://www.afamilyfeast.com/rissole-potatoes-fresco/

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Rissole Potatoes With Feta
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, rissole potatoes are phenomenal, enhanced with butter, bacon, chives, and feta cheese. YUM!

Category: Side Dishes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: rissole potatoes
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 464 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
  • 5 strips bacon
  • 3 green onions (white and green parts)
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley , chopped
  • 1/4 cup chives , snipped
  • 1 1/2 pounds baby new red potatoes (small)
  • 6 Tablespoons butter (Divided)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 pound Feta cheese , crumbled (or you can use queso fresco, if desired)
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crispy. Remove from pan; let cool, then crumble. Set aside.
  2. Chop the parsley and green onions; snip the chives (it's easy using kitchen scissors). Set aside.

  3. Peel the potatoes. Put them in a large non-stick pot (or really large skillet) of salted water. The water should cover the tops of the potatoes. Bring water to a boil on high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook potatoes (uncovered) for 10 minutes.

  4. Drain the potatoes (gently) into a colander. Place 4 Tablespoons butter (not all of it!) in the pot or skillet. Let butter begin to melt, then gently place hot potatoes back into pan. Put a lid on pan, turn heat to medium-low, and cook potatoes for an additional 10 minutes (without removing the lid!!!).

  5.  After the 10 additional cooking minutes have passed, remove the pan or skillet cover. Turn the heat to high, and add salt and pepper to potatoes. Continue to cook (and brown) the potatoes for another 8-10 minutes. Turn the potatoes gently as they brown, so they stay whole. Spoon the butter up and over the tops of the potatoes as they cook. HINT: *Use two wooden spoons to gently turn the potatoes-works like a charm*. Once the potatoes are nicely browned on all sides (smaller potatoes will brown faster than the larger ones), remove them to serving dish.

  6. In a separate dish, melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. To serve, pour the RESERVED butter (NOT the brown butter left in the pan) over the potatoes. Garnish potatoes with green onions, chives, crumbled bacon pieces, parsley, and top with crumbled feta cheese. Serve, and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Rissole Potatoes With Feta
Amount Per Serving (1 (1/4 of total))
Calories 464 Calories from Fat 306
% Daily Value*
Fat 34g52%
Saturated Fat 18g113%
Cholesterol 88mg29%
Sodium 1263mg55%
Potassium 891mg25%
Carbohydrates 29g10%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 1160IU23%
Vitamin C 22.8mg28%
Calcium 173mg17%
Iron 1.9mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, rissole potatoes are phenomenal, enhanced with butter, bacon, chives, and feta cheese. YUM!

 

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Feb
2014

Pasta Carbonara

categories: Bacon, Italian, Main Dishes, Pasta
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Enjoy classic Pasta Carbonara, an Italian dish with pasta cooked in a creamy bacon and onion sauce, with grated Parmesan cheese. It tastes FANTASTIC!Enjoy classic Pasta Carbonara, an Italian dish with pasta cooked in a creamy bacon and onion sauce, with grated Parmesan cheese. It tastes FANTASTIC!

If you love bacon and you love pasta, then you’re going to LOVE this Pasta Carbonara recipe! I love recipes created by Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, because I love her cooking, photos, and sense of humor. This recipe is adapted from her version of this classic pasta dish. I only made a couple of changes to suit our taste buds.
 
This pasta carbonara recipe is RIDICULOUS! I’m not kidding – the smell of bacon, onions, and garlic is amazing as they cook. I made this (again!) for us last night and my husband and I both LOVED it. We might have even exclaimed several times “Oh my gosh- this is so good!” Honestly, this dish is quite simple to make, economical, and if that’s not enough, it’s incredibly delicious! I’ve made it with spaghetti noodles (as in pic above) and fettucine noodles. Any pasta will do!

This recipe makes enough for 6 small servings or 4 generous servings. Since our sons are grown and it is now just the two of us at home, we always have LEFTOVERS! Yes…this pasta dish is truly a good thing. Here’s how to make it:

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

How To Make Pasta Carbonara

Bring water in pan to a boil to cook the pasta. While the water is coming to a boil, fry the bacon in a large skillet, until crisp. Drain out the bacon grease, but leave about. 2 Tablespoons grease still in the skillet. Remove and drain the bacon strips on paper towels. When it has cooled, crumble the bacon into small pieces.

Bacon is cooked until crisp, for the pasta sauce.

Return the skillet you cooked the bacon in back to the stove. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook over medium-low heat until golden brown (3-4 minutes). Carefully add the garlic and crumbled bacon, and continue cooking/stirring for one minute. 

Cooking the onions and mushrooms for the pasta sauce.

The crumbled crisp bacon is added to the carbonara sauce.

Time To Make The Pasta Carbonara Sauce

Now it’s time to make the pasta carbonara sauce. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, whipping cream, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes together. Now it’s time to “temper the eggs”.

IMPORTANT – “Temper” The Eggs

Because there are fresh eggs in the sauce, you will want to “temper” them. All this means is introducing hot liquid very slowly into the mixture so when you add the hot pasta to the sauce, the eggs won’t scramble. Okay? It’s EASY.  Don’t freak out… here’s what you do:

Take 6 Tablespoons of the hot, starchy water from your pasta (when it is about half way cooked). SLOWLY add the water, by drizzling one Tablespoon at a time to the egg mixture, stirring continuously while adding. Repeat until all 6 Tablespoons of hot starch water have been added. This helps warm up the egg mixture and “tempers” the eggs. 

Eggs, whipping cream, spices and Parmesan cheese are the base for the carbonara sauce.

The egg mixture is mixed together and eggs are tempered before adding to hot skillet.

Turn the heat on the skillet to low. Slowly pour the mixture back into the skillet with the bacon mixture. Stir continuously, until the egg mixture is fully blended in with the bacon mixture.

The tempered egg mixture is added to the skillet to make pasta carbonara sauce.

Now the pasta carbonara sauce is ready to go! The next step is to add the cooked pasta to the sauce! Add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Toss well, to fully combine the pasta and the sauce. Once everything is heated through, the pasta carbonara is ready to serve!

Pasta carbonara sauce is fully blended, and is ready for cooked pasta to be added.

Serve The Pasta Carbonara

When ready to serve, place portions of the pasta carbonara onto each plate. If desired, garnish the pasta carbonara with additional bacon crumbles, parsley, and grated Parmesan cheese. This is optional, but it looks (and tastes) good. Dig in, and enjoy this hearty pasta dish! I bet you will love it!

A plate with a serving of pasta carbonara, and a slice of french bread.

Hope you enjoy this pasta carbonara dish, because it really tastes fantastic! Have a wonderful day, friends. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will come back again soon.

Looking For More PASTA Recipes?

You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have quite a few pasta dishes, including:

Interested In More Recipes?

Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so.  If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.

You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:
Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks

Author's signature
Recipe Adapted From: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/05/pasta-carbonara/

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Pasta Carbonara
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 

Enjoy classic Pasta Carbonara, an Italian dish with pasta cooked in a creamy bacon and onion sauce, with grated Parmesan cheese. It tastes FANTASTIC!

Category: Entree, Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta carbonara
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 557 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
  • 6 slices thick cut bacon
  • 1/2 medium onion , chopped finely
  • 4 mushrooms , chopped (optional-I added them)
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese ,or 1/2 c. fresh and 1/4 c. Kraft "green" can)
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (add more later, to taste!)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 3/4 lb. pasta fettucine, spaghetti or other pasta you enjoy
US Customary - Metric
Instructions

  1. While water is coming to a boil for pasta, fry bacon until crisp. Drain most of the grease from skillet, but leave approx. 2 TBSP bacon grease in the skillet. Remove and drain bacon on paper towels. When cool, crumble bacon into small pieces.

  2. Return skillet to stove. Place onions and mushrooms in skillet w/ bacon grease; cook on medium-low until golden brown (3-4 minutes). Add garlic and crumbled bacon; continue cooking for 1 minute, stirring often.

  3. In a small bowl, beat eggs, whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes together using a whisk or fork. Because there are fresh eggs in the sauce, you need to "temper" them. This means introducing hot liquid slowly into the mixture so when you add hot pasta to the sauce, the eggs won't scramble. It's EASY. Here's how (see next step):

  4. Cook pasta according to pkg. directions. When pasta is halfway cooked, measure out 6 Tablespoons of the starchy water. SLOWLY add this water, ONE TABLESPOON AT A TIME, drizzling it slowly into eggs while stirring continuously. Once hot starchy water has been added, the eggs are "tempered". Slowly pour egg mixture back into skillet (on Low heat) with bacon mixture, stirring continuously until egg mixture is fully incorporated.

  5. When pasta is done cooking, drain, then add it to the sauce, stirring while adding. Cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes (do not boil) until pasta and sauce are heated through. Garnish with additional parmesan cheese and bacon crumbles, if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Pasta Carbonara
Amount Per Serving (1 (1/6) of total)
Calories 557 Calories from Fat 288
% Daily Value*
Fat 32g49%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 157mg52%
Sodium 673mg29%
Potassium 322mg9%
Carbohydrates 46g15%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 21g42%
Vitamin A 725IU15%
Vitamin C 1.5mg2%
Calcium 188mg19%
Iron 1.4mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Enjoy classic Pasta Carbonara, an Italian dish with pasta cooked in a creamy bacon and onion sauce, with grated Parmesan cheese. It tastes FANTASTIC!

 

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