Welcome to my Kitchen

Slow-cookers make weekend meal preparation a cinch. Whether you’re feeding starving teenage athletes, providing a meal after church or filling a buffet table for the big game day, there is a recipe suitable for slow cooking.

Patricia Hrabs Potato Soup is a savory and tangy blend of flavors, sure to please a hungry crowd. I found this recipe in the Colville Lutheran Church newsletter a number of years ago and have adapted it to slow-cookery.

Patricia Hrab’s

Potato Soup

5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

3 leeks, cleaned and cut in 1/4 inch rings

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 celery root plus leaves or 3 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped

5-6 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup butter or bacon drippings

8 ounces cubed, ham, bacon or German sausage

1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

Chopped chives (garnish)

1-2 cups rinsed, drained and chopped sauerkraut.

In a large skillet, sauté leeks, onion, celery and carrot in butter or bacon drippings, until onion is translucent.

Place sautéed vegetables and remaining ingredients, except sour cream, chives and sauerkraut in slow-cooker crock. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 7-8 hours. After cooking time is up, gently mash some of the potatoes.

Just before serving time, stir in sour cream, reduce or turn off heat so mixture does not boil and curdle. Garnish with sauerkraut and chives. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Note: If you are pressed for time during preparation, you can just toss everything in the crock, except for the sour cream and sauerkraut, and cook about 1/2 hour longer.

Slow cookers are perfect for preparing heated chip dips, and they come in so many sizes these days that several small crocks of assorted dips can easily fit onto a buffet snack table.

Michelle’s Taco Dip, by Michelle Strite of Harrisonburg, Penn., printed in the Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook, by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good, is the perfect recipe to fill a 6-8 cup slow-cooker. Easy to prepare and bursting with flavor, serve with tortilla chips or celery crudités.

Michelle’s Taco Dip

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, browned, drained and crumbled fine

1 package taco seasoning mix

1 jar (10 ounces) salsa

1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Combine all ingredients in slow-cooker crock. Cover and heat on low or 2-3 hours. Stir before serving. Yield: about 6 cups dip.

Lentil Soup is a rich, satisfying winter soup that is a savory addition to a game day chili buffet. It will please those who aren’t chili fans. This thick soup will be as spicy as the sausage you choose to add. I have had this recipe so long it predates my starting to date recipes in the 1970s, but I did note I converted it to slow-cooker methods in 1980.

Lentil Soup

1/4 to 1/2 pound sausage, German, Polish or Italian or 1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 cup thin sliced celery

1 large tomato, chopped or 1 cup canned chopped tomatoes

1 1/8 cups lentils, rinsed and drained

5-6 cups water

1 tsp salt

Sauté sausage, onion and garlic in a large skillet until meat just loses pink color and onion is translucent. Transfer sautéed mixture to slow-cooker crock and add remaining ingredients.

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours. Yield: 6 servings.

Note: this recipe is easy to double for a crowd if your slow-cooker is large enough. And, as always when doubling any recipe, don’t double the salt without tasting first. You don’t want to end up with an over-salted soup.

Tomato Garlic Soup is a recipe I created back in 2009. It tastes like pizza in a bowl. You will most likely want to double this for game day.

Tomato Garlic Soup

2 Tbsp dried basil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsp olive or canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp Liquid Smoke

1/3 tsp chopped rosemary

1/2 tsp crushed thyme

1 cup water or chicken broth

1/2 cup orzo pasta

Fresh parmesan cheese, garnish

Combine all ingredients except pasta and parmesan cheese in slow-cooker crock. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Add pasta last 1/2 hour of cooking time. To serve, ladle into bowls and sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese. Yield: 4 servings.

The latest Tillamook Cheese e-newsletter listed Chili and Lime Sour Cream Dip among their Bowl Day offerings, a sleeper dip good with chips or veggies.

Tillamook Sour Cream

Chili and Lime Dip

1 cup Tillamook sour cream

1 can (7 ounces) diced green chilies

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp prepared salsa

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp lime zest

1/2 tsp salt

Hot sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill one hour or overnight. Serve with tortilla chips and veggies.

Pinterest fans, send me a link to your favorite recipe found on Pinterest, for a future column in the plans. Share your favorite recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159 email: therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Time to order spring garden seeds and plants.