Tuesday, January 6, 2009

What New Year's Resolution Potato Soup

I just invented something out of leftovers that was so amazing: a potato soup. Maybe it's just because I have never quite successfully made amazing potato soup before, but I'm pretty stoked about this recipe. I had about 1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes in the fridge tonight, so before you make the dish, you need to make my:

Mashed Potatoes
2 Idaho potatoes, washed, skin on
water
salt & pepper to taste
about 2 Tablespoons butter
some milk, heavy cream, or half & half, or some combination of the three

Wash and dry potatoes. Dice into large chunks of equal size. Place in a large stockpot. Put enough water in the pan, so that the water just covers the potatoes. Add a handful of salt to the water. Cook over medium high heat, until boiling, then check after the potatoes have boiled 15 minutes to see if they are fork tender. When they are fork tender, drain them, return them to the original pot, add butter, salt, pepper, and a splash of liquid, and mash the heck out of them with a wooden spoon (my favorite), a masher, or fork. Taste, adjust seasonings, and serve.

So now you can make the soup, which involves the following.
Start out by cooking 3 slices of bacon over medium heat. While bacon is cooking, dice one shallot and one clove of garlic. When bacon is done, remove from pan, set aside. Sautee the shallot and garlic in the rendered pork fat. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning blend while sauteing, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of white wine, stand back, don't burn yourself, and scrape up the brown bits from the pan. Simmer until wine reduces by half. Add in about 1/2 cup chicken broth, the leftover mashed potatoes, and some milk, and some half and half until it reaches a soupy consistency. If you've added too much liquid, then whisk in a paste of 1 Tablespoon softened butter and 2 Tablespoons flour. This will thicken the soup. Simmer slightly. If it's too chunky, throw it in a food processor to smooth out the bits. Serve, topping with sour cream, cheese, and crumbled bacon.

MMMM. I couldn't wait for Dave to get home tonight. I pigged out already. It's not a healthy soup. Who cares! It's delicious. Happy new year!

1 comment:

Holly Cummings said...

I didn't get name of the soup at first. Then I read the recipe. Now I get it :) Sounds delicious!