Rosie Makes Potato Soup

 

 

 

 Rosie Makes Potato Soup

 

 

With the weather being the way it's been - COLD - my culinary tastes have turned to comfort food.  And what can be more comforting than potato soup? A good hot soup warms the body from the inside out, providing physical warmth, nourishment, perhaps emotional nostalgia from a sense of tradition and care (from yo' Mama!), plus soup just soothes your body, your emotions, your digestion, and your mental health.  It's a symbol of care and mindful nourishment.  Soup is the original comfort food, reducing stress and offering warmth, reassurance, and routine by evoking memories and traditions.  So, in that vein, here's some warm, soothing, and calming Potato Soup, made with love, by Rosie.

 

 

Rosie’s Potato Soup

6 strips bacon

5 potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), washed, peeled, and diced and SAVE the skins

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 TB butter

1/3 cup flour

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups chicken broth

Rosie Note:  You could use all chicken broth.  I just happened to have a carton of vegetable broth leftover in fridge so I used that up.

1 1/2 cups 2% milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Rosie Note:  2% is what I had on hand.  If you have whole milk, then cut back on the cream. Use maybe 

2 1/4 cups of whole with 3/4 cup cream.  Or if you want it richer, go with 2:1.

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Rosie Note:  Taste test later and adjust seasonings, if needed.

Accoutrements:

Potato skin cracklin’s 

Crumbled bacon

Grated cheddar cheese

Chopped parsley

Sliced green onions

Smoked paprika

Sour cream

Garlic/parsley toasts

NOW, about those skins.  I don’t like to waste anything, so I’m making potato skin cracklings while the soup cooks.  I’ll use them as a topping for my soup if I don’t eat ‘em all up beforehand.  Place the skins in a single layer on a foil-lined tray.  Drizzle a little oil over the skins, not much, and put in a few pats of butter.  Bake in a 325° oven, tonging around every so often, until golden brown and crisp, 30-45 minutes.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Drain on paper towels.

In soup pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove from pot and drain on paper towels.  Leave grease in pot and add the butter.  When butter melts, add in the chopped onion and celery and cook over medium heat, stirring and scraping up the bacon bits on the bottom of the pan, about 3-4 minutes, until it starts smelling good.  Add in the garlic and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds.  Never burn garlic.  It turns bitter and will ruin whatever you’re cooking.  Sprinkle in the flour and cook, whisking, about 90 seconds, coating the onions and celery.  Add in potatoes along with broths, milk, and cream.  Cook over medium low heat until it reaches a low simmer, scraping up from the bottom occasionally to keep anything from sticking.  Add in salt and pepper and continue cooking at bare simmer until potatoes are tender, 30-45 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with reserved bacon, crumbled up, grated cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, potato skin cracklin’s, chopped parsley, a spoonful of sour cream, and a few shakes of smoked paprika.

I also like to serve this with my homemade breadsticks which I slice in half lengthwise, sauté in butter, garlic, and chopped parsley, then bake until golden and crisp and toasty  Or use a good sliced bread loaf, Italian or French, from the deli.

Now, for the step-by-steps: 

 

5 good sized potatoes gives you around 2 1/2 pounds.  Doesn’t have to be exact.

1 onion

2 stalks celery

3 garlic cloves

Slice celery.
Chop onions.
Mince garlic.

Dice peeled potatoes.

Got my celery onions, garlic, and butter top left, 

my tater skins top right, 

and my diced taters bottom center.

 

 

Take the skins, spread 'em out on a pan, add some butter pats, drizzle some oil.  Bake until crisp. 

 

 

 

I've already cooked my bacon and set it aside for later.  Leave the bacon grease in the pot, then add the butter to melt and sizzle.  Onions and celery go in.

Cook a few minutes, stirring. 

Toss in the garlic for a quick stir.

Next the flour.

Potatoes in.

Broth in.

Milk and cream in.

 

Measure out a teaspoon of ground pepper.  I'm writing the recipe down as I go along.

Potato skins are ready.  Drain on paper towels and salt.

 

After about 30-40 minutes over low heat, potatoes are tender and soup has thickened.  If you want, you could take an immersion blender to this or put a little bit at a time in a blender, but I prefer chunks.

I had some homemade breadsticks that I'm going to make garlic/parsley toast out of.

Melt butter in a skillet, add in the chopped parsley and minced garlic, then coat the bread. Place in oven to get nice and toasty.

And here are my toppings: sour cream, crumbled bacon, potato skin cracklin's, grated cheddar cheese, chopped parsley, sliced green onions, and smoked paprika.

And SOUP'S ON!

Enjoy.