Your Favorite Potato Soup

[Chris Amirault]

As fall approaches for those of us who have seasons, thoughts turn to hearty and filling potato soups. And as my wife's "morning" sickness maintains its insistent grip on her innards, increasingly anxious thoughts turn to figuring out more ways to cook the glorious tuber -- the one item that she can most palatably stomach.

Last night, using Deborah Madison as a guide, I made a nice little potato soup with yukon golds and some corn. Tasty, to be sure, but no apex this.

So I ask you, in the service of a fine woman with child and her typically trusty yet currently too-often failing cook partner:

What is your best, most favorite potato soup recipe?

Edited September 21, 2004 by chrisamirault (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

This is a classic which I love to make and serve .. hot in the winter and chilled in the summer! I also add some variants on the theme for fun... at the end you'll find them:

2 leeks, well washed and chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

3-4 thinly sliced, or cubed, potatoes

2 cups chicken stock

salt to taste

ground white pepper to taste

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Gently sweat the leeks with the onion in butter or margarine until soft, about 8 - 10 minutes....do NOT let them brown!

Add potatoes and chicken stock to the saucepan.... salt and pepper to taste ... Bring to the boil, simmer very gently for 30 minutes.

Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth.... allow to cool... gently stir in a swirl of the heavy cream.

Variations: I add a bunch of watercress 3-4 minutes before the soup is ready to be pureed ... this keeps its green color .. and adds bright green flecks to the finished soup ... sometimes I do the same using raw spinach .. at the very end, for a lovely green bisque color ....

Because my kitchen is kosher, I make this soup with either real chicken broth and parve creamer to serve with meat dishes ... or ... with imitation chicken broth and real cream for a dairy meal.

[snowangel]

I do mine like Melissa does, but prefer to use a potato masher as my family likes it with that puree/chunky texutre.

Leeks and potatos. Sort of like bread and butter. A marriage made in heaven.

Cool weather is coming. Potato soup!

[Huevos del Toro]

I like this Bacon & Potato Chowder from a Land-O-Lakes book that's 12 years old. It's fast to make, uses no fancy ingredients, and is right tasty. It's the quality of the bacon that makes it!!!

[Suzanne F]

My grandmother used to make what was basically boiled potatoes plus:

Thinly slice an onion or two, add to a pot of peeled potatoes and cold, salted water just to cover. Cook until potatoes are almost tender. Throw in a handful of fine soup (egg) noodles; cook until noodles are done. Stir in sour cream, check seasoning.

Well, there WERE 6 kids in the family, so I guess this was a great way to feed so many. Actually, I love it.

[eunny jang]

I love baked potato soup in the winter - make a thick roux (don't let it color at all), add milk, bring to a bubble, and stir in flesh-only cubes of Idahos coated in olive oil and baked long and hot until the skins are crunchy. Season and serve very plain with dishes of the usual baked potato condiments: bacon, cheese, scallions, sour cream, salsa, what-have-you. Warming and just the right thing when you're feeling fussy and can't decide what to eat.

I always end up scraping the bowl out with the crunchy skins

[Jinmyo]

Sweat leeks, add peeled Yukon golds cut into small pieces, cover with chicken stock, bouqet garni wrapped in leek leaves and heel of old parmesan, season, simmer until done, remove garni and heel, puree, pass through sieve, add kefir or buttermilk and butter, whisk. Serve topped with lardons, deep-fried leek strips, and thyme.

[eunny jang]

Sweat leeks, add peeled Yukon golds cut into small pieces, cover with chicken stock, bouqet garni wrapped in leek leaves and heel of old parmesan, season, simmer until done, remove garni and heel, puree, pass through sieve, add kefir or buttermilk and butter, whisk. Serve topped with lardons, deep-fried leek strips, and thyme.

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Potatoes, cheese, bacon, and onions. I mean really, Jinmyo, can't you come up with anything a little less proletarian than that?

[formerly grueldelux]

I grew up having potato soup every weekend. My mother would save the potato water all week and then on Saturday use it to make a chunky soup with nothing more than potatoes, onion, a bit of celery, butter and milk, salt and pepper and parsley. Never heard of no leeks. Bowls wood be showered with grated cheddar and crushed saltines. Couldn't be tastier.

[curlywurlyfi]

what about caldo verde, the Portuguese soup with kale (and sometimes chorizo)?

[Jinmyo]

Potatoes, cheese, bacon, and onions.  I mean really, Jinmyo, can't you come up with anything a little less proletarian than that?

 

←

Well, sometimes a few seared sea scallops or a grilled u10 shrimp instead of the lardons. Or a mound of creme fraiche with salmon roe.

But the bacon is pretty tasty.

Caldo verde (with chorizo) is great.

Also, roasted smashed fingerlings in a broth of reduced white wine, cream, and butter with a good dose of pepper can be lovely.

Then there's the whole range of great potato and fish soups.

[msphoebe]

That caldo verde sounds right up my alley! Love potato soup and this sounds like an interesting variation.

Now tell me...I've got some chorizo (about half a tube) in the freezer. What is a good brand? The first time I used it, I cooked it up and a lot of orange grease bubbled out...any comments on what makes a good chorizo?

[petite tête de chou]

In addition to the Yukon Golds, I usually add a bit of sweet potato to add some depth. I don't add dairy to my soup, instead I puree 1/2 of it if I'm looking for some creaminess. I also enjoy a chunky potato soup in a simple broth with the usual mirepoix and lots of fresh thyme/chives.

[Chris Amirault]

Now tell me...I've got some chorizo (about half a tube) in the freezer.  What is a good brand?  The first time I used it, I cooked it up and a lot of orange grease bubbled out...any comments on what makes a good chorizo?

←

Store-bought? I think that sausages are all regional, right? Michael's is passable here. But in Providence (and generally in SE New England) you can find about twenty places that sell homemade chorice/chorizo. (There's a good butcher on Gano St near Power, for example, that I go to.) Ask a Portugese fellow or gal; he or she'll know.

[binkyboots]

ok, my granny's potato soup, it's plain, but man it's good, anytime I have a cold, or it's raining this is what I want... hmm, on saying that it's good anytime, lol.

golden potato soup

5/6 carrots

an onion

4/5 potatoes

knob of butter, glug of oil

water

ok, throw the peeled, chunked onions and carrots in your food processor, process until you get little bits, not mush but not chunky either.

heat the oil and butter on a large pan, when it's fizzling put in the processed carrot and onion mix, cook for a few minutes.

add the peeled, quartered (or chunked, slightly larger than bitesize, bit like roast potato size) potatoes, cook a few minutes more.

pour in boiling water to cover, add salt and pepper.

cook till potatoes are tender and the stock is a rich golden colour.

that's it, it becomes white potato soup if you blend it to a cream texture.

[cakewalk]

knob of butter, glug of oil

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Lovely.

Good recipe, too.

[Richard Kilgore]

Caldo Verde is my current favorite, suggested by someone last winter on the Kale thread.

[The Hersch]

Now tell me...I've got some chorizo (about half a tube) in the freezer.  What is a good brand?  The first time I used it, I cooked it up and a lot of orange grease bubbled out...any comments on what makes a good chorizo?

←

There are three different sausages: Mexican chorizo, which I think is what's in your freezer...sold raw in tubes of plastic wrap; Spanish chorizo, which is a ready-to-eat, dry-cured affair; and Portuguese chouriço, which is similar to Spanish chorizo but not quite the same thing. Of the three, Mexican chorizo would be wildly inappropriate in a caldo verde, Spanish chorizo would be pretty good, and chouriço would be authentic.

[Cusina]

My favorite potato soup is made with sweet potatoes (mashed) and butternut squash puree, add chicken or vegetable stock untill it is the right consistency. Add a little cream, cinnamon or ginger, or some adobo sauce if you want a little heat. Garnish with chopped chipotle if you went the spicy route or chopped fresh tarragon and a swirl of cream if it is more savory. This is really beautiful for a cold evening.

Otherwise, if using white or yellow potatoes, I'll make a clam chowder.

Edited to say, welcome to eGullet Hersch. And thanks for the chorizo information.

Edited September 23, 2004 by Cusina (log)

[Jinmyo]

Hmmm. Not only are sweet potatoes not yams, they also aren't potatoes.

Perhaps a different thread for sweet potato soups? (I do several though similiar to Cusina's).

edit:

Cliq ici, svp.

Edited September 23, 2004 by Jinmyo (log)

[jess mebane]

I watched an episode of Calling all Cooks on FTV, and this lady hosted an annual liquor and soup party every fall. Her potato soup included such items as white balsamic vinegar, sausage and vanilla. It sounded quite strange, but folks were just raving about it. Or perhaps it was the liquor, who knows.

http://foodtv.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,19...6_15354,00.html

Edited September 25, 2004 by jess mebane (log)

[andiesenji]

We have a multi-family block or neighborhood party on Halloween night as this is a fairly rural area and the kids would have to trek a long way to do trick or treat so we gather on this street and everyone contributes something to the food offerings. I make one vat of potato soup and one of carrot/ginger soup, which can be served in mugs and sipped or spooned as the person desires.

I can't say I have a recipe per se, I have been making this for so many years that I just chop so much celery and onions, cook them in butter until translucent then pour them into a bowl, put the potatoes, cut into cubes into the pot, cover with water, add "enough" salt, (I figure 1 heaping teaspoon of salt to 2 pounds of potatoes.) Turn the heat up and let the potatoes cook till tender.

Meanwhile I puree the cooked onions and celery.

When the potatoes are done, I get out my big stick blender and work it around in the pot but leave some chunks.

I stir the onions and celery puree back into the potatoes and taste.

Now I add (for each gallon of soup) a pint of half & half.

Taste and add salt and pepper until it tastes correct to me.

Generally at this point the soup is still a bit on the thin side because I have not pureed all the potatoes as we like it with some chunks.

Now, (GASP) my secret thickening "trick". I add some potato flakes or potato buds or whatever the heck I happen to have on hand. (Right now I have some that I bought at Smart & Final.

I never use them to make mashed potatoes, but they have their uses in thickening things without getting a floury taste, they help meatloaf and croquettes to hold together and they are good for breading some things and to use in certain breads.)

No one has ever guessed my secret. You are the first to know. Even my best friend does not know.

All I can say is that everyone loves the soup, even people who don't like potato soup will come back for seconds...

Me, the do-everything-from-scratch mavin, uses an instant product when it makes the final result better.

[chromedome]

  What is a good brand?  The first time I used it, I cooked it up and a lot of orange grease bubbled out...any comments on what makes a good chorizo?

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...a bunch of orange grease bubbles out when you cook it.

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Seriously, you can still use it in a soup (maybe not caldo verde) if you pre-cook it and drain off the grease. Depending on my mood, and how well-flavoured the sausage is, I'll even save some of the technicolour grease to fry potatoes 'n' stuff in. Sometimes it's pretty cool. After all the grease itself is just pork fat, and in a good sausage it's just the peppers that give it the orange colour. What's not to like?

[Betts]

I think fewer ingredients are better - leeks and onion, potatoes, water rather than chicken stock, a good amount of salt - potatoes really suck up the salt, pepper, big pinch herbes de Provence and dairy at the end but not too much. I also like it semi pureed with visible chunks and chive garnish.

Please save me from restaurant potato soup - wall paper paste with chunks!

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. One thing: can you weigh in with your choices for specific types of potatoes (red bliss, yukon gold, russet, etc.) for these recipes? I'd appreciate it!