"Irish" Potato Soup

Okay so this isn't really an Irish recipe, but since it is St. Patty's day and all I thought this soup would be appropriate.  For those of you that do not care for corned beef and cabbage, maybe you could make some Potato Soup and a cabbage salad for dinner with some Irish soda bread.  The nice thing about Irish soda bread is that it uses baking soda instead of yeast - so you can make it quickly and easily for dinner tonight!  I did find a site that specified if it has raisins, eggs, shortening, sugar or baking powder in it - that is not soda bread (that is cake).  Here is a nice Irish Soda Bread recipe that I think I've tried and enjoyed.

A few months ago I found myself with lots of potatoes from our CSA and had an urge to make potato soup without bacon, I'm not much for the stuff, but Ryan loves it.  So, I set out to find a healthier option for potato soup.  My cousin sent me her recipe which I did take a few ideas from, but the main recipe I chose came from EatingWell (a great magazine and website for finding healthier recipes).  And the results were fabulous - still smooth and creamy with lots of taste, but without the extra fat found in most recipes.  UPDATE: I'm not so afraid of full fat dairy anymore and HERE is why. It froze well too, I just had some left-overs yesterday for lunch.  The water had separated, but once it was heated up and stirred it was as good as the first time, if not better.  Freezing seems to add flavor to soups.

This happens to be under their Budget Friendly Recipes category and can easily be made vegetarian.  Anyway, on to the recipe...

"Irish" Potato Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 large cloves garlic (or 4 small), chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or parsley
5 cups chopped peeled potatoes
2 cups milk or cream or half and half (whatever you have)
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

shredded cheese (optional)

chopped ham or crumbled bacon (optional)

sliced scallions (optional)

Preparation

Over medium heat melt butter and oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Cook onion, carrot and celery; stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and thyme (or parsley); cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds.

Stir in potatoes. Add  broth and milk; bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain simmer and cook until very tender, about 15 minutes.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth (do not use a food processor - it is not meant to handle large quantities of liquid). (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Salt and pepper to taste, if you are using your own unsalted broth, you may need to add quite a bit more salt at this time.

Serve with shredded cheese, chopped ham or crumbled bacon and sliced scallions.

Notes:  This can easily be made vegetarian by using a vegetable broth or by making your own vegetable bouillon.  And to make this vegan, change the milk to water and the butter to more oil and only add scallions as a topping.

UPDATE: I made this yesterday and didn't have time to cook the onion, carrot and celery first. I threw everything (minus butter, olive oil and milk) into the crockpot and turned it on high for two+ hours. When I got home from my appointment I added cream and blended it. Then I browned some butter and added that to the finished soup - DELICIOUS!

Oh and my favorite cabbage salad is so simple - thinly sliced cabbage topped with sliced avocado and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.  Delicious and so simple!

"Gourmet" Meal for mom

One of the wonderful things about being back in Wisconsin is having family nearby. Although it is still an hour+ drive, it is reasonable to plan in advance for a free babysitter (who loves to see her grandchildren). While talking to my mom about coming to watch the kids while I went to an appointment she mentioned something about me preparing her a gourmet meal for lunch. Okay, so that sounds like sufficient payment, right? I told her that we would be having left-over Tortilla Soup and she seemed fine with that. After having the soup she commented on how good it was and asked for the recipe. It's such a simple (and cheap) soup to make I don't think twice about making it. Given that it is a chicken broth soup, this could be great for cold season and a nice change from your typical chicken noodle soup. I think the original recipe came from Cooking Light magazine many years ago. I'm not even sure where the recipe is, I just throw some ingredients together and VOILA! Out comes Tortilla Soup.

Tortilla Soup
half of a whole cut up chicken (or two breasts - with bones in)
small onion, chopped
4+ cloves garlic, minced or sliced
1 cup dried beans (soaked overnight and drained) or 2 cans beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can green chiles (mild or medium)
cilantro
water
splash of vinegar
salt to taste
spice to taste (cayenne pepper, jalepenos, etc.)
condiments:
corn tortillas
avocado
cheese
cilantro
sour cream
chopped jalepenos

I like to make this in the crockpot throughout the day, but you can do it on the stove in less time too. Soak the dry beans (I used navy beans, but any kind can be used) overnight and drain the water in the morning or before cooking. Place chicken (with or without skin on) in crockpot (or stockpot) with dried beans, onion and garlic then cover with water (as much as you want - probably 6-8 cups). If you use white meat only and remove the skin, keep a careful eye on the chicken so that it doesn't dry out. Turn crockpot on high or bring stockpot to a boil. When boiling, remove foam from top of soup and add a splash of vinegar (any kind is fine). The vinegar will help remove the nutrients from the bones of the chicken and add them to your soup! When the chicken looks fully cooked (check with thermometer or cut open to verify fully cooked), remove it from the soup and allow it to cool. Check the doneness of the beans (if using canned beans, do not add them to the soup until the chicken has been fully cooked - otherwise they will get too mushy). When cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones from chicken and shred. When the beans are soft, add tomatoes (feel free to get some with mexican spices/seasonings or do your own spice enhancing), chiles, cilantro stems (chopped or tied with string for removal), cayenne pepper or jalepenos to taste, salt to taste and return chicken to pot. Allow soup to simmer for 20-30 minutes to meld flavors.

While soup is simmering, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 4-6 corn tortillas into strips and lie flat on a baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes until crispy. Grate or crumble cheese of your choice. I used queso fresco for this soup, it is a low fat mexican cheese, but we have used colby jack and other cheese in the past. Chop cilantro leaves and avocadoes. Ladle some soup into a bowl and top with your desired condiments - breaking up the tortillas on top (or at the bottom) of the bowl. Dig in and enjoy!