Cookin' In The Kitchen With Tristan

Today our studies turned to the culinary arts. Evan had a play date but Tristan had nothing much going on so I knew that if I wanted to keep my sanity I needed to find something fairly engaging to do with him.

The idea came to us as we rooted through the refrigerator to rustle up some snacks. We noticed a rather large bunch of green onions in the crisper and thought it would be great to find a delicious way to use them.

The ever-feared "Fresh Zone"!

Tristan was surprisingly interested in turning the onions into something edible for himself and Sissy. Of the two kids, he's the more daring one when it comes to trying new things, especially so when it is his own creation on the table. He has a knack for finding a new recipe and then tweaking it to his own taste as we cook. The following is his version of Potato Bacon Soup:

Ingredients

9	large red potatoes
15 cups	chicken broth
1 cup	half & half cream
3 tbsp	butter
3 tbsp	all purpose flour
12 strips	bacon
1 cup	green onion, sliced
6 cloves	garlic
handful	chopped, fresh parsley
handful	chopped, fresh basil
1 cup	aged Cheddar cheese, shredded

Optional Toppings: sour cream, shredded Cheddar, crumbled bacon

Cut potatoes into 1" cubes, add to chicken stock and boil gently until potatoes soften. Meanwhile, fry bacon, reserving fat. Allow bacon to cool. Sauté onions and garlic in the bacon grease. Crumble bacon and add most of it to soup at this point along with the fried onion, garlic and basil, keep a bit of bacon aside for taste adjustment later. Periodically taste and adjust water as needed; as the soup reduces it will become saltier.

Once the potatoes are fairly soft and you see the water become cloudy, begin making a roux by melting butter in a saucepan and using a wooden spoon or whisk, stir in flour until thick and there are no lumps.

Then slowly stir in the milk and a handful or so of shredded cheese until you have a thick, creamy sauce. Remove a cup of broth to a mixing bowl and whisk in some of the cheese sauce, then whisk back into the soup. Do this a few times until desired consistency and taste are achieved.
Now you can go ahead and use the remaining bacon and cheese to adjust flavor, if needed.

Potatoes are in!

Perfectly crumbled bacon.

"You will 'roux' the day...!" He kept saying as he stirred :)

Et voilà! Bon appétit!