Dinner Fail

Doesn't Apple Cheddar Soup sound like the bomb? I thought so because I love apples and I love cheese. I thought, "What more does dinner need?" Well, dinner seems to require a close attention to details because it turns out I made a big pile of shit that no one could technically eat.

Everything started off really well. The onions were nicely sauteed, but things got a little hairy when I couldn't figure out what to do with the apple cider vinegar. If you read the directions, the person never clearly states to add it to the potatoes.

I decided to be adventurous and add it during the initial potato stage anyway because the directions say to bring to a boil and you cannot boil onions and potatoes in a tablespoon of olive oil.

Boiling vinegar is really rather sort of horrible, even if it is apple cider. The kids were freaking out over the smell and pronounced it inedible before I ever even got the soup off the stove. See? That's how they are. Always complaining and they had no idea I had to add a milk roux thingy at the end that I was secretly hoping was going to magically neutralize the apple cider vinegar. Just have patience, little heathens. Dinner will be magical. Spectacular. Cheesy.

Secretly, I wondered if I was killing us all by boiling this crap and who ever thought cooking with vinegar was wonderful in the first place?  But I long ago learned that one should be careful about voicing self doubt out loud. Most assuredly, it only provides people with actual voiced fodder to confirm my idiocy. I've learned to just pretend like I know exactly what I'm doing at all times. More times than not, I am probably wrong. But at least once every great while, I'll come off with a genius maneuver and am restored to semi-normalcy.

Except the milk did not neutralize the vinegar and I was stuck with a vinegary, shitty soup of magnificent shitty proportions.

Later, after I declared it inedible and we had sandwiches followed up by a fruit crisp that did turn out nicely, I spent a lot of time staring at the recipe wondering where I went wrong. Some of the comments stated the soup was "bland." I thought perhaps this particular person had dead taste buds because while it didn't taste good, it was far from bland.

I've included the recipe so you can see for yourself where I went wrong. Apparently, vinegar had nothing to do with this recipe.

Did I ever mention I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder some years ago? Usually, I manage to roam through life one way or the other, but on several occasions I get snared in the details.

I think we'll try this again next week with actual apple cider. I'm going to have to surprise the kids with it somehow, though, because they're dead set against it after last nights fiasco.

Ingredients

1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 med baking potatoes, peeled and diced 2 cups apple cider 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed 1/2 teaspoon salt dash cayenne pepper 1 med apple, peeled and chopped 1/2 cup milk 2 teaspoons corn starch 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded ( I use Cabot 75% reduced fat sharp cheddar)

Directions

In a large sauce pan, cook onion in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Stir in potatoes, thyme, salt, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add apple. Return to a boil. Simmer covered for 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender. ( I use a hand held blender to puree the soup now as my family prefers not to have it chunky. It can be left chunky, though.) In a small bowl, combine milk and cornstarch, stir into soup. (I add Fibersure to this also, to add fiber to our diet. This can be left out but will change the calorie and fiber count of the recipe.) Cook and stir until bubbly. Slowly add cheese, whisking until cheese is melted. Serve in bowls, top with apple slices and peppercorns. (Garnishments not included in nutritional count.) Makes six 1/2 cup servings.