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Recipe of the Week: Quick Potato Soup for a Cold, Icy Day
Well, I couldn’t sleep. Woke up at about 4 AM and realized I hadn’t had much dinner last night, long story involving goats, dogs (Levi’s surgery went fine, thanks for asking) and preparations in the expectation of a sleet/ice/snow storm all day Thursday. (There’s already a glaze of ice on the porch steps, as I discovered when I stepped outside to put the dog out and measured my length on the ground immediately thereafter. Ouch). That was the point at which I abandoned the idea of a quick trip to the Giant Eagle to pick up some supplies before “things get bad.” They already are. Even with the weather.
So. Mother Hubbard’s cupboard isn’t quite bare, but there’s not much quick and easy to be found. I’ve always loved potato soup, though (good comfort food on a day like this), and I thought I’d see if I could make that work. Results are surprisingly and spectacularly delicious. Here’s the recipe, before I forget it. (Note that you could add other things. Celery springs to mind. But “springing” was the last thing the remaining two stalks of celery in my fridge were doing yesterday when I threw them in the compost. “Flopping” was more the order of the day. So, no celery for me, this time round.) But you could. Anyway, here we go:
QUICK (AND GOOD) POTATO SOUP
- About 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes. (I had a bag of those tiny bite-size ones, and used them whole and unpeeled. Then I added a large baking-size Russet potato which I peeled and cut into chunks)
- About four strips of thick-sliced bacon (more if you like). If you use less, you might want to add some butter to increase the fat quotient, I should think you want to end up with 3-4 tablespoons of fat. When you take the bacon out of the fridge, chop it into pieces about 3/4″ long, while it’s still cold. Much easier than crumbling it after it’s cooked, I always think.
- One enormous (or two large) onions. Dice fairly small.
- Water. Pace the coal mine, my well’s still functioning. Shhhhhh . . . .
- Chicken stock, or a good bouillon mix. I like “Better than Bouillon.” Mostly real ingredients, not just salt. Tasty.
- About 1 tablespoon dill weed, dried, or a couple of tablespoons fresh. I had dried today.
- Milk, half-and-half, or (today’s discovery, because I’m not terribly well supplied in the milk department at the moment and I didn’t want to use it up right now, because, weather), a can of evaporated milk
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover until tender but not falling apart (mine took about eight minutes). Drain them.
Fry the bacon on low-ish heat in a medium saucepan (you don’t want to discolor the fat), until it’s crispish. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon or something similar.
Dump the finely diced onion into the bacon fat, and fry, again on a low-ish heat until soft but not discolored.
Dump the potatoes in on top of the onion, mash them up a bit, and add enough water/chicken stock to cover. If using water, add in your bouillon cubes/mix of choice here, at full strength according to the instructions on the jar/box.
Let that simmer gently for about ten minutes. (This is why you didn’t cook the potatoes to a mush, the first time).
Add the dill, fresh or dried, more or less, to taste.
Add salt and pepper to taste (the bouillon and bacon will pre-salt, so suggest not going wild on the salt. I added plenty of fresh-ground pepper, though).
This is the genius bit–slosh in some evaporated milk until things look and taste about right. You could use regular milk, but I found the evaporated milk to be tasty and rich. Used about 1/4 of the large (pumpkin pie-size) can. The rest can be put in tea or coffee (as per British World War II, or NAAFI practice), or used in other ways of your choice.
Sprinkle in the reserved bacon (if you can remember where you put it to keep it away from the cat. I hid mine in the oven, I eventually remembered. . . ), and stir.
That’s it. Delicious, steamy, chunky, nourishing, stick-to-your-ribs potato soup. Tastes like yum.
Enjoy! (Don’t you just hate it when the perky little millennial says that just as you’re about to dig into your nice dinner? #MeToo)
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Good idea. First, though–find some non-dairy butter. (Not as hard as it sounds, these days, there are plenty of alternatives, although, again, you have to watch out for the casein, which is a stealth ingredient in many things which claim to be non-dairy.)
I actually cheat sometimes with soups that need a bit of thickening and dump in some mashed potato flakes.
One comfort food I would have occasionally as a child was borshch. I’ve never cooked it. The times I’ve had (other than in Russia) it is when my father’s sister’s husband’s mother (who was Ukrainian) would make it and when a Russian woman I knew would make it. There are no Russian restaurants around here which is kind of crazy considering there are lots and lots of Russians around here. So I never get borshch and I miss it.
Live this. I’ve been awake since 4am, but I did not think about making soup. I did check in to ricochet though.
Lolz.
Another great way to thicken and texturize a non-dairy soup is to add finely chopped cauliflower and cooking it until it disappears.
I have a basic recipe that I modify slightly depending on my whims and availability of ingredients. The one standard thing is the onion-garlic marmalade, and the cream (or Half and Half), which is a soup in itself. (Mushrooms are optional in this marmalade, and change the taste significantly, and make it less versatile.)
My potato soup recipe; or for any chowder:
Versatile and rather tasty. And once you’ve made and reserved the onion marmalade (or whatever you call it), pretty much as quick as boiling water.
If your problem is with casein, try clarified butter or ghee. Very pure butter oil will have over 99% of the casein removed, which is enough for most (but not all) dairy sensitive people.
It’s not hard to make yourself, but takes attention. There are some excellent commercially made ghees as well.
Sold! I’ll be right over. Sounds absolutely delicious.
What great comments, tips and suggestions. Thanks so much, everyone!
Isn’t non-dairy butter called chicken schmaltz?
Gosh, haven’t heard that term for a long time. I think you could be right! It can also be pork fat, goose fat, duck fat, you name it. (Time honored family tradition–I always have a little tub of bacon fat around. Sometimes, it’s my secret ingredient when you might least expect it.)
Mushroom powder.
I make my own with dried shiitake mushrooms in a spice grinder.
Great for increasing the flavor of a soup, especially cream of mushroom.
Love me some corn chowder, too!
In honor of my late-youngest-brother’s love for nachos, I had a takeout boxful of kicked-up ones from our local brewpub tonight: homemade chips, carne asada, pico de gallo, shredded baby greens, and a homemade version of the chain-restaurant cheese sauce that my brother adored; washed down with a can of their lemon-drop pilsner…Take that, freezing rain/snow mix…And: Here’s to you, RAD! (Sorry, no pic; my niece wasn’t here to snap it before I gave in to being ravenous.) :-D
You guys like tasty/comfort/mmm! food too much. You think the purpose of this life is carnal pleasure?
Now if you had a recipe for a vegetarian, low carb soup, we could talk. Or snails and mushrooms, though I feel for the little snails sometimes. Snails want to live, too.
Denial can be a pleasure if you adjust your attitude.
So adjust your attitude.
That’s a great idea. There are few things that are not improved by the addition of a few mushrooms. Which reminds me, I love a nice rich mushroom-barley soup. When I was a kid we used to buy mushrooms from gypsies who lived in caravans and traveled the public rights-of-way in the UK. They would take odd jobs for a while, then move on. Getting their kids into school was the despair of the local agencies, but somehow they survived. Lovely, big, flat field mushrooms. I’ve loved mushrooms ever since.
It’s not vegan but I spent more than 20 years looking for the lard that my father used when I was a child. Now that the science is settled that meat fats significantly REDUCE heart and atherosclerotic disease, I found lard again in my local supermarket. I bought twenty tubs because, you know, another five years and it’ll be banned from public consumption again, and I need my semi-annual lard fix.
Someone who has “Bob” in his life shouldn’t be such a grump, Kent…Smile, it’s good for you! :-)
Carrot Ginger Soup
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10-12 slices fresh ginger root, each about the size of a quarter
2 T olive oil
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
4 cups vegetable stock (non-purists can use chicken stock)
salt and pepper
1. Cook onions, garlic and ginger over medium-low heat until soft but not browned.
2. Add carrots and stock. Simmer till carrots are soft.
3. Use the immersion blender to puree carrots and make a smooth soup. (If you must use a blender, strain the carrots, and just puree the carrots with a little of the stock, and then mix it back in. Don’t put the whole lot in the blender at once.)
4. If you think the soup is too thick, add a little more stock, or water to get the consistency you like.
4. Season to taste.
What is the purpose of this life, then?
Thank you – yes – it’s the casein that I am allergic to – very bad allergy – and soy as well as wheat – I have a fun time of it – I do coconut milk, almond etc. Would love to hear more about the dairy issues you mentioned as well as the non-dairy cheesecake??
I came across a wonderful tip for a salad to be served with a roast chicken: put a little bit of the chicken drippings in the dressing. You don’t want enough to make it identifiable.
Gotta render the schmaltz down with some onion in it.
Put in on rye bread in a sandwich with tongue and dill pickle green tomatoes, maybe some good mustard and serve with a good beer.
Tongue? Tongue?! I haven’t had that since ever since… when I was a kid. But what you write is mouth watering. Is this New York cuisine or Southern cuisine?
This is a good soup. It can be made without flour, and using water instead of soup base or stock and it’s still good. If the carrots are too high in carbs, reduce the amount. Heck, it would be good without.
Mushroom and Artichoke Soup
Recipe By:Lori Policastro; to serve 50.
Ingredients
Directions
Notes, reduced proportions, US units, modifications
Scaled down by 75%:
•1 14 oz jar/can artichoke hearts
•¼ cup olive oil
•½-¾ small red onion
•MORE GARLIC. For the original scale might even be 3 heads not cloves. I used about 6 cloves and it was fine.
• works fine without flour. Could use arrowroot.
•2 T vinegar
•3 cup + 2 T water
•couldn’t find kosher veg base, used really good tamari and another ½ cup water instead. Could probably use miso and cut salt. Or use 3 ¾ cup broth or stock.
•salt ~1 ½ tsp
•pepper to taste
•2g nutmeg is ~ ¼ medium nutmeg
•Shallots, carrots and fresh mushrooms: ~¾ lb each
•Thyme: use fresh if possible; 3-4 T of leaves stripped from larger stems and chopped fine is about right; put in with about 10’ to go.
•Dried porcini in addition to the portobello might be good YES, use the soaking water in the soup.
Ashkenazi, ate it in Montreal so… New York?
Back when I ate bread, a good plowman’s lunch with a good beer… Oh yeah.
I’m going to have to think about the non-dairy cheesecake, it’s been a while. Tofu was front and center, as was the vegetarian “sour cream” product, and I think I used maple syrup as the sweetener because it has a stronger flavor than sugar (covers up the flavor of the tofu) I made it a few times when we were really, really serious about diet. It’s also possible to do a pumpkin pie with soymilk (the original, least adulterated, unflavored). Use a bit less soymilk than what’s called for in evaporated milk in the recipe, and add an extra egg to help it set, because the soymilk doesn’t work the same way as regular milk when it cooks. (It’s hard to make pudding using soymilk for the same reason, you have to add additional thickener, the regular amount, or the stuff in the package, isn’t enough. I’ve had some spectacular failures over the last 40 years, too).
The rather extreme vegetarian cookbooks are helpful, because the are generally light on the dairy, or use the soy-based cheese alternatives when they do need a bit of “melt.” (Watch them, some of them have casein in them. I’m an inveterate reader of the fine print, have been for decades.)
My favorite cookbook is The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. I like it because it’s not too kooky, and if you’re OK with meat, most of the recipes are easy to adapt–you can add ground beef to the “Wild Irish Stew,” or the “Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie,” for example. But even if you make the recipes as stated, most of them are quite good. I really like the “Great Stuffed Mushrooms” (which does use some soy mozzarella. I’m not a huge fan of the soy cheeses on their own, but they have their uses).
A crazy vegetarian cookbook is Friendly Foods by Brother Ron Pickarski O.F.M. (He’s a Franciscan Friar. That’s “friar” not “fryer.”) It seems to be out of print. He’s completely vegetarian, and you have to be up for things like “pastry cream” made out of yellow peppers. He has a couple of “cheesecake” recipes in there. His stuff can get pretty expensive, though, by the time you work your way through brown rice syrup, and “barley malt chocolate chips,” and so on. Again, I’m rather elastic in my methods, and substitute as I see fit. But it can be fun, if you have a sense of adventure!
I can’t find the original of one of my go-to recipes, but it’s basically: cook a box of lasagne noodles as usual. Take about 12 ounces of mushrooms, sliced, and a large onion, chopped, and saute in olive oil till soft. When it is soft, stir in about 1 tablespoon dried basil, and some pepper. (Add salt if you like, I don’t add much salt to anything.) Take about a quart of spaghetti sauce (the 24-oz jar isn’t enough), 1 1/2 lbs of firm or extra firm tofu which you’ve drained and crumbled, and a largish bag of frozen spinach which you’ve thawed and then squeezed the water out of.
Alternate layers of noodles in a 9×13 pan, sprinkled with mushrooms, spinach and tofu, with some spaghetti sauce poured over, ending with noodles and spaghetti sauce. (If you think it’s a bit dry, rinse out the spaghetti sauce jar with a little water, and pour that over too). Cover with foil and bake at 325 for about 30 minutes. It’s actually good.
Mr. She’s reaction to the casein is anaphylactic shock. He almost choked to death on a piece of pizza, somewhere in the early 80s, which was when we discovered that what had been a very mild allergy had suddenly gone rogue. A lovely man performed the Heimlich maneuver, and broke three of his ribs, but saved his life. As I said, it’s toned down considerably, over the last three or four years, but I still have to be very careful.
No idea of the answer to your question, but my Dad used to make pickled tongue in aspic. When he wasn’t curing hams in the garage. (Mentioned somewhere above that there were butchers and sausage-makers in the family.) One year, one of our Scottish friends had a festive Hogmanay party, and Dad did a boar’s head:
Finding the raw materials, and a cooperative butcher, in the suburbs of Pittsburgh was a bit of a challenge, but he did it.
Boy, you have been away from this sort of thing, haven’t you? Try one made with what’s essentially cashew cream cheese. A friend who grew up on good cheesecake in NYC thought these things were fantastic.
Cafe Gratitude, locally known as Cafe Attitude, was a raw vegan cafe that was run by an organization that looked like a cult. But the desserts were great.
Here’s one recipe
Cafe Gratitude’s Cashew Lemon Cheesecake
makes 9 1/2-inch cheesecake
Minutes to Prepare: 5Number of Servings: 16
Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups almonds
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
heaping 1/4 cp chopped dates
Filling:
3 cups cashews soaked 6-8 hours
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup agave
1 tsp vanilla
2 pinches salt
3 tbsp lecithin
3/4 cup raw unscented coconut butter
Garnish:
Lemon zest or slices or berries
Directions
Crust:
In a food processor, process the almonds, vanilla and salt until crumbled. Continue to process while add small amounts of dates until crust sticks together. Press the crust onto bottom of greased (with the coconut butter) 9 1/2 inch pan.
Filling:
blend all the ingredients except lecithin and coconut butter until smooth. Now add the lecithin and coconut butter until well incorporated. Pour in prepared crust and set in fridge or freezer about an hour until firm.
Number of Servings: 16
With Mr. She’s allergy it’s probably better to avoid ghee.
When I was a kid, we used to summer in the Bronx (I know, weird, but my grandmother lived there). The delicatessens (and the pizzerias) were irresistible. The kosher dills were the best I’ve ever tasted, hand grabbed from a wooden barrel. Thin tongue on rye was delicious.
Here’s another cheesecake.
I’ve had the one this was based on and it was good. You can also do each half recipe with a different flavor and swirl them together as you fill the pan. I don’t think I have the skilz, but when it works it looks great.Also good with strawberries instead of chocolate in the filling. Or raspberries. Or if you want
(Mostly) Raw, Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
Adapted from Comfy Belly
To make a full-sized cheesecake, double the recipe and form it in an 8 or 9″ springform pan; it will take longer to set, so I recommend putting it in the freezer until firm enough to slice (let slices sit at room temperature until softened, 15-30 minutes, before serving). Do allow 4-12 hours for soaking the cashews, and four or more hours for the finished cheesecakes to set up in the fridge or freezer. If you can make them a day in advance, do, as it gives the flavors a chance to meld. If you don’t have raw cacao powder, substitute unsweetened cocoa powder. One reader reported making this with coconut nectar with good results. See the original post for more substitutions, including nut-free options.
All ounce measurements here are by weight.
Makes 4 hefty or 8 dainty servings (four 1-cup mason jars or eight half-cup jars)
Crust:
3/4 cup (3 ounces) sliced or whole almonds (optionally toasted and cooled)
3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) raw cacao powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 ounce) maple syrup
Filling:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 1/2 ounces) raw cashews, soaked in cool water for 4-12 hours
1/4 cup (2 1/2 ounces) maple syrup
seeds scraped from 1/2 a vanilla bean (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) raw cacao powder
2 teaspoons (1/4 ounce) strained lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) melted extra-virgin coconut oil
Ganache topping:
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) extra-virgin coconut oil
2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) maple syrup
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) raw cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
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