It's Dinner Time!

I have always wanted to make bread but never really thought I could. But that has all changed. I was cruising the blogs last week and came across thekitchn.com where I then saw a link to "No Knead Bread." I read it and it sounded interesting and I wanted to try it. So I did! There were so many comments and other websites listed that it was a little confusing but I found this website and used it. I don't have a dutch oven and I was using my stock pot to make dinner so I had to improvise and use the crock from my crockpot and cover it with tin foil. It worked great! Only thing that I would do different is try and limit the amount of flour that falls into the pot. On the website it said it didn't matter but Adam and I found that it really does matter.



And then to go with the bread I made a sweet potato and carrot soup. I also found this recipe on thekitchn.com. It was pretty easy to make and it tasted great!
Here is the recipe:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 ribs celery, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1-2 teaspoons chipotle powder
1 quart vegetable or poultry broth
1 1/2 pounds garnet sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths
1/2 cup whole milk
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add onion, celery, garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add wine and chipotle powder and cook until the wine is reduced and alcohol smell dissipates. Add broth, sweet potatoes, carrots and a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.

Cool the soup, transfer to a blender and pure until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, add milk and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Garnish with plain yogurt and cilantro.

My Notes:
I didn't have chipotle powder or cayenne powder so I used Emeril's Southern Essence and it tasted fine. I also didn't have whole milk so I used about 1/4c half and half. I did not put in yogurt or cilantro. And I used Japanese Yams ( from the farmers market!).

Yum!