A neighbor has been sick and is finally feeling a bit better.  My sweet wife and I thought it was time to up the taste factor in our recovering friend’s diet so we offered some creamy Potato Soup as a break from chicken broth.  It turned out very well and I hope it has healing powers, too!

Soups are like a lot of things in this life:  Easy does it.  Many times, cooks over do their soups with ingredients that complicate the flavor instead of letting it simply be comforting.  Also, striking a balance between the volume of broth versus solids is important.  Making mixed vegetables in a little broth is one thing, but soup needs some “juice”!

Finally, feel free to puree the soup in a blender (an immersion blender is great for this; use it right in the pot) or food processor when it is done.  In this case, I wanted to leave some texture so that our recovering friend had something to chew on for a change.

Happy Memorial Day!

Ummm Good Potato Soup

 

Author: Dennis Killebrew

Cuisine: American

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  1 hour

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Ingredients

• 1 Pound Potatoes Peeled and Crosscut into ⅜" Thick Disks
• 2 Cups Chicken Broth (Could use Vegetable Broth if you Like)
• 3 Tablespoons Butter (Could use Olive Oil if you Like)
• ⅓ Cup Diced Peeled Carrot
• ¼ Cup Sliced Celery
• ⅓ Cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
• 1 Clove of Garlic,Minced
• 3 Medium-Size White Mushrooms Sliced, then Cut Each Slice in Half
• 3 Ounces Ham Cut into ⅜" Dice (I used 1 Thick Slice about 5" in Diameter; Omit if you Like)
• 2 Twists of the Black Pepper Grinder
• 1 Pinch of Salt
• 2½ Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
• 2 Cups Milk
• 1 Very Small Pinch of Dried Thyme Leaves

Instructions

1. Place potatoes and broth in a 2 quart pot and bring to a simmer; cover and allow to cook until the potatoes are very tender. This will take about 30 minutes, but make sure the potato slices literally fall apart when pierced with a fork.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a saute pan over medium high heat and add the next the 8 ingredients. Saute the vegetables until the onions are transparent, then sprinkle the flour over all; reduce heat to medium. Stir the contents of the pan to completely incorporate the flour; turn off the heat.
3. Once the potatoes are tender, use a whisk and beat the potato broth mixture to break up the potatoes as much as possible. Add the milk, stir and allow to come to a light simmer; whisk briskly to continue to cream the potatoes in the liquid.
4. Pour the contents of the saute pan into the liquid and whisk to dissolve the flour into the soup; add the Thyme. Bring the liquid to a slow simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes to thicken, stirring a couple of times and making sure the simmer remains very slow.
5. Adjust for salt and pepper. Serve hot or give away to a friend!

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