Ellie's Kitchen: Crockpot Barley Vegetable Soup and Sweet Potato Knots

It's 39 degrees in my little Massachusetts town: a beautiful crisp, sunny October morning. The trees are glowing in shades of flame and gold, and mist is rising off the river like wraiths. There is no place like New England in the fall. And nothing says 'cozy' like coming in at the end of the day to a warm home smelling of baking bread and hot soup. Thus, while my family is away at work and school, I'm prepping dinner in the slow cooker:

Crockpot Barley Vegetable Soup

  Ingredients

• 1 cup medium pearl barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seed
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen green beans
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 (14 oz). cans vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 14-oz. can diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained
• 2 cups baby spinach
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• Preparation

  1. Place all ingredients except the can of diced tomatoes and spinach in a 5-6 quart crockpot in the order given. Do not stir.
  2. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir soup and add tomatoes and baby spinach; stir again to combine.
  3. Cover crockpot and cook for 20 to 30 minutes longer until soup is hot and spinach is wilted. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.
   
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• http://busycooks.about.com/od/hotsouprecipes/r/cpbarleysoup.htm 
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  Easy Sweet Potato Knots.
  

  Ingredients

  • 1 cup Warm Water
  • 1 envelope (7g Envelope) Active Dry Yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil,, Plus More To Oil The Bowl
  • ½ cups Sweet Potato Puree (fresh Or Canned)
  • 3-½ cups Unbleached Bread Flour
  • 1-½ teaspoon Coarse Kosher Salt
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  Preparation Instructions

  Note: To make sweet potato puree, microwave sweet potato until soft, place in a paperr bag to cool, then peel. Easy as pie.
  1. Pour warm water into a medium bowl and slowly whisk in yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, then add honey, olive oil and mashed sweet potato. Whisk until thoroughly combined and smooth.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt. Slowly stir in wet ingredients and continue to stir until it becomes impossible to stir more. Then use your hands to continue mixing and slowly start kneading your dough, adding more flour to your hands to keep it from sticking.
  3. Once you’ve created your dough ball, add olive oil to the bottom of your bowl and roll the dough ball in it until it is coated. Cover with Saran wrap or a damp towel and store in a dry place (I use my microwave) for two hours.
  4. Around the last 15-minute mark, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Divide your dough into pieces you can easily hold in your fist and roll them into long strips around 8 or 9-inches long. Don’t worry if they’re skinny, they’ll still get fat when they bake. Tie each into a knot, tuck the edges under each side, then place each on the baking pan.
  5. Brush with melted butter. Bake until golden, around 10-15 minutes.  Allow to cool 3-5 minutes.
  
    
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• (I forget which cookbook I got this recipe out of. I copied it years ago...)