Random Tater Pic of the Day #115

This is Shelley Szajner's Sweet Potato Soup, along with one of her own creations, French pizza, brown rice tortilla, brie, tomatoes and chives, toasted till the cheese melts. Mmmm…

French Fry Diary 483: Authentic Irish Food

Friend and fellow writer Patti O'Brien recently took a trip to Ireland, as chronicled in her terrific travel blog A Broad Abroad.

Despite knowing what I write about here almost every day, she absolutely refused to take any pics of potato products, even though Ireland, as we all know, is all about potatoes and chips.

She talks about the Irish chips, but we don't see them. She does offer up some pictures of the food here, but no chips.

However, if you look very closely at the second image, up in the left hand corner, three fries.  Months in Ireland, dozens of pics of food, many many pubs, and only three fries.  Hmmm...  

All that aside, Patti is a terrific writer, and I urge you to check out her blog here. You can also follow her at Twitter here.

French Fry Diary 267: Animator's Palate, Disney Dream

Day three dinner on board the Disney Dream brought us to Animator's Palate. There are Animator's Palate restaurants on the other Disney Cruise Line ships but this one us supposed to be a little different. It us smaller and a bit more intimate. In the others, a black and white atmosphere surrounded by animated images turns fully color and animated as the evening goes on.

It is a similar experience on this version although as I said, it's more intimate. The setting is more like that of a real animator's studio and desk and shelves. The decor is reminiscent of when Disney used to have tours of their animation studios.

The floorshow is much the same but the animation is much more amazing. You get three dimensional entertainment featuring Crush the turtle and other Finding Nemo characters. Crush is interactive like Turtle Talk at Epcot.

I got brave again and this time ordered as an appetizer the bacon and cheddar baked potato soup. It's the same dish you could order at Le Cellier in Canada at the World Showcase in Epcot, according to my friend Dom. As you would guess being a catastrophically picky eater, soup is not in my wheelhouse. This was pretty good, sort of a very thin mashed potatoes with the bacon adding an extra tasty kick. Nice.

Dom and Cyndi's daughter ordered fries from the kids menu and she got fairly tasty looking natural cuts. But since they were hers I had to get my own. And she got the Mickey Mouse full of ketchup again.

For my potato selection, to go along with my angus beef tenderloins, was wasabi mashed potatoes. These were very good mashed potatoes. The wasabi had a bit of a slow burn to it but it was a good burn, quite good.

Baked Potato and Bacon Soup

Baked Potato and Bacon Soup

5 1/4 pounds baking potatoes
7 bacon slices
4 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
7 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1 1/4 cups sliced green onions
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400F for 1 hour or until tender. Cool slightly. Partially mash potatoes, including skins, with a potato masher; set aside. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add onion to bacon drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add salt, garlic, and bay leaf; sauté 2 minutes. Add potato, milk, pepper, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, if desired. Top individual servings with bacon, green onions, and cheese.

Yield: 18 servings.

From the Just-Potatoes Yahoo! Group

Baked Potato Soup

from Mastercook

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
4 green onions -- chopped
12 slices bacon -- cooked and crumbled
1 ¼ cups Cheddar cheese -- shredded
1 container sour cream -- (8 oz.)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Bake potatoes until done.
Cut in half lengthwise.
Scoop out pulp and set aside.
Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth.
Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Gradually add milk, stirring over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
Add potato pulp, salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of the green onion, 1/2 cup bacon and 1 cup cheese.
Cook until heated thoroughly and stir in sour cream.
Add more milk if necessary (but it should be served thick).
Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese on top.
Yield: 10 cups.