Potato Soup, Many Ways

I try to make soup at least one night a week, and potato soup is one of my favorites. It is dead simple to make, either in the slow cooker or on the stovetop if pressed for time, and it can be varied many ways, depending on what vegetable you add. Potato soup is also extremely satisfying on its own or with a green salad and some homemade bread. Here are some of my favorite ways to make potato soup.

Simple Potato Soup

Yields: 4 servings
Time to make: 30 minutes on the stovetop

• 1 tablespoon butter and/or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced, or 1 garlic clove, sliced (optional)
• 3 medium potatoes, any type, peeled and cut into small cubes
• Another vegetable, such as: 3 carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes; 2 leeks, washed well, trimmed and sliced; 1 head broccoli florets; 1 bunch celery, trimmed and chopped; or 3 tomatoes, chopped (Also see the variations below.)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 cups chicken stock, preferably warmed; water can be substituted in a pinch, but the soup won’t be as hearty

Heat the butter or oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium. Soften the onion or garlic for a few minutes, if using. Add the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the stock and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. (You may prepare the soup in advance up to this point. Cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat before proceeding.) If you like, puree the soup with an immersion blender, or you can serve it chunky-style.

It is nice to garnish this soup with grated cheese or fresh herbs, or swirl in a pat of butter or a dollop of sour cream. You can also add ½ to 1 cup cream, milk or half-and-half after pureeing.

To make this soup in the slow cooker: Put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker. Add enough of the water or broth to just cover them. Cover and cook on LOW until the potatoes are tender, 5 to 7 hours.

Peas and Watercress Potato Soup: Just before the soup is done, add the leaves and tender stems of 1 bunch of watercress and 1 12-ounce package frozen petite peas, thawed. When done, puree this soup and serve immediately; it will become dull as it sits.

Potato Soup with Sorrel or Spinach: In Step 2, when the potatoes are quite soft, add 2 cups washed, trimmed and roughly chopped sorrel or spinach leaves. Cook for 2 minutes, then serve, or puree, stir in 1 cup heavy cream, and serve hot or cold.

Old-fashioned American Potato Salad

I know, summer is almost over. You don’t have to tell me. But we have one more holiday weekend, which means we can have one more barbecue, which means we can make one more potato salad. Hooray!

This is my absolute favorite potato salad recipe. It tastes much like the beloved Southern-style potato salad my grandma used to make, complete with hard-boiled eggs. Yet it is very amenable to adaptations, depending on what you have on hand to throw into it. (Bacon is always a good choice.) I think the essential ingredient that makes it so tasty is the vinegar. The warm potatoes are tossed with the vinegar before being dressed, so they have some time to absorb its flavor. This gives the salad a tang that contrasts nicely with the creamy mayonnaise dressing.

The original recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated‘s The New Best Recipe, but as I say, it is a classic and belongs in your recipe notebook. Feel free to substitute freely.

American Potato Salad

From The New Best Recipe. Yields 4-6 servings.

• 2 pounds red potatoes (about 6 medium or 18 small), scrubbed
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice, or 2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 medium celery rib, minced (about ½ cup)
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• ¼ cup sweet pickles, minced
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves

Cover the potatoes with 1 inch water in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes for medium potatoes or 15 to 20 minutes for small potatoes.

Drain; cool the potatoes slightly and peel if you like (I rarely bother). Cut the potatoes into cubes while still warm.

In a large bowl, add the potatoes, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and toss gently. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 20 minutes.

Toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Couscous for Breakfast? Pasta and Potatoes?

So when you’ve forbidden yourself from buying packaged cereals, granola, English muffins and bagels, what do you eat for breakfast? Mark Bittman has some unusual suggestions in his book Food Matters. Today I tried one of them: couscous. Why not? It’s a cereal, and it’s fast and easy to prepare. I dressed it up like I would oatmeal. Bittman also suggests treating bulgur or leftover cooked grains like rice the same way. Polenta would be good too, I’d bet.

Speaking of Bittman, I tried an unusual but very tasty recipe of his from How to Cook Everything last night. It combines pasta with potatoes. I wouldn’t normally build a meal based on two starches, but the resulting dish is very hearty and satisfying. It starts with a little minced bacon crisping in olive oil. Add some garlic and red pepper flakes for flavor; then add diced potatoes and let brown. Next, throw in a can of diced tomatoes, a can of water and about half a box of cut pasta. Let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or so, adding more water if necessary, until the potatoes are cooked and the pasta is tender. The resulting mixture should be a little soupy. This was definitely a “go back for seconds” type of dish.

How to Make a Gratin

For dinner last night, to accompany a simple poached salmon, I made a classic potato gratin. This one turned out a lot better than the gratin I attempted at Thanksgiving, and it didn’t take nearly as long to cook. Here’s what I learned about making a good gratin.

A gratin is generally a vegetable dish that is characterized by its browned crust of cheese or cheese mixed with breadcrumbs. Gratins are typically baked in a shallow dish and served in its baking dish. While usually made with vegetables, macaroni and cheese is also a type of gratin. Seafood is often cooked this way, as well.

A gratin requires three ingredients: one or two vegetables; a cooking liquid; and a grated hard cheese. Within those parameters, there really is a lot of leeway. The classic gratin is potatoes, cream and gruyere, but you can get quite creative.

First, the vegetables. As I said, potatoes are classic, and that’s what I used last night, but I also layered in slivered kale and collard greens that melded nicely with the sauce. The most important thing about the vegetables is to slice them thinly so that they will cook quickly. Choose enough vegetables to make two layers — no more than two! — in a shallow gratin or casserole dish. Any more layers than that and the gratin will take too long to cook.

The liquid can be heavy cream for a very rich gratin, but you can also lighten it with substitutions such as half cream and half milk; stock or half stock and half wine; bechamel sauce; or even tomato sauce. You’ll need about 1 cup. Unless you’re using cream, bring the liquid to a simmer beforehand to cut the cooking time.

Finally, the cheese — any hard grating cheese will do. I used Irish cheddar, and it was delicious. The classic choice is gruyere or emmenthal. Parmesan is another good choice. How much cheese you use is up to you. For a more cheesy gratin, you might put ¼-½ cup grated between each layer. For a lighter dish, add just enough cheese on top — combined with breadcrumbs, if you like — to get the browned, chewy crust that makes a gratin a gratin.

Here’s how to assemble the gratin:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring 1 cup of cooking liquid to a simmer.
2. Toss the thinly sliced vegetables with olive oil and slivered garlic.
3. Arrange the vegetables in two layers in a gratin dish or shallow casserole dish, seasoning each layer and sprinkling grated cheese between the layers, if you like.
4. Finish with a final layer of cheese, mixed with breadcrumbs, if desired.
5. Pour enough liquid over so that all but the topmost layer is covered. When you press down on the top layer, the liquid should ooze up but not cover the top layer.
6. Bake until the vegetables are tender, the cheese is melted and browned, and the liquid is almost fully absorbed. This takes about 1 hour for potatoes, less for quicker-cooking vegetables.
7. If the top isn’t browned enough, turn on the broiler for a few minutes to finish cooking.
8. Serve in the baking dish.

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Potatoes & Leeks & Onions, Oh My!

So, it’s Sunday afternoon, and I have cut-up potatoes, onions and leeks moldering in my fridge. They need to be eaten or they will be tossed. So what do I do?

Make creamy potato-leek soup, of course! Other than those 3 ingredients, you only need butter and stock or water. I follow this formula for making pureed soups and vary the ingredients to suit.

With an excess of onions, it is also a good idea to caramelize some of them. To caramelize onions, slice the onion thinly. Melt some butter or heat some oil over medium-low in a nonstick pan. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until very tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and raise the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn golden-brown, another 20 minutes or so. To get a deeper brown color, sprinkle on a little sugar during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Caramelized onions keep about a week in the fridge and are good on omelets, pasta or just eaten on toast with some creamy cheese.

But I still have some odds and ends of root vegetables lurking about. A mixed root vegetable mash is the answer. Combine potatoes, carrots, celery root, leeks or whatever root vegetables are on hand and simmer until tender in just enough water to cover. Drain and add a little butter, seasoning and cream or milk. Mash with a potato masher. This makes a lovely side dish for pan-seared tuna, which is what we ate last night.

And all the root vegetables have now been properly disposed of.

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Chicken Piccata & a New Potato Salad

Last night, I made chicken piccata. This light dish is one of my husband’s favorites, so it’s a good choice for when he’s not feeling well.

To go with it, I put together a really delicious potato salad. After quartering and boiling some small potatoes, I tossed them with a hot mustard-shallot vinaigrette. To that, I added torn escarole, crumbled bacon and a touch of asiago cheese. I had to have seconds!

Tonight, and every Monday from now on, is Take No Prisoners Night. I got this idea from another blog and stole it without shame. The idea is to pull out all the leftovers from the week before. Whatever doesn’t get eaten must get tossed (unless there’s enough left to make it worth freezing). It’s also a good opportunity to plan the menu for the upcoming week.

On Hot Dogs, Creamy Vegetable Soup & a New Way with Edamame

I have already seen 3 stories this morning on the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatricians to redesign the hot dog so that it doesn’t pose a choking hazard for kids. On each story, the comments come in two flavors: parents are to blame when their children choke on hot dogs for not watching them closely enough, and parents who want to redesign hot dogs are overprotective helicopter parents who won’t let their kids have a real childhood.

As a relatively new parent, all I can say is: We just can’t win. We’re either not protective enough or we’re overprotective. We’re at fault for everything our kids do and everything that happens to them, but we have to stop smothering them. No wonder most parents I know, including myself, feel like we’re slowly going insane. My solution: Use common sense when dealing with your own kids and ignore everything that anyone else has to say about it.

As for the hot dog issue, I think perhaps some parents aren’t aware of the hazards they pose. Or choking incidents may occur when kids are in the care of others. Contrary to popular Internet commenter belief, parents do not, should not and cannot watch their children 24 hours a day.

Enough ranting. Last night for dinner, I made a strange but tasty pureed potato soup. I started from a recipe but quickly veered into the unknown. The base was roasted peppers, onions, garlic and tomatillos, spiced with cilantro and adobe seasoning. To that I added mushrooms, potatoes and tomatoes. I simmered until the potatoes were tender, pureed the soup and topped with crumbled bacon. It was very tasty for a dish that mostly served to use up all the odds and ends in the refrigerator.

But the real revelation was the edamame, or green soybeans, I cooked as a snack for the baby and me. Instead of simply boiling and salting them, I just covered them with water and added some olive oil, garlic salt and dried herbs. I simmered them for 20 minutes. They were extremely tasty and could serve as a substitute for cocktail peanuts as a before-dinner nibble. I also think they would be good mashed a little and spread on crusty bread with some grated salty cheese. Stored in their cooking liquid, they should keep for a few days. I will definitely keep frozen soybeans on hand now for snacking.

Lemon-infused Potatoes

I tried a new way of cooking potatoes last night. I simmered them in less water than I would normally use, plus some flavoring and fat to infuse flavor into the potatoes. I used lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. The potatoes simmer until tender, and then the liquid is boiled away so that they remain a bit moist and saucy. The results were light and flavorful. I served the potatoes with some eggs scrambled with smoked salmon and scallions for a “breakfast for dinner” meal.

Lemon-infused Potatoes

Yields: 2 servings
Time to make: ~30 minutes

• 2 Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup water
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• Fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a large pot or skillet with a lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes. If necessary, add a little more water. When the potatoes are cooked, uncover, raise the heat and let any remaining liquid boil away.

The Secret Ingredient Is Corn

Image via Wikipedia

If last night’s dinner was on Iron Chef, the secret ingredient would have been corn. For the main course, I served a warming corn and potato chowder, perfect for a snowy day. It was accompanied by a hearty cornbread. Why so much corn? I was mainly trying to use up the bag of frozen corn I opened (I didn’t quite succeed), plus the two dishes seemed to complement each other.

Since I started the soup early in the afternoon, I finished the corn and potato chowder in the slow cooker, but it would have worked just as well on the stovetop. My only issue was that I got hungry and turned off the slow cooker a little too early, so the potatoes were not as tender I would have liked (they were still edible, though).

This recipe is a little different than the previous one I used. I added bacon and thickened the soup with flour. Most chowders call for cream, but I omitted it, opting instead to stir in a spoonful of sour cream just before serving. The updated recipe is below.

To go with it, I made cornbread in a skillet (which is the best way, in my opinion). I wanted something hearty, so I added more corn and grated cheddar. It was delicious, and leftovers will be tasty as a snack or breakfast.

Corn & Potato Chowder

Serves: 4
Time to make: ~30 minutes

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• ½ medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp. bouquet garni or dried thyme
• ¼ cup flour
• 3 cups chicken stock or water
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 2 cups corn, thawed if frozen
• a few drops of Tabasco or 1 4-oz. can roasted chiles
• salt to taste
• shredded Monterey Jack and/or sour cream for garnish

Crisp the bacon over medium. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until translucent. Add the herbs and flour, and cook 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil, whisking. Add the remainder of the ingredients. Reduce to a simmer; let simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Alternatively, transfer the soup to the slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Season to taste. Garnish as you like.

Pan-seared Salmon & Mashed Potatoes

I cooked a proper dinner last night. It was a simple dinner, and another one where I didn’t really need recipes, but that’s the best kind of dinner for a weeknight, I think.

The main course was salmon fillet, pan-seared in a little butter and olive oil with lemon slices and capers. This is pretty much my favorite way of cooking salmon fillet. Most of the cooking is done skin-side-down and then finished briefly on the other side. When it was done, I removed it from the pan and deglazed with a mixture of white wine and lemon juice. I spooned the reduced sauce and pan juices over the salmon to serve. This dish could have used more lemon; I was too skimpy with it.

Speaking of salmon, I see that Target has stopped selling farm-raised salmon. I imagine that many of you do not buy your fish at Target — I sure don’t — but I’m also sure that plenty of people do all their grocery shopping there, and salmon is a very popular fish. Farm-raised salmon is highly polluting, dirtying the ocean and the fish alike. Wild-caught is better, but only if done sustainably. Arctic char is a great alternative, but I never see it for sale. The truth is, it’s so confusing what fish we should and should not be eating at any one time. My reaction has been to reduce my consumption of fish altogether and to try to eat as sustainably as I can when I do choose it.

I think mashed potatoes go really well with salmon, so that’s what I made for a side dish. I used these lovely, large Yukon Gold potatoes I found at the market. I mixed the mash with sauteed mushroooms and onions, butter and a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream. It’s hard to go wrong with mashed potatoes.