Guest Post: Potato and Fresh Herb Soup

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup by "Deja Vu" Cook

Guest Blogger: Kathleen of Deja Vu Cook 
We have a tendency to think of fresh herbs and something to add to a soup, but surprise yourself when you make this soup (especially in the spring and summer) with fresh herbs from your own garden.  Here in Florida we have these herbs in our backyards year round but spring seems the appropriate time to really celebrate them wherever you may live.

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup by "Deja Vu" Cook
Ingredients:
4 T. Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 C. Diced Onions
1 1/2 C. Diced Potatoes
1 t. Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
1 T. Mixture of Fresh Parsley, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Chives and Marjoram
3 1/2 C. Chicken Stock
1/2 C. Whole Milk
Fresh Parsley (chopped for garnish)
 
Preparation:
1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan; when it foams add the onions and potatoes; toss in the butter thoroughly
2. Season with salt and pepper; cover and sweat on low heat for 10 minutes
3. Add the fresh herbs and the stock; cook until vegetables are soft
4. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or transfer in batches to blender)
5. Season and thin with the milk to the consistency you desire
6. Pour into warmed soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley


To read more recipes by Kathleen, be sure to check out her blog, "Deja Vu" Cook.

Do you have a soup that you would like to contribute to Seriously Soupy? Email me at seriouslysoupy@gmail.com for more details!

Soup Review—Baked Potato Soup from Cooking Light magazine

Guest Reviewer—Theresa Valentine

 Baked Potato Soup

Back in action after the holiday eating season, and I don't know about you, but I am full, stuffed, and quite frankly done with the gorge. SO, I thought it would be nice to start things off on a lighter note with a soup review recipe from Cooking Light magazine. Reviewed by Theresa Valentine, the recipe is essentially about how to turn a delicious baked potato into even more delicious baked potato soup. Although, not a traditional light soup per-say (there's  bacon and cheese in here), the soup does use reduced fat versions of milk and cheese products, making it a hearty meal and one that can even be modified based on preferences-maybe substituting potatoes for sweet potatoes, reduced fat milk for non-fat, soy or rice milk, or grilled onions and croutons for bacon? It is all up to you, but this is sure a good base to test out a soup of this nature. Check out Theresa's soupy experience below, as well as the recipe from Cooking Light mag.

Seriously Soupy: Did you follow the recipe word-for-word?
Theresa Valentine: I did. Well, except for the onions because in my opinion there's nothing worse than thinking you're biting into a chunk of potato and it's a chunk of onion, yuck!! 

Seriously Soupy: How did you modify this?

TV: I replaced the whole onion with onion and garlic powders, which gives it a nice flavor. I also usually throw the bacon and all cheese into the soup at the end instead of putting it in each individual bowl...it doesn't look as pretty that way, but it's still tasty :) 

Seriously Soupy: How did it taste?

TV: It is basically tastes like the goodness of a baked potato with all the trimmings! Pretty much a hearty and filling soup that's not super fattening.

Seriously Soupy: Was it difficult to prepare?

TV: It's pretty easy to make except for the whisking of the milk and flour, which I am apparently bad at because when it comes time to clean the pot there is always burnt flour on the bottom.  

Seriously Soupy: How long did it take to prepare?

TV: It doesn't take too long except for the baking of the potatoes which takes an hour, after that it maybe takes about a 1/2 hour to peel the potatoes and put it all together. 

And now on to the recipe!

Baked Potato Soup recipe from Cooking Light magazine.

All the flavors of a loaded baked potato come together in this rich, creamy soup.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions)

Ingredients:

• 4  baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 6  cups  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 3/4  cup  chopped green onions, divided
• 6  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

Well, there you have it-a simple and easy to prep potato soup. I cover these reviews every Monday and I would love to hear about your experiences with professionally developed recipes from chefs. And even better, please include pics of your soupy journey, so that they could be featured in an upcoming soup review article.


Seriously Soupy Serena
seriouslysoupy@gmail.com

Potato and Leek Soup

A darker, but still delicious potato and leek soup

For this weeks soupy I created a potato and leek soup. A much loved soup and one that I have tried many times, but never created myself I thought it would be interesting to test out and quite frankly I was craving a hearty and classic winter-type soup such as this one. Overall it was pretty easy and took a lot less time than I thought, especially since I was really just softening the potatoes and the leeks and adding the appropriate flavors. I also ended up with a darker version of a potato and leek soup (see pic that sort of looks like a pea soup), which I later learned that most potato and leek recipes don't encourage the use of the darker stems (top part) of the leeks, which I did. This resulted is a different twist on the soup, but still remained consistent to the general idea of a potato and leek soup, or rather a my own leek with some potato soupy. Here's how to make it:

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

3 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1 cup of heavy cream
5 leeks, thinly cut up (using whole leek, including dark part)
1 yellow onion, chopped up into small squares
3 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into squares
1 green onion, thinly cut up
1/2 clove of garlic, chopped up
salt and pepper, to taste
Servings: 6

Directions:
Add the broth and water to a pot and set to a medium heat. Chop up the leeks and the onions into thin slices and the place it into the slightly boiling pot. Peel the potatoes and cut them into squares and place them in the pot, along with the scallions and the garlic (about 20 minutes later). Cover and let cook for 30 minutes. Place a fork through the potatoes, if soft add heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Blend together with a hand blender, where you should end up with a puree. I found that my mixture was way too thick, so I ended up adding 1/2 cup more of water and a splash more of heavy cream. Remove from the heat and serve in your soupy bowls. Enjoy!

P.S. As I mentioned in the intro I used all parts of the leek, including the darker part (top), but many recipes only suggest using the lighter part (bottom), which would make the color significantly more lighter and close to the look of a potato. I liked how this tasted more leek-based than potato, but again that is your preference and really you can do whatever you like when you are creating your own variation of a soup.

Seriously Soupy Serena