Potato Soup Recipe

[vanblah]

So my wife loves the potato soup I make. She's been begging me to make it again and so I did. Then I thought, why not share my recipe? I never measure anything, but I'll see if I can guess. I also use a deep cast-iron skillet (it's about 4 inches deep by 12 or 13 inches in diameter).

Start with good quality GOLD potatoes. I like the small, organic potatoes I get at the health food store. I think you can get them at places like the Fresh Market as well. They are a pain to peel but they're worth it. 5 lbs should be enough.

So:

Some Bacon Grease!!! (enough to coat the skillet or pot)*
5lbs potatoes - peeled
1 medium sized carrot - peeled if you want
1 stalk of celery
1 small to medium yellow (not vidalia*) onion
2 cans of chicken broth (if you make your own it's even better, about 4 cups)
1 tsp. Garam Masala*
salt and black pepper to taste
2 or so cups of milk (you can use cream but since we're using chicken broth and bacon grease you'll want to watch the fat content)

Boil the potatoes until they are just underdone, there's no need to chop them up if they're the small kind. If they are larger you can quarter them. Don't cut them too small because you'll end up overcooking them. When they are done drain them and let them dry a little bit. You'll see why.

Meanwhile, finely dice the carrots, celery and onion. Sauté the carrots and celery in the bacon grease until they are just about tender then throw in the onions and continue to sauté until they are just turning translucent. This is called a mirepoix for those who don't know and at this point you should be salivating.

Your potatoes should have finished during the time you were sautéeing the mirepoix
and they should be drained and drying a little bit.

Throw the potatoes on top of the mirepoix and stir a little bit, but not much. Just enough to get the potatoes to touch the hot skillet. There should be a very satisfying sizzle as you do this because the skillet should be pretty hot.

As you slightly scorch the bottom of the potatoes sprinkle the garam masala.

When the bottom of the potatoes are dark brown (not black) add the chicken broth and stir. Scrape the bottom of the skillet to get the good stuff incorporated. Mash the potatoes a little bit with a fork or potato masher or a hand blender if you have a guard that will keep it from hurting your pan. Just get it good and creamy. If you diced the mirepoix finely enough you won't need a blender.

Salt and pepper to taste.

After it has come to a boil again, turn it down to simmer. You need to cool it off enough that when you add the milk (or cream) it won't curdle. About 15 minutes.

Add the milk, this is the part that gets tricky. The amount you add will depend on how thick you like the soup. I like it to be fairly thin, but not vichyssoise thin. Some people like potato soup that's just basically runny mashed potatoes. Whatever you want. Heat it through over low heat.

I hope I've remembered everything.

*You can use oil rather than bacon grease, but it really won't be the same I promise.

*Vidalias are too sweet

*I've seen garam masala at a regular supermarket, I don't think it's going to be as good as garam masala from an Indian market. You can also find it at Asian markets. Find a good one, or make your own.

[MexicanOnABike]

hmm! that looks great! thank you for this

[Destrox]

Could you describe just what a "Garam Masala" is?

I've never heard of such a thing, and know nothing about Indian food.

[snowy]

Garam masala is a blend of spices commonly found in Indian cooking. It should be fairly easy to come by; every market I know of that stocks spices stocks it.

From Wikipedia:

Garam masala is a blend of ground spices common in the Indian cuisine, whose literal meaning is 'hot (or warm) spice'. There are many variants: most traditional mixes use just cinnamon, roasted cumin, cloves, nutmeg (and/or mace) and green cardamom seed or black cardamom pods. Many commercial mixtures may include more of other less expensive spices and may contain dried red chili peppers, dried garlic, ginger powder, sesame, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, bay leaves, cumin, and fennel. While commercial garam masala preparations can be bought ready ground, it does not keep well, and soon loses its aroma. Whole spices, which keep fresh much longer, can be ground when needed using a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder.

Garam masala can be used during cooking, but unlike many spices, it is often added at the end of cooking, so that the full aroma is not lost. Garam masala is not "hot" in the sense that chilis are, but is fairly pungent.